TRAVEL LOG

Photo bag may be allowed

You can now take a bag of photographic equipment, besides the usual limit of one carry-on and one personal item (such as a purse or briefcase), through airport security checkpoints, under a rule change issued Nov. 19 by the Transportation Security Administration.

But whether you’ll be able to get the photo bag on the plane is another matter. The rule, posted on www.tsatraveltips.us under “Air Travel,” says “air carriers may or may not allow the additional carry-on item on their aircraft” and urges that travelers ask the airline.

As of the Travel section’s deadline Tuesday, for instance, American, Delta and Southwest said they hadn’t changed their “one plus one” carry-on policy; United said it would allow the photo bag.

TSA representatives said the department revised its rules partly because screening equipment installed since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks can damage film in checked bags.

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Four Seasons

resort heads

for the hills

Four Seasons is hitting the snow this month, with the opening Dec. 18 of the Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole in Wyoming.

Billed as the chain’s first mountain resort, the 124-room hotel sits slope-side in Teton Village, with ski-in, ski-out access. It will have three restaurants, a spa with 16 treatment rooms, a fitness center with yoga and Pilates classes and a year-round heated outdoor swimming pool.

Besides the concierge desk, the hotel will have a “ski concierge.”

Winter room rates start at $475 a night; for $2,750, you can book a three-bedroom suite. Spring and fall rates start at $275. (307) 732-5000, www.fourseasons.com/jacksonhole.

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Blizzard of

openings in

ski country

Vail, Colo.

The powder is already deep on Vail’s double-diamond run Prima and at many other Western ski resorts, permitting skiers and snowboarders to get going earlier this season.

Most resorts opened early in Utah, which led the nation with more than 100 inches of snow by Thanksgiving. Powderhorn in western Colorado opened for the Thanksgiving weekend for the first time in more than 20 years.

“We are looking at the best early season conditions I can remember, possibly the best ever,” said Jerry Blann, president of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

Bookings in the West are looking strong too. Frank Johnson, president of the Vail Valley Chamber and Tourism Bureau, said reservations are running up to 30% ahead of last year.

Associated Press

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Nairobi hotels threatened

The State Department last week said it received anonymous terrorist threats against American and Western interests in downtown Nairobi, Kenya, notably the Stanley and Hilton hotels. Its public announcement was effective through Jan. 9. Since Sept. 25 the department has urged Americans to defer nonessential travel to Kenya. For updates, visit www.travel.state.gov.

Compiled by Jane Engle