Not too long ago we were going on and on about the possibility of London building a pretty darn huge airport within the Thames Estuary. Well this is certainly still a possibility, but now that accountants and financiers have started to run the numbers and sort the spreadsheets, the bottom line is getting out of han.

Someone must pay for all the construction costs, costs which would be passed on down to the planes and passengers arriving at the new airport. Landing fees could be as high as £100 per passenger for the new airport—oof—a fact which may make the new airport—despite all its bells and whistles—a pretty hard sell. The thought is that the new airport could cost anywhere between like £50 and £80 billion to build, which is way more than what London-Heathrow is even worth (around £12 billion). ]]> kjb 2012-01-25T08:22:29-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2012/1/2/223136/6571
Some of our recent shots on Instagram

Yo. We already told you last week that we're now on Instagram (username: jaunted), but we thought we'd give you a fair warning that things are about to quadruple in awesome as we prepare for a late winter and spring insanely packed with international travel. That means more awesome, behind-the-scenes travel shots on Instagram from our writers...wherever they may be on this blue globe of ours.

Not only that, but here's a few additional updates we've noticed among the travel brands on Instagram: ]]> JetSetCD 2012-01-03T18:49:10-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/12/1/12012/3831

Just because Thanksgiving has passed doesn't mean that travel will dwindle much; Christmas and other holidays are now less than one month away, and of course travel to wherever you're heading for them will start sooner. If you're heading home or on vacation, and you can't convince someone to come pick you up from the airport, we might be able to help.

Throughout December, we'll be adding more guides on how to reach airports around the world via both public and private transportation, but for now, here are six guides we've already got for you:

· New York-JFK

· Paris-Charles de Gaulle

· Rome-Fiumicino/Leonardo da Vinci

· Tokyo-Narita

· London-Heathrow

· London-Gatwick (just the Express train featured)

[Photo: pro-zak]]]> JetSetCD 2011-12-01T09:00:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/27/16363/712

You may remember we told you a little while back about a rather underwhelming experience in Virgin Atlantic's economy class from London to Vegas. Luckily, we're pleased to report the food was much, much better.

First, a bit of background. This member of Jaunted is not a fan of airline food—even in business class. We were also seriously unimpressed with the meals consumed in premium economy a couple of years back, with the exception of a recent excellent Full English Breakfast. Alas, we still didn't have much hope for economy.

But what do you know...for economy, it was actually very decent.]]> juliab 2011-11-28T16:35:51-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/27/213316/10

Heading to the UK this Wednesday, November 30? Bring a book, a snack and loads of patience because for the second time this year, the UK Borders and Customs employees who stamp your passports will be on strike.

The last strike by the PCS Union was exactly five months ago, on June 30, and we just happened to fly into London-Heathrow and get stuck in the middle of it (and the line's 17 switchbacks). Although Heathrow had obviously prepared well by handing out both bottled water and kid activity packs, the nightmare of standing for nearly three hours in the most boring, bureaucratic environment ever still happened. Just listen for your flight crew to warn you about "industrial action," as our Virgin Atlantic FAs did, just to make sure we were aware what exactly was the holdup. ]]> JetSetCD 2011-11-28T14:43:16-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/21/133834/34

There’s always an aspect of holding our breath when we try a new airline, especially if it’s a lowcost one. Sometimes, though, needs must, which is why we found ourselves travelling from London-Gatwick to Florence on Meridiana.

We’ve known about Meridiana for a long time, but heard neither positive or negative things about it. Alas with most other airlines flying into Pisa (over an hour away by bus) or Bologna (90 minutes on the train), we bit the bullet.

Luckily, we had a rather nice surprise. Staff were friendly (though be warned, since it’s an Italian airline, they speak in Italian before English). They gave us a drink and cookies, which was not only free, but probably also better than the inedible snacks BA give out. ]]> juliab 2011-11-21T15:22:05-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/11/9/8419/13739

Picture the scene: the end of a boring, two-hour flight from London-Gatwick to Florence on Meridiana. The plane is nearly full, the hour is bothersomely early, the turbulence has been hefty, and the cloud cover means that there hasn’t been a single thing to look at out the window for the entire flight. Oh, and we forgot to bring a book.

And then, approaching the airport for landing, we dip below the clouds and out of the ether springs Brunelleschi’s dome. And Giotto’s belltower. And the spire of Santa Croce. And the Baptistery and the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio. What a view. Sometimes this is why it's worth the trouble to fly instead of take the train.

Know of a more iconic landing view? Let us know in comments below! ]]> juliab 2011-11-09T14:55:02-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/