Joe Brancatelli is a long-time business traveler, a print media consultant and the guy who writes the Seat 2B column for Portfolio. At least for now, anyway: The magazine recently decided to cut 20 percent of its total staff, scale back its print production schedule to 10 issues a year and chop its web crew from 35 people to 5.

So with the magazine struggling to make good on a rumored $100 million start-up investment, business travel spending on the wane thanks to a global recession and a historic election taking place, you know, right now, what did Joe write about today? Ultra-premium loyalty programs so exclusive you can't even sign up for them.

After a seven-paragraph anecdotal lede, Brancatelli finally starts outlining some of the outrageous perks that travel companies apparently still shower on a small group of guests who, despite being important enough to earn unimaginable coddling from airlines and hotels, still need an extra ego boost. Of course, reading about the "secret societies" won't get you any closer to joining them because "If you have to ask, you don't qualify."

So, what's the point of the article then? We're not 30-year veterans of the publishing industry, but at least we try to be relevant and interesting on a daily basis.

Related Stories:
· Secret Societies [Portfolio]
· Empty Nast Syndrome [NYO]
· It's Nasty over at Conde [NYP]

[Photo of Conde Nast HQ: Tone Walker]]]> pbb 2008-11-04T10:00:07-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/24/74223/5792

Just as other airlines are ditching in-flight magazines because they weigh too much (and secretly, we think, because they know they're full of rubbish), the colorful Russian low-cost carrier Sky Express is just starting one up.

We don't know too much about Sky Express, which flies from a Moscow hub to 11 other Russian cities. Given our own experience with non-low-cost Russian airlines, we're not sure we want to know much.

But in case you want to fly on the cheap around Russia, you'll now be able to read Express Magazine as you do it. The big plan is to revolutionize the Russian in-flight magazine market. If they're talking revolutions, perhaps they're in the right place.

Related Stories:
· Sky Express [Official Site]
· Ink Connects with Sky Express [Peanuts]
· This Week at Emirates: Whither the In-Flight Magazine? [Jaunted]

[Photo: Sky Express]]]> amandak 2008-09-24T09:00:33-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/8/8/52619/82055

We've never been huge fans of in-flight magazines but they do tend to while away a good half an hour or so, or even more on long flights when we're fighting boredom. But flavor-of-the-month Emirates, in their eternal wisdom, has now decided to ditch its in-flight magazine completely.

Apparently this will save them one ton of weight per flight--we get it, lower fuel consumption and less emissions--so they're crowing about both cost and environment savings. Environment? This from the airline which thinks an in-flight shower is a necessity for some passengers?

Problem number two: What will passengers do instead of reading the in-flight mag? Stare at the screen in front of them even after watching all the movies? Hopefully not chat on their cell phones for an extra half hour.

Related Stories:
· Emirates Ditch Their In-Flight Magazine [Travel Rants]
· In-Flight Cell Phones: Vibrate Only on Emirates, Please [Jaunted]
· Emirates and the In-Flight Shower [Jaunted]

[Photo: TelstarLogistics]]]> amandak 2008-08-08T09:00:06-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/3/27/93648/5326
The magazine that showed us the ins and outs of New York, London and even Beirut has launched in Kuala Lumpur. TimeOut has been one of the few stand-out travel publications over the years, so we're excited to hear about their new magazine and website featuring this bustling Southeast Asian hub. Now you can fly there on the cheap and know where to go.

TimeOut's KL web site covers happenings and happening spots around the city -- from bookstores to bars, from comedy clubs to clearance sales. It's a great tool for expats and even locals, but what we wish it had is maps; addresses don't mean much to the unfamiliar traveler.

Either way, it's a cool addition. And we'll be looking out for seven more launches from TO in 2008, including titles from Hong Kong, Bangkok and Jakarta.

Related Stories:
· TimeOut KL [Official Site]
· TimeOut launches KL site [Journalism.co.uk]
· KL Travel coverage [Jaunted]]]> benh 2008-03-27T12:30:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/10/20/1344/4073
There are so many interesting things to see in Romania that we're sure the next Jaunted field trip will just have to go to Dracula's land. To add to the country's natural scenic attractions, Transylvania, the Black Sea coast and an interesting history, there are also the sexy nurses and the marijuana-eating cows. But wait, as they say...there's more.

There are also great-looking Page 5 girls. In fact, the Page 5 girls in Romanian tabloid Libertatea are some of the prettiest around. But they're not happy. The reason is probably obvious already: they want to be Page 3 girls. And they're protesting and threatening to withdraw their services if their section isn't relocated two pages closer to the front. One clever model stated: "It's a lot easier to open the paper to Page 3 then to Page 5." Romania: history, sex, mountains, drugs, and intelligent models. Let's go!

[Photo: jessica louise]

Related Stories:
· Models Face Off Over Picture Placements [All Headline News]
· Sexy Romanian Nurses [Jaunted]
· Marijuana for Bovine Growth [Jaunted]]]> amandak 2006-10-20T09:10:06-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/7/9/19400/73364
The sophisticated spirit of Montréal is on full display in Plaisirs de Vivre/Living With Style, a bilingual style and interiors publication. The June-July issue features, among other pieces, an article on Baronet furniture, splashy photos of an Alexander Gorlin loft in NYC, a smart round-up of culture and design news in Montréal and beyond, a Montréal calendar, and even some recipes.

While the magazine's text is completely bilingual, advertisements are almost entirely in French. It's a kind of testimony to Montréal's default-francophone-yet-actually-completely-bilingual culture.

We liked the thinking-out-loud piece on contemporary style and design by journalist Sylvie Berkowicz. Ms. Berkowicz, who edits Créativité Montréal, despairs over the chintz, feathers, and gilt that she recently saw at Paris decorating show, asking, apropos of the current flight from minimalism and embrace of kitschy nostalgia: "Have we failed at modernity?"

We hope not, Sylvie, and we love you for asking.]]> artextor 2006-07-10T11:40:02-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/