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Throwback Thursday: 'Hostesses in Hotpants'

Sure, we love all the speed and comfort of modern travel, but it didn't that way overnight. Every Thursday, we're going to take a look back at travel the way it used to be, whether that's decades or centuries ago. This is Throwback Thursday, travel edition.

1972. Oh man, oh man how things have changed since the ladies of Southwest Airlines pulled on hotpants and went to work in the skies.

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Summer Travel / Southwest Airlines / Airlines / Southwest / Airline News / New York City Travel / Dallas Travel / Atlanta Travel / → All Tags

Where to Find Southwest Airlines' Party Porches for the Summer of 2013

Now that the weather is starting to get warmer everyone is getting in on the fun—even the airlines. Southwest Airlines loves to spend time outdoors during the spring and summer, and once again they’re prepping their mini-chain of Southwest Porches for the season.

In New York City, you'll find the Porch in midtown over at Bryant Park, and it’s a quick walk from Grand Central if you’re arriving into the city on the train. They’ve got plenty of drinks on tap (including their own beer), a few bits and bites from which to choose, and even some fire pits for when the weather is less than ideal. Free board games, trivia on Tuesdays, and plenty of adirondack chairs round out the scene. They've been doing their thing here for a few years now, so at this point the place is just part of the neighborhood.

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The Jaunted Guide to Pet Travel Fees on Major US Airlines

Just because you're on the move to a new destination or vacation doesn't mean your pet has to stay at home. Flying with a small dog or cat is actually pretty easy if all rules are observed and fees paid, as we recently discovered while flying with our new kitten.

Traveling with a pet means paying attention to many restrictions, such as on destinations, aircraft type, travel class, pet weight and size, breed, and how many other pets are already booked for your desired flight. Always check with the airline for the latest rules before purchasing and traveling. Just remember to have veterinarian paperwork detailing the pet's vaccination record, and have yours and your pet's travel booked in advance.

Now, for the details on pet fees on major US airlines:*

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April Fools Day / Virgin Atlantic / Southwest / Kayak / Google / WestJet / Bad Ideas / Comedy Travel / → All Tags

Hey, Who's Up for the Inevitable April Fools' Day Travel Gags?

Someday, someone will explain to us the mirth to be found in having the Internet become useless every year on April 1st. It's not that we harbor any hostility toward people who write things that are false but plausible, and who then giggle when people belie—actually, no. Those people are ridiculous and they make the world a worse place to live.

There was maybe a marginal justification for their existence when the Internet was younger. Back then April Fools' Day pranks were the web advertising equivalent of Superbowl commercials. But now that the White House is posting pranks the whole thing is just grating.

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Southwest / Southwest Airlines / Booze Travel / Drinking Travel / In-Flight Cocktails / → All Tags

On Southwest, Drink Specials Mean It's Always Happy Hour

Southwest seems to be one of those airlines people have a lot of preconceptions about, mostly due to the fact that they don't assign seats and that they are perceived to be a "budget" airline. And that they are, in terms of price, but as we see a lot in this world, it's the ones who ask the least that give the most.

Southwest allows you two free checked bags, the flight attendants come through the cabin with a complimentary snack basket, and they don't charge change fees if you need to rebook. All are things that some other airlines in the States don't/won't/can't offer. The generosity goes a bit further as, when it comes to sky-high boozing, they aren't shy about giving you the keys to a good time.

Southwest hands out one free drink per passenger (of legal drinking age) on certain holidays, such as New Year's Day, Valentine's Day, and St. Patrick's Day, among others, and they also offer drink specials. Drink specials? Yes, you read that right.

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Video Interlude: A Super Speedy Southwest Airlines Engine Swap

We’ve got to say that Tuesday is the worst day of the week. Sure, Monday isn’t all that great, but at least the weekend was just yesterday and there’s time to reminisce. That being said we thought we’d pass along a little bit of a time waster to help get you through the day.

We know that airline maintenance is pretty serious business, and that it takes plenty of time to get the planes ready to fly to here and there. Now it looks like Southwest Airlines is giving us a front row seat into some of the usual this and that needed to keep their planes moving about the country.

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Will You Pay $5 to Watch a Movie on Your Own iPad? Southwest Hopes So.

Southwest Airlines hasn’t exactly been at the forefront of in-air technology, but slowly but surely they’ve been adding to their in-flight WiFi abilities. In-flight connectivity won’t be available on each and every one of your Southwest flights just yet, but they are boosting some of their offerings in hopes of keep passengers entertained at 35,000-feet.

The airline’s video-on-demand service just finishing rolling out to each and every one of the tech-enabled planes, so now you’re free to check out this and that from the comfort of your seat. It’s $5 per movie or $5 for television, and it sounds like that rate is the price regardless of whether or not you’re signing up for the full WiFi. Obviously you’ll need your own device, so please don’t ask the flight attendants where you can get an iPad with the TV on it like the guy seated in 18A.

