JOTTINGS IN A JOURNAL VEGAS TAKES A GAMBLE, GETS BIG RETURNS.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

A flurry of new hotels and some lavish entertainment options created boom times in Las Vegas last year. The city upped its visitors' total to a record 33.8 million in 1999, a 10.5 percent increase over 1998's visitor total, according to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reports.

It was the area's biggest leap since 1994.

The number of hotel and motel rooms grew by 10 percent over 1998, to 120,294. Average citywide occupancy was 88 percent last year, compared to 85.8 percent for the year before, the tourist agency says.

Outbreak! Cruising flu-free in summer

Will this summer bring another flu season aboard Alaskan cruises?

It's too early to know if influenza will again become a problem aboard Inside Passage ships, but it is a topic that passengers should consider and discuss with their doctors, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Alaskan cruise season runs mid-May to mid-September, and many people book their cruises early in the year. During the past two cruise seasons, there have been outbreaks of flu that matched strains from the prior winter.

The Alaska flu report can be heard by calling the CDC hotline at [phone]. (Push 2 to get the recorded topical message, 4 to receive information on reported outbreaks, 4 again for information on influenza A in Alaska.) The full CDC report with recommendations also can be found on the CDC Web site at www.cdc.gov/travel/june99.htm

Swallows return to Capistrano

The old bells of Mission San Juan Capistrano will be rung just after daybreak Saturday and March 19 as part of the annual Return of the Swallows celebration. The pealing bells are intended to herald the first swallow sightings of each day.

The festival, which runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, will include living-history tours, arts, crafts, mariachi bands, choral singing and Aztec dance troupes. Food will be available, including fry bread prepared by American Indian cooks.

Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $4 for children under 12. Directions: I-5 south to Ortega Highway, west to the mission. Information: [phone].

The early bird goes to Salt Lake City

Just about anything can be ordered on the Web, and beginning in the fall, tickets for the next Olympic Games in the United States join the list. Tickets.com, a Costa Mesa company, has been selected as the ticket- selling service for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

About 800,000 tickets - the total supply so far for United States residents - will be put on sale in October; on the Internet, at www.saltlake2002.com. All orders received by Internet, phone and mail will be included in a lottery-type selection, and the winners will be notified no later than April 2001. A deadline for orders for this first wave of ticket sales has not been set, nor have details on payments for ticket orders.

Remaining individual tickets will go on sale by Internet and telephone in June 2001, with consumers able to choose specific seats and receive immediate confirmation, and box-office sales should start by January 2002. The Games are scheduled for Feb. 8-24, 2002.

Beware of hidden charges and save

Hidden charges on travel Web sites can slash savings from discount tickets bought online, says Consumer Reports Travel Letter.

In a study of 12 big online travel providers, the report said it found that fees can add as much as 85 percent to the listed cost of a ticket. The extra charges, often hidden from view until after purchase, can include additional taxes, fees for processing or for paper tickets, and hefty surcharges for changes. More than half of the offerings studied charge from $4 to $30 to book and ship a paper ticket.

To avoid unpleasant surprises, the Travel Letter says, check the site's Frequently Asked Questions, Help Desk or send an e-mail to its customer-service desk.

Survey says it's Orleans' haute spot

Commander's Palace was ranked New Orleans' most popular dining spot for a record 13th straight year in the 2000 Zagat Survey.

The haute Creole restaurant in the city's Garden District has topped the list since the New Orleans survey began in 1987, making it the longest-running popularity leader of any restaurant covered by Zagat rankings across the country.

Following Commander's Palace in popularity were Galatoire's, Bayona, Brigsten's and the Grill Room.

St. Louis - straight out of history books

Missouri figured in a lot of history - from the Cahokia Indian mound builders of thousands of years ago to 18th-century explorers and settlers to a little airplane named ``The Spirit of St. Louis'' and beyond.

Much of this, including a full-size replica of Charles Lindbergh's legendary aircraft, will be on view as permanent exhibitions in the 92,000-square-foot Emerson Electric Center, which has opened in St. Louis. The center is part of the Missouri Historical Society.

The facility occupies four huge galleries adjacent to Forest Park, which is just off the Skinker Boulevard exit of U.S. Highway 40/I-64. Phone: [phone].

Good reminder in an election year

``Elect Jackson,'' an exhibition recounting the campaign in 1828 that led to Andrew Jackson's becoming the seventh president, opens Wednesday and runs through Nov. 10 at the Hermitage, Jackson's Greek Revival mansion in Nashville, Tenn.

The campaign between Jackson and John Quincy Adams made history as one of the dirtiest in American politics and is credited with reviving the two-party system and giving rise to the Democratic Party. It is also significant for the fact that Jackson directed the campaign himself from the Hermitage instead of deferring to party leaders.

The Hermitage, accessible from Exit 221 of Interstate 40, is open daily except Thanksgiving and Christmas from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and attracts about 250,000 visitors a year. Admission, including a two-hour tour, is $9.50.

Conducting in three-quarter time

Maestro wanna-bes can soon conduct the Vienna Philharmonic in virtual reality chambers, or delight in their favorite sounds of music at a new museum scheduled to open June 15.

The Haus der Musik (House of Music) is located in the historical Palace of Archduke Charles, the former residence of the founder of the Philharmonic Orchestra in the heart of Vienna, Austria.

For more information, contact Haus der Musik, Seilerstatte 30, A-1010, Vienna, Austria, or check its Web site: house-of-music-vienna.at.

House of horrors, trail of murder

Tourism officials in Fall River, Mass., plan to tout a new ``Lizzie Borden Trail,'' including the house where she allegedly murdered her father and stepmother with an ax on a hot day in 1892.

The Fall River Tourism office is printing a full-color brochure describing local sites related to the central character in one of the nation's most sensational trials of the 19th century.

Though a jury acquitted Lizzie Borden in about an hour, many still believe she got away with murder.

Do they come with a

6-month warranty?

Do they come with a 6-month warranty?

Airline Web sites have all sorts of information on them, from seating charts to quarterly reports. But Turkish Airlines has done them all one better: It's advertising its old airplanes.

The site recently sought purchasers for six Airbus 310-203 passenger aircraft and two Boeing 727-200F cargo planes.

If you're in the market, check out the number of flight hours and other details at www.turkishairlines.com If you want to kick the tires, you'll have to visit Istanbul's Ataturk airport.