Baggage & Airlines

Airlines and baggage do not sound like an ideal couple. Here's a very nice post which details what to do in case you leave something on an airplane.

CCF settlement

A lot of people have been getting postal mails from this group called CCF Settlement. It looked like a sure scam to me, since it seemed like free money for nothing in return. After some extensive googling and cross verifying between various webpages, I came to the conclusion that IT IS NOT A SCAM. The website for this is http://www.ccfsettlement.com. In any case, all they need from you is your address, which they already have in case you received a postal mail and the estimated number of days you spent outside the US between 1996 and 2006. So, you don't have much to lose and possibly atleast $25 to make. They have 3 options, Refund Option 1 for a flat $25, which is for people who have traveled abroad for less than 1 week, and this seems like the best option. Refund Option 2 is where you declare the number of days you traveled, where you could make more, but finally might be less than $25. Refund Option 3 is for corporate travelers, who have official documents to support their claims. In any case, for options 2 and 3, your claims can be audited, while option 1 seems like the safest.
Some links discussing this issue are:
Arizona Tribune
LA Times
Hattiesburg American
The last link has some nice tips to be aware of potential scams riding on this legitimate law suit.

Simple laws that could get you into trouble

Two issues are highlighted in this post, which have different laws in different states, so this is potentially useful for people doing interstate travel.
1. Seat belt law:
This link provides seat belt laws, and this link provides information about seat belt laws for children.
2. Cell phone use while driving:
This link summarizes the various state laws for cell phone use while driving.

Visa Free Transit Facility at Singapore

Singapore offers a 96-hour Visa Free Transit Facility for PRC and Indian nationals. What this means is that subject to a few conditions, you can get into Singapore without having to get a visitor visa. The conditions are:
1. Possess a valid onward air ticket within 96 hours
2. (a) Possess a valid visa issued by Australia, Canada, UK, USA, Japan, New Zealand, Germany or Switzerland
OR
2. (b) Possess a Single Entry Visa to any of the above countries and you are on the return leg of your journey back home.

Check this link for more info:
http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/home/getting_here/visa_free_transit.html