Jaunted

Travel News Briefs / → All Tags

'Twas The Night Before JetBlue Left for Los Angeles

With so much travel news raining down on us, we don't always have time to give every story its own forecast. Here's more of the day's news, in brief.

· First and Business Class takes a hit: These upper-echelon travel dropped 22 percent in April, according to the International Air Transport Association. [Denver Biz Journal]

· Pink's Is Headed For the Strip: The LA institution that is Pink's Hot Dog will open a new location in Las Vegas this August. [VegasChatter]

· Singles are Cruisers Too!: BT offers a solo cruise ship traveler ways to get around the extra fees that are charged to people traveling by themselves. [Budget Travel]

· JetBlue JFK-LAX Service Begins Tomorrow!: Jaunted will be on the inaugural flight tomorrow. Anything you want to see or learn about? Let us know. [Jaunted]

· Win a Free Trip to Europe!: Time is running out for our Competitours Contest so hurry up and enter your challenge idea now. You could be heading off to Europe in a month if you win! [Jaunted]

Travel News Briefs / High Line / → All Tags

The High Line is Now Open

With so much travel news raining down on us, we don't always have time to give every story its own forecast. Here's more of the day's news, in brief.

· The High Line Has Opened: Finally, NYC's long-awaited park in the Meatpacking District has officially opened to the public today. HotelChatter has a view from the Standard NYC Hotel while NewYorkology has a ton of new pics from today. [HotelChatter, NewYorkology]

· American Airlines Will Let UK Flyers Pay with PayPal: AA is the only American airlines that lets its passengers pay by PayPal. What started out for U.S. customers last Fall has now been extended to folk in the U.K. [Press Release]

· Greyhound is Excited About Their New Logo: Greyhound buses posted a picture of their new(ish) logo on Twitter [Twitter]

· New Orleans Mayor is Quarantined: Ray Nagin and his wife will be staying at the Jinjiang Inn in a suburb of Shanghai for at least seven days! [HotelChatter]

Travel News Briefs / Luggage Flair / Hotels / Kany West / Gay Travel / → All Tags

How to Easily Identify a Tween's Suitcase in the Baggage Claim

· Luggage Flair: We saw this sticker on a suitcase belonging to a tween at McCarren International Airport in Las Vegas. Care to show off your own luggage flair? Drop a pic in the Jaunted Flickr Pool

· Sick of Losing Your Luggage: Budget Travel tested some luggage trackers. [Budget Travel]

· Kanye West in Trouble for LAX Pap Smackdown: Kanye West went berserk on some paparazzi outside the American terminal at LAX and has been charged with vandalism, battery and grand theft. His lawyer was in court today to win a delay for Kanye's arraignment. [TMZ]

· Good News for the Travel Industry: Gay travelers are still taking trips! [LAT]

· Call The Hotel Before You Get There: It may not be open anymore. [NY Times]

Travel News Briefs / Pirates / Hotels / Continental Airlines / Ski Resorts / → All Tags

Somali Pirates Strike Again

With so much travel news raining down on us, we don't always have time to give every story its own forecast. Here's more of the day's news, in brief.

· Hostage Situation: Somali pirates took over a U.S.-flagged ship near the Horn of Africa this morning capturing about 21 American crew members. However, the crew was able to regain control of their ship except their captain is still being held hostage. Story unfolding. [NY Post]

· Continental Airlines Switching to Star Alliance: Continental just received U.S. approval to join the Star Alliance. This alliance, which includes United Airlines and Lufthansa, will allow Continental to offer passengers access to more routes and better prices. So they say. Continental is currently a part of SkyOne which includes Delta/Northwest and KLM Airlines. After a 21-public comment period, Continental then can join the Star team. [Chicago Tribune]

· Kentucky Derby Travel for the Rich Only?: Hotel room rates in Louisville for the Kentucky Derby are averaging about $350 a night with the Hyatt Regency going for $1,130 a night. Reasonable or insane? [HotelChatter]

· Hotelicopter Is Kind of Real: One more from our sister site...The Hotelicopter is real in the sense that it's a hotel booking site, not an actual hotel. Oh. [HotelChatter]

· Ski Season Almost Over Dude: Lake Tahoe is closing up soon and LA Times gives you the closing dates for the ski resorts in the region. [LAT Daily Deal and Travel Blog]

[Photo: LAT]

Travel News Briefs / Animals / Hotels / Earthquakes / → All Tags

Rare Megamouth Shark Has a Bad Day

With so much travel news raining down on us, we don't always have time to give every story its own forecast. Here's more of the day's news, in brief.

