The Travel Promotion Act would see the introduction of a $10 fee charged to tourists, including UK visitors, to sign up to a website pre-registration service currently required from all visa waiver countries.

Funds raised from the charges would be used to promote the US abroad and to boost tourism numbers.

Want to visit the home of the free? As long as you can stump up an additional $10…

The European Commission’s Ambassador to Washington, John Bruton, launched a scathing attack on the bill, saying that only ‘Alice in Wonderland’ could a penalty been seen as promoting the activity which it is imposed.

Democrats Representative, William Delahunt, a supporter of the bill, said the EU was getting too worked up over a nominal fee.

However the EU see it as yet another potential hassle that the US wants to burden travellers with.  So far, many Europeans have had the privilege of visa-free travel to the states.

The current visa waiver program involves travellers to log onto a website and submit personal and passport details at least 72 hours prior to travel, and must renew their details once every 72 years.

Standard & Poor’s made a statement that the downgrading of debt for the companies reflects an anticipated major losses and operating cash flow that is negative due to the record high price of fuel. Philip Baggaley, a credit analyst of Standard & Poor’s, said that they anticipate AMR to report having a major loss for this year, which they predict may be more than 2 billion dollars before gains on asset sales and asset write-downs are taken into consideration, and all of this is due to the very high price of fuel.

Positives that Standard & Poor’s pointed out are that they have a satisfactory liquidity of near-term with 5.1 billion dollars from unrestricted short-term investments and cash as of June 30th, as well as substantial positions in the United States’ domestic, Latin American, and trans-Atlantic markets, with a small presence also in the Pacific market. AMR has reported a 1.45 billion net loss for the 2nd quarter of the year. That loss included 55 million dollars of severance costs to employees and 1.1 billion dollars for the write-down of their Embraer RJ-135 and MD80 fleets.

Get more information on American Airlines at: www.aa.com

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, the Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates, said that they have made a commitment to sustainably and responsibly act in the interest of their customers, the environment, their business, and the more than 100 destinations they serve around the world. Their commitment to the environment started way before it was thought of as fashionable, he continued, which began in 1997 when they sponsored the development of Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve. He also pointed out that they are putting billions into new aircrafts that demonstrate a leadership in the most efficient fleet for fuel and emissions possible for the environment. Their A380s are the most eco-efficient aircrafts commercially in the world, he added, and the aim of Emvironment is to make their organization as sustainable as they can.

Go to www.emirates.com to learn more.

The shares of Moneysupermarket, a website operator in price comparisons, has jumped up after the firm announced that they had received an offer to a takeover. Moneysupermarket said that the unsolicited bid, that they haven’t identified, was rejected by Simon Nixon, the Chief Executive Officer and majority shareholder of the company. The shares of the company jumped by almost 50 percent directly following the announcement, and earlier during the session, the stake had shot up more than 10 percent. Moneysupermarket provides their services under their flagship brands of travelsupermarket.com and moneysupermarket.com, which allows their customers to compare the prices of holiday packages, credit cards, loans, and mortgages.

Earlier in July, the company’s shares dropped by more than 32 percent, following their announcement of a potential revenue blow of 7 million pounds because of First Plus, one of the largest loan providers in Britain, suspending new business. Their stock didn’t recover from that slump. The company said that the firm’s board noted the recent move in their share price and confirmed that an initial approach about a potential offer for Moneysupermarket was made to Simon Nixon, as he holds 54 percent of the company’s shares. The unsolicited offer didn’t have any indicative terms for an offer and Mr. Nixon has rejected it, the company said.

Moneysupermarket has watched the impact on their mortgage and loans division get worse during the year while lenders have tightened their criteria for loans. However, Moneysupermarket has enjoyed a saving and credit card growth. The Flintshire, North Wales-based company says that their money arm revenues, comprising of over half the turnover of the group, will deliver a growth of high single digits in comparison to last year during the same time.

Find out more about Moneysupermarket by going to www.moneysupermarket.com

British Airways has been insistent that they have no plans of operating empty aircrafts so that they can hold onto their valuable slots at the London Heathrow Airport. British Airways’ present commitment came after Tim Bye, the Deputy Chief Executive of bmi, made an upsetting mistake. He appeared to positively and openly express that his carrier has made the decision to fly empty planes in an attempt to safeguard their slots. The statement resulted in serious exclamation from a lot of politicians and environmental groups, demanding that the spokesman correct his statement. However, the spokesperson later insisted that all of the comments he made meant something else and were interpreted and misunderstood wrongly.

Richard Tams from British Airways comment on the incident, recently stating the the flagship airline of Britain will definitely arrange to cancel flights if there is a necessity to do so due to demand dropping, even if this means that they will lose their most coveted and highly priced slots at the airport. The suspension will be distributed over both Gatwick Airport and Heathrow Airport, he continued, and they will only operate on a number of frequencies. The cuts that they make will be sensible, and they will not compromise the schedules of their business travelers, he said further. He also added that they won’t be able to take capacity out unless they cut flights, but they are not going to fly empty aircrafts. Willie Wash, the Chief Executive of British Airways stated last week that they have made the decision to cut back on a number of their winter routes that they foresee will account for losses due to the rising price of fuel.

Take a look at www.britishairways.com to get more information or make a booking with the airline.

Air France was particularly pointed out by the editors, because one of their senior captains was unwilling to let a noticeably disabled passenger onto a flight. Michelle Daly, a French government advisor, was boarding a Paris to London flight to be a participant in a conference involving disabilities. However, her plans were soon canceled when the aircraft’s captain casted doubt that she was in fact disabled. Daly explained that she couldn’t walk by herself, and after the captain heard this, he requested that she leave the plane, saying that she posed a risk of health and safety to all of the passengers on the aircraft. Air France stood by their captain’s decision, arguing that for her to fly on the plane in question was not safe, because it wasn’t equipped for handling disabled passengers. It was fortunate for Daly that British Airways was willing to fly her to London later that afternoon.

Find out more about Air France at: www.airfrance.com