This TravelPost.com Insider poll was inspired by George Bibel’s NY Times Op-Ed piece Listen Up and Fly Right.

Who hasn’t wished they had something like this when their bags decided to take a trip of their own? The Arrival Survival Kit takes the sting out of the lost luggage experience with essentials to pull you through. Each kit comes packed in a clear zippered bag with:

• A t-shirt

• A pair of undies

• Cotton swabs, cotton balls and a nail file

• A disposable razor

• Travel-sized deodorant

• Travel toothbrush and mini-toothpaste

• Packet of pain reliever

Clearly, this is one for the ladies. But guys can benefit from it, too. You know what they say, hell hath no fury like a woman with lost luggage. Cost: $40

We all like to gripe and moan about how terrible air travel can be these days (well, at least I know I do), but here’s an image that will remind you that we don’t have it all that bad. Back in the day, poor stewardesses had to lug “travel-sized” contraptions like this 1940’s era Universal Stewardess Steam Travel Iron with folding Bakelite handle along with them as they puddle-jumped around the country. (Not surprisingly, the seller on GoAntiques.com reports that the iron still works - must not have gotten too much road use during its heyday).

Although no one we know can provide us with an eyewitness account, we hear tell that a new airline was spotted in the skies this week: Air Yeti.

Aiming to be the low-cost carrier of choice for travelers in Nepal, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, the Air Arabia-owned airline has its hub in Kathmandu, Nepal and flies to destinations that include Bangkok, Delhi, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Sharjah and Doha.

Virgin America has announced that, come March, the airline will begin offering Sundance Channel programming, including independent films and documentaries, as part of its in-flight entertainment system. Yes, it’s only one airline with a few destinations, and, yes, it’s just one more cable channel, but the news marks just one more amenity that sets the young airline apart from the pack.

Of course, I happen to be biased. When I flew Virgin America a few months ago, I freely admit that I was instantly hooked. When I picked up a friend who flew the airline last week from New York to San Francisco from the airport, one of the first things he said when he got in the car was how much he liked Virgin America. And this is a crotchety New Yorker we’re talking about. Purely anecdotal information, sure. But my point is this: it may have been the slick interiors and cool mood lighting had us at hello, but it’s the perks like the Sundance Channel, documentaries and full-length feature films (not the censored versions on most airlines) that will keep us coming back.

A little chorus began singing in my head when this press release popped up in my RSS reader today:

Southwest Airlines Bringing the Internet to the Sky Via Satellite

If all goes according to plan, Southwest Airlines will begin testing in-flight Internet services delivered via broadband satellite on four aircraft this summer. The service, delivered by Row 44, will allow passengers with wi-fi enabled devices full access to the Internet and email.

Here’s a promotion for DailyCandy readers that you can take advantage of: Book by Jan. 30th for travel through Oct. 31, 2008, and you can save $125 off Silverjet flights between Newark Liberty International and London Luton Airports with the promo code DAILYCANDY08. Choose a “Very Sivilised Fare,” and a roundtrip ticket will cost $1,509 (including taxes and fees). Not a bad deal considering you fly in private-jet style with no more than 100 passengers (cabin pictured) on each flight, 6′3″ flat beds, seat back massagers, in-seat power outlets, noise reduction headphones, in-seat entertainment systems and meals designed by London restaurant Le Caprice.

Silverjet DailyCandy Promotion

I was reading the NY Times story Aviation Industry Offers Ideas to Help Passengers yesterday, and, while I was glad to hear that airport officials from around the country are getting together to brainstorm ways to make travelers’ lives easier during weather crises and other potential disasters that would result in stranded airplanes, I was quite surprised to read about the suggestions they’re coming up with - sorry to say it, but it shocks me that airports don’t already have many of the suggested processes and improvements in place. Whether it does so intentionally or not, the story really shines a light on the stodgy, antiquated procedures at many U.S. airports, as well as the lack of consistency in procedures from airport to airport.

Since the purpose of this aviation industry meeting was to compare operating procedures across U.S. airports and to compile suggestions for submission to a task force that’s being formed by the Department of Transportation and charged with investigating the much talked about problems surrounding flight delays, I am assuming that the ideas put forth are not currently a matter of standard procedure at the majority of U.S. airports. And that’s downright freaky when you look at how basic they are:

- Determine the location of all available air stairs

- Instruct airport retailers to stock emergency supplies like diapers, baby formula and over-the-counter medicines

- Create a list of all lifts available to transport handicapped passengers off planes not parked at gates

- Keep an inventory of cargo plane parking spots that could be used by passenger planes during emergencies

- Catalog available airport buses, including employee shuttles, that could transport passengers during emergencies

- Have a plan in place to keep airport retail shops open late when passengers are stranded in the airport

- Establish areas for stranded pets to pee and poop

- Have a plan in place to make extra chaperones available for unaccompanied minors during emergencies

All of these things seem like basic, common sense procedures any major organization should be able to put in place fairly quickly. And while I certainly have to give props to the aviation industry for getting off its collective duff and trying to come up with ways to fix a broken system before the government steps in with ideas of its own, I’m surprised and a little disgusted that measures like these aren’t already standard.

