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Tags: Celebs Who Twitter / Samantha Ronson / Twitter / United / Airport Delays / → All Tags

United Having Rough SM Year: First a Broken Guitar, Then a Stranded DJ

Ok, we're using the word "celebrity" loosely here when talking about Samantha Ronson but the DJ is often in the headlines thanks to her famous-for-being-a-wreck girlfriend, Lindsay Lohan. Still, despite what some folks think, Samantha is a rather in-demand DJ, always jetting off here and there to spin at some party, club or private event.

Last week, her work took her to Dallas where she played a party at the W Dallas. It should have been a quickie in and out but thanks to airport delays, her United flight got grounded. And apparently, even dating Lindsay Lohan will not get you special treatment when rescheduling your flight. Samantha tweeted:

yeah it really sucks- they told me they could get me there tomorrow- hmmm- f*ck you very much UNITED.

She then went on to tweet that she prefers American over United and that she learned her lesson a long time ago about checking musical instruments as an Italian airline once lost her guitar. Oh, if only she made a clever YouTube video about it she could have been reimbursed!

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Related Stories:
· Twitter stories [Jaunted]

Tags: Literary Travel / President Bush / Presidential Libraries / → All Tags

W's Presidential Library To Feature Gun Once Owned by Saddam Hussein

Former President George W. Bush was never known as a man of letters. Even Karl Rove was hard pressed to lie about his reading competitions with W, who was memorably captured reading the picture book The Pet Goat on the morning of 9/11. As the George W. Bush Presidential Library takes shape at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, it shouldn't be a surprise that artifacts, not books, will take center stage.

The prize of the $200 million library, according to the Guardian, is a 9mm Glock once owned by Saddam Hussein, who had it in his possession when he was captured by U.S. forces in Tikrit. (Clearly, he was planning to attack the US with this gun.) The library will contain 25 special exhibits related to the Bush presidency within a design by Robert A. M. Stern, responsible for designing 15 Central Park West, Madonna's building, in New York.

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Tags: Twilight Travel / Robert Pattinson / Kristen Stewart / → All Tags

Road Trip To The First Twilight Fan Convention In Dallas This Summer

Want to show your neighbors and friends you bleed "Twilight" red? You could plan your vacation around Forks, Washington, the real city where Bella and Edward met for the first time. Or you could set your sights for Dallas, Texas, which this summer will host the first TwiCon July 30-August 2.

The brain child of a Meyerverse podcaster, a vlogger and two PR people, TwiCon will gather the devoted masses at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel for a "Twilight" screening, panels on "The Female Role in 'Twilight'" and "Writing To Get Published" (for your mothballed vampire novel), and a Masque Ball to show off your darkness-inspired finery. Stephenie Meyer has not been confirmed as a guest, but several supporting actors from last year's movie will be there including Kellan Lutz (Emmett Cullen), Billy Burke (Charlie Swan) and Mr. Jennie Garth Peter Facinelli (Dr. Carlisle Cullen).

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Tags: Airport WiFi / Airport-WiFi-Map / DAL / → All Tags

Why Doesn't Dallas Love Us?

There is something afoot in Dallas. One would think the home of Web-savvy Southwest would be an Internet-friendly kind of place. Yet we weren't able to pick up a wireless signal there, and we heard an announcement for Internet access... in the pre-security business center, hotel-style.

With the airport's official website somewhat less than useful, we turned to T-Mobile, who confirmed there is--or was--a hot spot at Love Field recently. Maybe our netbook took the day off. Can you solve the mystery of the missing hotspot? We'd "love" to pretend this was all a bad dream.

Want to send out some love or hate for an airport? Let us know.

Related Stories:
· Southwest to Prettify Dallas-Love Field [Jaunted]
· Missed Connections in Dallas: They Don't Call It "Breakup Field" [Jaunted]
· Airport WiFi Map [Jaunted]

Tags: April Fool's Day / Southwest / → All Tags

Southwest Gives Out Free Money In April Fool's Day Un-Joke

Google will write your e-mails for you, Zappos wants you to think vertically and ThinkGeek will sell you a unicorn in a can. Man, do we love April Fool's Day! But Southwest just had to go and be different by doing something that sounded like a prank, but wasn't.

