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In-Flight Cocktails / SFO / Airport Museums / Aviation History / KLM / → All Tags

Our Kind of History Lesson: In-Flight Cocktails Through The Years

We're not the only ones who like to sip on in-flight cocktails. The San Francisco International Airport is also a bit of a boozehound as evidenced by this SFO Museum exhibit at Terminal 1 which centers on in-flight cocktail service during the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

The small display features glassware, swizzle sticks, coasters, drink menus and even cocktail napkins served by old-timey airlines like Pacific Southwest Airlines, National Airlines and Pan American Airlines as well as from still alive airlines like United, American and KLM.

Of course, the winner of the coolest glassware in the case award belongs to KLM for their ceramic Bols gin Delftware containers which are shaped like Dutch houses and filled with Bols Jenever gin. These ones here were given to first-class passengers in the 1980s. But if you're flying World Business Class today, you can score a Delft house of your own.

The exhibition is titled "Hydration, Libation, and Lift: Airline Inflight Beverage Service" and can be found in Terminal 1 at the A3 Entrance lobby from now until July 2012.

Travel Photography / Airlines / Social Media / Instagram / iPhone Travel Apps / SAS / iPhone / KLM / HotelChatter / Hotels / Air Asia / bmiBaby / British Airways / JetBlue / Southwest / Virgin America / → All Tags

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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Airline News / KLM / Amsterdam Travel / Social Media / Facebook / Dating / Mile High Club / Sex Travel / Romance Travel / Travel Tech / Bad Ideas / → All Tags

Mile High Speed Dating Hits KLM, But No Joining the Mile High Club

We admit there have been times that we may have put noise cancelling headphones just to give the illusion of listening to music, warding off fellow passengers' incessant blabbing. There also have been times we've noticed someone that looks interesting—ahem attractive ahem—and wished we could swap seats to get a little closer.

The latter is how KLM prefers to fly, and they'll soon offer passengers the ability to pick their seatmate based on Facebook or Linkedin profiles. By next year, the airline will not only offer a window or aisle preference, but allow customers to view the profile of other passengers, then choose whether or not to sit next to them.

The first red flag we see is the obvious privacy of personal details. Passengers must opt-in to have their social media profile available for other travelers to see. Which means, not everyone will be taking part in this singles bar in the sky. Sigh of relief! It also begs the question; will the aircraft have a cabin area set aside for these passengers who are single and ready to mingle?

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Airline Food / In-Flight Meals / KLM / Amsterdam Travel / Economy Class / → All Tags

A La Carte in KLM Economy Now Means Dutch Cheese, Japanese Soba and Veggie Falafel

Indonesian rice dish

Ordering off-menu while jet setting is not only limited to first and business class passengers, you know. Just as we last told you about American Airlines upgrading their menus, KLM is now offering specialty meals on intercontinental flights from Amsterdam. Last week, the Flying Dutchman announced the expanded dining offering in the back of the plane with a little pre-ordering and few extra euros.

The expanded menu is in addition to the gluten-free, kosher, and other special dietary meals that KLM usually stocks, but these will explore ethnic themes, like traditional Dutch fare, Japanese delights, Italian comfort food, Indonesian rice dishes and an upgraded veggie option. At 12-15 euros each, the meals will still give you spending money for bringing home souvenirs.

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United / Continental / IAH / ORD / Biofuels / Lufthansa / KLM / Air China / iPad / Alaska Airlines / Green Travel / → All Tags

Watch the Skies for United's Eco Plane, Already Flying on Biofuels

Huge news. Yesterday marked the first time a US airline used biofuel in a commercial flight. No, it wasn't Alaska Airlines even though they are trying; it was United, and they flew their eco-friendly 737-800 from Continental's's former home base, Houston, to the United home base of Chicago.

For the #avgeeks: The biofuel is algae-based and includes 60 percent petroleum fuel and 40 percent biofuel produced by a company named Solazyme.

The eco-consciousness isn't limited to what goes in the tank, either. United flight attendants now push lighter serving carts and pilots traded in their 38-pound flight bags for more weight-conscious iPads (already loaded with their in-flight navigation charts and aircraft manuals). Furthermore, United makes it easy for plane spotters to identify the Mother Earth-friendly aircraft by its green winglets and 'eco-skies' written towards the front of the fuselage.

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Shopping Travel / Holland Travel / KLM / Souvenirs / → All Tags

Best Ironic Holiday Gift to Give? Your Face, Painted on a Royal Delft Plate from Holland

If you have ever flown KLM long-haul, you probably already know to get psyched for the in-flight shopping to start. This excitement is not due to tax-free bottles of liquor or J.Lo's latest perfume. Well, maybe for some it is, but the magic is really in the Royal Delft souvenirs.

