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SkyMall / Shopping Travel / Southwest Airlines / Open Threads / Bryant Park / → All Tags

What Have You Always Wanted to Buy from the SkyMall Catalog?

This isn't us, just some guy who seems to love the chair as much as we do.

Last night in New York City's Bryant Park, SkyMall got together with Southwest Airlines to host a big, public party to celebrate fall and the newest edition of the SkyMall catalog, this one already filled with kooky Christmas items. We only stayed long enough to ogle one of the cheesiest products ever made, but for some reason we want it so much: the $150 "Brobdingnagian Folding Sports Chair."

This chair, which is basically like your typical folding outdoor chair but with elephantitis, is a true novelty product. Is it a travel necessity? Nope. Is it practical at an outdoor event? Probably not. Do we irrationally crave it? Yep. This makes us wonder what else from the SkyMall catalog people out there secretly desire.

So, this weekend, we want to know: What have you always wanted from SkyMall, but are maybe too embarrassed to buy and actually own? Let us know in the comments!

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Open Threads / Airplanes / Stupid Ideas / United / → All Tags

If You Got Stuck in an Airplane After Landing, Would You Update Your Facebook First?

For the second time in the last two months, a sleeping passenger has been left behind onboard the plane, even after the flight attendants and crew had locked up and the plane returned to the hangar. First it was a man onboard Air Canada from London to Vancouver, and now it's a woman on United, flying from Washington DC to Philadelphia...and she's suing.

After waking up more than three hours after the United plane had emptied, the woman says she "paced the aisle for about 15 minutes until the locked door opened and police demanded identification.” So that was all it took to get rescued? Someone in the hangar saw movement onboard the aircraft and it only took 15 minutes? That's not so bad actually; we'd have imagined that a passengers in such a situation would be calling 9-1-1 or something to alert anyone of their whereabouts.

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Open Threads / Luggage / Travel Gear / Airport Security / → All Tags

Have Luggage Locks Become a Thing of the Past?

Wow, locking luggage feels like something the traveling public stopped doing ten years ago, when in reality it's a practice that goes on, albeit in much decreased numbers since the TSA kicked into high gear with their TSA-special locks.

These days, if you're flying in the United States, it's either a TSA lock or no lock at all for checked baggage, since they must check every bag and non-approved locks can be cut. As we typically go completely carry-on luggage only (even for a two-week stint in South Korea and the like), luggage locking is something we fortunately no longer have to consider. So who out there, in the year 2010 when airport security makes you do everything short of stripping naked to go through the metal detector, is still dutifully turning the combination on little orange, TSA-approved locks?

Are you holding onto your locks? Do you see them as theft deterrents or is it really just for peace of mind?

Related Stories:
· Baggage Locks [TSA.gov]
· Should You Pack a Gun to Make Sure the TSA Takes Care of Your Baggage? [Jaunted]
· Luggage [Jaunted]

[Photo: elPadawan]

Rock and Roll Travel / Private Jets / Vince Neil Aviation / Music Travel / Airline News / Airplanes / Open Threads / New Airlines / Las Vegas Travel / → All Tags

Private Jets with Painted Flames and Zebra Interiors: It's Vince Neil Aviation

What do you if you're a rockstar and you find yourself buying so many hours on private jets that it's about time you buy your own, but the things are so darned expensive? Well, if you're Vince Neil, frontman of band Mötley Crüe, then you go ahead and buy a few planes and turn them into a private aviation business.

Yes, that's right; Vince Neil now owns Vince Neil Aviation, which has a Hawker 700, a Lear 35 and a Gulfstream available for rental out of Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport. Aside from the "VN" logo near the door of the planes, Vince told Robin Leach that they've got all a rocker could want:

The planes are now all finished, they are all tricked out exactly how you think a rocker’s tour plane would be, complete with painted flames on the fuselage and the zebra-striped interior furnishings!

A picture of Vince Neil toasting the plane, after the jump!