Southwest is all about bringing the funny, but the $10,000 prizes they handed out to 21 employees were real as far as we can tell. The lucky recipients were chosen at random from a stack of in-house commendations, guaranteeing that at some point someone noticed these people doing a great job. Employees found out through "Deal or No Deal"-style suitcase messages, fake boarding passes and causing tears, jaw-dropping and a little jumping.

This was too cool to be mocked. Stay tuned for the Jaunted version of "Pennies from Heaven," in which oh, we're just kidding, sorry.

Related Stories:
· No Foolin' - Pennies from Heaven [BlogSouthwest]
· Last Year: A Sneak Preview of Tomorrow's Foolishness [Jaunted]

[Photo: kimberlyfaye]

Tags: Airport News / DFW / Drinking Travel / Drinking / Airport Bars / Business Travel / → All Tags

Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport Knocks Back a Few Too Many

While we have yet to experience a flight drunk on too many airport margaritas, for many it is the only way to get them on the plane. There is a point, however, at which in-flight drunkenness switches from being humorous and forgivable to annoying and dangerous, and it looks like Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport takes the cake in terms of frequency of these incidents.

According to a report on MSNBC, police at DFW made 78 arrests lasts year for public intoxication and in some cases pulled people off of planes for it.

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Tags: In-Flight WiFi / Southwest / Travel News / Row 44 / Gary Kelly / → All Tags

Southwest's InFlight Internet: Testing, Testing

UPDATE: Southwest's CEO Gary Kelly tested the in-flight WiFi today and sent out an email to his executive planning committee:

Y'all are my first email from SWA Wifi. It's awesome! Speed is good. Customers obviously luv it.

Even in the air, Keller stays on message.

Could you possible log on onboard in the No Hidden Fee Zone? Southwest Airlines announced today it will begin testing in-flight WiFi in conjunction with tech startup Row 44, with hopes to have 4 planes WiFi enabled by March. But where can we get it, and how much will it cost?

Along with the announcement Southwest posted a short video of digital addicts using Facebook and their iPhones on a test flight of unspecified destination. (You can't make a cell phone call, though.) They even showed off what we assume is Row 44's machinery at work, dubbed "Gadget 13," making this test the first in which we've actually seen the sausage being made, so to speak.

We dinged Row 44 for making a big splash at CES without any examples of its superiority over other in-flight wireless providers like Gogo. Now they're making good and, if the president's interview with the New York Times holds, may actually be undercutting the market with charges of $6 for handheld devices and $8 for laptops.

And while not all of Southwest's fee-conscious passengers will spring for that kind of extra, some will -- or rather, we would.

No routes were named as potentially WiFi ready, but looking into our crystal ball we foresee Internet popping up en route to Vegas, Chicago-Midway and Phoenix, their top three destinations (and two of which are cities included on the test flights today and tomorrow).

Related Stories:
· Jan '08: Southwest Airlines Announces In-Flight WiFi< [Jaunted]
· Aug '08: Southwest Planning Some WiFi Flights by Year's End [Jaunted]
· Row 44's CES Hype Doesn't Equal In-Flight Internet [Jaunted]
· Virgin InFlight WiFi Liveblog [Jaunted]
· You Think The Guy In The Seat Next To You Is Annoying Now? [NYT Bits Blog]

Tags: Airfare Deals / American Airlines / → All Tags

American Airlines Making It Cheaper to Get to Europe

Have some time off in your near future? American's recently posted international fare sale featuring flights leaving New York, while slightly misleading restore our hopes that all the world will be open to us thanks to plummeting ticket purchases.

Sure, it would be simple to get caught up in the frenzy and not notice that the posted fares are not only one-way, but also exclude taxes and fees that can tack on $200 to a round-trip ticket before you can even find your passport. The travel window's a bit small, as well; you need to buy by Friday and travel before March 31, which rules out anyone with a classic week-after-Easter school-type break. (It's April 12 this year. Welcome!)

