Jaunted

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The Best Tumblr Travel GIF Blog in the History of Tumblr GIF Blogs

WHEN I’M FORCED TO PAY $9 FOR A SANDWICH IN ECONOMY

Tumblr is good for two things: porn and GIF blogs. Oh, wait. This week we can add a third thing to that list; Tumblr is also very good at being worth over $1 billion (to Yahoo, who just purchased the microblogging platform).

Since even mentioning porn twice in this post may get us blocked from your lunchtime reading, let's talk about GIF blogs. In particular we'd like to draw your attention to one, frequentflyerlife, started over a year ago by Star Alliance frequent flyer, @melissaiscool.

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South Korea Travel / Seoul Travel / American Airlines Seoul Inaugural / American Airlines / Airline News / New Routes / ICN / Vine / Social Media / Videos / Travel Photography / The City via Vine / → All Tags

The City via 'Vine': Six Seconds in Seoul

No Seoul/jokes jokes this week, guys. We're just going to tell it like it is in celebration of American Airlines' new route to Seoul, South Korea, a city so hugely underrated and yet so majorly cool. It's a city that comes with the Jaunted seal of approval many times over and for the next several days we'll be explaining exactly why.

Instead of several boring paragraphs explaining our love for this mega metropolis, we're kicking off Seoul Week by just putting it all out there in visuals, or Vines.

Vine, a social video sharing app, is best deployed for capturing the tiniest moments in travel, those which would be easily lost in the static menagerie of Instagram. Below are six examples, all shot while we tooled around Seoul for 9 days of perfect late spring weather:

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Social Media / Vine / Travel Videos / Airlines / Airline News / Twitter / → All Tags

These Are Your Airlines on Vine

Okay so Twitter's little video sharing app Vine has been around now for four months, and while it's been fun to play with, it hasn't quite caught on to turn any travel-related Vines viral. That said, several airlines have begun to test it out, and even use it in contests, such as when American Airlines awarded a Vine-r with a flight on their 777-300ER to London.

If you're at all curious to watch how airlines make this new social media tool work for them, or you'd just like to follow more Vine accounts in general, here's whose Vine-ing thus far:

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Social Media / Airline Lounges / Business Class Travel / Free Stuff / Klout / Twitter / Facebook / → All Tags

Score a Free American Airlines Admirals Club Day Pass...If You Have the Klout

Free WiFI, snacks, drinks, nice restrooms (and maybe showers!), a comfy place to sit, power outlets—airline lounges are as near to haven as a traveler can get in an airport. Too bad entry to them is reserved for an airline's most loyal or highest spending flyers...unless you're in possession of a coveted day pass.

Right now, however, American Airlines is welcoming anyone into their Admirals Club lounges with a free day pass, provided you have enough Klout.

You see, AA wants to hear what even those in Economy have to say about the Admirals Clubs, and naturally they also want to hear it on social media. A one-day pass is typically $50, but they'll hand it over for free if you've got a Klout score of 55 or higher. That pass will then grant you access to one of the 37 worldwide Admirals Clubs (we suggest the one at London-Heathrow).

One winner of all will also be chosen for a one year membership to the Admirals Club. Nice!

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Travel Contests / Facebook / Hawaiian Airlines / Alaska Airlines / British Airways / Social Media / → All Tags

Three Quick Contests to Score a Free Vacation

If getting back into the workweek is a little hard this morning—no problem—as we’ve got some daydream destinations to get you through the day. Sure the odds aren’t exactly in your favor when it comes to winning a contest, but you can’t win if you don’t play. So here’s a couple contests going on this week, so take a few minutes and throw your name into the hat for a chance to win.

Hawaiian Airlines – Lei Day

Over in Hawaii, Lei Day—May 1—is already over, but Hawaiian Airlines is celebrating for a few more weeks. On Facebook they’re inviting you to take a little Lei Day quiz to find out which lei fits you best. It only takes a few clicks, and then your answer is revealed. However, the potential payoff is that you could enjoy 140,000 HawaiianMiles as well. The fun runs through May 22, so waste a few minutes and discover your lei—today!

Alaska Airlines - Explore Denali National Park

Thanks to Alaska Airlines there’s new nonstop flights between Fairbanks and Portland, and now they’re running a little bit of a contest to help celebrate. Along with Denali Park Resorts and the Alaska Rail Road they’re giving away a Denali National Park trip for two. You’ll get a couple nights at McKinley Chalet Resort, a pair of Tundra Wilderness Tour tickets, and roundtrip tickets to Denali from Fairbanks on the Alaska Railroad. Of course to round things out you’ll also score two roundtrip tickets on Alaska Airlines to Fairbanks, but you need to remember to enter first. Just be sure to head over to Facebook to enter your details, as the sweepstakes ends on May 24.

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Travel Contests / Island Travel / Social Media / Facebook / Viking River Cruises / → All Tags

Three Huge Travel Contests Ending This Week (So Enter Now)

If getting back into the workweek is a little hard this morning—no problem—as we’ve got some daydream destinations to get you through the day. Sure the odds aren’t exactly in your favor when it comes to winning a contest, but you can’t win if you don’t play. So here’s a couple contests ending this week, so take a few minutes and throw your name into the hat for a chance to win.

