It’s often said that driving in a car is more dangerous than flying in a plane, yet when an aeroplane crashes or a ship sinks, the nonstop media coverage that follows makes that claim hard to believe.

The sinking of the Costa Concordia cruise ship this month has once again shone a spotlight on the overall safety of transport. But considering how rare a disaster like this is, especially in comparison to car crashes, it raises the question, which mode of transportation is truly the safest?

Worldwide, there were only 373 fatalities on scheduled commercial passenger flights in 2011, according to the non-profit Aviation Safety Network Database. And according to the International Air Transport Association, an airline trade organization, there were 2.84 billion commercial passengers last year, which would roughly mean your average odds of dying on a commercial flight were roughly one in 7.6 million in 2011.

Over the course of a lifetime, the risk increases. For example, in a 2006 Reason magazine article, the National Safety Council (NSC) reported that in the US the average person’s odds of dying in a plane crash in their lifetime is about one in 5,000.

But contrast those odds to vehicular fatalities. In the same article, the NSC reported that the odds of dying in a car accident in the US over a lifetime was about one in 83. While the number of global vehicle passengers and drivers may not be known, the World Health Organization estimates that 1.2 million people die each year in road traffic accidents (roughly half of which are pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists). So even though we drive more than we fly, with apologies to Jack Kerouac and George Clooney, it seems that there is basis for the claim that on the road is more dangerous than up in the air.

While cruises are more optional than planes and vehicle when travelling, the odds of dying are nearly as slim as flying. As for cruise ships, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), an association of cruise lines, said that from 2005 to 2011 only 16 people died in cruise accidents, out of 100 million passengers, putting the odds of death over that period at one in 6.25 million. But the Costa Concordia disaster doubled that fatality number in the early days of 2012. (The death toll from the recent accident has currently reached 16, and there are still at least 16 people still missing.)

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The hotel mini-bar is getting an upgrade as hotels seek to make more money from midnight-snacking hotel guests or better reflect the tastes of their clientele. For many, that means offering a fat-free or exotic menu of treats such as coconut water, muscle milk and Parmesan herb chips.

“They’re using their mini-bars as an extension of the property’s personality, so they’re stocking them with items that add to the mystique and experience,” says Glenn Haussman, executive editor of HotelInteractive.com.

Some examples:

•The Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago has an in-room water library with a $25 bottle of bling h20, decorated with genuine Swarovski crystals.

•The Delamar Greenwich Harbor and Delamar Southport, both in Connecticut, have Honeydrop drinks, locally made juices and teas sweetened with wildflower honey instead of refined sugars. The mini-bar also includes a “make your own” martini option.

•The Chatwal in New York has such non-edible items as a signed copy of American Eve, a story about the love affair between architect Stanford White, who designed the building, and Evelyn Nesbit. There’s also a copy of The Great Gatsby and a box of candy cigarettes.