• Average gas prices nationwide: $1.97 regular, up 47 cents over last year, says AAA. Hotels: up 5.7 percent on average. Car rentals: down 2.7 percent.
TRAIN PASSENGERS:
• You must book in advance for nearly all trains in the Northeast corridor and along the California coast when traveling Tuesday through next Monday.
• Bring photo identification: The Transportation Security Administration this month began requiring random ID checks on trains.
• Travel light: Amtrak has begun to enforce its limit of two bags plus a personal item, like a purse or laptop.
SHOP OPS
Purse Strings
Three young, well-dressed women approached CoGo on Paris's Champs-Elysees recently, asking for help "buying wallets." Smelling a scam, CoGo demurred, only to encounter another supplicant on the next block. Parisian pals later clued us in: Louis Vuitton rations the merchandise at its Champs-Elysees mother store, and desperate shoppers are begging others to front for them. CoGo chose not to get involved, although it seems like a harmless way to help those with more money than sense.
TRAVEL TICKER
Tickets for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, are on sale at www.cosport.com. CoSport is the official ticket sales agent for the Olympic committee . . . The VIP crowds at the Clinton Presidential Center and Park should be gone by tomorrow, and any adult visiting Little Rock can tour for $7. (Children ages 6 to 17 pay $3; active military and small kids are free.) Guided tours are available with two weeks' notice. Details: 501-370-8000, www.clintonpresidentialcenter.com.
BARGAIN OF THE WEEK
Jolly Good Deal
Buy an economy round-trip ticket on British Airways to Europe and get two nights' free lodging in London. Details: What's the Deal?, Page P3.
Reporting: Cindy Loose, Gayle Keck.
Help feed CoGo. Send travel news, road reports and juicy tattles to:
cogo@washpost.com. By fax: 202-912-3609. By mail: CoGo, Washington Post Travel Section, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.
