Most of our senior travelers can remember when staying overnight at the posh Palmer House in Chicago cost $25 a night. Now, there’s a kennel at O’Hare International Airport that charges $100 for wealthy pets to spend the night.

The service includes pet walks, grooming and bathing. We can only guess that wine and WiFi are extra. The airport facility, called PetSafe, is provided by United Airlines, and there are also similar lodgings for pampered pets at airports in Houston TX and Newark NJ.

If the situation weren’t so deadly serious, we could have headlined this article with: Pistole Shoots Down Knives On Planes. Previously, Transportation Security Agency boss John Pistole had suggested that passengers who carried small knives should now be allowed to board aircraft with them.

Along with other potential weapons, they had been banned since the 2001 terrorist attacks. However, due to heavy objections from airline unions and government officials, Pistole has changed his mind about allowing small knives aboard.

To sum it up as one airline pilot expressed his anger: On that terrible September 11 day, terrorists needed only small knives to destroy two New York skyscrapers, crash into the Pentagon and murder more than 3,000 people!

According to Associated Press, several airports have come up with a novel way to help passengers. It involves a pilot program offering friendly dogs trained to snuggle and soothe people as the nervous humans wait for flights and try to endure other airport inconveniences that seem to get more stressful every day.

The service is called PUP: Pets Unstressing Passengers. On leashes held by trained volunteers, and wearing jackets identifying their tasks, the dogs wander through the passenger areas offering friendly paws, bellies and noses to pat.

The dogs are particularly popular with kids, who are often frightened, confused and impatient when being forced to wait for hours in busy, noisy airports. A friendly dog's gentle eyes, muzzle and wagging tail are perfect solutions to calming them down.

So far, PUP is available at airports in San Jose, Los Angeles and Miami, with more expected to offer the doggone good services soon. Considering the growing tensions in just about every airport from flight delays, security lines, ever increasing fare prices and other stresses, the friendly canines are welcome presences.  

Editorial opinion: We like dogs very much, but as cat lovers, we feel they are just as qualified to be airport therapists, and should also be enlisted to provide the same soothing services. We’d call them FRIENDS: Felines Really Into Easing Numbingly Disturbing Situations.

The British-based cruise line now joins others in honoring those who serve with financial incentives. When active-duty members of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard and Reserves book sailings, they can receive up to $250 in on-board spending credits.

That top amount is for cruises of over two weeks. For shorter sailings, the credit may be from $50 to $100. If you’re planning to sail on Cunard with your kids or grandkids who are currently in uniform, now is the time to take advantage of the special offer.