A roundup of news you can use...

Posted by: Dean Foust on January 07

There was a bit of news and unveiling of new services over the past month that would be of interest to business travelers. I’m going to periodically post memos with a hodge-podge of items of interest.

Avis recently launched a new Internet-based service that allows you to map out all of the places you need to be on a trip, download all of the destinations onto a secure digital (SD) memory card – the same cards that are used in digital cameras and such. Then, when you rent a car from Avis, and also rent the company’s portable GPS navigation system (called Where2), you pop the memory card into the GPS and it automatically maps out directions to everywhere you need to do. Click here for a story from Travel Weekly, and here for the page on the Avis web site providing more information.

British Airways will announce details this week on its plans for a new, separately branded transatlantic airline serving the U.S. from cities outside the U.K., writes Travel Weekly. The new carrier—designed to cater to business travelers—would fly from several European locales to an East Coast U.S. city. Travel Weekly is betting its New York if BA can get the needed slots at JFK. The rumored European cities include…

...Brussels, Paris, Milan, Rome and Frankfurt. The planes would likely be 757s with two or three classes, including a business class with lie-flat seats. British Airways management has previously indicated it plans to start the service by summer or fall of 2008. I'll post more information when it's released.

USA TODAY reports that London Heathrow is lifting its one-bag limit on carry-on items. Travelers will be allowed two—count ‘em, two—carry on bags at Heathrow and 21 other U.K. airports, including London Stansted and the Edinburgh and Glasgow airports in Scotland. The one-bag rule will remain for most passengers at London Gatwick, but those using the South Terminal can bring aboard two bags. The Scotsman and The Times newspapers provide more details.

Not sure if this is matters to the business traveler – most of whom seem to carry a single bag they can carry onto the plane – but Southwest Airlines announced that as of Jan. 29, passengers may check only two bags for free instead of three. Checking a third bag will cost $25, and each bag after that will be $50. Click here for details on Southwest's revised policy.

Southwest also recently posted a video on its web site on "What Not to Pack," a play on TLC's What Not to Wear. Tip of the cap to the Dallas Morning News for pointing out this video on its airline blog. Here's the video itself...