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Tags: Airport Delays / Tarmacs / Airlines / Airports / Airline Travel / Travel Hell / → All Tags
Meet Tarmac: the Travel Media's New Favorite Word
I don't know why, but I've always liked the word tarmac. Before I even knew what it meant, I knew it was something important, a place where powerful people went and big things happened. Maybe it was from snippets of the TV news I'd overhear about presidents being greeted on the tarmac, or my airline pilot father making conversation with his friends about a recent flight, but I was sure that a tarmac was far more exciting than my suburban backyard. When I finally figured out that tarmac referred to the runways, aprons, and ramp areas of airports, it lost none of its allure. Sure, the golden age of flight is over, but big things still happen in airports, journeys begin and end. And for some reason, the word tarmac perfectly describes the big, flat open space that serves as as a mini-purgatory for fliers, whether coming or going.
Tags: Snapshot / Checked Baggage Fees / OGG / United Airlines / Travel Hell / → All Tags
Pack an Extra Duffle: United Airlines Charges $125 for Overweight Bags
We've already expressed our repulsion at the baggage fees that airlines keep piling on passengers these days but we were appalled at this fee that we saw United Airlines leveraging on passengers at the Kahului Airport (OGG) in Maui, Hawaii yesterday.
The sign says,
$125 charge for checked bags over 50lbs.
Usually, we understand that overweight bags should be dinged for their heftiness but $125? That is just thievery. And according to United's website, oversized baggage costs $175. Ugh. Better consider shipping that luggage instead.
Got an outrageous checked baggage fee experience? Unlike the stone-faced check-in agents, Jaunted is ready to listen to you! Send us your story.
Related Stories:
· The Airlines Are Just Not That Into Us: New Baggage Fees Announced [Jaunted]
· Oversized, overweight and excess baggage [United Airlines]
Tags: Travel Booking Sites / Orbitz / Fees / Travel Hell / Online Travel Agents / → All Tags
Orbitz Automatically Adds $14 Bus Ticket 'For Your Convenience'
Oh Orbitz. Why do you keep making us publish these stories? Via Technologizer:
I ended up at Orbitz, which offered some attractive-sounding package deals for a flight and hotel room. I started clicking my way through to buy... Orbitz had added a $14 bus pickup and dropoff to my order. One I hadn’t asked for. And it told me it was doing it "for my convenience." ...
Keep reading to what other optional upgrades Orbitz thinks are "convenient" for you.
Tags: Travel Hell / Brighton / Beach Travel / Rants / Beaches / Tourist Traps / Current / → All Tags
The British Seaside: Ocean Paradise, or Dirty Old Whore Who Smells of Fish?
Great Britain has 9,447 miles of coastline, and Current U.K. contributor Holly Walsh hates every inch of it. She makes her feelings known in a hilarious "pod" that calls out resort areas like Brighton, Blackpool, and Worthing as depressing, decrepit places that exist solely because people are convinced that they're supposed to enjoy them.
Tags: Weather / London Travel / LHR / Public Transportation / Travel Hell / → All Tags
London is Closed for Business
What the Blitz and terrorists have failed to do, the weather has done. London is on its knees today (or at least buried up to its knees) under a whole seven inches of snow.
Three of the five London airports are shut, mainline trains are down, only two of the 11 underground trains are running properly and all 5 million buses have been taken off the roads.
And because of (read: thanks to) that, there’s barely anyone about. Ever diligent, we made it into work this morning, to be confronted with tumbleweed blowing around the office. London Underground staff were using commuter paper Metro to mop up the water this morning, while afternoon paper thelondonpaper* reduced its print run from 500,000 to 150,000 to compensate for the lack of readers about.
Tags: Travel Hell / Thanksgiving / President Bush / → All Tags
President Bush Ceremoniously Opens Airspace
President Bush made his now-annual announcement today that "military airspace" would be opened up to commercial traffic to ease Thanksgiving travel in the US this year.
Of course, as was pointed out last year, the move doesn't guarantee a trouble-free holiday travel season. Still, the announcement gave the outgoing president the chance to try out a joke:
The past eight years I have not seen a traffic jam, waited for an airplane or had my bags lost.
Hilarious.
Related Stories:
· President Bush Tells a Joke [Airline Biz Blog]
· Bush Opens Military Airspace [WaPo]
· Bush Opens Airspace for Thanksgiving Travelers [Peter Greenberg]
· Bush Moves to Open More Flight Lanes for Holiday [AP, via Google]
[Photo of JFK: Carl Puentes Photography]
Tags: Travel Hell / Alitalia / Airline Bankruptcy / → All Tags
Is It Safe To Fly Alitalia Again?
Short answer: Probably not. While the European Union said Wednesday that a group of new investors could take over the money-hemorrhaging airline, Alitalia will also have to pay back a €300 million ($377 million) rescue loan it received from the Italian government. No one's quite sure where that money's going to come from.
Meanwhile, some staff are organizing impromptu (i.e. wildcat) strikes at airports, delaying departures and forcing flight cancellations. Italian newspaper La Repubblica says even the corpse of a woman headed to Albania can't get where its going, languishing instead at Fiumicino. While Italy's labor minister has suggested the strikes are illegal, that's of little consolation to stranded fliers.
