There's an old saying in newsrooms that three is a trend. And if that's the case, user-generated travel content has officially arrived. What started with Budget Travel's reader-written issue then turned into planning the Frugal Traveler's itinerary. Now Janelle Nanos from National Geographic Traveler wants your travel tips.
The editor of the magazine's Intellegent Travel blog is headed to Seattle and San Francisco and is asking readers for tips:
You guys get to decide where I'll go and here's the deal: I want you to show me. I'm going to be in Seattle the weekend of July 18th, and in San Francisco the weekend of the 25th, and I'll be blogging while I'm gone. I'll have my video camera too, and I'd love not only meet our readers, but introduce them to the rest of you.
Here's your chance at travel blog stardom, you budding fameballs!
The idea is to give people flying between the two cities ideas of what to do once they arrive:
Ultimately we want everything on the site to have a "twin," whether it be a place, a neighborhood or a person. So if you like this restaurant in New York, you'll like this one in London. That just feels potentially really useful and different.
So far it looks pretty similar to the user recommendations you get in Dopplr--but limited to only two cities. Will Paris be next now that BA has snatched up L'Avion?
We're now declaring it officially dead, after two full months of dormancy. (Save one minor update to fix a typo.) Not exactly what we'd call an impressive move into web-centric public relations.
The real question now is why the blog is still online. Does American want to remind people how it canceled more than 1,000 flights in one week this April? Does the airline aspire to look like a bumbling relic from the 20th century? Our free advice to AA: Delete this Blogger account immediately!
Dallas/Fort Worth International just soft-launched a new website, and it's quite user-friendly. Reason number one? The airport's usually-paid WiFi will let you log on for free. Beyond that, everything you'd actually want to access is right there on the front door.
For example, it's now easier to find shops, restaurants and services. For restaurants, simply go to the home page, and you can filter 'em down to cuisine and terminal--and even see PDF menus (with prices!) before you pick a spot to eat.
The live flight info has also been expanded. The site uses data from FlightStats to track arrivals and departures, also right from the home page. And since you can log on for free, you'll be able to verify if that gate announcement of a 15-minute delay is for real--or if it's time to start calling the airline's reservation number.
And since the airport figures passengers will have even more ideas about how to update the website, officials will be hosting a user feedback blog until July 2. We can only imagine the comments will be more positive than what showed up on American Airline's blog.
Since we're now living in the age where having extra baggage can cost you a pretty penny, we've decided to revisit an old site called One Bag which offers tips on how to pack light. The site is extremely in-depth--we didn't know you could write so much about one bag!--and there's a lot of text. Truthfully, it's almost too much text to get through.
What we did find useful was the section on bundle wrapping, above, a technique that allows you to minimize the creases in your clothes and maximize the space in your carry-on. Also, the wardrobe packing list is pretty helpful though there are some tips that will have the fashion police chasing you down the jetbridge:
Several companies make pants with zip-off or roll-up legs (which convert them to shorts, capris, etc.)
The packing list won't make any fans with women, either. How could it possibly recommend that ladies bring just one pair of lace-up shoes for business meetings, daytime walks and hiking. We're not sure such a shoe even exists.
And don't even get us started on using our bathing suit tankini top as a body suit under a skirt or jacket. We'd rather pay the checked bag charge!
You may not realize it, but Montreal has been a global cultural mecca for decades. Sure it's frequently visited by University of Vermont students interested in legal boozing, but the city is also home to one of the most progressive electronic music, fashion, design and cuisine scenes in all of North America. Lucky for you, then that the good folks from Tourisme Montreal have made planning a long weekend there even easier with a new website.
The new Gridskipper launched yesterday, after a few weeks of tinkering, a change of ownership and a change of spring into summer. The verdict? Not too many fans out there.
We actually just got done Windexing our glass house--long weekend coming up, you know--so we don't plan to throw any stones just yet. But, damn, just about everybody else has.
Maybe the updates have stopped because the airline is at work on something a little more substantive? Let's hope so--for AA's sake. There's some serious airline blog competition out there.
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