Jaunted

Volunteer Travel / Hotels / Voluntourism / → All Tags

Sleep, Eat, Party and...Volunteer at a Five-Star Hotel?

The Ritz-Carlton hotel chain is once again offering guests the chance to do good in 2012 with their Give Back Getaways project.

The philanthropic initiative gives guests the chance to spend a half-day volunteering with Ritz-Carlton employees in the communities surrounding their properties across the world.

The Give Back Getaway projects often also include an experience volunteers wouldn't be able to have otherwise. The Dallas Soup Savior Project, for example, lets hotel guests work with the culinary team behind the scenes in The Ritz-Carlton kitchen. The end result is a soup that will be delivered to the SoupMobile, which serves approximately 600 meals to the homeless in Dallas on a daily basis.

For more information about what projects are available this year, visit RitzCarlton.com.

[Photo: Ritz-Carlton Dallas]

Airline News / Airlines / American Airlines / Charity / Holiday Travel / → All Tags

What is the American Airlines 'Snowball Express?'

There’s plenty good causes that would appreciate a few moments of your time or a little extra funding this holiday season, but American Airlines’ Snowball Express has to be one of the best for #avgeeks. Despite their own misfortune this holiday season, they’re going full speed ahead to bring a little cheer to the children of fallen military heroes.

American Airlines has been doing this for a few years now, and this year is no exception. This year’s events kick off of December 9 and run through December 13 in Dallas. It all begins with a Walk of Gratitude on December 10 in and around the American Airlines Center, as one and all are encouraged to welcome the children and families flown into town for a few days of rest, relaxation, and fun.

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Dallas Travel / Tourists / Ferris Wheels / Texas Travel / → All Tags

Everything's Bigger in Texas, Including Dallas' New Ferris Wheel

There’s a new tourist attraction headed to Big D, and it might just change the city’s skyline. Great City Attractions has been chatting up the city about installing a giant Ferris wheel in downtown Dallas, around the intersection of Houston and Elm streets—that’s in Founders Plaza for those who call the city home.

Right now it sounds like things are very much still on the drawing board. However, Texas has quite the reputation for going big or going home, so we think as long as the pricing is right it’s practically a sure thing. The wheel could be as high as 200-feet tall, and apparently may be ready to go in around ten days or so once approval is granted. The Ferris wheel at the state fair—that’s the one in our picture—already soars to around the same height.

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Pet Travel / Airports / Dallas Travel / DAL / Animals / Dog Travel / Travel Snapshot / → All Tags

Proof That Dallas-Love Airport Loves Your Doggy

Happy Friday! Finally, right? It's been a long week, but you're mere hours from the weekend and thus, we thought it proper to celebrate by pointing out that even airports like to have a little fun.

We're specifically thinking of Dallas-Love Field—total Southwest Airlines turf—and their outdoor "dog rest areas." You know what we're talking about—the little plots designated as places for your pets to do their business before and/or after flights.

A friend of Jaunted recently spotted one such area at DAL, complete with the cheeky sign above. For pet owners traveling with their best furry friends, taking a flight isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world, and a little injection of humor such as this can go a long way to diffuse the anxiety.

[Photo: Erica Nevas]

Airport News / DFW / Airports / Foursquare / Facebook / Social Media / Travel Deals / Travel Tech / → All Tags

DFW Airport Now Offers Deals, Thanks to Foursquare and Your Smartphone

We already know that Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport isn’t a fan of paying taxes—well, kind of—and now they’re looking to offer even more savings to those looking to spend some coin in the terminals and concourses.

The airport is teaming up with Foursquare and Facebook Places—clearly they’re not playing favorites—to offer up all kinds of location-based deals and steals when you and your crew are killing time before your flight.

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Airport News / Airports / DFW / Travel Fees / Money / → All Tags

Instant Tax Refunds Arrive at DFW, But Only for Foreign Visitors

Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport is starting a program where Texas sales tax can be made optional to those visiting from overseas. Sure the tax needs to be paid up front, but afterwards they’re making it pretty easy to get a little percentage back on that Tony Romo jersey or bottle of BBQ sauce.

Apparently it’s one of the first big airports in the country to do this, and it’s all available through a little kiosk in the North Ticketing Hall inside Terminal D. TaxFree Shopping is the one running this new system, so be on the lookout for their sign if you want a little bit of money back. Sure you’ll need to show receipts for what you bought, but the refund here is instant—and via cash, PayPal or check—so there’s no waiting period or need to deal with overly confusing paperwork or mailing stuff in.

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Videos / DFW / Delays / Awesome Stuff / Airports / Airport News / Airport Security / → All Tags

Awesome Video Alert: Hanging Out at the Airport, After Dark

Do you ever wonder what happens at airports...after hours? Well, if it's a small airport, it likely shuts down, but if you're lucky enough to be stuck at one of the major ones, like Dallas-Fort Worth, then it's a playground. Case in point: two travelers, Larry and Joe, had a layover at DFW and found their connecting flight cancelled. Instead of moping about and sleeping while uncomfortably stretched across chairs, they whipped out their cameras and got up to some old-fashioned mischief.

