We've been following Matt Gross on his Grand Tour across Europe this summer, barely keeping our jealousy contained as he partied in Rome and volunteered at an organic farm in southern France.
But we were eager to ask him if travel through the unaffordable continent is really that great. And how the hell was he getting by on just €100 ($155) a day?
To find out, we called him up on Skype and recorded our video chat. Check it after the jump.
After Virgin confirmed the expansion plans, we were excited to talk with CEO David Cush, posing here with Cisco Adler, about the future of the airline, how the FAA allocates landing rights and what it's like to compete with a former employer.
Jaunted: We've been hearing rumors about Chicago for months. Why make the move into that new market now?
DC: You're not an airline until you fly to Chicago. We want to fly four flights a day from LAX and SFO to ORD because this is third largest travel market in the US and we think Chicagoans are going to love our product.
Currently, Chicago/O'Hare has virtually no low-fare competition to the West Coast and none from SFO or LAX. We think we can compete with the big guys and inject a little healthy competition into a market that desperately needs it.
If you didn't know by now, girlfriend getaways are the hottest thing going in the travel world. The trend has already spawned a magazine and a website and now, clearly, it's time for the TV show.
Host Stephanie Oswald's All-Girl Getaways debuts tonight on the Fine Living Network, so we wanted to ask her: Is it just gonna be spas and pampering? And is this whole trend contrived? Her answers, and the bonus story of the last crazy meal she ate on camera, are after the jump.
But Joey Sweeney has way more than just niche spots on his radar. The editor of Philebrity recently started up Phoodie, a blog that obsesses over his city's dining scene. It's one part news site, one part gossip rag and one part media filter.
Post click, Joey fills us in on what's gracing Philly's tables these days.
We're obsessed with the idea of Jet America, the new ultra low cost carrier that could start flying in Charleston, West Virginia. But we don't really know that much about it. So instead of just speculating, we decided to actually ask someone who knows what he's talking about.
We got in touch with Matt Ballard, the President and CEO of the Charleston Area Alliance, a non-profit development group that chipped in some seed money to get Project New Horizons off the ground. Matt was bound by a confidentiality agreement and SEC regulations, but he did manage to illuminate some things for us.
One biggie: You won't see this airline till 2009 at the earliest.
Earlier this week we had a chance to chat with Brian Tan, the founder of a new travel website, Zicasso. We know, right? Another travel site. But after talking with Brian, we were surprised to find out that his service is a little bit different than what's out there.
Unlike an aggregator (think Kayak) or a fluffy info dump (think Fodors), Zicasso is a marketplace that matches travel buyers with travel sellers. Brian calls it a mix of Lending Tree, eBay and online travel planning tools, a description we'd definitely agree with. Basically you put out a bid for the kind of trip you want and tour companies have to come back to you with a good itinerary at a good price--or risk losing a sale to another operator.
Think of it as an interactive version of that list of deals in the back of Budget Travel magazine.
So last night we were snowed in and watching a movie when Charles Ogilvie of Virgin America called up. Did we have a second to chat with Richard Branson, he asked? Are you kidding?!
First and foremost, the Virgin boss wanted to assure us that the "We Met on Virgin" couple was the real deal and not some guerilla marketing scheme. True, they were on VA's first flight from SFO to San Diego, but that was at the airline's invitation thanks to a serendipitous meeting of the couple and a Virgin employee.
Branson also told us that he's excited for his in-the-works project in Russia. It's not a place with quality, innovative airlines, he said, and he wants to bring that kind of service to the country. He's also scouting South America, and something tells us an announcement on that could happen soon.
Tuesday night Virgin America threw its holiday party and the airline toasted CEO Fred Reid by naming its very first aircraft in his honor: The A320 in question will now be known as Fred, White and Blue.
The current chief is riding off into the sunset soon, but we couldn't let him escape before asking his thoughts on the Department of Transportations plans to regulate takeoff and landing slots at JFK--something that could have a profound effect on new airlines like Virgin America.
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