Yet even at $210-plus each way, the thought of springtime in Paris is intoxicating. Rome's in the same neighborhood at $207-plus one way (a place you don't want to be in the Easter crowd anyway), and London's even cheaper at $156. If Europe's not your bag, how about Nicaragua for $119 each way, or Honduras for $89.

Related Stories:
· International Fares on Sale from New York [AA.com]
· Five Air Fare Sales For A Weekend Of Love [Jaunted]
· Five Air Fare Sales We Like Right Now [Jaunted]

[Photo: iceninejohn]

Tags: Airports / Airlines / Southwest Airlines / DFW / Love Field / → All Tags

Southwest to Prettify Dallas-Love Field

Dallas' Love Field airport has long played second fiddle to its cross-town rival, the behemoth Dallas-Fort Worth International, which ranks as the world's third busiest airport, but finally Love is getting some much-needed attention.

Southwest Airlines uses Love Field as a hub and that's been about the only thing keeping the place alive in recent years. Those flying through Love are accustomed to a no-frills, small-town airport experience. But now that federal restrictions on how far Southwest can fly out of Love are set to be lifted, the airline has big plans for its Dallas hub. Southwest announced this week it will move ahead with a $519 million investment that aims to not just keep Love Field in business, but double its traffic to 8 million flyers a year.

What does that mean for you? Probably a lot more Southwest flights that connect through Dallas, and, coming in 2011, a shiny new terminal with twice as many restaurants. No word yet on whether they'll add a great make-out spot.

Related Stories:
· $519M makeover planned at Dallas' Love Field [Dallas Morning News]
· DFW Revamps Ultimate Airport Make Out Spot [Jaunted]
· Southwest Airlines Coverage [Jaunted]

Photo: [Kaptain Krispy Kreme]

Tags: Gossip Girl / Chace Crawford / Ed Westwick / Jessica Szohr / → All Tags

An Upper East Side Thanksgiving... In Texas?

Blair Waldorf would never approve! "Gossip Girl" guy Chace Crawford had some friends over to his parents' house in Dallas for Thanksgiving--notably costars Jessica Szohr (with whom his character is currently romantic linked on the show) and Ed Westwick, who were all spotted at Dallas-Fort Worth International on their way back to Manhattan. (Westwick is from Hertfordshire, England; Szohr hails from Menominee Falls, Wisconsin.) No Taylor Momsen? What a shame.

For one of them, though, the trip might have held some more significance: Ed and Jessica caught a later flight and were spotted "canoodling" out of "Gossip Girl" territory--though not out of range of their rabid fans. They even flew back together in coach! So what horrible name better suits this unholy pairing: Chunessa? JessEd? Brookhattan?

Related Stories:
· Gossip Girl Stars Making Some Real Life Gossip [Perez]
· Airport Gossip [Page Six]
· "Gossip Girl" coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: People.com]

Tags: Halloween at Southwest / Southwest Airlines / Halloween / Celebrity Halloween / Gary Kelly / → All Tags

So Much Fun It's Scary

The Halloween spirit turns up in a lot of odd places (we see you, dentist's office!) but nowhere was odder than seeing these balloon columns popping up everywhere at Dallas' Love Field last week. But given how seriously Love's main carrier, Southwest Airlines, takes the holiday, it only seems appropriate that some of the good cheer would spill over from Southwest HQ, which is very close to the airport. How close? We'll show you that and way, way more after the jump.

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Tags: Celebrity Halloween / Southwest Airlines / Halloween / Gary Kelly / → All Tags

Gary Kelly Plays "Sharp Dressed Man"

The biggest news coming out of Southwest Airlines' Halloween bash this year was what CEO Gary Kelly's costume would be. On Friday, we analyzed his choice of Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top--but today we have exclusive video of Kelly performing one of the Top's biggest hits, just after the jump.

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