· Rare Megamouth Shark Can't Escape the Same Fate as Less Exotic Fishes: Fishermen in the Philippines catch one of 40 remaining megamouth sharks and eat it, despite warnings from an international conservation nonprofit. Animal overlords once again, are pissed. [National Geographic]

· San Diego on Earthquake Alert: There have been more than 450 quakes near the area's Salton Sea since March 21. While a major quake hasn't struck in 300 years, but everyone is on alert. [KFMB]

· New Zealand is Pretty: Gadling's Grant Martin is fresh back from his trip to Kiwiland and has some pretty photos to show. [Gadling]

· 'Friends and Family' Code from Fairmont Hotels: HotelChatter has gotten their grubby hands on a sweet promo code for swanky Fairmont Hotels. [HotelChatter]

Airplane Graveyards / Airplane Retirement / Travel News Briefs / → All Tags

The Airplane Graveyard is Getting Crowded

· Where Planes Go to Die: Thanks to the recession, 1,700 planes will be taken out of service this year as fewer people are spending less money on travel. But where are the airlines going to put these old broads? They will send them to great big hangar in the sky. Well, actually, it's not in the sky. It's in the desert at the Evergreen Air Center in Marana, Arizona. [AP]

In other news:
· Star Trek Will Premiere in Australia: Australia is so hot right now. There's not only an airfare war going on right now between Down Under airlines but the new Star Trek movie will premiere at the Sydney Opera House. [Just Jared]

· Samantha Ronson Hates United: She Twitters this sentiment but doesn't really go in depth. Then again, it's United we are talking about here. We can think of enough reasons why she probably thinks they suck. [@JackDaniels9]

· Just in time for Earth Day: Netherlands Scraps Eco-Tax! Hoping to entice more travelers, the Netherlands has scrapped the 11 to 45 Euros tax which was added onto every ticket. [Cranky Flier]

[Photo: AP]

JetBlue / Stupid Travel / Travel News Briefs / → All Tags

JetBlue Employee Gets a 'Free' Trip to Boston

If you work for JetBlue and have no problem sleeping in pressurized airplane cargo bins, then you might be able to get yourself a free trip. That's what happened to one JetBlue employee the other day, enabling him to fly for free from New York to Boston. According to CBS News:

The man was discovered by baggage handlers at Logan International Airport after the plane landed there Saturday. He told police he'd been accidentally locked inside the pressurized luggage compartment while taking a nap. The 21-year-old man says he called JetBlue Airways officials when he realized he was no longer on the ground.

Police later found the employee to be harmless and sent him back down to New York. JetBlue is, as expected, investigating.

In other news:
· Voting for Hometown Hotties Begins at Maxim [Maxim]
· Bruce Willis' Ski Lodge in Idaho Burns Down [KTVB News]
· Lisa Ling's sister, Laura and a fellow journalist will be put on trial in North Korea [ABC]
· More updates on the travel chaos wreaked by Mount Redoubt [KTVA]

[Photo: Gtarded]

Travel News Briefs / Passports / Passport Cards / Volcanoes / → All Tags

Passport Cards Just Aren't as Cool as Passport Books

With so much travel news raining down on us, we don't always have time to give every story its own forecast. Here's more of the day's news, in brief.

· Earthquake in Bay Area: A 4.3 earthquake occurred today but there's no major damage. [SF Chronicle]

· Passport Cards for Limited Travel: We aren't totally in love with the idea of passport cards because we prize our passport books so much, but if you only travel by land or sea, these could work for you. Also of note: Happy Traveler (pictured above) DOES not look like he was born in 1981. Just sayin'. [AJC]

· LA's Cupcake Challenge is Ferociously Delicious: LAT has some tasty photos of the cupcake challenge that went down at the Hollywood Renaissance hotel over the weekend. [LAT]

· Mount Redoubt Re-Erupts, Re-Cancels Alaska Airlines FLights: Mount Redoubt's Volcano is still spewing ash, forcing the Anchorage airport to cancel flights. [AP Video Essay]

Travel News Briefs / Peter Greenberg / Peace / Travel Contests / → All Tags

Is Peter Greenberg Through With 'The Today Show'?

With so much travel news raining down on us, we don't always have time to give every story its own forecast. Here's more of the day's news, in brief.

