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Cali Wine Country Hooks Up Facebook Fans With Freebies

June 15, 2009 at 8:47 AM | 0 Comments

It seems like every tourism promoter and their mom is getting on board the Twitter/Facebook/YouTube thing, although we have yet to see many destinations that are actually blowing us away with their social media campaigns. Nonetheless, we're intrigued by Sonoma wine country's effort, because it has at least one word we like: free! (Also, wine!)

All you have to do is become a fan of "The Wine Road" on Facebook between June 21 and 26, and the group will toss you a free three-day "Ticket to the Wine Road," a savings pass that normally retails for $50. When you present the ticket at any of 152 different Sonoma wineries and 50 lodges, you'll get a boatload of freebies like complimentary breakfast, free bottles of wine with your room, and discounts on tastings.

OK, so it's mostly discounts—you still gotta pay for a trip out there—but it sounds a pretty sweet deal for just being a fan.

Related Stories:
· Wine Road Announces Facebook & “Ticket to the Wine Road” Promo [The Intoxicologist]
· The Wine Road [Facebook]
· All You Need Is One Hand and a Dream [Jaunted]

[Photo: Dave Schumaker ]

The Recession Puts a Kibosh on DC's Outdoor Film Festival

May 21, 2009 at 9:01 AM | 0 Comments

Looks like free outdoor movies are joining music festivals on the list of things that won't live through the recession. HBO has announced that it's pulling the plug on DC's popular Screen on the Green series, which brings out thousands every summer for free classic movie screenings on the National Mall.

In what could be construed as a diss to DC, HBO will continue to sponsor this year's Bryant Park Film Festival, which is basically the exact same event, but in Manhattan, and kicks off with a showing of The Sting on June 15th. Given that DC already copes with a minor New York inferiority complex, Washingtonians are not happy, and nearly 2,000 of them have joined the Save Screen on the Green facebook page.

No word yet on whether Obama plans to bailout the film festival, but rumor has it The Kennedy Center is planning to step in with its own summer film series on their terrace level·also a picturesque spot, although considerably smaller than the Mall.

Related Stories:
· Screen on the Green Rescue Efforts Underway [DCist]
· Film Festivals coverage [Jaunted]
· Movie Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: voteprime]

Now That Everyone is On Twitter, Airports Create Facebook Pages

March 23, 2009 at 4:58 PM | 0 Comments

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]

Barack Obama Rocks The Youth Ball, Now In Video

January 23, 2009 at 4:06 PM | 1 Comment

The inauguration coverage just never ends. But we promise this one is totally worth it. Thanks to an awesome Jaunted Facebook friend, we have some amazing footage of President Barack Obama attending the Youth Ball on Tuesday night with the First Lady. The video gave us some chills as President Obama stepped up to the mike to address the crowd. "I've been waiting for this ball for quite some time," he said.

To watch the video and Obama's great speech about the young people of America, head on over to Jaunted's Facebook page (and become a fan!) and click on the Jaunted Videos. While you're there, feel free to upload your own videos and photos or at least, write on our wall telling us how pretty you think we are.

Related Stories:
· Where the Party At? The Top Inaugural Bashes [Jaunted]
· Inauguration Hangover Insights: "The Real Party is On the Metro" [Jaunted] "

Be Jaunted's Facebook Friend!

December 5, 2008 at 3:32 PM | 1 Comment

Like Brad needs Angelina, like Brody needs his bros, we need you to be our Facebook friend. Talk about your upcoming travel plans, share photos from your most recent trip or tell weekend editor Victor Ozols where to drink next Saturday night.

Unlike Chuck Bass, we actually hang out on our fan page, so come over already!

Related Stories:
· Be Friends With HotelChatter Too! [HC]
· If Queensland Can Do It, So Can We! [Jaunted]

Queenslanders Not Backward in Going Forward With Facebook

December 5, 2008 at 9:30 AM | 0 Comments

You might not know about the cheesy 1980s marketing pitch for the north-eastern Australia state of Queensland: "Beautiful one day, perfect the next."

While tropical storms and embarrassing politicians might have spoiled this image of perfection, you can't say Queensland's not trying in the tourism game. They've even got an official Facebook page and we actually like it.

It's a lively page with people leaving messages on the "wall" (usually Queenslanders giving a really biased opinion), competitions to enter and useful info on festivals and events taking place around the state. And last time we checked, Queensland was the proud owner of 2,128 fans.

According to this Facebook page, Queensland's current logo is "Where else but Queensland?" A risky marketing strategy because actually, there are plenty of alternative answers to this rhetorical question. We'll be generous enough to leave it unanswered.

Related Stories:
· Queensland on Facebook [Official Site]
· Queensland Travel Guide [Jaunted]

British Airways Staff Also Slamming Passengers On Facebook

November 4, 2008 at 12:01 PM | 3 Comments

Never one to let Virgin Atlantic have all the fun, now British Airways is investigating employees after they posted criticisms of passengers on a now-depopulated Facebook group called "London Gatwick Ground Staff."

The Telegraph reports that a big complaint was passengers who put boarding passes in their mouths before handing them over to gate personnel--definitely something worth griping about. Customers were also called "smelly and annoying." (Fliers from the US got a special shout-out for their "stupid American accents.")

BA promises it "will be talking to the individuals concerned," but the airline hasn't gone so far as to say it will fire staff who made the comments. Still, as an airline that created its own social media site and maintains a Twitter account, you'd think they'd already have a policy in place regarding employee behavior online. We're thinking something like, "Do whatever you want when you're off the clock--as long as it isn't completely embarrassing."