If mini porcelain houses aren't your thing, Dutch Tourism (@visitholland) recently tweeted to say that visitors may design their own plates using the iconic hand-painted blue and white Delft pattern. This is your chance to get your face on a plate, people! After some thinking and wandering around the Royal Delft website for gift ideas, we came to the conclusion that this might actually work for a few people on our list this year.

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Twitter / KLM / Airlines / Social Media / Design Travel / AMS / → All Tags

We Asked, They Answered: What is the Shade of KLM's Signature Blue?

A round of applause for KLM. Yesterday, in a huge social media experiment, they repurposed one of their aircraft hangars as a "Live Reply" space, where a mass of KLM crew responded to tweets from the public by holding up massive letter cards to spell out answers, a la football stadium fan cheers.

Naturally we tried to get in on it, but our question obviously demanded a more technical reply than flight attendants, pilots and ground crew can mime. Here was the question:

@Jaunted: So, @KLM Live Reply, is there a name for the particular color of @KLM blue?

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Social Media / Food Travel / Peter Shankman / Twitter / EWR / Frequent Flyer Miles / KLM / → All Tags

Steaks on a Plane! Frequent Flyer Tweets, Gets Special Delivery at Newark Airport

Sit back and listen to this tale of social media customer service gone right, where frequent flying combined with brand loyalty and humor equaled genuine surprise:

Peter Shankman is as frequent a flyer as you'll ever find; following him on Twitter you'll quickly get a sense of this, plus his preference for Continental Airlines and Newark-Liberty Airport.

Yesterday, as Shankman relates in his blog post, he flew to Miami for a business lunch and dreaded the hunger that would gnaw upon returning to Newark Airport that night. So he tweeted about it:

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Amsterdam Week / Amsterdam Travel / Amsterdam Field Trip / SkyTeam / Holland Travel / AMS / Airports / Photo Gallery / Airline Lounges / KLM / Frequent Flyer Miles / → All Tags

Inside Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport: The Ginormous KLM Crown Lounge

Welcome to Amsterdam Week here on Jaunted! Each day, we're coming at ya with a Double Dutch of features: two stories on a city (and its airport) that stuns with its beauty and nearly overwhelms with everything there is to do. Got any Amsterdam tips of your own? Share with us in the comments!

Today at Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport, we're visiting the KLM Crown Lounge for international (non-Schengen) departures

Now we've reached the end of our week-long series on Schiphol Airport, but we're leaving you in KLM's international departures lounge for flyers with KLM or SkyTeam status. It's a perfect place to leave off, since this is where many travelers really begin their journeys and it's through these glass doors and beyond this KLM-blue desk that you really want to be.

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Amsterdam Week / Amsterdam Travel / Amsterdam Field Trip / Holland Travel / AMS / Airports / Photo Gallery / Airplanes / KLM / Prime Planespotting / → All Tags

Inside Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport: The Panorama Terrace (and Its KLM Fokker 100 Airplane Showpiece)

Welcome to Amsterdam Week here on Jaunted! Each day, we're coming at ya with a Double Dutch of features: two stories on a city (and its airport) that stuns with its beauty and nearly overwhelms with everything there is to do. Got any Amsterdam tips of your own? Share with us in the comments!

Today at Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport, we're visiting the Panorama Terrace

Believe it or not, the Panorama Terrace is accessible to the public! That's right; whether you're traveling or not, you can head up to the extremely ginormous deck on top of the terminals for the best views in the area (and for free)! Just follow the signs from the departures area and ticketing desks, and a few flights of stairs will bring you to it.

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AMS / Airports / Amsterdam Travel / KLM / Airplanes / Prime Planespotting / → All Tags

What's That Fokker Doing on the Roof of Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport?

Oh hey, look! It's our new buddy, ArkeFly, the airline that flies from Amsterdam to Florida! But wait—what's that other plane up above it, perched where it probably shouldn't be, on the roof of Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport itself?

That, dear readers, is a KLM Cityhopper Fokker 100, a recently retired plane that now spends its time chilling on AMS' panorama deck instead of hitting the tarmac. Its presence boggles thousands of flyers every day, as it did when our flight pulled up to a gate near it. So we did a little research and discovered that not only is it supposed to be up there, but that it's publicly accessible.

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Airline Food / KLM / In-Flight Meals / In-Flight Comfort / Airline News / Food Travel / → All Tags

KLM is Totally Cool with Picky Eaters, Offers Four Special Meals in Economy

The best pictures we could get, sadly

It wasn't all that long ago that we talked about ANA's option to buy business class meals if you're sitting in economy. It's such a novel idea, and ponying up however little it costs to upgrade your food sure beats paying out hundreds (or thousands) of dollars more for the full Business Class experience.

The concept of charging for better economy food has now rubbed off on Dutch airline KLM, who announced they'll begin offering four premium à la carte meals on long-haul flights originating from Amsterdam-Schiphol (with the exception of Toronto, San Francisco, Tel Aviv and Cairo routes).

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