Insider It Gear 10.30.07

Getting Fleeced

Oh the cold winds are starting to blow, but that doesn’t mean we have to suffer the chilly temperatures in silence. Brookstone’s new ActiVHeat Jacket features a rechargeable internal heating system to keep you warm for up to five hours per charge. With its clean, simple design and non-bulky fit, the jacket means you can leave that extra sweater or layer you’re always carrying at home. A control panel fits into the pocket and starts warming action with the touch of a button. Three zones of ultra-thin, carbon fiber webbing concentrate heat on the chest and upper back, while a laminated layer of microfleece blocks wind from the outside. And because you can turn the jacket on or off at will, you’re free to add heat when you need it and do away with it when you don’t. The jacket is available in black for $179.95. The vest version costs $149.95. Sizes are unisex.

Slippers on the Go

When it comes to packing light, bulky slippers aren’t likely to make the cut. But when you’re away from home, it can be even more desirable to wrap your feet in warmth and protect your precious peds from whatever may be lurking in the fibers of your hotel room’s carpet. Luckily for those of us with slipper separation anxiety, Land’s End has just come out with a solution: Fleece Travel Slippers in their own little fleece bag. The streamlined, ballet-style (Sorry boys! These are clearly for the ladies) shape means they take up little space in your bag, while the suede sole give you traction on hardwood floors. Another perk? They’re machine washable. Cost: $25.

Crash Course

While we hope they never happen to any TravelPost.com Insider readers, we know that the vast majority of drivers have fender-benders sometime during their driving careers. The Collision.kit from Wishing Fish won’t prevent an accident or repair vehicular ailments that ensue, but it can help you remember to collect the right information when you’re totally stressed out and in crisis mode. The zippered kit includes pre-formatted pages for recording key information from drivers involved in the accident and the police responding to it, as well as a pen, clipboard and disposable flash camera to snap pics of damage on the scene. Stow it in the glove box, and all you have to do is remember to pull it out when road mishaps strike. If you can stand the oh brother eye-rolling, this would make a nice little gift for those cross-country road-tripping college kids in your life. Cost: $14.95

Surfin’ Safari

For the diehard surfers in your life, the Surf the World Board Game makes a fun gift that just might keep ‘em busy through cold, rainy weather. Think of it like Trivial Pursuit for surf bums or wannabes seeking a little solace until the weather turns. The game ushers players through eight of the world’s best surf spots and through trial and tribulations like couch crashing, lost boards, groin stitches (ouch!) and infected foot cuts. But play well and you might just get to hang ten, dude.

Hybrid electric buses will soon be on the go at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, thanks to a grant from the Clean Fuel & Advanced Technology (CFAT) program sponsored by the state. The program is also awarding funds that will go towards reducing harmful emissions at other tourist destinations around the state. Emissions-free electric vehicles will soon be coming to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the North Carolina State Fairgrounds, which draws an estimated 2.5 million visitors each year.

Clean Fuel Advanced Technology Projects Announced

Zipcar has partnered up with the New York tourism agency to promote travel in upstate New York. To that end, Zipcar is offering members $30 in free driving and discounted rates starting at $60/day (Monday through Thursday) until Oct. 31, 2007. Enter promo code ILNY30 to score the deal.

Zipcar I Love NY

Yesterday Avis announced the addition of a new handheld booking tool that will allow customers to rent cars not just online, but also using any device with an Internet connection. Meaning your phone or PDA or whatever amalgam of the two you now carry. To access the service, navigate to Avis.com on your handheld.

Another Technology Time-Saving First From Avis: Book Your Rental Online Via Your Handheld Browser

The new discount rental car brand from Hertz, Simply Wheelz, launches today at the Orlando International Airport. Why develop a whole new brand, you might ask. The new company has many similarities to a discount carrier, in that it offers online reservations, car pick-up from self-service kiosks instead of the usual staffed counters and rates starting as low as $15/day and $94/week.

Customers book online and head to an automated kiosk to get their rental documentation once they arrive at the airport. The machine spits out the rental agreement after scanning the customer’s driver’s license and printed web reservation bar code. The next step? Heading to the car, where the keys await. There is a small staff onsite to help customers, but it’s largely a self-service operation.

Extra extra. Read all about it. Sidestep is now on Washingtonpost.com. Not in a news story, silly. Nope, Travelpost.com’s parent company has officially partnered with the WaPo to give readers real-time access to air, car, hotel and vacation package deals from over 600 airlines, 170,000 hotels and 30,000 car rental locations worldwide. Talk about global reach. You’ll find Sidestep’s search box online in the Washington Post travel section.

SideStep to Power Travel Search on washingtonpost.com

Ask George: My husband and I will be renting a car for 10 days this fall with a pick-up and drop off at Ft. Lauderdale. I am currently holding an online reservation with Thrifty, however I have been told that there is an additional $9.95 per day charge for an extra driver. Since my husband and I are covered under the same insurance policy on our two vehicles and we drive one another’s vehicles do we need to pay the extra driver charge for my husband to also be able to drive the rental vehicle?

Answer: It appears that Thrifty and also Dollar Rent a Car now charge extra driver fees even for married people, at least in some Florida locations. Whether you’ll pay the fee really depends on what state you’re renting in, according to Thrifty. Why have they changed their policy in Florida? Perhaps it’s too difficult to determine, absent a marriage license, if two people really are married. But more likely, it’s a way of making extra money, while still advertising an initial low rate. I notice that Hertz was offering a Family Pack Offer that waived the extra driver fee on certain rentals, and I wouldn’t be surprised if other rental car companies, at least from time to time, don’t waive the fee or include it in a package. That Hertz package includes a free tank of gas on a minimum 5-day rental of a full size four door and certain other more expensive rental classes, for rentals through October 31 at participating locations. You can find details in their special offers section at www.hertz.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.

Now here’s a pretty cool innovation from Mercedes-Benz: Search & Send, a new feature from the automaker that will allow drivers to send Google or Yahoo! maps from their computers to their cars’ navigational systems. Once in the car, drivers push a button and - presto chango - the directions and maps are downloaded for immediate use. They can also be saved for future road adventures. According to NewLaunches, the option is available in the Mercedes S Class Sedan and CL Class Coupe as of today and will be included in all 2008 C Class vehicles.

Instead of yawn-inducing tours that keep you safely separated from the real people, places and things in Los Angeles, Esotouric Bus Adventures takes tourists on avant guard, often literary-minded trips around the city. On Sept. 8, the 90-minute Hotel Horrors tour trolls passengers by downtown L.A.’s most notorious hotels (like the hotel where serial killer Richard Ramirez once bunked in). That same day, the Main Street Vice tour gleefully ferries passengers to “scenes of unforgettable debaucheries” for an education in L.A.’s history of crime, smut and passion. Nice. Other tours include the Real Black Dahlia, Raymond Chandler’s Los Angeles, John Fante: Dreams of Bunker Hill and Haunts of a Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski’s Los Angeles.