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A survey of Local Education Authorities (LEAs) discovered 285 schools regularly fingerprint pupils and store their biometric details on record, adding the real figure could be higher.

Despite this, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has not issued any guidance on when and how biometric data should be collected and stored.

Only a quarter of LEAs have any guidance available and in the vast majority of cases do not know if parental consent was given Cheap Airplane Tickets to collect fingerprints.

Lib Dem education spokeswoman Sarah Teather said: "These figures confirm an extremely worrying situation where schools are fingerprinting pupils without any guidance on whether it is legal to do so.

"Insecure school computers holding precious unique personal information are a gift to identity thieves."

Schools in Alan Johnson's Hull constituency, as well as John Prescott's neighbouring seat and that of former education minister Cheap Airplane Tickets David Miliband, have all confirmed pupil fingerprinting.

"This is happening right under Alan Johnson's nose and he still refuses to act," Ms Teather said.

"An awful lot of people are washing their hands of responsibility while this practice spreads unregulated."

The DfES countered it is for individual schools to decide if they collect biometric data, but confirmed it would Cheap Airplane Tickets shortly be issuing guidance to all schools on best practice when taking and storing such details.

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This essentially becomes an extended holiday period," DIA spokesman Steve Snyder said. "In the last couple years, it's really been consistently heavy traffic from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The demand we normally see over Christmas and Thanksgiving we see over the entire summer."

With planes already hitting record occupancy levels, airlines will have little room to accommodate passengers on canceled flights. And some observers fear staffing issues and labor strife could lead to Cheap Airplane Tickets more delays.

Overall, though, flying this summer can be relatively inexpensive vs. driving, especially with gas prices over the $3 mark. Airlines have raised fares numerous times over the past year. But they've also been adding capacity, and some experts say they're having to keep fares in check this summer despite what's expected to be record demand.

Denver is benefitting from a solid mix of discount service from carriers such as Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Ted, an arm of United Airlines. Other low-cost carriers such as JetBlue and Cheap Airplane Tickets AirTran also fly into Denver, although on a limited basis.

"Denver is one of the few places with such a concentration of low-cost carriers," said Ron Kuhlmann, an airline analyst with Unisys R2A in Oakland, Calif.. "This may be the future in terms of where the industry is going, where a lot of the (low-cost carriers) for the first time are in competition with each other."

Heavyweight United also has its second-largest hub at DIA and has said it will respond "agressively" to competition here.

The key to finding low fares this summer is to be flexible. Aside from traveling on non-peak days during the middle of the week, travelers often can find lower fares if they fly to airports near major cities.

A flight to Cincinnati in mid-June, Cheap Airplane Tickets for example, will cost you $489, according to a search on Bestfares.com. But the fare drops to just $158 if you fly into Dayton, Ohio, which is just over 60 miles from Cincinnati.

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Travelers choosing to fly Qantas may pay an extra $22 as the national carrier decides to increase domestic fares.

The price increase adds $12 to a return economy Sydney-Melbourne or Melbourne-Brisbane trip, and an extra $22 for trips to and from Perth while discount deals for Melbourne to Canberra, Adelaide and Hobart remain unchanged.

Qantas spokesman Lloyd Quartermaine said that industry cost pressures are to blame for the rise in fare prices and confirmed Cheap Airplane Tickets that oil prices were not a contributing factor for the rise.

"From time to time we look at fares and have a periodical review," said Quartermaine.

"It's in line with general price movements but it is not related to the price of fuel." The price rise comes after economy and business fares have leaped up three per cent which is predicted to add around $20 million a year to Qantas. This increase in the price for domestic airfares has come about despite Qantas posting a predicted profit of $1.23 billion. It has refused to reveal how much money the price increase would contribute to its Cheap Airplane Tickets overall profits.

The rise comes just months before budget airline Tiger Airways takes flight in Australia to launch an anticipated price war with Qantas budget offshoot airline Jetstar. Tiger, 49-per-cent owned by Singapore Airlines, has vowed to cut fares on domestic routes.

Peter Harbison chairman Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation believes that Qantas would reap at least $20 million a Cheap Airplane Tickets year more from the price rise and said that this was their last scratch before Tiger comes into the market.

Cheap Airplane Tickets

SHANGHAI -- Uniworld Grand River Cruises promised this: "An evening at the Beijing Opera."

Here's what it was: A performance of the Beijing Opera at the lovely Liyuan Theatre, with a big cast -- I counted 14 people, including tumblers -- in full makeup and costume, large traditional orchestra, effective backdrops and simultaneous English translations flashed on electronic boards (some hilarious, but never mind that), plus free tea and cookies cheap airplane tickets.

Viking River Cruises promised this: "A wonderful performance of the Peking Opera."

Here's what it was: Three performers (also in full makeup and costume) from the Peking Opera of China on a makeshift stage set up in a hotel meeting room, a small traditional orchestra, no translations, no tea, no cookies.

I know. I saw them both cheap airplane tickets proving what you get, even from quality tour companies, isn't always what you wish for.

With Beijing literally building toward its 2008 Summer Olympics -- 100 hotels, we're told, are being added to the 600 already here -- this seemed a good time to take a look at a couple of options for touring China.

Our method: Back-to-back tours offered by two well-known, well-regarded companies -- Viking, renowned for its European cheap airplane tickets river cruises; and Uniworld, sister to London-based Trafalgar, the venerable coach-tour provider.

(There are dozens more companies to choose from. Two was our limit. We have a budget.)

Now, there are other ways to see China than on packaged, fully escorted tours. While the tours generally stick to the basic crowd-pleasing destinations, it's a huge country: Lonely Planet's China cheap airplane tickets guidebook has nearly 800 pages on places to visit, and only about 200 of those pages deal with beaten-track Beijing, Xian and Shanghai.

Moreover, in today's less-restrictive China, experienced and innovative travelers can do most of it on their own. Even language and signage aren't the barriers they were: Increasingly, signs are readable to Westerners and, especially in Beijing and Shanghai, there's no shortage of young people eager to speak with you in English. Many, of course, will be trying to sell you something you may not want (Rolex knockoffs, bad art, in-room massages) cheap airplane tickets, but, hey . . .

The reality remains, however, that when we're dealing with China, there's something both comforting and efficient in cheap airplane tickets leaving the planning and pacing to experts.

"If it's your first time here," said veteran traveler Susan Eisele of Casa Grande, Ariz., wearing a Viking name cheap airplane tickets tag at the Great Wall, "that's what you should do."