The new Alitalia is supposed to debut on December 1. Will it be ready to fly by then? And will Ryanair's allegation that this takeover is against EU rules further stall the much-needed makeover? We're not planning to find out.
Related Stories:
· EU Backs Proposed Alitalia Takeover [AP, via Google]
· Alitalia Protests Continue, Government Eyes Options [Reuters]
· Ryanair to Appeal EU's "Corrupt" Support [AFP, via Google]
· Fiumicino: Even a Corpse, Delayed for Days [La Repubblica, in Italian]
[Photo: Alessio85]
Tags: Travel Hell / Adrienne Bailon / Airport Security / Security / JFK / → All Tags
Adrienne Bailon Loses Laptop, Nude Photos At JFK
Let this be a lesson to you laptop-toting travelers: Marginally famous Cheetah Girls singer Adrienne Bailon had some semi-nude snaps stolen from her computer after she misplaced it while transiting JFK last month.
The internet's authority on sex tapes, TMZ, has details:
She filed a report with the Port Authority--but later that day her record label received an anonymous phone call from a man saying he had her laptop and would return it for $1000.
A meeting was set up at JFK with the anonymous man, where he was given the money, and in turn gave up Bailon's missing laptop.
Bailon's misfortune--she was just trying to thrill boyfriend Robert Kardashian!--is a good reminder to always password protect your files and keep an eye on that laptop, especially when going through frequently hectic security checkpoints. Computers aren't lost as often as you might think, but some solid encryption on your hard drive should keep your sexy photos out of enemy hands.
Related Stories:
· Cheetah Girl Cheated Out of Semi-Nude Pics [TMZ]
· Travel Referendums: Keeping Your Laptop and Data Secure [Jaunted]
[Photo: IMDb]
Tags: Travel Hell / Protests / Airport Delays / → All Tags
State of Emergency Travel: Tourist Troubles in Thailand
Usually unspoiled romantic trips to Thailand have been messed around this past week as anti-government protests close down airports and roads. Although the Phuket Airport has been reopened and thousands of stranded vacationers are now on their way home, it's far from being over--a State of Emergency has been announced.
People's Alliance for Democracy protesters are now threatening to blockade not just Phuket, but seven airports across Thailand unless the Prime Minister resigns. Tourist hotspots like Krabi, Samui and Phuket are among the seven.
There's a good way and a bad way to experience airport shutdowns like this. The good way is what hundreds of tourists on Phuket just experienced--four extra days on a tropical island at the airline's expense. That's what we're rooting for.
Related Stories:
· PAD Warns of More Airport Closures in the South [The Nation]
· Aussies Tell of Thai Airport Scramble [SMH]
· Thailand Travel Guide [Jaunted]
[Photo: adaptorplug]
Tags: Fires / Big Sur / Travel Hell / Videos / → All Tags
Big Sur Fire Forces Evacuation of Scenic Coastal Area
It's not going to be a very happy Fourth of July weekend for anyone in the Big Sur area or anyone headed there. A slow-growing fire has been waging war on the scenic coastal region for nearly 12 days. On Tuesday, things got much worse, prompting a major evacuation.
Tags: Bad Behavior Travel / Travel Hell / Naomi Campbell / British Airways / London Heathrow / → All Tags
Bad Behavior Travel: Crabby Campbell Continues to Carouse
Naomi Campbell certainly chose an, uh, original response to her arrest at London Heathrow after allegedly hitting and kicking flight attendants: She wants a boycott of British Airways, the airline she was flying at the time of her arrest.
One might think a boycott would be unnecessary after an act that supposedly got her banned from BA, but Campbell wants the world to know "There was a complete disrespect for the passengers" on her scheduled flight to Rio de Janeiro.
The airline would not confirm or deny the ban, but the supermodel claimed BA officials later begged her to fly with them again--but she haughtily refused. Plausible pissed-off passenger or crazy concocted crap? You decide.
Related Stories:
· Supermodels Go Through Baggage Hell, Too [Jaunted]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Travel Hell coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Hollywood Grind]
Tags: American Airlines / Travel Hell / Planegate / Missed Connections / DFW / ORD / Coffee Shops / Restaurants / → All Tags
Missed Connections: American Airlines Hubs Edition
This week witnessed American Airlines' PR meltdown as the megacarrier canceled thousands of flights due to safety concerns. So you're single and stuck in a hub city far from friends and family... what's a seasoned traveler to do? Make the best of it by making a connection at one of these national hot spots, even in your most wrinkled suit.
In Dallas: Try not to stare at Twisted Root Burger Company (2615 Commerce St.) which serves its juicy hunks of meat with in-house root beer. More Dallas Missed Connections.
In Chicago: Put on your Juicy Couture perfume and order up some margs at the Frontera Grill (449 N. Clark St.), "Iron Chef America" competitor Rick Bayless' Mexican spot. More Chicago Missed Connections.
In Miami: Just try to get some work done at Barnie's Coffee and Tea (169 Flagler St.) More Miami Missed Connections.
In St. Louis: Interrupt someone else's work at the Atomic Cowboy (4140 Manchester Ave.), perhaps the last restaurant in the world to ask "Smoking or non?" (Or, just hang around at baggage claim.) More St. Louis Missed Connections.
Related Stories:
· Missed Connections coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: wd502]
