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Tags: Pet Travel / Pets / Animals / JFK / Dog Travel / → All Tags

Customs Officials Rescue A Freezing Furry Friend From Airplane Cargo Hold

We’ve had some pretty bad flight experiences, but we’ve never experienced anything as bad as one poor little puppy. The cute little dog was headed from Mexico to New York, but when it arrived at JFK airport it wasn’t doing too well. The temperature was pretty cold in the cargo hold, and the six-week old pup was in danger of freezing to death.

US Customs officials were on the scene, and officers performed mouth-to-snout resuscitation to bring the furry friend back to life. Unfortunately there was another dog traveling in the cargo hold that did not fare as well. This is just another reminder why travelers should consider Pet Airways for their pet transportation needs.

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Tags: Travel Advertising / Shopping Travel / Travel Ads / Airport Security / JFK / → All Tags

Airport Security Bins: The Final Frontier of Travel Advertising?

It's nice to see that it's not just Amtrak taking advantage of those bins at airport security. You know the ones—the plastic ones at the metal detectors, into which you drop your laptop, shoes, and all other worldly possessions.

Well apparently brands are realizing that this is some invaluable advertising space, where they can have direct access to the weary eyes of travelers, a huge captive audience guaranteed to be gazing at the products for a precious few seconds day in and day out.

Last weekend at JFK, we spotted these Zappos ads in the security bins in Terminal 4. It was difficult to get a proper picture of them in a surprisingly swift-moving security line, but it seems that we're not the only ones to find them a bit shocking, since we easily located this picture on Flickr. If you spot any new airport security bin ads, do let us know!

Related Stories:
· Amtrak Ads Invade the Bins at Airport Security [Jaunted]
· Travel Ads news [Jaunted]

[Photo: Scott Beale/Laughing Squid]

Tags: Snakes / Snakes On A Plane / Animals / JFK / → All Tags

No More Snakes On A Plane!

We’re willing to admit that we have a little bit of ophidiophobia—it’s a fear of snakes, we had to look it up too—so we were excited to hear that less and less of the slithery serpents will be making their way to the United States. The US Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced a proposal that would ban the important of certain snake species from other countries. Of course this would also greatly reduce the chance of a Snakes on a Plane sequel.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar recently spoke about the danger of certain snakes and what they’re doing to our environment. He specifically addressed the issue of what happens when pet snakes are released into the wild. The rogue critters have been specifically troublesome for Everglades National Park. There’s been 1,200 snakes taken out of the park since 2000, because they’re usually up to no good.

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Tags: Pet Travel / Airports / Airport News / Animals / Disability Travel / JFK / PHX / ATL / → All Tags

Dogs Finally Have a Place To Conduct Their Business at Airports

Jet-setting pups just got some good news, and this time we don't mean Pet Airways. Dog parks are being set up at airports all over the country. A new mandate by the Department of Transportation requires airlines to set up relief areas for Seeing Eye Dogs and other service animals. Since the mandate went into effect last year, airlines have been working to either add or upgrade dog parks at airports across the U.S.

One such airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport recently opened a 1,000-square-foot dog park on the south end of the ground transportation center. While another, JFK in NYC, has a patch of natural grass (complete with its own fire hydrant) that was installed by American Airlines.

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Tags: Jaunted Flight Reviews / Virgin Atlantic / JFK / LHR / London Field Trip / AIrplanes / 747 / Premium Economy / → All Tags

A Virgin Atlantic Virgin Flies From New York to London

It's low tourist season in London right now; the Harrod's after-Christmas sale is on, hotel prices are cheaper, the snow has melted and the sun's out. So we figured, why not hope across the pond for a week and why not finally lose our Virgin Atlantic virginity.

We left on Friday night, after a quick visit to the Clubhouse at JFK, and boarded Virgin's Flight 046 direct to London-Heathrow. We had no idea what we were in for, except for the fact that we had been upgraded to premium economy. But once we boarded the 747-400, the surprises began rolling in.

Mood lighting, an in-flight bar and a toupee, after the jump. Tips too!

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Tags: Airport Lounges / Lounges / JFK / Airports / Virgin Atlantic / London Field Trip / Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse / → All Tags

Inside the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at JFK Airport

Man, you guys are good! We posed a challenge to you back on Friday, to guess where we were at that very moment with only the photo above as a clue, and although had some great guesses—the Big Brother house, the Bridge of the Starship Enterprise and Austin Powers' lair—two of you were totally jetsetting with the correct answer: Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class Clubhouse at JFK Airport.

On Friday evening, after sitting in rush hour traffic trying to get to the airport and mentally panicking, we arrived and checked into VS 046 to London-Heathrow. The good people at Virgin hooked us up with Clubhouse access, and we quickly collapsed into a futuristic chair and ordered up the lounge's signature drink: the Virgin Redhead. And that's when the fun began.

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Tags: Airport Hell / Airport Security / Security / TSA / Airports / Airport News / JFK / → All Tags

Second Airport Security Breach This Month Delays Thousands of Passengers at JFK

Why can't people just stay behind queues and obey red "no entry" signs? January is quickly turning into Airport Security month, and this crazy even that happened over the weekend does nothing to improve the image of the TSA...

On Saturday, a Haitian evacuee who had just arrived to New York-JFK's Terminal 8 on a flight from the Dominican Republic set off security alarms when we went the wrong way and entered doors marked "For Authorized Personnel Only." And, just as in the Newark security breach of earlier this month, all of the passengers in the terminal were forced to exit back in the ticketing area for re-screening through security.