We won't spoil the video above for you, but let's just say that the part around 1:35-1:45 is our favorite. That takes more than just a pair of a balls; serious creative processes are at work here.

As a fan of airport spelunking, we usually find it easier to engage in hijinks in European airports. Kudos to these guys for having fun, documenting it and not inconveniencing other passengers while doing so.

[Video: Joe Ayala on Vimeo]

Sports Travel / Events / Parades / Texas Travel / Basketball Travel / Dallas Travel / → All Tags

Where to Celebrate the Mavericks' NBA Championship Win in Dallas Tomorrow

Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks on becoming this year’s NBA champions after they won game six Sunday evening in South Florida against the Miami Heat. The team has already been out partying and celebrating in South Beach—apparently living it up at LIV nightclub at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. Which is a little funny—if we do say so ourselves—because that’s where LeBron James’ mom got arrested just a few months ago for slapping a valet (guess that means no tip!)

The team is now back in Big D and is getting ready to celebrate with the city this Thursday. Of course there’s going to be a parade—and probably more—and we’re expecting quite a celebration since owner Mark Cuban is paying for the whole shindig. Expect everyone from Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki to the city’s mayor to be in attendance.

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Crimes / Airport News / Airline News / American Airlines / Airline Fees / → All Tags

Know Your Airline Fees: American Airlines Agent Busted for Swindling Passengers

We know it’s hard to keep up on the latest in airline fees, so that’s why we usually try to pass along as much as we can—from baggage fees to beyond—to keep you in the loop. Just make sure to know your fees before heading to the ticket counter, as apparently there are some sketchballs out there trying to swindle you right at the airport.

An American Airlines agent at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has been accused of scamming a passenger out of like $120, as the employee claimed that the passenger owed some additional cash to make a change to an existing ticket. We might have fallen for things as well, as sometimes the charges for changes isn’t as cut and dry as bringing along like six more checked bags. However, this gate agent wanted things in cash, and that’s certainly a pretty big red flag.

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Fast Food Travel / Food Travel / Dallas Travel / Texas Travel / Overweight Passengers / → All Tags

America's Unhealthiest Restaurant Brings Its 8,000-Calorie Burgers to Texas

Remember the fresh smell of spring 2010, when KFC began cooking up Double Down sandwiches around the country and patriotic Americans dutifully gassed up their cars and drove over to sink their teeth into greasy fried chicken on top of cheese on top of greasy fried chicken? Yea, that sure was an interesting time, when the country went wild for calories instead of against them.

Unfortunately this seems to be an annual occurrence, as this spring's big fat (literally fat) news is that Chandler, Arizona's obesity-theme restaurant Heart Attack Grill is expanding to open a second location. Anyone want to guess where? Yep—Texas. The second-ever Heart Attack Grill will open in downtown Dallas, Texas this Friday, selling their famous "Quadruple Bypass Burger" and neverending helpings of "Flatline Fries." By the way, the restaurant's tagline is "a taste worth dying for" and that burger? It's 8,000 calories.

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Airfare Sales / Groupon / LCCs / Airline News / Virgin America / DFW / Texas Travel / → All Tags

Virgin America's Groupon Deal Did So Well, They've Brought It to Dallas

About two weeks ago, Virgin America managed to do an outstanding thing. They announced that service between Chicago-O'Hare and LAX, SFO would begin in late May, but more to the point, they sold out a crazy Groupon deal in a matter of a couple hours. The bargain was pay $7 and get $77 in airfare towards a roundtrip purchase on Virgin America’s new ORD routes, and the deal was good on Groupon's Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco sites...all of whom ate it up.

Well, the deal is back. Except this time it's a bit modified, and it's for Virgin America's Dallas-Fort Worth routes. DFW is still a new destination for VX, seeing as how they only kicked their spurs into the place back in December. Here's the details behind the airfare discount they've offering today (and keep in mind it's a limited thing!):

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Southwest Airlines / Southwest / Airlines / Airline News / Herb Kelleher / → All Tags

Southwest Airlines' Founder and Former CEO Might Get His Own Texas Street

Soon you just might be able to bang a left onto Southwest Airlines Avenue before catching your flight out of . Well, it might not be named for the airline, but the mayor of Dallas is thinking about passing along an honor to the longtime head honcho at the airline that loves to LUV.

The mayor wants to rename a street near the airport after the Southwest Airlines founder and former CEO—Herb Kelleher. If everyone is cool with it, part of the existing Cedar Springs Road that heads toward the airport would be getting renamed as Herb Kelleher Way. For travel nerds like us it would be pretty cool to see that street appear on our GPS.