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In-Flight Comfort / Airplanes / Airplane Seats / Seating / Seats / Open Threads / → All Tags

Are You Inclined To Recline Your Airline Seat?

We’ve all been there, and unfortunately it’s just part of the whole traveling experience—the reclining airline seat. Some seats recline more than others, and a lot of it depends on your choice of carrier and where you’re headed. Overseas travel might bring a necessity to recline or even an invitation to do so, especially if you aren’t in coach forced into relaxation thanks to prescription medication.

Thankfully, Cathay Pacific has hard shelled seats in their economy section, and this helps the person in front of you from getting into your personal space. For those that think reclining is a must, this probably is the airline for you. Unfortunately they aren’t really the ideal domestic carrier, so you better start planning that trip to Asia.

Shuttling around the US is a little more difficult, as there aren’t really any airlines that take the discomfort out of the reclining airline seat. Weber Aircraft sells seats to American Airlines and Delta, but we haven’t seen their fancy “high pivot point recline system” during our travels. The unique design makes the bottom of the seat move forward to give the illusion of a little more recline.

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Money / Open Threads / Currency Exchange / Credit Cards / London Field Trip / Edinburgh Field Trip / Belgium Field Trip / Euros / → All Tags

What Is The Best Way to Exchange Your Money?

Help! This is for all the travelers out there who confront a currency exchange booth at the airport or on the street and shake their heads at the unfavorable rates, only to give in anyways because they just need more cash.

We're wondering what is the best way to exchange your money? We've been through it all—ordering foreign currency from American Express, shuffling up to the Travelex booth in the airport arrivals hall, taking and taking more from foreign ATMs, and even making the walk of shame to a booth in tourist trap. But our indecision really worked against us last week in London, when we discovered that by choosing to exchange cash at a booth rather than just withdraw from an ATM, we had lost something like $30 that wasn't the fault of the high value of Sterling.

Currency exchange is one of those unavoidable, frustrating tasks that must happen during travel, and it can quickly reach eye-gouging annoying levels when you're pressed for time or facing shady dealers.

So please, help out us and everyone who reads this, and share you best tips for currency exchange in the comments. Care to take this remaining 15 pence off our hands for your time? No, we didn't think so either.

Related Stories:
· London Field Trip [Jaunted]
· Money travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: ganessas]

Security / TSA / Airport Security / Open Threads / → All Tags

Why We're A Little Afraid Of The TSA

Are you afraid of the TSA? Do your palms sweat when you're waiting in line for airport security, even though you've got nothing to be worried about? Do you fear being profiled at the security check and sent to "enhanced" security, which makes you late for your flight?

Maybe we've got a guilty conscience or maybe it's just residual trauma from the time we tried to carry-on a Tunisian hookah and the security officers did everything short of put us on the no-fly list, but we get a little spooked when we head through airport security, and we're wondering if we're alone in this. It's the combination of the idea that maybe the TSA won't catch a terrorist in line with us and the fact that even going through all the security is like "you're guilty until proven innocent."

The security jitters continue, after the jump.

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Open Threads / Travel News / Travel Trends / → All Tags

What Do You Think Was The Biggest Hotspot Of The Decade?

Yes yes, it's that time of the year—the time for annual wrap-ups and best-of lists, but it's also the end of a decade and so this occasion calls for something a little more meaty: a best-of-the-decade list.

We're always curious about travel trends, like where people are heading next and what city will become the spot. But naming just one city as the Biggest Hotspot of The Last Decade is a huge task, and we're asking for your help.

After the jump, see the five destinations we thought were the largest movers and shakers of the aughts. Will it be your favorite vacation destination, or perhaps the city you call home? ...

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Open Threads / Airport Shopping / Shopping Travel / Holiday Travel / Christmas Travel / → All Tags

What Gifts Have You Bought From Airport Stores?