They eventually caught the man, but he's currently released on bail. Poor guy has been through so much these last few days. Luckily this didn't occur just after a major holiday, like the Newark incident's proximity to New Year's, but nonetheless, thousands of passengers on mostly American Airlines went through airport hell. May we suggest bringing a survival kit and a tent along next time you fly?

Related Stories:
· Arrest in JFK airport terminal security breach [Reuters]
· Haitian Evacuee the culprit in JFK security breach [Gothamist]
· Airport Security [Jaunted]

[Photo: TwitPic]

Tags: Accidents / JFK / Delta / Airline News / → All Tags

More Airplane Shrapnel Rains Onto Long Island

Earlier this year we learned all about the potential for disaster when it comes to airplanes flying with loose screws over densely populated areas. Well we’ve got another piece of airplane shrapnel to add to the list.

Over the weekend, Delta Flight 799 was on its way to Tokyo from JFK when it lost a pretty big piece. Thankfully the Boeing 777 made it to Japan without any difficulties, and the issue was actually only discovered when it had landed. Apparently the part wasn’t essential, but we doubt that Boeing felt that way when they designed the airplane.

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Tags: Helictopter Travel / US Helicopter / JFK / EWR / Airport News / Delta / Airline News / → All Tags

It's A Sad Day For Frivolous Travel As US Helicopter Abruptly Shuts Down

US Helicopter, which ran Sikorsky choppers from the Wall Street and Midtown West heliports to JFK and Newark airports, shuttered its service abruptly on Friday. What a bummer for ballers in the NYC-area, and for Jaunted too since we've splurged on the 8-minute flight a few times—one review is here.

The 'copter company, which landed at Delta terminals at the airports and offered seamless transfers to your Delta flights, only began 3 years ago and yet has been plagued with financial problems from the first. Sometimes their desperation for cash would work out for us, since their $99 special would appear every so often and drive us batty with fantasies of flying in friends from the airport as a gift and totally blowing their minds.

The good news is, US Helicopter claims that this stop is only temporary for, as their Vice-President says, "getting our act together." Once they do get their act together, we hope that $159 one-ways that take 8 minutes to get to the airport still include a few specials.

Related Stories:
· US Helicopter Halts Shuttle Service To JFK and Newark [NYT]
· First-Person Flight Reviews: US Helicopter Is Real-Life Google Earth [Jaunted]
· US Helicopter Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: US Helicopter]

Tags: iPhone Travel Apps / iPhone / iPhone 3GS / Air Traffic Control / JFK / AMS / Airports / Airport News / → All Tags

Listen In On Air Traffic Control From Your iPhone

Noting that Labor Day weekend means one of the busiest travel times of the year, we're tuning in to something other than our iTunes on our iPhone. It's a newish app, released this summer, and it comes from the great people behind LiveATC.net, which lets you tune in to streaming air traffic control at select airports around the world.

At $2.99, it's the most expensive app we've bought, but there's just something exciting about listening in on JFK's Tower as flights depart and arrive for everywhere from Nice, France to Rochester. A few mornings ago, we even caught the air traffic controllers wrestling with some Coast Guard traffic and the occasional helicopter.

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Tags: Airplane Hell / Airline News / Travel Storms / Sun Country / JFK / → All Tags

No Brett Favre For Passengers Stuck Onboard Grounded Flight For Six Hours

Here we go again. Just a couple weeks after another flight was stuck in Minnesota for hours, a Sun Country airplane was delayed on the tarmac at JFK for hours en route to the North Star State. Flight 252 was supposed to leave New York on Friday around 11 am, but after a late boarding and weather delays, passengers were forced to spend most of the day stuck aboard the plane. Total delay time just sitting on the runway was about six hours.

Instead of throwing the passengers a bone and distributing some complimentary snacks and beverages to keep people comfortable, the airline rolled out the cart and began to charge for service items. Apparently travelers were quick to open their wallets despite the inconvenience as the snacks soon ran out leaving many thirsty, hungry, and cranky.

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Tags: Celeb Travel / Mischa Barton / Travel Pillows / JFK / Airport Photo Shoots / → All Tags

Mischa Barton is Tempted Again...By a Travel Pillow

Mischa Barton has had a rough go of it lately. First, there was incessant scrutiny about her cellulite from the press. Then came a very public DUI arrest. Even losing her "extra" poundage didn't seem to help her image or suffering career as her partying habits started to spiral out of control.

Just the other weekend, she pulled "a Britney" and was placed on an "involuntary psychiatric hold" at a Los Angeles medical center. After a few days, she was released and sent back to work on an upcoming CW show called, The Beautiful Life in which she plays a down and out model.

Because that's a lot of drama to endure--heck, we still can't function normally after a wild Friday night out---we'll have to forgive her for contemplating a fellow passenger's travel neck pillow after arriving in JFK on a flight from Los Angeles.

Mischa, we strongly hope you make the smart decision and just say "No" to this silly type of travel pillow but you know, we all make mistakes sometimes. At least it's not a Komfort Kollar. Also, note to self: do not stand next to celebrities getting their picture taken at the airport after a long cross-country flight. You could be photographed by the paps!

[Photo: JustJared.com]

Related Stories:
· Travel Pillows [Jaunted]
· Mischa Barton [Jaunted]