After the recent chopping of magazines like Gourmet, it's safe to say that print media is beyond shaking in their boots; they're already cleaning out desks. The latest magazine closure scare came at Budget Travel, formerly under Arthur Frommer's wing but now controlled by the Washington Post Co.

On Friday, rumors began that the magazine would announce its closure on Monday (today). NY Mag reached Editor-In-Chief Nina Willdorf for comments only to receive a cryptic "heading out town"-type response.

Instead of closing today, it was only reported that "it's business as usual," but execs did hold a meeting to discuss the future of the magazine. Although it looks like no one lost their jobs today, employees in ad sales were told to hold on the February issues. Will the scythe of death fall on Budget Travel in January 2010, or—even worse—around the holidays? Rest assured that we'll continue to follow this story.

Related Stories:
· Magazine Deathwatch: Budget Travel [Mediabistro]
· Budget Travel Shuttering? [NYMag]
· Travel Magazines [Jaunted]

[Photo: Kenn Wilson]]]> JetSetCD 2009-11-16T17:34:38-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/11/7/16483/5555

Airfares and hotel room prices have fallen markedly in response to the global economic meltdown, but rental car rates are as high as ever, prompting the penny-pinchers over at Budget Travel to offer up a few tips on keeping the costs down on your next trip. In an AP item, the magazine's editor-in-chief said that car rental companies are unique in that they can trim their supply of cars very easily, maintaining a tight market for rentals. Thus, your best bet for a bargain is to book in advance, look for a discount code on a site like best-car-rental-tips.com, or use a bidding site like Priceline. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-11-07T16:48:03-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/30/93748/342

We'll come right out and admit it: we have used Priceline's Negotiator before and like what it did for us. Even the omnipotent appreciate discounts and the thrill of chasing a deal. Still, we're not sure how we feel about sitting down to make serious travel reservations on our iPhone. Sure it's the internet just like we get on our laptop, but it just doesn't feel as official. But like Priceline could give a crap how we feel, since they've just released their own iPhone travel app.

The app of course focuses on good old William Shatner, aka The Negotiator, and his special Priceline ability to let you list your own nightly hotel rate blindly for a hotel (after choosing star rating and neighborhood), and possibly be accepted for over 50% off published rates. Our two most recent experiences at the hands of Captain Kirk got us 5-star hotel rooms in both Berlin and Chicago for $80 a night, so maybe if we don't even use a computer to make the reservation we'll be even more cavalier? So long as the app is free, which it is, we'll be fiddling with it. Who can resist a free travel app anyways?

Related Stories:
· Priceline Launches iPhone App For Hotel Bidding [USAToday]
· iPhone: Priceline's new app is best for last-minute hotel bids [BudgetTravel]
· iPhone Travel Apps coverage [Jaunted]
]]> JetSetCD 2009-10-30T11:24:19-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/24/14115/970

While low-budget airlines have long since come to dominate most popular short-haul routes, legacy carriers have managed to stay afloat thanks to long-distance flights, which magnify the importance of their enhanced services and amenities. According to The New York Times, however, that's starting to change as the economic downturn creates new opportunities for no-frills upstarts. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-10-24T14:01:15-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/23/135725/17

In our next life, we'd like to return as a baby born aboard an Air Asia flight. Talk about lucky—a pregnant woman on a flight between Penang and Kuching on Borneo went into surprise labor while in the air, prompting the plane to try for an emergency landing in Kuala Lumpur, but the baby popped out before they could get on the ground.

After the successful delivery, the mother and child were transported to a KL hospital, where they were visited by the higher-ups at Air Asia, who presented them with the rights to free flights for life. Assuming that Air Asia will be around until the kid hits retirement in something like sixty years, he could really make a name for himself traveling around Asia—or beyond, since Air Asia now also flies to both London and is busily signing paperwork to come to both Paris and Los Angeles. Boy oh boy are we jealous of this little boy. The question now is...did he kinda join the mile high club just being born up there?

Related Stories:
· Lifetime free flights for baby born on plane [AFP]
· Talking With Air Asia's CEO Tony Fernandes About US Plans [Jaunted]
· Air Asia coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: jetalone]]]> JetSetCD 2009-10-23T14:09:20-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/19/44450/470

One of our favorite low cost carriers, Air Asia, is not just cool because it keeps adding more routes—like Kuala Lumpur to Paris on the cheap and the Indian destinations like Thiruvananthapuram just to name a couple of last week's highlights—but it's also giving us ideas for our 2010 travel plans by holding a big airfare sale at the moment.

For bookings made between now and Sunday, you can get bargain tickets for travel between January 11 and April 30, 2010 for a bunch of Asian routes. The cheapest flights get as low as 19 Ringgit ($5.50) but they're mostly internal Malaysian flights; to get from Kuala Lumpur to further afield, there are deals like KL to pretty much anywhere in Indonesia or Thailand for 59 Ringgit ($17) and KL to Australian destinations for 199 Ringgit ($58). Get booking fast or we might snap up all the seats first.

Related Stories:
· Air Asia [Official Site]
· Let's Go Thiruvananthapuram! [Jaunted]
· Sarkozy Approves Air Asia X's Low-Cost Flights to Paris [Jaunted]

[Photo: Auswandern Malaysia] ]]> amandak 2009-10-19T09:13:40-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/12/12924/122

Go get 'em low-cost carrier Air Asia X is taking another step towards world domination—well, their words were "global expansion"—with the big announcement that they have now received approval to start up cheap long-haul flights from Kuala Lumpur to Paris.

None other than French president Nicolas Sarkozy himself informed Malaysian Prime Minister Razak this week that Air Asia X would be allowed to land at the Orly Airport in Paris. Air Asia X hasn't yet made more details public; we're in the dark on how soon this service will start, and what it will cost, but they launched their Kuala Lumpur to London service earlier this year, and you can grab those flights for around $250 one way.

We figure it's only reasonable to guess that the Paris version won't be too different. These low-cost long-hauls are certainly giving us ideas for some amazing budget around-the-world trips—we might go start loading up our backpacks while Air Asia decides on Paris airfares.

Related Stories:
· Air Asia To Start Paris Flights [AFP]
· Air Asia X Wants to Long-Haul You From New York and California [Jaunted]
· Air Asia X Launches Low-Cost, Long-Haul Service [Jaunted]

[Photo: Deanster1983] ]]> amandak 2009-10-12T09:18:36-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/