Jaunted

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For Those Who Don't Bose, There's Always the Duty Free Headphones

Whatever class you're in, however spiffy you look, airline headphones suck. But if, like us, you're one of those people who class Bose as too expensive/ostentatious, we have a solution for you.

Recently, flying London-Heathrow to Vegas on British Airways, we were handed standard terrible economy headphones. We were trying to lipread Bridesmaids. It was bad. Then, after a couple of drinks and some flicking through the Duty Free catalogue, we saw these: Jivo rosewood noise reducing headphones, for £28. We were tipsy, liked the sound of rosewood, and bought them, still assuming they'd be pretty rubbish, what with them costing a fraction of Bose prices.

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What You Need To Know About British Airways' New Mixed Fleet

How to identify BA's mixed fleet cabin crew: they smile

You may remember the saga. First we were die hard British Airways haters. Then a flight to Vegas changed all that. It was our first experience of BA’s new mixed fleet (in operation for a year now) and boy, did it make a difference. We were entranced. Was it a one off? We prayed not.

Our return flight from Vegas had just as nice a crew (a full review on that another time). But we wanted to wait until we’d taken a couple more flights until we declared an official crush on the new mixed fleet. Now, though, since our trip to Budapest last weekend, we've seen enough to declare ourselves: British Airways appears to have transformed under the mixed fleet crews.

Staff are friendly, smiley. They give the impression of wanting to help you. They give the impression that they are happy to be on board, and that they actually like each other. They are as far away from the dour crew of old as Rick Perry was from knowing his government agencies. They are great. So because they’re great, we’ve got the lowdown on them. Here’s your mixed fleet 101.

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Which Airlines Will Be Getting Which Upgrades in 2012

It seems that a good number of airlines have decided to use this brand-spanking new year to freshen up their cabins and revamp service offerings. With a few recent announcements from various global carriers such as Cathay Pacific, Brussels Airlines and Virgin Australia, 2012 will be the year to make air travel look snappy and smell fresh...again. Here's who's doing what:

· AirBerlin:
As the second largest German air carrier and a member of Oneworld, Air Berlin will be upgrading the entire long-haul fleet of Airbus 330s. New business class seats that recline to just about flat and thinner, more user friendly economy seats will be aboard their planes. The new interiors will be ready for the summer travel season.

· British Airways:
With all our hoopla from recent BA flights, it seems that the airline is not only upgrading service. Starting at the front of the plane a few years ago, overhauls have finally made it to World Traveler Plus and World Traveler. That's premium economy and economy for the uninitiated.

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The Day Pigs Flew and British Airways Rocked a Long-Haul Flight

You might remember our surprise (understatement: we nearly had a stroke with shock) when we flew British Airways from Heathrow to Vegas on Christmas Eve, and were confronted, instead of the usual sullen frowns and can’t-do mentality, by smiles, extra booze, cheery greetings and an atmosphere that didn’t send us screaming for the emergency exit handle.

Back then, we told you about the crew, and promised more on the flight later. Sorry about that&3151;it’s taken three weeks to process the shock of a pleasant BA flight. But anyways. Did the flight-our first longhaul in BA economy for a couple of years-live up to the crew? Let’s see.

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Something's Not Quite Right with British Airways' Online Check-in

This screenshot will not go far in dispelling the rumor that what passes as British circumspection is just their passive-aggressive way of insisting that you do things their way.

What you're looking at is Step 2 of the 5-step online check-in process for British Airways. It appears that something is missing, but no worries. It's not as if you'd want to give travelers as many relevant options as possible, what with how we're living in an era of reduced baggage allowances and heightened baggage fees even on international flights.

Keep in mind that there was a person, presumably with a background in programming in mathematics and programming, who created this. Then there was a person, undoubtedly with experience in the airline industry, who approved it. At some point wouldn't you think that someone would, you know, say something?

UPDATE: The kind folks at BA emailed us to say they're on it...

[Screenshot: Jaunted]

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Transatlantic Time Hop: Skipping the New Year on British Airways

Comedy hats and smiles. Two things you don't normally expect to see British Airways staff wearing

When we told people last week we were flying British Airways from Las Vegas to London overnight on New Year’s Eve, they were aghast. Why weren’t we partying? Why were we flying alone? Why were we leaving Vegas on the best night to be in Vegas?

We told them they were wrong on several counts. First, NYE in Vegas is horrendo, period. Second, after the Christmas Eve mini party we experienced on our flight out, we suspected the return journey could actually be fun. Thirdly—since there are few things we enjoy less than forced festivity—the idea of spending NYE at 40,000ft watching crappy movies was highly appealing.

And fourth, we coolly assumed we’d fly past loads of fireworks and cross so many timezones that we’d witness the year turning about six times before we reached London.

So how was it?

