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Zombies And Factories Just Go So Well Together, Especially In Columbus

October 30, 2009 at 4:04 PM | by egw | 0 Comments

Become an informed consumer while still on vacation! Check out Jaunted's newest series of the best factory tours the world over.

In this year's surprise horror comedy hit "Zombieland," a college student attempts to find out if his parents in Columbus, Ohio are alive. If you find yourself in the position of having to flee from a zombie invasion, you may want to hide in these Columbus-area factories—so take the tours now, just in case.

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2009 Halloween Theme Park Scare Guide: HalloWeekends

October 8, 2009 at 10:34 AM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

If you're so over the usual haunted houses and Scream masks jumping out at you, you'd still better brace yourself for Cedar Point's haunted toy factory, "Cornstalker" scare maze which only opens after dark, and much more. Cedar Point's HalloWeekends veers away from the family-friendly fun in favor of the macabre and truly frightening.

The haunting has already begun at this amusement park, located on a peninsula in Lake Erie nearest to Sandusky, Ohio. During the summer season, the steep drops from some of the world's highest and fastest roller coasters, surrounded by sparkling water of the lake, is perhaps the scariest thing. But on September 18 through November 1, the park transforms every nook and cranny into a pants-wetting scream zone with 4 haunted houses, 5 scare zones, and 9 live shows.

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October Brings HalloWeekends To Cedar Point Theme Park

October 1, 2009 at 9:08 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

Welcome to October—it started today if you weren’t paying attention—and that means it’s time to really focus on the spookiest season of them all. Theme parks have been doing their best to get ready for Halloween, and one of those coaster kingdoms is Cedar Point. The coaster capital of the world has installed some orange light bulbs, added some pumpkins, and transformed the park into a scary adventure. HalloWeekends is yours to enjoy through November 1, and if you missed their rides during the summer, this is your last chance until 2010.

This is the 13th year that HalloWeekends have taken over the park, and it looks like they’ve really upped the scare quotient for this year. There’s two new haunted houses including Happy Jack’s Toy Factory. It sounds too creepy to us, we prefer when our toys don’t come alive. Along with the usual rides there will be plenty of scare zones between the different attractions in the park. Just pay attention and you’ll be safe, otherwise you may never make it to the park’s giga-coaster, Millennium Force.

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Ohio Joins The E-ZPass Party For Seamless Midwest-To-East Coast Road Trips

September 23, 2009 at 9:18 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

Paying tolls on a road trip is a drag, but at least there’s E-ZPass to speed things up. With less time searching for change and waiting in line at the toll booth, there’s more time to stop at awesome roadside tourist traps. Thankfully, Ohio has finally caught up with the rest of the East Coast and Midwest as they are set to join the electronic toll collection network starting October 1.

Effective next week, the entire Ohio Turnpike will be able to take away your hard earned cash thanks to that little E-ZPass gizmo on your windshield. It cost the state $50 million to get everything ready to go if that makes you feel any better—so that’s what, like two weeks of toll collection to recoup the cost?

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The Battle Rages: JetAmerica Versus The FAA

July 10, 2009 at 9:04 AM | by JetSetCD | 2 Comments

And the JetAmerica drama continues, as more details about their issues with the FAA emerge, and the struggle for landing slots continues. An article published yesterday in the Toledo Blade not only names the dates when JetAmerica's web began to unravel, but also quotes the Port Authority as being "not that optimistic" about the carrier.

So remember back when JetAmerica boasted of selling 20,000 tickets in their first 48 hours of having their website active? It turns that this publicity, and their May 27 press release even announcing their ticket sales, were the straws that broke the camel's back; they caused the FAA to contact JetAmerica and inquire about exactly what their plans were for landing slots, since they now needed them as an obviously regularly-scheduled carrier.

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Yes Virginia, There Really Is A JetAmerica

June 25, 2009 at 10:12 AM | by JetSetCD | 3 Comments


Christopher Grazel, COO of Jet America stands at right

Have you been following the news out of Toledo, Ohio? No, of course you haven't, but if you had you'd know that JetAmerica, that enigma of a new LCC, is starting to kick things off in their hub airport.

At a recent press conference at Toledo Express, the motto "Let's Get America Flying Again" was announced, and since then our contacts on the ground report that a full-out barrage of both TV and newspaper advertising has hit the Northwest Ohio area. Thanks to grants and some deep pockets of their own, the Toledo Port Authority will be spending $900,000 on promoting the start-up airline, even though when it first flies on July 13, it'll only be going direct to Newark, Minneapolis, and Melbourne, Florida.

Nonetheless, Toledoans are flocking to embrace the airline as a local news station poll asking "Do you think you'll use Jet America to fly out of Toledo instead of going to Detroit Metro?" has thus far received 85% "yes" responses. Is it because their laughable TV ads sound like an intro to a Billy Mays informercial? Probably.

Related Stories:
· Jet America spends bundle to lure flyers back to Toledo [WTOL-Toledo]
· Jet America Does The Impossible: Sells 20,000 Tickets In First Week [Jaunted]
· JetAmerica Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: WTOL]

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JetAmerica Does The Impossible: Sells 20,000 Tickets In First Week

June 8, 2009 at 11:53 AM | by JetSetCD | 1 Comment

As skeptical as we've been about new LCC JetAmerica and its plan to service secondary airports like South Bend, IN and Melbourne, FL, it seems as though travelers are biting.

