Oh my god. Well if it wasn't obvious before, it is now: airline/airport flashmobs are the new black.
Latest on the travel flashmob trend is Delta, who just barely released a 5-minute dance, incorporating flight crew and operations peeps from ATL, JFK, DTW and TOC (Technical Operations Center).
It starts off corny, but stay with it. It gets...cornier, but omg do we want to hug everyone involved. See the full video:]]>
So you're flying Business Class on the Singapore Airlines A380? Or maybe you're heading out in business class on any of the other airlines that call JFK Terminal 4 home, among them Aer Lingus. After checking in for your flight but before heading through security, you'll be directed to chill in the Oasis Lounge on the mezzanine above the main hubbub of the terminal.
On your walk over to the lounge, you'll see the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse (don't get too jealous; it's going to be replaced by an even better Clubhouse soon) and you'll pass near the four prayer rooms of JFK. That's about the end of the excitement, however, as the Oasis Lounge is pretty standard lounge fare with the exception of free booze and stellar views of the tarmac. ]]>
Alright. What's the one thing you've been waiting forever for from JetBlue? Duh, in-flight WiFi...besides that. Yes, a freaking iPhone app!
Well, late last night while thoughts of Terra Blue Chips and direct flights to Santo Domingo danced through your heads, the airline's very first iPhone app quietly snuck out into the iTunes app store. It's free of course, and blue and orange, but is it any good?
To keep our opinions short and sweet, yes—it's sooooo good. Like, spread-the-word good. Even if you've never flown JetBlue and don't have any upcoming flights booked, we'd say get the thing for its well-designed flight search and booking (wanderlust fodder right there) and cute little extras, like the ability to use your iPhone photos to create funky postcards, shared straight from the app.]]>
The next time you’re stuck in the terminal—or on the tarmac—with nowhere to go, there’s now officially someone to blame for your delay and disturbance. It’s actually not a person but more of a place, as it’s New York City that’s likely the spot causing all of the trouble.
The New York Times looked into the causes behind a lot of these airport and airplane inconveniences, and they found that the city’s busy air traffic and multiple airports are the places to blame. There’s been different flight plans from the FAA and even less planes overall thanks to the dip in the economy, but that still hasn’t helped the congestion up in the skies above the greater metropolitan area. Apparently the city’s three major airports—along with the airport in Philadelphia—accounted for around 12 percent of all the country’s domestic flights, but those few flights created like half of all delays. ]]>
Okay everyone, ready for some serious South America travel news? So LAN—which is really a group of airlines including LAN Chile, LAN Ecuador, LAN Argentina, LAN Express and LAN Colombia—made all kinds of changes, for the better, to their routes and in-flight service today, February 1.
· First off, LAN Colombia (which only really started as an airline in December 2012 after LAN took over Colombian airline AIRES) is now flying direct from Miami to Bogota. The inaugural hit the skies earlier today, complete with a visit from Juan Valdez, who served the passengers their in-flight coffees. Fares for this new route, which runs four times weekly on Airbus A320s, are $400 roundtrip, including taxes & fees, if booked by February 6. Of course, you can go straight through to booking via their Facebook page. ]]>
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). ]]>
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!)]]>