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First Class Travel / New York Times / Travel News / → All Tags

Our Five Favorite Quotes from the NYT's Article on First Class Travel

The flight attendant sauntered down the aisle, pushing a cart of newspapers and magazines.

"Something to read?"

Hmm. Bloomberg Businessweek—already read. Wall Street Journal—ehh, we'll be asleep before meal service. An assortment of Spanish press we couldn't read. Then, there it was: the thick pile of print that constitutes the Sunday edition of the New York Times.

Just after takeoff on our flight to Santiago yesterday, we cracked open the Travel section and saw it: "Whatever Happened to First Class?" We caught our seat neighbor peeking, and eventually we shared the paper, but not before highlighting a few of the best passages:

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Lost Luggage / iPod / Airports / United / New York Times / → All Tags

Have You Seen the New York Times' iPod Nano They Lost on a Plane?

Hey, United Airlines, you've got the New York Times' blue iPod nano and apparently you're not giving it back!

Earlier this month, a New York Times online writer lost said iPod on her flight from Philly to San Francisco, and she's devoted so much time to attempting to retrieve it through the appropriate channels that it deserved a story. We've tried to tell air travelers that once something is left onboard a plane—something that isn't as important to travel as a passport, say—it's as good as gone. Think of it as like leaving something in a taxi cab, but a taxi cab with a nationwide fleet.

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Travel Gadgets / iPad / Apple / New York Times / → All Tags

New York Times Loves the iPad for Airport Delays, But Not Beach Vacations

Although our true love is the New York Times' Frugal Traveler, their Practical Traveler column today reaches out to those wondering how useful the new Apple iPad is for international travel. If you can overlook the fact that the Practical Traveler didn't review the iPad on an actual trip, but after "two solid weeks spent testing it on a virtual vacation" on his couch, then the story has some usefel nuggets for prospective buyers.

You should also check out our review of the iPad (which we took on an actual trip), but below you'll find the best points taken from the NYT review.

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Travel Deals / 2010 Olympics / Vancouver Travel / Hawaii Travel / Mexico Travel / New York Times / Winter Travel / Budget Travel / → All Tags

Smart Travelers Don't Hibernate During Winter, Says NYT

There are deals to be found even in Vancouver right now

If you're smart, and not a hibernating mammal, then you're probably actively looking into travel deals for the month of January. While most people are recovering from holiday shopping trauma, others are taking advantage of less-crowded flights and predictably lower prices.

As The New York Times recently reported, "January may be the best time of year to take a vacation, as passenger traffic drops and resorts, airlines and cruise companies all roll out deals." Single travelers and childless couples, especially, may want to consider a trip in the dead of winter. As "families return to school schedules," there likely aren't too many teens, tweens, and toddlers with whom you'll be sharing airline time.

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Rental Cars / Cars / Driving / New York Times / → All Tags

What Is With Rental Car Prices These Days? The NYT Investigates

Just when we finally thought it safe to book an affordable flight, hotel, and rental car, a New York Times story gets us all disappointed over rates. Apparently, despite the deals elsewhere, rental car costs are going up. One consulting group notes that in May, the average weekly rate for a car booked seven days in advance went up almost 75% from the previous year.

Although the demand for rental cars is down, the car companies are responding by not ordering new cars and selling off the really old ones. In the past, drivers were greeted with a low-mile cream puff, often with a new car scent, but now they are usually stuck in something with many more miles on the odometer. Unfortunately, it’s just simple supply and demand, and less rental cars mean we’re stuck paying more for the dogs that are left.

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North Carolina Travel / New York Times / → All Tags

The NYT Eats Tongue Tacos In North Carolina's Triangle

One of the New York Times’ best travel features is their 36 Hours series. For those with no attention span, like us, it’s a short and sweet way to get a taste of a location in only 1,500 words. This week’s article featured a jaunt to the Research Triangle region of North Carolina.

Having called this area home for the last couple of years, we were pleasantly surprised to see a feature focused on the area in and around Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill.

The NYT recommends it, but we always get sidetracked before making it to the North Carolina Museum of Art. Maybe now that the museum got a big shout-out, we’ll finally get to see some American favorites like Winslow Homer and Georgia O’Keeffe. Their permanent collections are free to visit, so we just have to stop making excuses and finally get a little culture.

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Recessionomics / Dubai Travel / New York Times / → All Tags

Even Dubai Residents Don't Want To Be There Any More

Perhaps the global economic crisis was always going to hit Dubai harder than most cities: Its explosive growth and splashy, celebrity-studded new projects may have earned it a spot in the dictionary illustrating the word "hubris." But the exodus of foreigners who rushed to the emirate for plush jobs raises some unsettling questions about its future.

The New York Times reported today that former engineers, advertising executives and financiers are ditching their cars and their apartments as their work visas expire. The real estate and tourism industries are in such a crater that these people are willing to risk debtors' prison in order to get out. And with no bailout forthcoming from the other members of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai officials seem to have trouble even admitting that there is a crisis.

Will Dubai be able to bounce back despite its loads of debt and ailing industries? Or will it stand deserted in the desert, devolving into that city from "Wall*E"? Truth is, we may have knocked its ever more extravagant offerings, but we kind of always wanted to see what the fuss was about. Guess we should take a trip before it's too late.

