COMING AND GOING

First, CoGo and friends tried to board an uptown bus with sweaty dollar bills clutched in their hands. "You have to have Metro cards, " growled the driver.

Had he mentioned that using $2 in change was okay, we could have come up with that. Instead we trudged to the nearest subway station to buy Metro cards. We knew about the $7 "Fun Passes" that give all-day access to city buses and subways, but the sign on the information booth made no mention of them. When we asked the man behind the glass, he scowled and banged his pencil against the sign about long-term passes. He did deign to sell us pay-per- ride cards.

Once home, we asked New York City Transit spokesman Charles Seaton if day passes had been suspended. Nope. They're still a great deal but must be bought at machines in the subway station or at some neighborhood stores.

Mistake No. 2: Showing up at the Empire State Building without tickets. Buying in person, we waited an hour to buy tickets and another hour to ascend. (Order ahead at http://www.esbnyc.com/ .)

CoGo then headed to Rockefeller Center's new observation tower, Top of the Rock. No lines, no wait. Bumpkins no more.

TRAVEL TICKER

Wildfires in Southern California swept along the Los Angeles-Ventura county lines last week, burned out of control in Los Padres National Forest and caused evacuations from Ojai, an artists' enclave. For updates, check the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Web site, http://www.fire.ca.gov/ ; click on Fire Information . . . Silverware is back at American Airlines, in business and first-class cabins anyway, as the airline fluffs up premier service with other amenities like warm towels and better food . . . Small Luxury Hotels of the World is looking for 200 "mystery inspectors" to scrutinize hotels in exchange for two free nights (transportation not provided). Apply at http://www.slh.com./

BARGAIN OF THE WEEK

American has sale fares from Washington to Japan. Round-trip fare from Dulles to Osaka, for example, is $699 (plus $80 taxes); fare on other airlines starts at $988. Travel outbound to Osaka by Oct. 22 and return by Oct. 28. Slightly higher fares with different date restrictions are also available to Tokyo. Purchase no later than Sept. 26. Info: 800-433-7300, www.aa.com.

Reporting: Andrea Sachs, Cindy Loose.

Help feed CoGo. Send travel news tocogo@washpost.com.

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