Tag: weather View All Tags
Tags: Travel Tips / Delays / Weather / Airport Hell / Airplane Hell / Lists / → All Tags
The Top Five Easiest Ways to Survive a Tarmac Delay
The storm of last weekend, which brought winds of over 60 mph and driving rain so bad that it stung your face, cancelled and delayed more flights than we care to know. For some, like our friends waylaid at DTW with a 2-day delay, they were lucky in only having to spend three hours onboard the plane before being cancelled. But flights like Virgin America's ''16-hour Flightmare" weren't nearly as lucky, and found themselves stranded on the tarmac at unfamiliar airports, rationing Pringles and water.
The winter may be mostly over, but the storms of spring are only now on their way in. So to save you from starvation and frustration, we've prepared this guide to the Top 5 Easiest Ways to Survive a Tarmac Delay.
Check it out, after the jump!
Tags: Airport Hell / Weather / DTW / Delta / LGA / Delays / → All Tags
Detroit Airport Descends Into Chaos During the Weekend's Weather Delays
This last weekend, while the East Coast suffered under hurricane-force winds and rain coming down so bad and so hard that it stung your face, many flights were delayed or cancelled, and a few airports closed down fully. One of the first airports to close was New York-LaGuardia, which called off all flights from the late afternoon on Saturday, just about the time that our friends were flying on Delta from Detroit-Metro to LaGuardia.
Two hours into their flight and thus only a half hour away from LGA, the airport closed and their flights turned around to head back to DTW. Then, back at the tarmac at DTW, they faced the stress of rebooking for another flight, while their checked luggage (one bag, $23 checked fee paid online) caught the first flight out the next day. They waited for 3.5 hours in switchbacked lines to rebook their flight, and the first they could get was two days later—Monday morning. And a two-day delayed flight wasn't the only surprise of the experience, as we heard from their account of the ordeal at Detroit Airport:
Insanity! Chaos! Toiletry kits! After the jump...
Tags: Weather / Hawaii Travel / Tsunamis / Travel Advertising / Travel Marketing / → All Tags
How the Hawaii Tsunami Watch Will See Only a Wave of Tourists
On Saturday, after the catastrophic earthquake in Chile, places that might be in the path of a resulting tsunami battened down the hatches and awaited the waves. One of these places was Hawaii, which instead of having everyone run inside and pray that the wave would leave then high and dry, sent reporters to the beaches and trained livecams on the surf so that the world could watch for the tsunami, too.
Although a massive wave never arrived in favor of some tidal ebbing and flowing, what Hawaii did get were millions of eyes trained on its gorgeous beaches and water. People were excited; their heartrates went up as they eagerly watched the water rapidly rush out of Hilo Bay, like seen in the livecam capture above, and we couldn't help but think what priceless tourism marketing this is for Hawaii. And we weren't alone:
Tags: Winter Travel / Delays / Weather / Snow Travel / New York City / LGA / → All Tags
Think You're Going Somewhere In the Northeast Today? Doubt It.
The "Snowpocalypse" promised by the TV weathermen has finally arrived to the Northeast, and we took the picture above this morning to prove it. No, this is not our car, but is the SUV of someone who likely won't be going in to work today, just as airports are limping through the morning with the few flights that aren't cancelled, and others experiencing average delays of 3 hours.
This picture is taken within walking distance of New York's LaGuardia Airport, so you know just how bad it is in the NYC area today, considering that yesterday night saw extremely high winds and pressure the strength of a strong Category 1 hurricane. So if you're trying to get into or out of the Northeast today or tomorrow, jot down your airline's information and stay closely tuned to their updates through these channels:
· Southwest: a website and Twitter.
