Today’s travel briefing highlights the continuing relationship between travel and technology. In France they unveiled a train that’s faster than the fastest. Alstrom’s AGV is the latest train to promise more speed. Then USA today reports on new forms of hotel security. Instead of keycard entry for room access, guests will be able to use iris scans to enter their rooms in the near future.

In other news, CNN remarks on the four times of year you shouldn’t travel, and the LA Times hosts the Travel and Adventure show this weekend. We’ve listed all of today’s interesting headlines below.

Today’s Travel Headlines:

Some Hotel Guests Can Open Doors in a Blink

“Changing technology has hotels looking beyond the traditional plastic key card as a way to unlock guest-room doors. Boston’s Nine Zero Hotel uses iris-scan tech for workers and penthouse guests…”

Alstrom’s New AGV is unveiled on Tuesday

“On Tuesday 5 February, Alstom unveiled the prototype of the AGV, its latest new generation very high speed train. This single deck, state-of-the-art train incorporates articulated carriages, a technology which contributed to the success of France’s TGV train and a new distributed drive system. The AGV has been designed to reach a commercial speed of 579 mph…”

LA Times’ Travel and Adventure Show

“If extreme adventure is more your type of travel than honeymoons and weekend getaways, come on out to the LA Times Travel & Adventure Show this weekend in Long Beach. You’ll have the chance to meet some of National Georgraphic Adventure’s most compelling authors, magazine contributor and editors…”

4 times when you shouldn’t travel

“You probably already know about Spring Break, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving. That is, you know enough not to travel around those days. Scoring a frequent flier award ticket is pretty much impossible, hotels aren’t discounting their rooms, and you’ll probably pay full price for your rental car. Plus, it’s usually a tragic mess out there—long lines at the airport, dense traffic and frayed tempers. But this isn’t another story about blackout dates. This is a story about the other days you should stay home. Call it the ‘B’-list of blackouts…”