· Peter Greenburg Leaving Today Show?: Via Conde Nast Traveler's Wendy Perrin's Twitter feed (the newest news source that Twitter), we are hearing that Peter Greenberg won't be appearing on The Today Show anymore. But of course, he'll still be in demand across other networks. [Twitter]

· A Million Miles from Continental: Enter this latest travel contest on TripAdvisor to win a million miles any where that Continental flies. [TripAdvisor via Wendy Perrin's Twitter, again]

· Happy Peace Between Israel and Egypt Day: Today marks the 30th anniversary of peace between Israel and Egypt. [AP]

· Become Friends with Us: We know the new Facebook redesign sucks but if you are still hanging around, become a fan of Jaunted. Otherwise, follow us on Twitter. [Facebook]

· FareChase.com Over and Out: Yahoo!'s FareChase has now officially shuttered. [WaPo]

Travel News Briefs / Scarlett Johansson / Vampires / → All Tags

TV Marketing Campaigns Are Much Funnier Overseas

With so much travel news raining down on us, we don't always have time to give every story its own forecast. Here's more of the day's news, in brief.

· Scarlett Johansson Eats and Uses RoadFood.com: ScarJo is totally down with the travel and food blogging thing as she recently told The Daily Beast that she uses the blog, RoadFood.com [Budget Travel via Daily Beast]

· Fishing Tragedy Prompts Search: Another boating tragedy near Cape May, NJ results in the death of one man while four others are still missing. Their fishing boat has already sank. [NY Times]

'In Case of Vampire, Snap Here': This is how HBO's True Blood TV Series is being promoted in Australia. We loves it. [Buzz Feed]

· TravelPost, Run by Kayak, Is Live: The biggest challenger to TripAdvisor, TravelPost.com, has gone live today. Most likable feature? You can search reviews by demographics so you can weed out reviews from those "silly kids." [CNET]

Travel News Briefs / Facebook / Gossip Girl / Tragedy / → All Tags

Now That Everyone is On Twitter, Airports Create Facebook Pages

With so much travel news raining down on us, we don't always have time to give every story its own forecast. Here's more of the day's news, in brief.

· Airports on Facebook: The truth is the new redesign of Facebook has killed most Facebook addictions. We find ourselves updating our status maybe once every two or three days now instead of once an hour. Why? Because we have Twitter for that now. But apparently a believer in "Better late to the social media party than never" credo, airports like Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International have begun creating Facebook pages where you can check in for actual airport updates and possibly win a roundtrip ticket on Frontier airlines. [Today in the Sky]

· 'Gossip Girl' Stars Spend Time in Miami: While we eagerly await the next episode of Gossip Girl tonight, co-stars Ed Westwick and Jessica Szohr cozied up together during a mini-vacay to the Mondrian South Beach. Looks like even Chuck Bass needs a trip to the gym every once in a while. [HotelChatter]

· JP Morgan Gets New Corporate Jets: The Wall Street firm has set aside $119 million for new jets and a hangar upgrade. But don't worry, no bail-out money is going to be used to buy them. And like, they won't even arrive until 2012. Still, we bet there are better ways to use funds. [NY Post]

· Tragic Plane Crash in Montana: A private plane chartering 14 people, including seven children, to a ski trip in Montana crashed just 500 feet west of the airport, landing in a cemetary and killing all onboard.[NY Times]

Travel News Briefs / TV Set Travel / Real Housewives / Graydon Carter / Kanye West / Audrina Patridge / → All Tags

Will New Jersey's 'Real Housewives' Do More Harm Than Good?

With so much travel news raining down on us, we don't always have time to give every story its own forecast. Now here are some of today's more celeb-centric travel stories in brief.

· The Real Housewives of New Jersey: Will "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" be able to fill the void left by Carmela Soprano? More importantly, will it make people hop on the ACES on NJ Transit trains to visit the state? We're not sure. But do expect a lot of "Jerziness" to come out like: mall-hopping, nasal accents, an inside look at the "construction" business, the start-up of a strip club, trips to the Jersey Shore and we can only hope, some Taylor Ham. Yeah, Taylor Ham not Pork Roll. We hope the NJ Tourism board is ok with all this. [Bravo TV]

· Graydon Carter is Monkeying Around: The Vanity Fair editor is working on a new restaurant. The Monkey Bar is expected to open soon on East 54th Street in New York. Remember, Carter is already one of the folks behind the Waverly Inn. [Page Six]

· Could This Be the End of The Hills?: Looks like Audrina Patridge won't be returning for a sixth season either (LC is out too.) But she won't be leaving your TV sets anytime soon. There are talks she will get her own show. Oh great. [EW]

· Southwest's CEO Really Plays Guitar: In case you were ever curious about CEO Gary Kelly's musical skills you can check 'em out here. [Southwest Blog]

· Kanye West Will Be Charged: Remember when Kanye went batshit on a photog at American Airlines at LAX? He's going to be charged with three misdemeanors. [TMZ]