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Tags: Five-Bad-Rap-Cities / Bad Rap Cities / Oakland Travel / Urban Travel / → All Tags

Five Cities With a Bad Rap: Oakland, 2 Legit 2 Quit

Some locales can’t seem to shake their less-than-sparkling reputations despite efforts to lock away the skeletons of yesterday. We’ve decided to highlight five of these Bad Rap Cities that are making moves to shed their grimy and gritty images in hopes of becoming more tourist-friendly. Maybe, just maybe, after reading this series you'll be willing to take a chance on them. Enjoy.

Bad Rap City: OaklandWhy Go?
Despite what you may have heard, Oakland isn’t a head-to-toe gang-riddled Dodge City. In fact, the word out now is that many parts are super chill and exemplify the real California state-of-mind, more so than high-energy San Francisco, less than 30 minutes away across the bay. True there’s evidence of poverty and homelessness on major streets like Broadway, but you’ll find that element in any Big City, U.S.A.

Here, blue and white-collar professionals live side-by-side, with more blending of races than ever before. There have been plenty of renovations in the city, especially in tourist-friendly Jack London Square (JLS) and the Oakland CVB’s website is a wealth of info on all that’s new in the city.

Another plus? It’s often cheaper to fly into Oakland than SFO thanks to Southwest and JetBlue (psst..there are rumblings of Ryan Air joining the low-cost carrier mix). Besides, how can you not visit the city that brought us MC Hammer? C'mon, you know you liked him, too.

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Tags: Air Asia X / OAK / Oakland Raiders / Low Cost Carriers / Airline News / → All Tags

Air Asia X To Debut Raiders Plane In California Today

Despite the return of professional football, we did not have a good weekend. Our favorite team blew it, and apparently fantasy football is not our forte. There’s always next weekend, so we’ll get over it, and for now we’ll focus our football attention towards Air Asia X and their snazzy Oakland Raiders plane. Seeing a big airplane in NFL livery is pretty cool, especially since we’re still secretly hoping that the low cost carrier will announce a plan to serve the US.

We saw the new plane sticking its tail out from the hangar over the summer, but today it’s flying into Oakland to celebrate the start of the season. After all, the Raiders are playing tonight, so the timing is perfect. However, if you head to the team’s website, you’ll see that tonight’s game is being promoted side by side with ads for Hawaiian Airlines. Maybe team officials didn’t get the memo that another airline has honored them with a custom plane.

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Tags: Airline News / Air Asia X / Oakland Raiders / → All Tags

Air Asia X's Oakland Raiders Plane Will Make Its Debut on September 14

Thanks to a lead from a tipster a few months back we heard that Air Asia X was readying one of its planes with an Oakland Raiders logo which led us to think that the no-frills airline would be starting service at OAK soon. But it turned out that it's just a sponsorship.

We got an official release from the Air Asia X folk about the Raiders plane, an Airbus A340 which will be called "Xcellence" as nod to the team's motto "Commitment to Excellence." While the plane will be flown into Oakland on September 14 for the Oakland Raider's kick-off game (for Monday Night Football), there are no plans in place yet for U.S. Air Asia service.

Still, Air Asia will be hosting a 1,000 FREE SEATS online contest in which students will be chosen at random for the opportunity to win free tickets to a Raiders home game. You can visit AirAsia.com or Raiders.com for more info on the contest.

In the meantime, if Air Asia does start U.S. service soon we have a feeling that they wouldn't mind kicking it off in Oakland first.

Related Stories:
· The Oakland Raiders' Air Asia X Plane is Just a 'Commitment to Excellence' [Jaunted]
· Are The Oakland Raiders Getting an A340 Jet Or Just An Air Asia Route? [Jaunted]

[Photo: Andrew/Airliners.Net]

Tags: Air Asia X / Oakland Raiders / A340 / Ads / → All Tags

The Oakland Raiders' Air Asia X Plane is Just a 'Commitment to Excellence'

Remember the other day when we wondered if the Oakland Raiders would be getting a new jet or possibly a new route from Air Asia X? Well, an Examiner story says that the Raiders have put the logo on an Air Asia X plane only as a way to "enhance their brand globally." And in that spirit, the plane will be called The Commitment to Excellence.

