Tag: thanksgiving travel

View All Tags

/ / / / /

TSA's Annual Holiday Travel Tips Hit the Web, Delightful as Always

November 23, 2011 at 3:05 PM | by | Comments (0)

TSA has expressed itself pretty darned proud about how passenger complaints reached an all-time low last month. Apparently "consumer complaints about the TSA were down 59% from a May 2004 peak," which—depending on how you interpret the numbers—is evidence either that TSA agents are doing a better job or that people are so numb they've stopped protesting.

In either case the holidays are coming up, and with them will arrive the annual stories about TSA opening presents and confiscating cakes. Ruining Christmas tends to generate more complaints rather than less, so let's not bust out the party hats and noisemakers quite yet.

more ›

/ / /

10 Stories from the Jaunted Archives for Surviving the Thanksgiving Travel Rush

November 23, 2011 at 1:27 PM | by | Comments (0)


A long holiday security line at Delta's LGA Terminal

We don't have to tell you that today through the weekend will be some of the busiest travel days of the year; if you're out there in it all, you'll see for yourself. Already SFO, EWR, LGA and PHL are experiencing weather-related delays, and odds are this is only the beginning of yet another hectic Thanksgiving travel period.

To prepare for you own flights and road trips, or to survive the ones you're currently stuck in, check out some of our most popular travel tips:

· Stay healthy despite being surrounded by sick travelers
· Bribe a flight attendant
· See what airports have free WiFi
· Five items to buy at the airport to survive massive delays
· Drink up at these 5 great bars at 5 major US airports
· Dealing with airline delays and cancellations
· Stretch out in a bulkhead row on your flight
· What to do if you're stuck at ORD, MSP, DTW or ATL
· Keeping your rental car fuel costs down
· Know your airline, train or bus' website and Twitter

/ / / / / / / /

Wolfram Alpha, Airplane Stalker.

November 22, 2011 at 12:07 PM | by | Comment (1)

Okay, this is awesome. Go to WolframAlpha.com (a site that's like Google if Google was a huge science dork), and search "flights overhead." Yes, just those words. Now sit back for a millisecond until WolframAlpha returns with a list of the flights currently overheard you at that very moment.

This is the hottest little time waster on the internet today, and we may just stay addicted to it throughout the holidays. There's no need to live near an airport, either, as WolframAlpha picks up on planes cruising up above as well as ones coming in for a landing.

Our results—as we're currently in the triangle formed by JFK, LGA and EWR—returned an AirBerlin flight en route from Düsseldorf to Fort Myers, FL. It's crazy to think that a website can let us know that there's a couple hundred Germans directly overheard, each of them dreaming of the Florida sunshine they'll enjoy in under three hours.

more ›

/ / / / /

Go Inside Trump International Hotel, the Inspiration and Set for 'Tower Heist'

November 4, 2011 at 1:34 PM | by | Comment (1)

Ben Stiller, Matthew Broderick, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck and Alan Alda hit the big screen today in Tower Heist, about employees at a luxury residence tower in NYC, owned by a Madoffesque kingpin, who decide to steal $20 million dollars from their boss after finding out he embezzled their pension funds.

The building in the movie is based on the Trump International Hotel and Tower, located at One Central Park West in New York City. They even filmed most of the movie's exterior shots at Trump Tower, including one of the movie's biggest scenes which takes place during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

more ›

/ / / / /

Infographic Alert: Hipmunk's Chipmunk Crunches Thanksgiving Travel Numbers

November 4, 2011 at 11:27 AM | by | Comments (0)

Now that we've already warned that Thanksgiving weekend flight prices are rising and the TV news channels are freaking out over it, it's time for the airfare search engines themselves to have a say.

Hipmunk is up to their old tricks of putting together brilliant infographics, and if you know us at all, you know that one of the things we love almost as much as time-lapse videos are colorful infographics. The chipmunk dressed as a pilgrim is just a bonus.

The graphic above is only a small sample of the numbers crunched; you can view the entire masterpiece right here.

more ›

/ / / / /

How Much Are Thanksgiving Holiday Flights Going For Right Now?

October 24, 2011 at 3:41 PM | by | Comments (0)


Holiday rush security line crowding at Delta's LaGuardia terminal

It's widely said that the day before Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year, but really some summer days can be just as hectic. Still, with Americans scrambling to get home to eat a feast of turkey/tofurkey and stuffing, the airports aren't exactly a picnic in late November.

Curious to see exactly how high roundtrip prices for Thanksgiving flights have gotten, we headed over to place some sample trips into Hipmunk.

Here's the cheapest fares we found:

more ›

/ / / / / / / / /

Speedos and Mesh Underwear: The Busiest Travel Weekend Was Also Skimpiest

November 29, 2010 at 9:00 AM | by | Comments (0)

As expected with one of the busiest travel periods of the year, much travel news happened over the long Thanksgiving weekend. Luckily for everyone, the headlines focused on occurrences of nudity at airports or the lack of, as the TSA declared victoy in Opt-Out Day, even though they had turned off most of the controversial full-body scanners. There were no underwear bombs or package bombs; there were only Jaeger bombs at family tables stewn with pumpkin pie crumbs.