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Is British Airways' Christmas Gift to Everyone Flight Attendants Who Actually Smile?

Oh hai Christmas flight attendants, you look fun! You also look like you're in the wrong uniform. That nail varnish, lipstick, smiley faces, santa hats indicative of a fun disposition...you belong on Virgin Atlantic, right?

Wrong, because, and you may need to sit down for this, we snapped this on our Christmas Eve flight from London-Heathrow to Las Vegas on British Airways. Yes, BA of the grouchy staff who fling inedible food at you and snap if you dare to ask for so much as an extra glass of water. But these British Airways FAs were different—oh so different. In fact, they were the highlight of the flight.

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Airlines and Travel Brands to Follow Right Now on Instagram

And just like that, social photo sharing app Instagram is super hot. Sure it's only just celebrated its one-year anniversary as an iPhone app, but recent contests and exposure given to it by brands and influential figures in social media have pushed it over the edge. Heck, we jumped in head first! And we're freaking loving it. (Follow us by searching "jaunted" & "hotelchatter" in the app).

It's not just people posting images of their kids eating birthday cake or close-ups of kitty paws, either; Instagram seems to be spreading most rapidly among those interested in design, architecture, analogue photography, nature and—of course—the rest of the world. This is where travel images enter the game, and the airlines are paying attention.

We ran a fine-toothed comb through Instagram to find the airlines you need to follow now, and who else to watch:

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British Airways' Premium Economy Food Gets the Upgrade to Business Class

Premium Economy gets a little less gross than this recent meal

It was only Wednesday that we were bemoaning our recent ride in British Airways’ premium economy product. One of the many things we objected to in the whole pay-double-the-price, get-nearly-nothing-extra saga was the food. Over the course of our 10.5hr flight to San Diego, we were fed:

· snack cracker things with a gin and tonic

· roast beef dinner (we may not have been able to establish what this was had there not been a label on it telling us it was a beef dinner)

· rubbery pasta salad

· pot of sugar, fat and additives called “cherry creamy delight” that was neither creamy, nor delightful, nor particularly reminiscent of cherries

· inedible sandwich

· p*ss-poor blueberry muffin

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The Only Plus to British Airways' Premium Economy? Being Up Front

Flying coach: not good. Flying business: very good but rarely affordable. Flying premium economy: fast becoming our preferred method of transport, when we have a little extra cash. Over a crazy six-week period a couple of months back we made eight transatlantic flights (mainly West Coast-London). Most were in economy, buying seats with extra legroom. So when we saw a deal to fly British Airways’ premium economy product, or World Traveller Plus as they call it, for the same amount of miles as an economy ticket, we cashed right in, and bought a Heathrow to San Diego ticket.

After all, BA's WTP seats usually sell for around double the amount of their economy seats; plus we’d flown premium ec on both Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand, and found them both the shiz. Tough acts to beat, but we were sure BA would measure up in some respects. Wouldn’t it?

Sadly, no it didn’t. At all. In fact—flying premium economy was one of the biggest wastes of money we’ve ever experienced. And yes, we say that having technically paid no extra. Here’s why.

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Video Interlude: The British Airways Ad That Put a Tear in Our Eye

We have a confession. Yesterday, somewhere over the northeast, we almost cried on an airplane. No, it wasn't due to some sappy movie on the seatback TV, nor was it because we didn't have time for a second Goose Island beer back at O'Hare Airport. Nope—we shed a single tear over a commercial from British Airways.

At the end of September, the Brit airline launched their newest campaign "To Fly. To Serve." Hearkening back to the glory days of aviation, BA peppers each spot with flashbacks to prop planes and the Concorde, plus their dashing pilots in full, crisp uniform. They're beautiful ads, but none more cinematic and engrossing than the one above.

Another version of the ad is here, but this one has the moneyshots of each plane taking off—from the early days when pilots were glorified mail carriers to the modern era, when lifting a 747 off the ground is just part of a regular day's work.

Enjoy. Keep a hanky handy.

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Finally! The British Airways Visa Signature Credit Card Goes Chip-and-Pin

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! Finally finally finally US credit card companies are getting wise to the need for cardholders to have EMV-enabled cards, which you may better recognize as the ones with the embedded chip on the left side.

We've been following the progress of this since earlier this year when both Wells Fargo and Chase began issuing limited amounts to their highest spending, heaviest traveling cardmembers. Now the technology has finally trickled down to the level of Chase's British Airways Visa Signature.

This card, thanks to generous past sign-up bonuses and the fact it has no foreign transaction fees, is now carried by many American frequent flyers who will no doubt benefit from being able to shop like the rest of Europe—with the chip-and-pin instead of a swipe-and-sign. Like us, who've felt the sting of being turned down because a register was no longer equipped for our archaic VISA (example: Amsterdam Schiphol train station).

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