Yup, a team that finished 5-11 in the NFL is trying to get new international fans by tricking out an Air Asia X A340. The Examiner writes:

What makes this combination most unusual is that not only is Air Asia X not the carrier that the Raiders use for their away games, they don't even serve the United States, nor do they have plans to do so in the immediate future. They serve Malaysia, London, and Australia. [Raiders CEO Amy] Trask does expect that "Commitment to Excellence" will be flown in to Oakland for at least one game day.

And apparently, the logo on the tailfin is just the beginning. Raider Nation will be present throughout the plane in the form of pictures of Raiderettes, Raider scenes, Raider Jerseys and Raider logos in other areas. (The lavs, maybe?) The Raiders CEO also referred to Air Asia X as a "bodacious airline" but said the new deal would not conflict with the team's long-time partner Hawaiian Airlines. Whatever the deal, let's hope the Raiders can improve their record this year or at least show some commitment to excellence.

Related Stories:
· Are The Oakland Raiders Getting an A340 Jet Or Just An Air Asia Route? [Jaunted]

[Photo: Andrew/Airliners.Net]

Tags: Airline Rumors / Air Asia X / New Routes / OAK / KUL / Oakland Raiders / A340 / → All Tags

Are The Oakland Raiders Getting an A340 Jet Or Just An Air Asia Route?

A while back we heard some rumors that Air Asia X, a low-cost long-haul carrier would be opening up a new route out of the U.S. Back then we heard:

Azran Osman Rani (CEO of AirAsia X) has been talking to JFK and 2 California airports regarding launching long haul service from KL. There's nothing definitive lined up, but the time-frame would be in about a year.

This weekend, we were tipped off about a thread over at Airliners.net where a member noticed this plane adorned with an Oakland Raiders logo peeking out of an SIA hanger at the Changi Airport in Singapore. There's a lot of speculation going on in the comments of this thread, ranging from the Raiders owner Al Davis forking out money for a new team jet to the rumor we like the most--Air Asia X is going to start an Oakland service soon.

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Tags: Restaurants / Crime / Dangerous Travel / → All Tags

Dangerous Travel: Oakland Restaurant Robberies on the Rise

We've all heard that restaurants are bearing the brunt of the poor economy, with food prices rising and diners eating out less often. But Oakland restaurateurs have been getting hit especially hard--with a string of takeover-style robberies throughout the city.

There has been a string of crimes throughout the Lake Merritt and San Antonio neighborhoods, following numerous incident earlier this summer, but the one earlier this week was the first to hit an upscale dining area. The Rockridge District branch of Pasta Pomodoro (a West Coast Italian chain) was robbed by two men in masks and hoodies Monday night.

Let's hope this is one dining trend that doesn't go national!

Related Stories:
· Suspects Sought in New Oakland Restaurant Robbery [CBS 5]
· Oakland Crackdown on Restaurant Robberies [Jaunted]
· Oakland Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Minneart]

Tags: Film Festivals / Film Festival Travels / LGBT / → All Tags

LGBT Travel: Gay Black Film in Oakland

It's by no means an exaggeration to say that the Bay Area has an arts festival for just about every genre, sub-genre and sub-sub-genre, so it's no surprise that there's an Oakland International Black LGBT Film Festival.

This year's festival runs August 14-17 and includes "Shirts and Skins," a documentary about a gay basketball team, an opening night screening of the 1975 Diana Ross movie "Mahogany" and a Saturday performance from Donna Summer.

The movies all screen at the Parkway Theater, a classic-style 1920's movie house on Park Boulevard where you can grab pizza and beer while you watch.

