United States Travel Guide

/ / / /

If You Still Need Super Bowl Tickets, There's Always Costco

February 1, 2012 at 10:34 AM | by | Comments (0)

You may have heard that this year’s Super Bowl is taking place on Sunday in Indianapolis, and if you’re thinking about attending in person it might just be possible. Costco—what don’t they sell—is coming through with some last minute tickets, so if you’ve got a whole lot of spare change it might be time to cash it in.

The Giants, Patriots, and you will all be in Indy this weekend, but that’s assuming you have around $3,000 extra to spend on this year’s big game. Costco had some bigger and fancier packages available last week, but since you procrastinated there’s only one option left. The $3,000 price tag will get you one Upper-level End Zone Ticket to Super Bowl XLVI, and they’ll even throw in admission to a pre-game party. The only bummer is that for once they're not selling them in bulk, so you might need to make some friends with the people next to you before kickoff.

more ›

/ / / /

A Boeing 727 Will Soon Be Buried in the Mojave Desert, in the Name of Art

February 1, 2012 at 9:03 AM | by | Comments (0)

The Mojave Desert is literally a hot spot for aviation. There's Virgin Galactic based out there, the Paul Allen-funded "biggest airplane" project, and soon, something odd enough to attract even more attention. Christoph Buchel—he’s a Swiss artist—is getting ready to install his latest masterpiece into the middle of the sand in the Mojave Desert. Best of all, the thing he’s planning to bury in the sand is a whole freaking airplane.

Some will argue the benefits of this art installation, but as aviation geeks we’re obviously a little intrigued about seeing the project from beginning to end. The plan is to submerge a Boeing 727 into the desert as part of an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Those wanting to take a peek will have to take a ride out from Los Angeles, but it sounds like the road trip might be worth it.

more ›

/ / / / /

Peeking into JFK Airport's Religious Prayer Rooms

Where: JFK International Airport [map], New York, NY, United States
January 31, 2012 at 6:42 PM | by | Comments (0)


The Catholic room

Got some extra time at New York-JFK Airport? Instead of grabbing another Auntie Anne's pretzel or buying an "I <3 NY" magnet for your second cousin, perhaps wander on over to the prayer rooms instead. Yes, prayer rooms.

The departures level at Terminal 4, before security, has four prayer rooms for different religions: Muslim, Protestant, Catholic and Jewish. When we passed by recently, we noticed that the Catholic one was in the middle of actual mass, and indeed they offer it daily excepting Wednesdays (M: 5pm, Tu: 12:15pm, Th: 5pm, F: 12:15pm, Sa: 5pm, Su: 1pm).

more ›

/ / / /

Three Minutes, Twenty Seconds to Fall in Love with San Francisco

January 31, 2012 at 5:41 PM | by | Comments (0)

Like anyone really needs more of a reason to fall in love with San Francisco, the tourism board has developed a cute, heartwarming video showcasing all the little bites of life that make SF...well, SF. And there literally are bites, of pancakes.

The video is titled "A Day in the Life," but all the different neighborhoods, landmarks and little social experiences make it more of a week, or several weeks if you're an average visitor trying to hit them all.

It's definitely no ">time-lapse, tilf-shift Lisbon, but it is a nice watch if you're trying to convince yourself to hit the City by the Bay in 2012, or if you already live there and want to fall back in love with the city.

/ / / /

How To Get Tickets To Indy's Biggest Super Bowl Parties

January 31, 2012 at 1:24 PM | by | Comments (0)

This week Indianapolis is being transformed into the party capitol of the world as everyone from sports fans to supermodels begin arriving for the Super Bowl. To accommodate all of these party people, bars and clubs are popping up in vacant spaces around the city.

The Cuda Lounge, located at 141 S. Meridian St in Super Bowl Village, is one of Indy's biggest pop-up lounges with events planned throughout the week.

more ›

/ / / / / / /

Groupon's Good for Something, Like Virgin America Flights with Free WiFi

January 31, 2012 at 10:56 AM | by | Comments (0)

We have our doubts about group buying sites like Groupon, especially when we're getting emails for discounts on laser hair removal 80% of the time, but occasionally great deals do pop up, and one such sale starts today.

The deal: Pay $39, get $100 towards round-trip flights between Chicago-ORD and San Francisco-SFO or Los Angeles-LAX. Included in that $39 is also a code to redeem for a free session of Gogo in-flight WiFi, itself worth $12.95. The $100 you get can be used to purchase any class of travel...so you're that much closer to one of the big seats in First Class.

more ›

/ / / / /

JetBlue Updates Their Snack Boxes, But Thankfully Not Prices

January 31, 2012 at 9:34 AM | by | Comments (0)


Everybody loves snacks—especially since those 2012 resolutions have long faded away—so now's the perfect time to discuss some new in-flight offerings. JetBlue enjoys passing out plenty of free bits and bites, but they also have some more substantial options for sale in the aisles as well. There's new stuff on the horizon, as they just announced that they’re updating and upgrading some of their offerings as part of their Eat Up! Program.

