Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told a Senate panel on Wednesday that he's been urging airlines against charging more for popular seats, but that he can't force them to do what he wants.

At a transportation committee hearing on tax policy, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., asked whether LaHood could limit fees such as those charging for a window or aisle seat. Lautenberg worried that soon airlines would charge for using the restroom.

"They don't yet charge a breath fee, but who knows," Lautenberg said to laughter.

Phew! My hometown airport — Los Angeles International Airport — will begin offering free Wi-Fi service beginning as early as this summer.

LAX was ranked the "most social" of all airports worldwide recently based on the number of check-ins to Facebook and other services, but lacked free Internet. On Tuesday, though, it was confirmed via a press release that the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners approved a $663,333 two-year agreement with Advanced Wireless Group LLC to provide free Wi-Fi service to travelers.

But it comes with a slight catch. Passengers will be able to use basic Wi-Fi services for free on sessions lasting up to 45 minutes. Uninterrupted service after that grace period will still come at a yet undetermined price for a 24 hour session.

I'll take it, though.

Credit cards and A.T.M.’s may have eased the challenge of spending and exchanging money on a trip abroad, but that doesn’t mean we don’t occasionally find ourselves in a foreign country, fuming in front of machines that have just rejected our plastic cards. Fortunately, American banks have recently begun issuing credit cards that are more widely accepted around the world. Here are some tips on managing your cards and cash based on my recent trip to Japan and Hong Kong.

Get A Credit Card With a Chip

Many globe-trotting travelers have discovered that American credit cards, with their outdated magnetic stripes, are not always accepted now that most of the world has shifted to cards that use a smart chip instead. While merchants in Asia, Europe and elsewhere are supposed to be able to swipe our vintage plastic, many automated kiosks can’t do that, which can be a problem at train stations and subways.

The future has finally arrived — or at least the first wave of progress. Just before I left on my Asia trip, I got a FlexPerks Visa card from U.S. Bank that has a chip and a magnetic stripe, one of a growing number of American credit cards that now offer a “chip and signature” option. This isn’t entirely a solution because the global standard is “chip and PIN” technology, meaning you enter a PIN, or security code, after a payment terminal reads the card’s chip.

My travels took me to Ireland in May and while in Dublin, I stayed at the Conrad Dublin Hotel , part of the Hilton brand of properties.

It's location is ideal in the city. It's across from the National Concert Hall and one block away from St. Stephen's Green. The hotel offers 191 guest rooms and suites and caters to the business traveler . Check-in isn't until 3:00 p.m., but after only an hour wait in the lobby at 8:30 a.m., my room was ready.

Room: I booked a "Classic Twin" room as I was traveling with a companion and redeemed Hilton HHonors points for my stay, though noticed at booking the room went for 299 Euro per night.

As with most European hotels, the room was small, but well appointed with two beds — more full size than twin — a work desk complete with universal power ports, flat screen television, minibar, clock radio with MP3 connection, closet, safe and an iron and ironing board. The bed was very comfortable with high quality sheets and an extra thick duvet. My view looked across to an adjacent building and one level of the roof, so it wasn't anything special. Wi-Fi is available for 5 Euro per 24 hours, though I had free access as a top-tier Diamond member of Hilton's loyalty program.

Hawaiian Airlines today launched the only daily nonstop service from New York's John F. Kennedy Airport to Honolulu.

Festivities celebrating the service began Monday at Honolulu International Airport, where the flight headed for JFK departed on-time and received a water cannon salute on taxi out to the runway. It's about a 10-hour flight in each direction. And the airline is flying brand new, twin-aisle Airbus A330-200 aircraft on the route with 18 first class seats and 276 in economy.

Hawaiian also today began placing its airline code on select JetBlue flights in a codesharing agreement that will allow passengers from both airlines to make seamless connections at JFK. Reciprocal frequent flyer benefits will also allow members to earn and redeem points or miles for travel on either airline.

Travel apps for smartphones have made travel infinitely easier and more efficient for many road warriors . Now there's one to help you fight back against the Transportation Security Administrationif you feel you've been unfairly singled out for additional screening at an airport checkpoint.

The free FlyRights app allows fliers who feel they have been profiled based on race, religion, gender, ethnicity, nationality or disability to send their grievance in real time to the TSA via an iPhone or Android device. The passenger simply answers a few questions, hits send and voila, the complaint is sent directly to the agency. It also generates an automatic Tweet and provides information on screening policies and security procedures.

FlyRights, which was released on April 30 by the Sikh Coalition , was originally conceived by a group of Sikh entrepreneurs. They got fed up with being searched constantly when going through airports. Sikh travelers are subjected to secondary screening 100 percent of the time at some airports, according to a FlyRights press release . This includes hand wand-scanning, explosive trace detection swabbing, and sometimes even removing turbans.

Here's something that the big airlines really wish we wouldn’t discuss right now, with planes flying full, fares rising, fuel prices stabilizing and customers generally resigned to the air travel system:

Some domestic airlines are weighing the idea of discouraging passengers from lugging oversize carry-on bags onto planes by imposing a $25 charge, at the gate, on bags that exceed the posted size limits. Alaska Airlines , the No. 7 carrier in domestic market share, is already quietly doing just that, in fact.

Spirit Airlines initiated a major new approach to carry-on bags almost two years ago when it began charging passengers $45 to stash carry-ons in overhead bins. Spirit plans to raise that fee at the gate this fall to $100 per bag. But Spirit’s success in discouraging carry-ons has evidently resonated with the bigger airlines, at least on the subject of passengers who now gate-check oversize bags free.

Attending a wine tasting event while traveling just got a little bit easier.

Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, part of Starwood , launched a new "Sheraton Social Hour" program offering a curated menu of premium wines and weekly tasting events at its hotels around the world.

"We wanted to truly elevate the wine tasting experience for our guests," says Hoyt Harper, global brand leader for Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, in a press release . "We worked with some of the most renowned names in the wine industry for more than a year so our guests can easily savor some of the most highly rated wines in the world during their stay."

San Francisco International Airport is my favorite airport in the United States. In this second installment of "Delayed," I'll take you through some of my favorite ways to kill time at SFO when delays or cancellations find you with extra time.

The airport celebrated its 85th anniversary in May and unlike some airports of the same age, SFO is a modern, clean and, if I dare say, an enjoyable place to traverse as a road warrior . It's a city within itself and offers just about every convenience to keep you occupied, avoiding the need to sit for hours at the gate.

The airport's website offers an interactive terminal map that allows you to easily locate specific services, eateries, amenities and activities. And it can be accessed on your device via free Wi-Fi available in each terminal.

Here are my suggestions on how to avoid staring at your flight's "Delayed" notification on the flight departure monitors.

Beginning today, passengers flying in premium cabins on international flights with United Airlines will experience upgraded dining options.

United's new high quality, restaurant-style meals will be available in their first class cabins, dubbed "United Global First" and in business class, "United BusinessFirst."

"The changes come after many months of input from customers and our Congress of Chefs, as well as taste-testing sessions," says Sandra Pineau-Boddison, vice president of food services for United in a press release . "Our goal is to deliver a better and more consistent experience for our customers, while offering greater variety and choice."

The new meals include selections of beef, chicken, fish, vegetarian-style pastas and regional selections on select flights.