Alas, before getting back on track after a gluttonous weekend, let's pig out once more...on the brief news bits from the last few days:

more ›

/ / / / / / /

The Five Best Overpriced (but Delicious) Holiday Coffee Drinks Found in Airports

November 24, 2010 at 2:13 PM | by | Comments (0)

We know firsthand how stressful and aggravating holiday travel can be, so we thought we’d give you a few options where you can just relax for a minute and savor the tastes of the holiday season. Just be sure to bring a little bit of extra cash, as although they’re tasty, here’s our five picks for the best of overpriced coffee drinks this holiday season:

· Caribou Coffee's Spicy Milk Chocolate Mocha:
If you haven’t been to Caribou Coffee before then the airport is a great place to test them out for the first time. Besides the usual lattes and other caffeine creations, they have three special drinks for the season of overindulgence. Ho Ho Mint White Mocha and Dark Chocolate Mocha are both special for the season, but we’d encourage you to pick the Spicy Milk Chocolate Mocha. It’s a little different thanks to a little extra something—ancho chile powder—and it’s only $2 on Mondays.

Unfortunately, the $2 promotion is probably not available at the airport, so you’ll have to look for the deal at a local strip mall. Some of our favorite pricey Caribou Coffees can be found at Minneapolis/St. Paul International where they’re kind of ubiquitous—try locations in the mall section of the airport as well as near gates E6, F1, and G4. If you’re flying through Denver or Detroit, you’ll also have no trouble finding a caffeine buzz.

more ›

/ / / / / /

Breaking: Spirit Airlines is Hand-Writing Boarding Passes After Nationwide Computer System Crash

November 24, 2010 at 11:24 AM | by | Comment (1)

Oh noes! Of all the things that could go wrong today—billed as the "busiest travel day of the year"—we thought it'd be airport security gridlocks with Opt-out Day or a mass revolt against checked baggage fees, but nope; it's worse. Spirit Airlines' computer system crashed!

According to CNN, the reservations system outage is causing long lines at all Spirit Airlines ticket counters, as the airline is hand-writing boarding passes. In addition, the website has been down since before 4:30am this morning, and passengers are unable to access their flight information online. At least they're getting personalized service:

more ›

/ / / / /

The TSA Will Take Away Your Turkey Gravy, But Not The Fruitcake

November 23, 2010 at 12:35 PM | by | Comment (1)

Mmm doesn't that glistening fruitcake look yummy? Not! Every year during the holidays, travelers eager to deliver food and gifts to their families transit through airports and ride airplanes with the oddest assortment of foodstuffs in their luggage. This year, the TSA is getting proactive about your food packing so as to eliminate as many thrown-out jars of homemade jelly and trashed tupperwares of chili chip dip as possible.

In fact, the TSA has released a list that says exactly what sort of holiday foods are not to be carried on the plane, but which must be in your checked luggage, snuggled safely in the hold of your plane. We've seen their treatment of maple syrup jugs at the security checkpoint before, and let us tell you that TSA agents don't mess around when it comes to ridding hand baggage of dangerous, dangerous special occasion groceries.

more ›

/ / / / /

Drop the Turkey Leg and Try These Three Crazy Dishes for Thanksgiving Dinner

November 18, 2010 at 4:00 PM | by | Comments (2)

Thanksgiving is all about the food, but plain old turkey and all of the trimmings can get boring. This year, change it up by adding some unconventional but possibly delicious Turkey Day dishes into the mix, including the most insane cake you've ever seen. You may never go back to the typical Thanksgiving dinner again.

Check out three places that offer crazy alternatives to traditional Thanksgiving dishes after the jump.

more ›

/ / / / / /

Three Picks for Thanksgiving Food Factory Tours

November 12, 2010 at 4:39 PM | by | Comment (1)

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, so we’re taking a look at where our favorite Turkey Day foods are created. No we’re not taking a tour of Grandma’s kitchen, but we did find some factory and farm tours where you can see at least three foodie options to include on your table. So here’s our picks for three of the best Thanksgiving food tours

· Carry Cranberries Fresh From the Bog in New England:
Flax Pond Farms wants you to know that there’s a lot more to cranberry sauce then just opening a can and plopping it onto a plate. It might be a little chilly this month in Massachusetts, but the bog is still open and it’s available for tours on November 20, 26, 27, and 28 from 1 to 4pm.

Expect to learn about the unique way in which cranberries are grown, harvested, and shipped from the fields. There will be plenty of cranberry goodies to sample and buy, as well as gift shop of course. The website has the scoop on which roads to navigate in order to find the place in Carver, Massachusetts. Tours seem to be free, but we’d still bring plenty of cash, as there’s no way you’ll be able to resist bringing home some fresh cranberries.

more ›

Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy (Revised 08/01/2011). © Condé Nast Digital. All rights reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast Digital.
Ad Choices