Tis the season for panicked, last-minute holiday gift shopping, and since so many of us will be stuck with extra time in airports, it's natural to be letting your eyes wander over the duty-free offerings and more at airport stores. We admit to having stocked up on gourmet chocolates and small bottles of Johnny Walker for the harder to buy for on our list, but is that so bad?

So, we want to know: Have you shopped for gifts at airport stores?

It's so tempting—all those perfectly packaged luxury items, and oftentimes there are products you can't find outside of the airport. But this goes for the cheap things too; little plastic airplanes and tin cracker boxes with photos of landmarks on them. How about an 'I Love NY' deck of cards or the city's Monopoly game?

If you do shop airport stores, what have you bought and if they were gifts, did the giftee mind that it was from an airport shop? Share and share alike in the comments!

Related Stories:
· How Hectic Are Your Holiday Plans?
· Sweeten Up Your Layover In Chicago-O'Hare At Vosges Chocolate Shop [Jaunted]
· Airport Shopping [Jaunted]

[Photo of MUJI To Go In HKG: Jaunted]

Open Threads / Holiday Travel / Christmas Travel / Twitter / Hanukkah Travel / → All Tags

How Hectic Are Your Holiday Travel Plans?

Just yesterday, and the day before that (and the day before that), we were surfing the various online travel booking websites looking for holiday airfare deals. And there are none, of course. $400+ for a roundtrip from NYC to Detroit on days that aren't even that close to Christmas? Come on; we can go further, to Chicago, for cheaper. Stupid Delta near-monopoly on DTW.

Anyways, enough with our holiday travel rant; where are you going for the holidays? Or not going, if that's the case. Share your holiday travel booking stories and steals, whether it's by train, plane or rental car. What airline are you flying? Are you heading to a big hub and are you scared your luggage will get lost?

We want to help you through the rest of this hectic month by talking you through your travels, but first you have to tell us where you're headed. Let us know your thoughts in the comments or follow us on Twitter and tweet us your thoughts using hashtag #holidaytravel!

Related Stories:
· @Jaunted [Twitter]
· The Jaunted Guide To Surviving Holiday Air Travel [Jaunted]
· Holiday Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[The famous "Santa got run over by a Ryanair" photo: Snopes]

Open Threads / Venice Travel / Italy Travel / → All Tags

Open Thread: Does Venice Smell?

Have you been to Venice? Was your visit in summer? Actually, no matter what season you found yourself among the romantic canals of Venice, you may remember whether you did or did not smell something afoul in the city. Stemming from our earlier post on what not to do in Venice—taking a gondola being one "don't"—we want to know if think Venice smells.

We lived in Italy for a while, and sometimes we'd head to Venice for the day, for the weekend, or for the week depending on how much good white wine and risotto al nero di seppia we craved. In the winter, we found the air to smell cold and salty, like any other seaside town that brought in boats of fresh seafood. But the in the summer, thanks to the rotting first floors of most residences coupled with the perfume of a sweaty population barely masked by the scent of restaurants cooking up prix fixe meals, our nose caught a whiff of something other. It's not enough to assault your senses, but it's there.

So tell us: have you smelled Venice? What did it smell like, if anything? Should people bring their gas masks or should Glade invent a Venice-scented room freshener? Let us know in the comments below!

Related Stories:
· What Not To Do In Venice: The Top 5 Tourist Mistakes [Jaunted]
· Venice Travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: mattedgar]

Open Threads / Travel Etiquette / Seats / → All Tags

For Whom Would You Take A Middle Seat?

Nobody likes the aisle. That's what we discovered when we asked Jaunted readers what seat they preferred on a plane, and we weren't surprised at all. Given the opportunity to be penned in by two strangers, most people say "pass." Yet, ending up in the middle seat happens to all of us sometimes, and sometimes it's even by choice.

Maybe you're a lot nicer person than we are and you switch seats without complaining or even looking at your fellow traveler. In which case, we salute you and hope we can sit next to you soon. But even you, Nice Traveler, probably have your secret rules as to for whom you will make the move. We'll automatically switch without complaining if you...

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