Bon Voyage?! Five Reasons Travelers Should Be Glad 2007 Is Nearly Behind Us

RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- As a leading travel insurance provider, Access America is on the front lines when things go wrong for U.S. travelers. Looking back on the year in travel, Mother Nature once again made her presence known but it may have been the U.S. government that wreaked the most havoc on Americans' travel plans.

    Here's a look at the top five "worst travel moments" of 2007:

    1. New passport rules generate backlog, tourism slump
       As of October 1, all persons traveling between the United States and
       Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean region are required to
       present a passport. Announced in January, the result has been a massive
       back-log in passport applications and a major slump in Caribbean
       tourism. And there's no end in sight - sometime next year the rules
       will be further expanded to require most US citizens entering the
       country by any means to carry a passport.

    2. Airlines face-off against fierce weather
       First, a Valentine's Day snowstorm left airline passengers stranded on
       runways at John F. Kennedy International Airport for hours, then in
       April a record-setting nor'easter moved across the East Coast
       canceling hundreds of flights and causing flooding, power outages,
       massive snow-fall and even tornadoes in areas from South Carolina to
       Maine.

    3. A triple-threat in Britain
       At the end of June, Britain raised its terror alert to "critical" - the
       highest possible level - after foiling three car bomb attempts in less
       than a week. First, two Mercedes containing gasoline, gas cylinders and
       nails were found in central London. Days later, a burning Jeep Cherokee
       loaded with gas cylinders crashed into the doors of a Glasgow Airport
       passenger terminal. No one was hurt, but the ensuing increase in
       security added extra delays to air travel to and from Britain for
       weeks.

    4. A Hurricane season named "Dean"
       In August, 15 countries felt the effects of Hurricane Dean as its path
       through the Caribbean Sea claimed 42 lives. Thousands of frightened
       tourists lined up for hours to flee Mexico's Caribbean resorts. Mexico
       aimed to evacuate nearly 50,000 people in total. Hurricane Dean
       ultimately became the third most intense Atlantic hurricane ever to
       make landfall.

    5. Wildfires at home and abroad
       California wildfires destroyed more than 800 square miles of land and
       displaced more than 50,000 people in October. Just a few months before
       in Greece's Peloponnesus, massive wildfires forced tour operators to
       shut down scores of hotels and travel facilities in the area
       surrounding ancient Olympia.

About Access America:

Access America provides travel insurance and assistance to millions of travelers each year and is a division and service mark of World Access Service Corp. A global leader in travel insurance and emergency assistance, Access America uses cutting-edge technology to deliver customized solutions to enhance value for resorts, airlines, travel agents, credit card companies and more. World Access is a company of the Mondial Assistance Group and part of the Allianz family.