TRAVEL LOG

For sale: tickets on Ted

“A laid-back style of fun”? That’s not likely the first thing that comes to mind when you think of an airline. But that’s what United says Ted, its new low-cost carrier, will offer, with sitcom TV, music videos and Ted toys for sale. The move follows Delta’s debut of Song, another low-cost carrier.

Tickets went on sale last week for United’s Denver-based start-up, which will begin flying in February. By April, it expects to have 106 daily flights, most from Denver to Ontario, Calif.; Reno; Phoenix; New Orleans; and three Florida cities. It also will fly to Las Vegas from Los Angeles and San Francisco, and between San Francisco and Phoenix. (800) 241-6522, www.flyted.com.

One-way L.A.-Vegas fares will start at $59 for nonrefundable, advance-purchase tickets or $193 for walk-ups.

Other carrier news:

* Southwest on Dec. 31 will stop giving double frequent-flier credits for bookings on its Web site, www.southwest.com. Instead, passengers will get one extra Rapid Rewards credit per round trip for online bookings.

* JetBlue will end its daily service to Atlanta from Long Beach and Oakland on Dec. 4. On Dec. 16, it is to launch twice-daily Long Beach-Boston service.

*

Drive-by viewing of history

Trains, cars, trucks and buses drive “America on the Move,” which opened Saturday as the largest-ever exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

The vehicles are among more than 300 items in the 26,000-square-foot permanent display, which traces the history of U.S. transportation. California powers the beginning and end, from the 1876 “Jupiter,” a narrow-gauge locomotive from Santa Cruz, to the final “Going Global” section, focused on Los Angeles’ pivotal role in immigration and trade.

Admission is free. Open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. (202) 357-2700, www.americanhistory.si.edu.

*

Restaurant, hotel earn diamonds

California adds two stars to the five-diamond firmament in AAA’s 2004 ratings of hotels and restaurants, issued last week. With the Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena and Gary Danko, the New American-New French restaurant in San Francisco, California has 20 establishments in AAA’s top category -- the most of any state.

Two Ritzes in Florida, one at Lake Las Vegas, Nev., and the Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta are new five-diamonds.

-- Compiled by

Jane Engle