These two comments are taken from the same post. Anyone else notice an inconsistency?

I flew a couple of times in the early days of the '91 Gulf War and security was much tighter than it had been. Keep in mind that there was little if any security at that time in US airports. My recollection is that the airlines were hit fairly hard by lost revenue.

This time around, it is hard to imagine how those airlines that have not yet filed for bankruptcy, such as AA, could survive another hit to passenger revenue. I hope that Shrub...uh, sorry......Mr.President George W. Bush is thinking about the effect a war would have on the economy.

LOL. Perhaps you are smarter than I.

I called Clinton's actions wimpy, but did not call him a name. There's a difference between describing an action or an attitude, versus calling someone a derogatory name directly.

Technically, you are correct but that is ratber subtle.
But you also state that "he is our leader and unless he gets impeached, I'm going to give him the respect I think he deserves". Did the same apply to Clinton? Nixon?

Personally, I think respecting someone just because he happens to be president is risky. Not all president's deserve respect. It must be earned.

I agree with Richard. Give the President the proper respect. After all, you cried and whined when the great fornicator was President, claiming that the office demanded respect notwithstanding your personal opinion of the current occupant.

Well, at least you folks are consistent --at being inconsistent.

BTW, you never heard me say "the office demanded respect notwithstanding......". I believe respect is earned, not a trapping that goes with being elected.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories...date=1/28/2003

I hope the link works.

The article might not represent certain issues (i.e. flight cancellations, increased security, etc.) that travelers would currently encounter, and it certainly does not represent all views that Europeans have regarding U.S. citizens, but it gives a good idea of some problems one could expect abroad, possibly because of recent U.S. international policies.

We lived in Europe for two years during the height of the Vietnam war (1972-74). While I was never yelled at or treated inappropriately, I did often feel compelled to explain that not all Americans (probably even only a minority) supported the war. The Swedish newspapers did portray a quite negative image of the US, and although I was admantly anti-war, I tired of the constant need to explain my position. But in the end, the perspective was very enlightening. I remember talking with a Swedish friend, who had just returned from a year in the US, about the bias of the Swedish newspapers. He told me he felt the same way about the US papers when he was here. When we returned, I was much more aware of bias in our news reports.

Jeez, look what I started. I wasn't trying to start a political debate. I was interested in how my flights between Europe and the USA will be affected, or if they will occur at all. It sounds like awards and upgrades will be easier to come by, but still there. Great.

Who says I was talking about THE pRESIDENT anyway?

-alan in seattle

According to a NYT article today, trans-Atlantic passenger loads dropped 40% during the '91 Gulf War.

Advance bookings this year are apparently lower in anticipation of a war with Iraq.

War time brings the savvy travelers out in force. There is no better time to visit a region than when Americans are afraid to visit. Now is the time to visit the middle east. I would stay out of Iraq and perhaps Kuwait, but the rest of the Middle East is open for business and they are extremely welcoming at this time.

Dubai and Amman would be my first two choices. Great deals and great people and no hordes of whining tourists!

How do things change if we're at war?

1) Iraq is liberated

2) It's really cheap to fly to London for the weekend.

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ChicagoBound - formerly PremEx2000 (wrong year, wrong status!)

staying on topic -

last time (91) on a CX flight from LAX to HKG- I boarded to find there was only one other passenger (747-400) - and was simply offered any seat I like on the entire plane. Unfortunatly - I think you'll see more of the same - me.... I plan to travel.

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"Dance as if no one's watching, Sing as if no one's listening and live live everyday as if it were your last"

I know a # of people who are holding off on booking international travel until they see what happens w/ the war. Of course the downside to that is that the airlines are already in a precarious mode financially; a large fall-off of travel will not help, and the zillion miles in our accounts could go by the wayside.

I agree that the flight fares will most likely go down, which means some cheap quick trips overseas. My only complaint is that, United at least, is upping the fare levels to upgrade, whether using miles or system-wide certificates so those cheap fares won't qualify. For those east coast-based, that's probably not as big a deal as it is for those of us west coast-based. 11 hours is a long time in coach.

I intend to keep on traveling, whether domestic or international (obviously avoiding any hot spots int'lly) & taking normal precautions.

PS - Political views shouldn't be a part of this thread or forum.

Names for Pres. Bush???? I agree with foreign representative from Canada!

I condemn Bush with names I dare not say in a forum so civil as this.