And you thought snakes on a plane could only happen in the movies:

Thousands of Snakes on a Plane Seized in Vietnam

With two weeks of the year under our belts, we’ve taken stock of the current travel landscape, checked our trend gauges and looked into our crystal balls to come up with our favorite travel trends for 2008.

Flight Flux

Just about the only thing frequent air travelers can count on this year is more change in the friendly skies. Just as the Open Skies agreement ushers in myriad new options for passengers traveling between the United States and Europe when it goes into effect on March 28, the U.S. Department of transportation is considering changes to the rules that govern how airports charge airlines for landing privileges. Instead of basing fees on airplane weight, a recently announced proposal to charge more for flights landing during peak times has the potential to free up airspace, ease airport congestion and encourage airlines to use add flight routes at regional airports. At the same time, the old-guard U.S. carriers (United Airlines, Delta, Northwest, etc.) are considering mergers and threatening to cut the number of flights they offer to offset the now-hideous cost of fuel.

What does all this mean for travelers? Expect frequent changes in flight schedules, available routes and ticket fares in the months to come.

Tech Boom at 30,000 feet

While airlines from JetBlue to American Airlines test in-flight Internet services like web browsing and others usher in the era of mile-high mobile phoning (Emirates, Air France, Qantas), and some are even hard at work on both (Norwegian Air), carriers like 2007’s much-talked about newcomer Virgin Atlantic are spending big bucks to outfit main cabins with high-tech amenities like in-seat chat messaging and myriad personal media options.

We expect this trend to continue as passengers cry for more in-flight services, just as airlines are dying for more ways to make a buck. After all, we may balk at paying for a half-dead turkey sandwich, but many of us would cheerily fork over cash for on-demand movies, in-flight web access and other high-tech perks that make our lives easier and provide much-need distraction from uncomfortable seats, runway delays and annoying seatmates.

Business Lodging Goes Boutique

Once upon at time, boutique hotels were the provenance of moneyed leisure travelers seeking alternatives to business-oriented hotels in destination cities. But now the tables have turned. New brands like NYLO, InterContinental’s Hotel Indigo and Starwood’s Aloft are betting business and frequent travelers will respond to the combination of hip interiors, high-tech business amenities and conveniences like 24-hour and to-go dining options. Thus far, these business boutique properties have flocked not to business hubs like New York and Los Angeles, but to airport locations and nearby secondary cities like Plano, Schaumberg and Nashville.

Looking Beyond Europe

With the both the Euro and the British Pound kicking the dollar’s sorry arse these days, expect fewer Americans to choose Europe as a vacation destination. Instead, more stateside travelers will opt for places where their hard-earned dollars stretch a bit farther. As more flights between North America and Asian countries appear in the coming year, Americans will have increased options for visiting countries like China, Vietnam and Thailand. At the same time, Latin and South American countries also continue to promise a good value for U.S. travelers, many of whom have been trading Paris, Rome and Madrid for places like Buenos Aires, Cusco and Santiago.

Amped-Up Airports

As passengers become more accustomed to delays, flight cancellations and the general uncertainty of modern-day travel, airports around the United States are realizing that, now more than ever, travelers stuck in terminals are veritable cash cows. Along with the airport quick-spas, souped-up luxury lounges for elite travelers and premium retail shops that have been popping up in terminals over the last two years, evermore diversions for travelers are on their way. In the coming year, it will not be unusual for a traveler to sample local vintages at an airport wine bar before settling into a branded high-tech lounge to check email or surf the web before catching a table massage (not just the chair variety) prior to boarding. Increases in practical amenities like cell phone parking lots, universal charging stations, product vending machines and airport pharmacies are also part of this trend, which aims to make airports more than just places to wait.

Maturing Metasearch

We predict that metasearch tools will continue to attract more travelers seeking an efficient way to find airline fares, hotel rates and relevant destination information. With Kayak.com’s recent acquisition of SideStep (parent company of TravelPost.com) and newcomers like Kango busting onto the scene with a ton of buzz, sites that search hundreds of sources for fares and travel information are poised to mature from tools used by the savviest travelers to tools used by everyone.

Freelance writer Lorraine Sanders has been editing the TravelPost.com Insider blog since 2005. You can reach her at news (at) lorrainesanders (dot) com.