Our people in Toledo, JetAmerica's soon-to-be hub city, called in to report that the local news is boasting of Jet America's ticket sales: 12,000 tickets sold in the first 48 hours after their website launched, a number that was expected to reach 20,000+ by the end of that first week.

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JetAmerica Doesn't Skimp on Extra Fees, Expansion Plans

May 29, 2009 at 9:37 AM | by JetSetCD | 3 Comments

It's barely been 48 hours since new Midwest LCC JetAmerica announced their intentions to fly between Toledo, Newark, Minneapolis, South Bend, Lansing and Melbourne, and already the $9 fares for its first few weeks are being snatched up.

But will Jet America last longer than those first few weeks anyways? It is, after all, another airline from the folks behind the former Skybus LCC, who couldn't make it work in Columbus and folded in April 2008 after less than one year in business. Nonetheless, JetAmerica has enough extra fees for them to float on for at least a little while, assuming people want to travel between Toledo and Lansing with surfboards and five cats.

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Ten-Cent Hot Dogs and Major League Amenities at Columbus' New Stadium

May 28, 2009 at 10:07 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

If time and tickets are too tight to make it around all of Ohio’s major league ballparks, then we recommend zeroing in on a trip to the new home of the Columbus Clippers. After teaming up with 360 Architecture and shelling out about $55 million, the new Huntington Park recently opened for all to enjoy in the Arena District of downtown Columbus.

The stadium is huge with three different levels to explore, plenty space for the 10,000 fans in attendance to spread out and order hot dogs without hitting someone in the face. Of course the most rowdy fans will likely be getting down to business in one of the park’s three bars. Our pick is the Roof Top Bar on the left field building; unfortunately for you may have to slightly sacrifice your view of the high-def scoreboard for some beers here.

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JetAmerica Will Be Ready to Jet on July 13 with $9 Fares

May 27, 2009 at 9:20 AM | by juliana | 4 Comments

JetAmerica has opened up its reservations for flights starting on July 13. And as promised, the flights will be super cheap.

Fares will start around $9 each way out of Toledo (for only nine seats) but much like Ryanair, JetAmerica will make most of its money on fees. According to the St. Petersburg Times:

Jet America will charge an additional $20 for a round-trip with an assigned seat, $20 to buy a ticket by phone and $10 to book on the Web site (www.jetamerica.com).

We plugged in a trip from Newark to Toledo for the opening date and indeed found a fare of $9 each way. (The return flight that first came up was a 6am flight but there were other ones available.)

We actually found that JetAmerica charges a $5 "convenience fee" if you book on JetAmerica.com (not $10) which means that $9 fare each-way is really $14. But the website was incredibly slow loading pages this morning and we couldn't see what their checked luggage fees are but we expect them to be similar to other airlines.

Nevertheless, JetAmerica is on track to deliver passengers on July 13 in a Boeing 737-800 jet from Toledo to Newark, N.J., Melbourne, Fla., Lansing, Mich., and South Bend, Ind. An official announcement is coming from them in an hour. Also, don't confuse Jet America with JetAmerica, the private jet share program.

Related Stories:
· JetAmerica is the New Air Azul is the New Skybus? [Jaunted]
· Jet America set to begin service in July [St. Petersburg Times]
· Discount airline plans flights from Newark Liberty International Airport [NJ Star-Ledger]

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Name That Airline: Air Azul Changes Everything Before It Even Takes Off

April 29, 2009 at 9:29 AM | by kjb | 1 Comment

Not too long ago Air Azul jumped onto the scene promising flights from Toledo to Newark. Well before they even had a chance to kick the tires and light the fires, the airline is taking a little break. Instead of starting flights in June, flights are pushed back until at least July.

Originally, their services were going to be offered thanks to a little help from the charter company Sun Country Airlines. However, Sun Country recently sent a letter to all passengers that had booked on Air Azul to let them know that they’d have to rebook as they were no longer affiliated with Air Azul. Thankfully we were still on the fence, and didn’t book that bike trip across Ohio yet.

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Skybus Still Settling All Kinds Of Claims

March 18, 2009 at 3:45 PM | by kjb | 2 Comments

You know we love Skybus, and even though it’s long gone, every once in a while a little tidbit trickles out from its former base in Columbus, Ohio. Nearly a year after its demise, it looks like the airline is finally settling things up with its former workers. They’ve agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit that was filed by employees who were less than thrilled when they found out that their jobs were abruptly terminated.

The lawsuit alleged that Skybus violated the Workers’ Adjustment and Retraining Notice Act by not giving employees advance notice of at least 60 days. If the employees are anything like us—we found out by watching the Today show and throwing the remote across the room—they didn't get any warning.

The details are still being worked out in bankruptcy court—sounds exciting—so no specific settlement figure has been announced yet. The Columbus Regional Airport is trying to get some $5 million in change as well, and it looks like when everything is finalized, Skybus will be able to pay about 76 cents on the dollar to those who it left high and dry—guess that’s better than getting nothing.

Related Stories:
·Skybus To Settle Ex-Workers' Suit [Columbus Dispatch]
·2008's Most Missed Industry Casualty Is... [Jaunted]
·Airline Bankruptcy [Jaunted]

[Photo: msmail]