Related Stories:
· Oakland International Black LGBT Film Festival [Official Site]
· Film Festival Travel coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: US Airways / Airline Hell / Baggage Check / → All Tags

US Air Eats Luggage For Breakfast

On the rental car shuttle from Oakland International Airport, in the small hours today, we ran into a US Air passenger with one of the worst airline hell stories ever.

Seems his luggage, pictured above, was mangled, half devoured, attacked by sharks, when it arrived on the baggage carousel in OAK. US Air, agreed to pay for the passenger to get a new bag and for the clothes the airline lost or ate. Furthermore, they told him to just "bring in the receipt", which we told him meant go get yourself a new suit. Hey, he deserved it.

The kicker? This passenger had a second bag which, yep, you guessed it, never arrived. US Air assured him they would speedily find the lost baggage and send it to his hotel, mangled or not.

US Air did not say how long it would take for them to process the reimbursement for his new luggage and attire.

Another FUBAR luggage photo here.

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Tags: Airport Security / OAK / → All Tags

Oakland Airport Security Runner Causes Flight Delays

A man slipped past security guards and through an exit at Oakland International Airport earlier today, causing long lines of waiting passengers outside the terminal while authorities searched for the man.

Both terminals were reopened after authorities decided the man posed no threat. However, flights in and out of Oakland have been delayed for most of the day.

Anyone know what this guys deal was? Let us know in comments.

Here is a web round up on today's trouble at the OAK corrale:
·   TSA: No Security Breach In Oakland [NewsNet5]
·   Oakland Airport reopened after security mishap [SFGate.com]
·   Oakland airport intruder forces security delays [LA Times]
·   Security Breach Shuts Down Oakland [Oakland Tribune]
·   Passenger Screening Resumed [flyoakland]

Tags: Cafes / Coffee Shops / → All Tags

Coffee Talk: Gaylord's Caffe Espresso

Piedmont Avenue is a strip on the border of Oakland and suburb Piedmont (i.e. a safe area) that has a couple of blocks of shops, some restaurants and three big coffee houses. Two of them are chains--Starbucks and Peet's--but the third is the one worth checking out.

Gaylord's Caffe Espresso has been brewing up coffee drinks and ice cream since 1976, way before espresso became cool. Today the place is the anti-corporate america coffee shop that cares about its coffee drinks. The place has tons of personality from its alternative-looking yet happy employees to the artworks by local artists hung on the walls (and for sale) to the Pac-man table game.

There's also wireless internet access available for a $1 per hour fee. With that, you get a wifi code but one of the store employees said they never change the code and the system only ends up charging you once. So feasibly, until they change the code (which could be once a month) you have unlimited WiFi for a buck.

As with most espresso shops, you can get pretty much any drink your heart desires along with regular coffee too and some food. Plus, you'll feel much cooler having gone to Gaylord's than Starbucks across the street.

Insider Tip: Order your iced drinks with Gaylord's Coffee Cubes. They are essentially ice cubes made out of coffee so that as your iced drink starts to melt, it gets diluted with coffee instead of water. Take that, Starbucks!

Tags: Airport Hell / → All Tags

Oakland Airport Under Construction

The Oakland Airport is under construction as evidenced by this very recent picture of the baggage claim in the Southwest terminal.

The airport is about halfway through its $300 million Terminal Improvement Program which, when completed in 2008, will offer greater "security, comfort and convenience" for airline passengers.

The thing is, Southwest's brand new terminal was announced as completed already but we did not see any brand new baggage carousels, nor any 8 foot-by-21 foot video walls featuring finished works by Bay Area artists. Instead, we saw exposed wires and pipes, and had a feeling that tickle in our throat was asbestos seeping into our lungs.

Oh yeah, and on one of the hottest days of the year in the Bay Area, the terminal has no air conditioning. Not so much with the finished terminals over there, we'd say.