Omni Hotels guests who make reservations directly through the company’s web site are now able to check-in online up to 48 hours before their specified arrival dates. The online check-in process, which requires a credit card, results in a check-in receipt, which is then exchanged for the room key and welcome packet upon arrival at the hotel.

Now here’s what I want to know: If you check-in online and arrive early (say, after a red-eye flight), can you access your room early, too? Or will the packets only be ready at the official check-in time?

Omni Hotels Launches Online Check-In Available for all Guests

You’ve probably already heard about our parent company SideStep’s new Trips feature on Facebook, which just about every college kid in America uses these days, but just in case you haven’t, I’m here with the news. Facebook members, of which I am proud to be one (though I have like one friend), can now list upcoming travel plans and travel hopes and dreams on their profile pages. Members can search for those with like-minded travel aspirations, find advice from travelers who’ve already been to the destinations they hope to visit and rendezvous with other travelers who will be in the same destination at the same time.

Ask George: We’re going to be in London this summer and would like to make a side trip to Mykonos. I’m trying to figure out which airlines fly nonstop from London to the island and how much fares would be, but it’s not particularly easy to do. Can you help? Also, is there an official Mykonos tourist site?

Answer: As far as I can make out, British Airways flies this route nonstop from London’s Gatwick Airport only, with fares as low as $130 each way, but many dates are completely sold out for travel in July and August, and only the higher fares are available on days when there are seats. Also a possibility is Astraeus, which I believe offers nonstop charter flights from Gatwick, and charter operator XL Airways, also from Gatwick. As a side note, other airlines flying nonstop from European cities to Mykonos are TUI, Condor, and Transavia, among others. You can find route maps for these and dozens of other airlines on the Airfarewatchdog.com route maps page. Visit the island’s official Mykonos Web site, and you’ll find some reviews of Mykonos here on TravelPost.com.

George Hobica is a travel writer living in New York City.

Do you have a question to ask George? Send us your question, and George may feature it in an upcoming column.

At the end of last month, Air Greeland launched its first direct route between the United States and the world’s largest non-continental island. But since Greenland has been so time-consuming, historically speaking, for Americans to reach (until May it required a cruise or a flight from Denmark or Iceland), information on getting there and getting around once there has been sparse. For a beginner-level primer on Greenland, when to go, how to get there, where to stay and what to do once you’re there, check out TravelPost.com’s newest article (linked below):

Greenland: Exploring the World’s Largest Island

As Daily Candy reports today, San Francisco has a new option for city visitors in desperate need of clean public bathrooms: MizPee, a new cell phone service, lets users enter their location to find nearby bathrooms. All bathrooms listed are publicly-accessible (i.e. in restaurants, cafes, department stores, malls, etc.), and the service ranks their cleanliness with little toilet paper roll icons. You can also find out about amenities like diaper-changing stations and whether you have to buy something to use the facilities. While the service is only available in San Francisco and Oakland at the moment, it will be coming to other cities soon. Could just be the savvy traveler’s new best friend….

What a Pisser

Outdoor gear retailer Moosejaw, whose quirky ‘tude is something I think I’m in love with, is offering 20 percent off new Chaco sandals when you agree to send in old sandals, flip flops, running shoes or hiking boots. Basically, any outdoorsy foot covering will do. Chaco will take your oldies and recycle them into new footwear that it will donate to a charitable organization.

To get 20 percent off on a new pair of Chacos plus free shipping, enter coupon code 571 at checkout. Once you receive your new shoes, you can send your old ones in using the Chaco Recycling address provided in your shipment (650 Mandoline, Madison Heights, MI 48071).

Chaco Charity Sandal Swap

Just in time for the Maryland Science Center’s Grossology exhibit (where visitors can partake in such fun activities as scat tracking), the Baltimore National Aquarium and the Maryland Zoo are teaming up with the Center to offer visitors discounted tickets to the other two venues after an initial visit to the first. So if you’re planning a visit to Baltimore this summer and you visit one of these attractions, you can get $3 off coupons for subsequent visits to the other two. And with the National Aquarium and the Maryland Science Center quite near each other in the Baltimore Inner Harbor area, it’s easy to hit up these two destinations in the same day. The promo runs through Sept. 3, 2007.

More information on the Weird, Wild and Gross Summer Promo

Among the weird, wild and gross things you’ll learn at these Maryland attractions:

- How ticks and leeches suck blood

- How a cow’s digestive tract works

- Why cats cough up hairballs

- How the Australian grey-headed flying fox survives in the Australian rain forest

- Which Australian lizard has a blue tongue

- Why the death adder snake deserves its name

- How the Fly River turtle ended up with a pig-like snout.

Grossing Out Visitors is Goal of New Tourist Promotion

Wine lovers who also fly United frequently, take note: online wine retailer Hartwick & Grove is offering 25 United Mileage Plus miles for every dollar spent on purchases (not including sale tax and shipping) and 2,500 bonus miles for joining the company’s wine club. That’s a pretty cool offer - especially considering that travelers usually earn one or two miles per dollar spent with these sorts of promotional mileage offers. The site sells wine from California, Washington, Italy, New Zealand and Australia.

Hartwick & Grove United Mileage Plus Promotion

In response to angry travelers awaiting passports to comply with the new passport rules that went into effect earlier this year, the Bush administration has announced that U.S. citizens flying to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda can bypass the passport rule until through the end of September 2007 - as long as they have government-issued identification (e.g. a drivers license) receipt showing they applied for a passport.

Passport Rules to be Eased Temporarily

Don’t plan on visiting the Ritz Carlton Hong Kong next year. The venerable property will close its doors on Jan. 1, 2008. The owners will turn the space into high-rise office buildings, but are also planning two new Ritz Carlton properties. The first is scheduled to open in Macau in 2009, and the second is planned for Kowloon’s International Commerce Center. When it opens in 2010, it will be the tallest hotel property in the world.

The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong Closing