Related Stories:
· BA Staff Attack Passengers on Facebook [Telegraph]
· 13 Virgin Atlantic Employees Who Slammed Airline on Facebook Sacked [Jaunted]

[Photo: Travel Weekly UK]

13 Virgin Atlantic Employees Who Slammed Airline on Facebook Sacked, Dumped In Ocean by Sir Branson

November 1, 2008 at 1:50 PM | 1 Comment

Fancy a spot of freedom of speech with your tea and crumpets? Jolly good, just watch it when you talk about your employer. A group of 13 cabin crew staff got sacked (I love that word) by Virgin Atlantic after company officials discovered that they had posted nasty things about customers to a semi-private discussion group on Facebook. The fancy-pants airline founded by Sir Richard Branson began an investigation on October 23 after passengers and other staff members came across the postings, which hilariously referred to certain customers as "chavs" and claim that some of the company's 747s were infested with cockroaches.

It's a shame to get kicked to the curb just for bitching about your job to your co-workers, since everybody who has ever had a job has done exactly that, but this crew should have known better. Facebook might lull people into a false sense of privacy, since groups are only open to members, but those sophisticated enough to work for an airline should know by now that anything you put into pixels could easily make it into the public domain.

Somehow absent from the coverage of this event is whether their charges are true. Are Virgin Atlantic flights filled with chavs and cockroaches? Please report sightings of one or the other in the comments.

[Photo: The Vancouver Sun]

Related Stories:
· Virgin Atlantic Cabin Crew Sacked Over Web Slur [Reuters]
· Virgin Atlantic Only Comfortable With Certain Online Hatchet Jobs [Jaunted]

Virgin Atlantic Only Comfortable with Certain Online Hatchet Jobs

October 24, 2008 at 10:08 AM | 0 Comments

Big bossman Richard Branson can snipe British Airways and even set up a special website protesting his rival's proposed tie-up with American Airlines. But his employees, apparently, don't enjoy the same freedom to criticize people online: After setting up a group on Facebook to "bitch about the aircraft" they fly, Virgin Atlantic employees are under investigation for calling passengers "chavs" and complaining that VA's 747s were infested with cockroaches.

Says the carrier:

The airline has started an immediate disciplinary investigation. Virgin Atlantic does not tolerate any criticism of its passengers or industry-leading safety standards and is taking this matter very seriously.

Safety is the airline's top priority and we operate our fleet of aircraft in strict compliance with all manufacturers' and safety authorities' recommendations and regulations.

The posts have apparently been taken down, but we're trying to find some screen shots of them somewhere online. Tip us off if you know more; anonymity guaranteed.

Related Stories:
· VA Investigates Facebook Claims [Telegraph]
· VA Probes "Malicious" Staff Comments [Brand Republic]
· Virgin Atlantic coverage [Jaunted]

FB Status Travel: "Chris McGinnis Is in Awe of the Earthquake"

July 30, 2008 at 11:15 AM | 2 Comments

Travel industry personality Chris McGinnis, who's worked everywhere from CNN Headline News to Expedia, had a particularly travel-y LA earthquake experience yesterday:

I was in the security screening area at LAX and my bag was in the x-ray machine. All of a sudden every machine and magnetometer started beeping and blinking red wildly and the overhead monitors were shaking and the TSA folks were yelling "STOP, STOP, ALL STOP."

We all sorta looked at each other as the quake rolled by. I was ready to jump under the metal table it if got any worse. The Japanese lady with her two kids in front of me with Hello Kitty bags looked at me like "So what's the big deal here?"

About two minutes went by, and the machines came back on and my bag popped out and I packed up, put my shoes on and carried on. Everyone was shaking their heads and saying things like "Welcome to California, folks."

Where did McGinnis publish his first-hand account? Facebook, obviously.

Related Stories:
· My LAX Earthquake Experience [Facebook]
· Where Was the LA Earthquake? [Jaunted]

Airline Blogging: AA Announces Facebook App

April 22, 2008 at 11:02 AM | 0 Comments

After taking a resounding thumping from just about everyone, the American Airlines blog is back with its fourth post ever. While it'd be hard to do worse than the corporate doublespeak of post three, the most recent update is, if not inspiring, mildly useful in communicating information.

If you're gonna do the social media-as-PR thing, it's apparently blog first, Facebook application second:

We have recently added a Facebook feature and wanted to hear what you thought about the "American Airlines Travel Bag" application. Our goal is to generate tool that would help customers share their favorite hangouts, restaurants and spots when they travel.

There's a link to the AA website with more info on the application, which proves the airline is starting to get this whole "series of tubes" thing. Maybe soon they'll even dress up the new blog with, you know, something other than the boilerplate Blogger template!

Related Stories:
· AA Facebook App [AA Conversation]
· New American Airlines Blog Could Use Some Work [Jaunted]
· American Airlines coverage [Jaunted]

Zagat Guides On Your Phone, On Your Facebook

November 16, 2007 at 12:45 PM | 0 Comments

We went by the office of the Zagat guides yesterday for a little chat with Tim and Nina--more on that next week--and they reminded us about their new mobile service, which debuted this summer. Just point your web-enabled phone or BlackBerry to Zagat.mobi and get more restaurant reviews than you'll know what to do with.

Once you've got the page up, you can search by neighborhood, cuisine or new openings. We like the "SMS to Friend" feature, which we imagine would make meeting up with pals much easier. And since the service is ad-supported, it's free.

Zagat is also cracking Facebook with a new application for nightlife spots and restaurants that have pages on the social network. Once they're approved by the survey, businesses can drop the widget on their Facebook page and see it constantly updated with the latest, imminently quotable reviews.

Related Stories:
· If It's Not NOLA, Zagat May Not Like It [Jaunted]
· Facebook coverage [Jaunted]
· Technology coverage [Jaunted]