· American Airlines: a website and Twitter
· Continental: a website and Twitter
· Delta: a website and Twitter
· JetBlue: a website and Twitter
· United: a website and Twitter
· US Airways: a website and Twitter
Related Stories:
· Times Square Gets Shoveled Out From Under the Weekend's Blizzard [Jaunted]
· Prepare for This Weekend's Snowstorm With Your Airline Information [Jaunted]
· Snow Travel [Jaunted]
[Photo: Jaunted]
Tags: Snapshots / New York City / Times Square / Snow Travel / Weather / → All Tags
Times Square Gets Shoveled Out From Under The Weekend's Blizzard
So remember how this was supposed to be the week that the great blizzard hit the East Coast? Well, for DC (with over two feet of snow!) and some other east coast cities, this was definitely the case. However, in good old NYC, the city got itself together by noon and cleared the roads and sidewalks, and public transportation continued mostly uninterrupted. We know that the city's various Starbucks locations were busy as usual, because we still couldn't get a table, and we tried three of them.
But don't take our word for it that New York isn't crippled under the weight of the white stuff; check out our photo above of Times Square yesterday evening. The snow was even falling then, and yet it was still at "aww, look at the snowflakes" levels.
Nonetheless, airlines that preemptively cancelled flights over the last few days were right to, since we wouldn't want to be flying up in clouds full of ice and snow, not to mention that plowing a runway takes more effort than shoveling a sidewalk. So continue to monitor your flight status and here are a few sites to help you become best buds with the airline customer service rep.
Related Stories:
· Prepare for This Weekend's Snowstorm with Your Airline Information [Jaunted]
· Snow Travel [Jaunted]
[Photo: Jaunted]
Tags: Delays / Weather / Snow Travel / Winter Travel / New York City / Airline News / → All Tags
Prepare for This Weekend's Snowstorm with Your Airline's Information
The picture above is what New York looked like less than two months ago after a snowstorm dumped just around 8 inches on the city. We took that photo ourselves, and we'll probably have another just like it later this weekend, as the east cost prepares for another snowstorm, with up to 8 inches expected in NYC. But it'll be much, much worse for Washington DC, which is expecting 18-26 inches of snow.
As usual, airlines are covering their bums in preparation for the storm by preemptively canceling flights and issuing waivers to travelers. For instance, United is offering waivers for those traveling to, from, and even through Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia through Sunday.
Tags: Floods / Peru Travel / Machu Picchu / Tourism / Travel Safety / Weather / → All Tags
How Long Will Machu Picchu Be Out of Reach For Tourists?
For tourists to Peru's famed Machu PIcchu site, the nightmare of being trapped by raging flood waters in the nearby Vilcanota River has ended. The last trapped tourists were airlifted out of the remote area at the end of last week, but locals are already attempting to rebuild as the waters subside.
As the river gushed out of control, beginning back around January 25, over 3500 visitors found themselves stuck in the town of Aguas Calientes with the only transportation route back to the nearest city of Cuzco—the train—wiped out in the flooding and mudslides. As evacuation by helicopter progressed slowly and prices of basic things like food and water were jacked up in the small town, tourists became desperate, and a few even hiked back along the dangerous route.
So how long will Machu Picchu be out of the commission?
Tags: Earthquakes / Weather / Soloman Islands Travel / → All Tags
The Solomon Islands Shake It Up With Two Earthquakes
A pair of strong earthquakes slammed the Solomon Islands yesterday. No deaths have been confirmed, but The New York Times is reporting that the quake duo caused landslides and damaged villages.
The bigger 7.2-magnitude earthquake happened at 9:36 a.m. local time. It struck 64 miles south-southeast of Gizo. The smaller quake, which had a magnitude of 6.5, hit the archipelago about 50 minutes beforehand.
Now where are the Soloman Islands, you ask?...
Tags: Water Water Everywhere / Venice Travel / Italy Travel / Weather / Floods / Wakeboarding / Adventure Travel / Holiday Travel / → All Tags
Venice Is Flooded Again; Everyone Go Wakeboarding!