Viking River Cruises

Even if you wouldn’t consider yourself a "cruise person," we’ve got to say that we certainly would have no problem boarding one of the ships in the Viking River Cruises fleet. The smaller ships wind their way through the rivers of the world, and provide an up-close and personal look at smaller ports and cities—especially over in Europe.

Hop onto Facebook, "like" Viking River Cruises, and then enter for your chance to win a free cruise for two in 2014. The Rhine Getaway itinerary also includes coach airfare, guided tours, plenty of onboard meals, and a whole bunch of other things—good luck.

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Travel Tech / PHL / US Airways / Social Media / Travel Rants / Technology / Airline Security / Airplane Security / → All Tags

How to Hack an Airplane? There's an (Android) App for That

We were going to use this post to turn today's US Airways meltdown at PHL—luggage left in the rain, flights boarding at random times, etc—into a Teachable Moment about travel social media. Telling people to work with your on-the-ground reps is pretty much the definition of using Twitter wrong. But we're so blindingly furious at the airline right now that it's probably better for everyone to count to 10.

Maybe next week, after our blood pressure has returned to sub-heart attack levels, we'll have a group discussion about why telling people that they should know better than to wait in your airline's airline lounge isn't a great idea.

Anyway, this story—about how Android phones might be able to hack airplanes—is, first, real news, and second, interesting. So we're going to put aside our theory that US Airways reps are sadistic travel trolls determined to ruin our lives. Instead, how about how an Android app may or may not be able to "modify approximately everything related to the navigation of the plane"? Added the hacker who wrote the software: "that includes a lot of nasty things."

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Travel Contests / Fiji Travel / Island Travel / Social Media / Facebook / → All Tags

Turn Your Frown Upside-Down with a Contest to Win a Two Week Vacation in Fiji

There's no hiding that we love Fiji. That grouping of 333 islands holds a special place in our heart and every single person should get to experience those blue waters, killer sunsets and the friendliest locals we have ever encountered. It seems like perfect timing then, that the folks over at Tourism Fiji want to send a contest winner to Fiji for 2 weeks!

The contest can't get any simpler; all you have to do is head on over to the Tourism Fiji Facebook page, give it a big thumbs up (like it) and then head on to the Happiness Test. After 6 questions about how you deal with everyday life and what you would look forward to most if you made it to Fiji, you're issued a "Happiness Type."

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Travel Contest / Delta / Travel Photography / Facebook / Social Media / → All Tags

Upload a Facebook Photo to Win Two Tickets to Anywhere Delta Flies

"Win 2 round-trip tickets to anywhere Delta flies."

When an international airline says that about a contest, it's time to pay attention.

Just in time to alleviate early spring cabin fever, Delta is running a contest called "Picture This!" and the theme is skylines. The best skyline photo gets those two roundtrip tickets. Easy, right? Kinda of, since the contest is run through their Facebook page and there are rules by which to abide.

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Social Media / Barack Obama / Middle East Travel / Foursquare / Jordan Travel / Petra Travel / Presidential Travel / Israel Travel / Jewish Travel / Obama-Around-the-World / → All Tags

It's No Ride on Air Force One, but You Can Follow President Obama on Foursquare

With a 747 and a fleet of other airplanes, helicopters and bulletproof vehicles at his disposal, the President of the United States really gets around. One of the most traveled presidents in history is the current one, President Obama, and though it seems a challenge to keep up with his itinerary when he squeezes several countries and world capitals into a few days, The White House has made it very easy with Foursquare.

Thanks to the location-based social media app, The White House can create lists of Obama's stops and offer these lists to be "followed," so that traveling Foursquare users can "check in" to a venue and see if the President preceded them there. It's all very cool, and of course each location includes a tip or note on what Obama accomplished in each place, such as speaking about job values at a BBQ joint in North Carolina.

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Finnair / Facebook / Social Media / Airlines / Airline News / Tech Travel / Travel Tech / → All Tags

Let Facebook Do the Work for Your Next Flight on Finnair

Another week means it’s time for another carrier to do the social media thing both on the ground and up in the air. This week it looks like Finnair is sending their Facebook capabilities to 35,000 feet, as the airline is trying to get passengers connected during their flights.

Basically what Finnair is trying to do is to allow their passengers to check-in aboard their flight just like the would back on the ground. The new system is able to connect someone’s Facebook profile to the seating map, and then from there they can what friends or other passengers might be up to. In theory it should even alert friends when you’re safely on the ground and in need of a pickup from the airport.

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Travel Contests / Vine / Social Media / American Airlines / New American / LHR / DFW / Boeing / 777 / 777-300ER / → All Tags

Awesome: Tweet a Vine to Win a Ride on American Airlines' New 777 to London

Your assignment this weekend—should you chose to accept it—is to create a 6-second Vine and win a roundtrip flight to London from Dallas-Fort Worth on American Airlines' brand new Boeing 777-300ER.

Yes, you read that right. American Airlines is continuing the spread of their #newAmerican agenda and embracing the newest of new social media—Vine, the Twitter-owned 6-second video sharing app. We're a little shocked, in a good way, and you will be too when you find out that not only is this contest open to those 18 and over living in the contiguous 48 states, but also to entrants from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Have a look at the new AA 777-300ER to see why they're so excited.

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