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(c) Elliott Publishing.

Parting Shot
Err Travel · March 7, 2000

As a travel safety expert, I find it nearly obligatory that I take a couple more shots at the Y2K computer bug issue while I still have time.

But what is there to say that hasn't already been said? As luck would have it (well, I am Irish), while sitting at my computer waiting to be gobsmacked with inspiration, I received the following email from Bruce Welford: I just finished reading your article on AOL. Very interesting. [Thanks. TR] Perhaps you can give me some advice. My family and I, along with a number of friends, are vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico during Christmas week. We return on January 1, 2000. I'm pretty comfortable that all will go well Y2K-wise. What do you think?

Well Bruce, don't be offended, but in a previous column, I noted that, short of some really compelling reason, you'd have to be some kind of nut case to even think about traveling during early January.

My opinion isn't based on a belief that there is real danger in traveling per se. Instead it's based on a notion that there will be an increased stress level among travelers during that period and that this increase in anxiety will trigger more people to do more nutty things.

Nevertheless, since you have cast your die, let me offer some advice. Dale Way, chairman of the special Y2K committee of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers warns that millennium computer glitches are most likely to affect database software where stored dates span this and the next century.

For instance, if you depart this month using a round-trip airline ticket, check into your hotel in Mexico, then check out to return in January, the reservation systems could get mixed up. You may be facing a bill for a 100 year stay in your hotel and then be told at the airport that you are 100 years late for your departure.

To avoid these kinds of "hiccups," make sure that you carry a paper airline ticket and a paper copy of your hotel reservation confirmation. If possible, try to pay for your hotel before the 1st rolls around to avoid any delay in checking out. And make sure you have sufficient cash to settle up your bills in case a verification of your credit cards shows that they expired in 1902.

The good news is that air transportation has received so much attention that having your airplane fall from the sky should be the least of your worries. In fact airports, though likely chaotic, may be the safest places to spend New Year's. Law enforcement agencies, emergency services, accident response teams, and the like will all be standing by at the world's airports.

You could really be in luck if you are returning to San Francisco Airport. Jane Garvey, the FAA's top honcho is scheduled to arrive shortly after midnight on January 1, after a cross-country flight from Washington's Ronald Regan National Airport via Dallas-Fort Worth. There are bound to be plenty of cops around that airport.

So go. Celebrate. Enjoy. The real surprise for you may come when you return home.

More about that next week.

Dr. Terry Riley is a psychologist and travel security authority. His column appears on Wednesdays. He is author of the popular book Travel Can Be Murder. Visit his site at http://www.appliedpsychology.com or e-mail him at terry@ticked.com.