The terribly wintery weather currently hitting Europe right now is bringing the lagoon waters of Venice up into the piazzas and reminding us of one of our favorite quirky stories from last year: that of the guy who wakeboarded through a flooded St. Mark's Square. We've posted the video for you again above, and believe us that it's worth watching all two minutes because the Red Bull guy also wakeboards in a canal. This is what happens when you combine horrible weather, a sinking city, and an opportunist tourist on energy drink.
Each year, this high water, or Acqua Alta, hits the Italian city at its weakest time: when the tourists and locals are all in town to celebrate the holidays. It also doesn't help that the lowest (and therefore most affected) place in town is the visitor mecca of St. Mark's Square. When the waters get knee-high here, you'll see Venice become a network of raised platforms as sidewalks—here's a great picture to demonstrate. Come to think of it, we should add "leaving the rain boots behind" to our list of the Top Five Tourist Mistakes in Venice.
Tags: Accidents / World's Most Dangerous Airports / Weather / American Airlines / Kingston Travel / Jamaica Travel / KIN / → All Tags
American Airlines Plane Overshoots Kingston Runway, Lands On Beach With Injuries
A planeful of people headed down to Kingston, Jamaica for the holidays got the shock of their lives last night when their flight, American Airlines 331 from Miami, overshot the runway during a horrible rainstorm. The plane bounced on the runway, crashed through the fence at the end of the tarmac, skidded across the roadway and lost some landing gear and at least one of its engines before coming to rest on the beach, just short of the ocean.
All 154 passengers and crew survived, but some 91 injuries have been reported, including broken bones and more minor scratches. Since this was technically a crash, the airport closed and other Kingston-bound flights were diverted to other Jamaica airports.
This incident, and the general scary island-y nature of Kingston's Norman Manley airport and its one sea-bordered runway adds it to our ever-growing list of the World's Most Dangerous Airports. To check out a picture of the American Airlines accident, head here.
Related Stories:
· American Airlines Flight Narrowly Avoids Sea on Landing In Jamaica; Injuries Reported [NPR]
· Light injuries as plane overshoots runway [National Post]
· Travel Accidents [Jaunted]
[Image: Google Maps]
Tags: Train Travel / Channel Tunnel / Eurostar / Weather / Emergencies / Delays / → All Tags
Eurostar Passengers Spent The Weekend Trapped Underneath The English Channel
While the US suffered through a weekend rife with weather-caused flight cancellations, things aren't much better in Northern Europe, where five Eurostar trains got stuck in the Channel Tunnel thanks to problems caused by the low temperatures. After one train broke down in the tunnel thanks to electronics failures caused by the weather, another four followed, trapping over 2,000 people underneath the English Channel without additional food or information for around 14 hours.
Typically the speedy trip from London to Brussels or Paris is no more than two hours, and the Eurostar isn't prone to delays or cancellations, so this quickly became an emergency situation. Eurostar services through the Channel Tunnel are indefinitely suspended, although they're already running empty test trains through and are hoping to be back up and running as soon as tomorrow. And they better be, since we're holding tickets for the Channel Tunnel route between London and Brussels. Luckily they've got another three weeks to sort it out before we storm into London's St. Pancras train station and hop aboard. We're already taking Ryanair back, and we're not too keen on making it a round-trip with them. Alright Eurostar—you've got a couple weeks to figure things out, but then we're coming for you.
Tags: Delays / Weather / Winter Travel / Holiday Travel / Airlines / → All Tags
Airlines Playing Catch-Up Thanks To The Weekend's Snow Cancellations
What no one wants and what everyone expects for the last weekend before Christmas came true: a snowstorm hit the east coast on Saturday, causing hundreds and hundreds of flight cancellations and delays with affects that rippled across the country's airports. Particularly affected was the Metro DC area, with up to 24 inches in the area even thought Dulles and Reagan National only got around 17 inches themselves—the highest amount they've ever received on a single day in December.
Every carrier suffered with flights into and out of DC suffered in the storm, and we watched United and Virgin America do an especially great job of keeping their passengers informed on Twitter. At many points, the United Twitter was even apologizing for phone wait times.