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Southwest is the Latest to Offer Priority Boarding in Exchange for Cash

At this point we have pretty much accepted that airlines are going to charge us extra for anything we could possibly want. Snacks, space, and suitcases all come at a premium when it’s finally time to get yourself to the airport, but of course once it’s time to hop aboard things like early boarding and extra legroom are also available—for a price. Southwest Airlines is the latest carrier to throw their hat fees into the ring, as they’re eager to help you get on board one of their blue-bellied planes earlier than the other passengers. However, it’s going to cost you.

They might hate baggage fees, but they don’t hate early boarding fees. As this week Southwest Airlines made it known that $40 will get you one of the top 15 spots in their boarding system. Just in case you don’t recall how it works over at Southwest, everyone gets a number—and a letter—and then you board in that order. The trick is to check-in right at the 24-hour mark before your flight, as that kind of increases your odds of winning the boarding lottery.

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Airline Industry / Airline News / Bagagge Fees / Airline Fees / Southwest / Airlines / → All Tags

Southwest Taking Away 'No Fee' Ticket Changes Because People Cheat

Southwest Airlines has long had a problem with travelers abusing the airline's no-fee ticket change policies. Customers would purchase multiple tickets for the same destination, choose the outbound flight they wanted, and then bank the money for future flights—but not cancel beforehand. The result has been a lot of unused seats and a lot of lost revenue for Southwest.

To deal with the problems created by the "no fee" policies, Southwest has come up with a fairly straightforward solution. They're going to take away the no-fee policy and replace it with one that imposes a "no show fee" on passengers who bought super-cheap "Wanna Get Away" tickets and cancel before not showing up. Oh, and they're also going to start charging higher fees for travelers checking in more than two bags. And also for travelers checking in bags that are too heavy. And also for travelers who want to move to the front of the boarding line. So at least they're ambitious.

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Score a $1,000 Southwest Gift Card in the '12 Days of LUV' Contest

It’s just a week until Santa starts his journey around the globe, and now it’s time for the airlines to start getting in on the seasonal fun as well. Southwest Airlines loves a good holiday celebration—just look at what they do for Halloween—and they’re also clearly fans of Christmas. They’re not putting up lights or decorations on one of their planes, but they do have a bit of a holiday contest.

What they’re calling the "12 Days of LUV" is back for 2012, as each and every day offers up a chance to win a decent present—for yourself. We’re a little bit behind the news, but don’t worry, things are running through December 23. Southwest is partnering with Dr. Pepper for the prizes, as they’re giving away 12 Southwest gift cards for $1,000 each.

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Airline News / Southwest / Travel Industry / Travel News / LCCs / Lawsuits / → All Tags

Southwest's Strange Response to a Lawsuit over Spilled Tea

We have no idea how USA Today managed to spin a 1,300+ word article out of a woman suing Southwest for $800,000 because she got burned by a cup of hot water. 43 year old Angelica Keller was sitting in the front row of the airplane and so didn't have a drop-down tray. She was trying to make herself a cup of tea by dipping a tea bag into the cup of hot water she had just been served. Only instead of doing that, she spilled the water on herself and got 2nd degree-burns. Now she's suing the Texas LCC because that's the world we live in. The End, right?

The article goes on for dozens of paragraphs after that. At first we thought the explanation for the obsessive detail was something like 'travel journalism is just magical that way.' Then we realized that very little of the article is actually about travel. It's actually a history of debates over frivolous product liability lawsuits. You just stopped reading, didn't you?

Don't go. There's actually quite a bit of travel geekery to be had here.

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New Routes / Airlines / Airline News / JetBlue / Air Canada / US Airways / Asiana Airlines / Southwest / → All Tags

Air Canada, US Airways and JetBlue Do This Week's New Route Thing

Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.

· US Airways:
If there’s one international destination easily accessible from the United States it’s got to be London, and it’s soon going to be even easier thanks to US Airways. The carrier is getting ready to link Charlotte with London-Heathrow, and the flying fun will be done thanks to some of the airline’s Airbus A330s.

US Airways already flies nonstop between Charlotte and London, but the flights are less convenient for some as the flights land over at London-Gatwick. We kind of have a hunch that the Gatwick flights will eventually be dropped in favor of the new Heathrow options, but for now it sounds like nothing has become official. The new flights between Charlotte and London-Heathrow are set to start this spring.

· Southwest:
Southwest isn’t quite yet ready to head south of the border, but thanks to their buddies over at AirTran they’re one step closer. It sounds like Southwest—through AirTran—has their eyes set on another international destination, and this time they’re planning to connect Denver with Los Cabos.

Nothing is official as of yet, but the airline has sent an email over to Uncle Sam asking for permission to start linking the two cities. The thing is that only a certain amount of flights can head back and forth—and they’re already at the limit. However, Southwest is kind of mad that Frontier and Republic are hogging one too many of the options, so they’re ready to add their blue-bellied planes into the mix.

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