Related Stories:
· Laid-Off Foreigners Flee as Dubai Spirals Down [New York Times]
· Three Weeks Ago: Bad Economy Gives Dubai A Good Kick in the Shins [Jaunted]
· Dubai Secretly Turned On By The Idea Of More Beach Liasons [Jaunted]
· Dubai Building Islands, Buying Up Celebrity Souls [Jaunted]

[Photo: ~Aphrodite]

Statues / Monuments / Attractions / Tourist Attractions / National Parks / New York Times / → All Tags

Urban National Park Travel: A Heady View

The weather must be good up there: After seven years, the National Park Service is thinking about re-opening the Statue of Liberty's crown to visitors willing to make the climb.

The statue reopened in 2004 after improvements were made to get the monument up to post-9/11 security standards. But the spiral staircase to the crown, most recently replaced in 1986 for Lady Liberty's centennial, isn't up to code and may have to be replaced before it's an option for up to 30 island-bound visitors at a time. A recent Park Service memo leaked by a New York congressman sought bids to make the crown safer.

On our first trip to New York City we walked all the way up to the crown, and the view is incredible. Let's upgrade this lady!

Related Stories:
· Statue of Liberty Crown Reopening is Studied [NYT]
· The New 7 Wonders [Jaunted]
· National Parks coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: stevesheriw]

Matt Gross / New York Times / Frugal Traveler / Travel Blogs / Jaunted Interviews / Videos / → All Tags

Jaunted Interviews: Chatting with Matt Gross

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.

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Matt Gross / New York Times / Frugal Traveler / Travel Blogs / → All Tags

Play Travel Agent to the Frugal Traveler

The Frugal Traveling Matt Gross is five weeks into his 12-week Grand Tour, and so far he's hit a number of classic vacation spots in Western Europe. But as he moves east, he's wondering what there might be worth doing near Lithuania.

So, since it's 2008, he's asking for The Internet's help in planning his Week 10. It sounds pretty gonzo:

I'm letting you, the readers, pick where I'll go in Week 10 of my 12-week Grand Tour. A Baltic beach town in Poland? A vineyard in Slovenia? Anything is possible. Well, almost.

It's not just the destination you'll pick--I want you to map out my entire week: How will I get there? What will I do? Where will I sleep? Where will I eat?

You can give Matt your picks over at his Grand Tour blog.

We'd be remiss if we didn't mention our own "Tell a guy where to go" crowdsourcing. The latest Jaunted Contest is underway, and your good ideas for airport layovers could net you a three-day Caribbean vacation. You can enter our contest here.

Related Stories:
· The Grand Tour [NYT]
· Jaunted Contest: Layover Nation [Jaunted]
· Travel Blogs coverage [Jaunted]

Chinatowns / New York Times / Restaurants / → All Tags

Chinatown Travel: Sino City

Las Vegas dining is ruled by big-name chefs like Wolfgang Puck, Joël Robuchon and Daniel Boulud. But the restaurants from the famous types are usually more expensive and less well reviewed than their New York and Paris counterparts--and are sometimes set in fake New York or fake Paris.

The New York Times has word this week, though, on a genuine ethnic neighborhood in Sin City--the makeshift Chinatown that has sprung up over the last decade. This being Las Vegas, even Chinatown is set in a mall:

Ask any Chinese tourist and you'll find that Las Vegas' Chinatown is high on their checklist. Tour buses regularly motor a mile off the Strip to stop at Chinatown Plaza, an open-air mall founded in 1994 ...

"Everyone in China knows about Chinatown here," one woman said. "They go to the Strip, and then they go to Chinatown."

Like so many other Chinatowns, Vegas' has a great restaurant scene, with everything from Sichuan to Korean on offer. And, yes, there's plenty of karaoke.

Related Stories:
· Dim Sum Amid Las Vegas' Casinos [NYT]
· Las Vegas Chinatown Plaza [Official Site]
· Las Vegas Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Evil Jungle Prince]

Travel Media / New York Times / Stuart Emmrich / Arthur Frommer / → All Tags

Refereeing the Travel Media: Arthur Frommer Escalating His Attacks on the New York Times

On his blog, the Andy Rooney of travel, Arthur Frommer, frequently gripes about the pricey experiences sometimes covered in The New York Times' Sunday travel section. (Recently he was half-mystified, half-offended that the Times would report on The Plaza hotel, where rooms go for $875 a night.) But in his most recent rant--about this mention of a one-day, £345 Orient-Express train trip, Frommer has gone from crotchety complainer to conspiracy theorist:

The New York Times travel section has now plumbed such depths of absurdity that I, for one, have concluded that this senselessness can't be accidental. The decision to sprinkle the pages of a travel section with references to sky-high travel offerings can only have come about from a directive from on high to do so.

It must be part of an effort to attract advertising from the producers of luxury goods ... In writing as they do, I am now convinced that the travel writers and junior travel editors of the New York Times are attempting to execute a policy consciously set down by the Times.

Sounds bad! And it would be--if Frommer's suspicions had any basis in reality.

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