It sounds like the new and improved options hit the skies over the last week or so, and in total there’s four unique boxes. Beef Up, Shape Up, and Cheer Up all remain priced at $5.99, and there’s even a "Mix It Up" option for the kiddos—but they promise that it’s good for everyone. The beef option is more of a protein snack box with stuff like salami, cheese, crackers, and bagel chips. The healthy option will get you stuff like hummus, fruit, nuts, and some pita chips. They’re pitching the Cheer Up option as the perfect side dish to a glass of in-flight wine—and it is—as it’s filled with cheese, fruit, and crackers.

more ›

/ / / /

The Stupidest Rental Car Story You May Hear This Year

January 30, 2012 at 12:31 PM | by | Comments (0)


This is not her car, but still WTF

We often wonder if one week will ever pass in which there’s just not some totally obscure travel story. This week isn’t going to be it, as we’ve already found the winner for a huge "WTF."

A Houston woman was doing her best to navigate her rental car towards a hotel room for the night when she veered off the road and got the car stuck in a drainage pond in Idaho. However, instead of getting out of the car and making her way to safety, she just decided to hunker down and wait for help in the car. For like three days. We’re thinking she must have really liked her rental car, and maybe she scored some kind of sweet upgrade.

more ›

/ / / / / / / / /

Two Minutes of Time-Lapse from a Hall at Houston Airport

Where: JFK International Airport [map], New York, NY, United States
January 30, 2012 at 10:30 AM | by | Comments (0)

While we freely admit that when it comes to airport time-lapse videos, ones of airplanes zipping around that tarmac are definitely our favorite. Recently, however, YouTube user Ross Johnson, aka Tumbles94—whose tilt-shift videos from Frankfurt Airport featured before—turned his camera inside an airport to capture the bustle of a busy terminal.

Travelers toting carry-ons and last-minute purchases in plastic bags littler the scene. Ross had some nerve sitting in the middle of a busy hall at Houston-George Bush International's Terminal E for 30 minutes, capturing all this.

We love it for what it reveals about the average traveler on (mostly) Continental Airlines flights from IAH: the vast majority are solo travelers, with duos here and there. Many men wear "dad jeans," but few ever stop and look lost. Cameos from the golf cart!

Enjoy. (And thanks again to Ross Johnson for spending his layovers taking these vids!)

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / /

American Airlines Shows Off Upcoming New Seats Via Instagram

January 30, 2012 at 8:45 AM | by | Comments (0)

Last week we told you about the slurry of airlines using this year to refresh their aircraft cabins and service. Not a few days later, American Airlines dropped some major news as well, and they supplemented it with Instagram shots of the goods.

AA will take delivery of their first Boeing 777-300ER late this year and, from photos posted on Instagram last week, the big birds will look pretty flash on the inside. Since the airline is the first US carrier to take delivery of the shiny, new aircraft type, the introduction will surely be huge.

more ›

/ / / / /

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema to Bring Their Brews and Views from Texas to Washington DC

January 27, 2012 at 2:07 PM | by | Comments (0)

The much beloved Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has announced they are expanding their operations next year with a new location on the outskirts of Washington, DC, in Ashburn, VA.

The Alamo Drafthouse isn't your run-of-the-mill movie theater. They serve up gourmet food and drinks every night (there is a bar in every lobby) and host fun pop culture-themed events, like the Dazed and Confused Feast taking place tonight at their Houston location.

Construction on the 34,000 sq. foot theater in Ashburn in a planned community called One Loudoun will begin this spring, with hopes to open in the spring of 2013.

more ›

/ / / / /

Allegiant Air's Big News? Oakland.

January 27, 2012 at 1:04 PM | by | Comments (0)

We were all in a tizzy to hear what Allegiant Air had in store for us this week, as they were teasing some news on their Facebook page. It wasn’t exactly like waiting for Santa to arrive, but we kind of thought they would finally reveal some new details about their plans for Hawaii. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case—we’ll continue to wait—but they did announce information on their plans for another pretty decent location.

Allegiant Air is ready to boost service to and from the Bay Area of California, as they now have Oakland on their radar. Folks looking for some cheap options in the East Bay will probably welcome the addition, and the airport is only a traffic-filled bridge away from the rest of the area’s residents. Allegiant has named Oakland their newest focus city, so that means like seven new nonstop options for everyone from Raiders fans to MC Hammer.

more ›