In an effort to make beverage service easier for both flight staff and passengers, Hawaiian Airlines has announced that it will no longer accept cash as payment for beverages on its interisland flights. You’ve got to do the truffle shuffle in the aisle instead.

Actually, you just have to have a credit card. After testing the no-cash policy on its Pacific flights, the airline has decided to use the same portable credit card devices on all of its flights.

Hawaiian Interisland Flights Go Cashless

If swimming is your favorite way to exercise, it’s always a treat to stay at a hotel that has a pool with a lap lane. This 42-foot indoor pool is part of a Seattle luxury hotel’s impressive health club. Along with aquatic diversions, the facility boasts over 10,000 square feet of fitness space, men’s and women’s locker rooms with saunas, massage services and a Jeremy Todd Wellness Spa & Salon. Wanna know which hotel it is? Click the pic.

Looking for a hotel workout with a spectacular view? One Chicago hotel with a penchant for modern design and boutique service boasts this view from its onsite fitness room. It’s enough to make you forget how much you hate working out. Thanks to one recent visitor for adding this shot to the site. To find out how you can workout out with this view during your next visit to the Windy City, click the pic.

Getting stranded on airport tarmac for eight hours without access to working bathrooms, food or water sounds like inhumane treatment to me, but that’s exactly what a group of passengers on American Airlines’ flights 1348, 534 and 1008 say happened to them when storms prevented them from flying their scheduled San Francisco to Dallas flights and landed them in Austin, TX instead.

The coalition is lobbying Congress for a Passengers Bill of Rights that would protect travelers against unreasonably long delays that result in their entrapment aboard aircraft.

At a bare minimum, airlines should absolutely supply passengers with bathroom access and fresh water during situations like this. It borders on absurdity to keep passengers sitting in a plane for an eight-hour stretch. Not only is it uncomfortable for everyone involved, it’s unhealthy and could become life-threatening for elderly travelers and those with medical conditions.

Passengers Stranded on American Flights Push for Passengers Bill of Rights

Should you be pondering a trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras this year, you should get to steppin. The Feb. 20th festivities are fast approaching, but there are still rooms to be had.

To get started, here are Sidestep’s New Orleans Hotel Search Results, based on a Feb. 16-Feb. 21 stay for two adults. There are many hotels offering rooms under $200.

Those obsessed with pop culture will find plenty of diversions at Disney’s Pop Century Resort in Lake Buena Vista, FL. The accommodations aren’t luxurious, but they are decorated with oversized 8-tracks, cell phones, movie quotes and cartoon characters. Built four years ago, the resort packs over 2,800 rooms into one property - so this is definitely not the place to go for peace and quiet. But for families seeking a kid-friendly place to stay with all sorts of eye candy around, this is an affordable option. Standard room rates are $79-89/night depending on the location within the resort.

From Newyorkology, I learned about the W Hotel Union Square’s W Catwalk Package. While Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week tickets generally end up in the hands of VIPs and industry folks, regular Joes can attend shows during the Feb. 2-9, 2007 event when they throw down for the hotel’s $949 overnight package. The package is a fashionista’s dream:

- Overnight accommodations for 2 in the W Hotel Union Square’s Fantastic Suite

- 2 reserved seat tickets to Fashion Week

- 2 VIP backstage lounge passes

- Swag bag from Bliss Spa

- 3pm late check-out

10 percent of the cost of your package will fo to Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA).

Some of the shows (Zac Posen, Michael Kors, Badgley Mischka) are already sold out, but you can still score tickets to Lacoste, Carolina Herrera, Betsey Johnson, Vera Wang and others with the W Hotel Catwalk Package.

W Hotel Package Gets You Into Fashion Week Tents

A new low-fare British airline has launched business class jet service between London’s Luton Airport and Newark Liberty International for a mere $1,800. Silverjet, which took its first flight yesterday, offers many perks for business travelers:

- Passengers without checked bags can arrive 30 minutes prior to departure

- Flat bed seats that extend to 6′3″

- To promote sleeping on overnight flights, lights are kept off from take-off to landing, announcements are kept to a minimum, food is served to each passenger individually and beverage carts are kept from the aisles

- Passengers can choose “Breakfast Express” and take snacks and coffee with them as they deplane

- Women-only restrooms

- Personal entertainment systems with films, noise canceling headsets and TV programming

- Power outlets for laptops at each seat

In addition to the surprisingly posh list of amenities, Silverjet also does something quite innovative for the environment. Every ticket sold includes a mandatory passenger fee that’s donated to carbon offsetting programs. According to the airline, the program makes each of its flights carbon neutral.

Most hotel packages are good for a single hotel. If you don’t want to stay at that particular place, then you’re out of luck. Not so with Philadelphia’s King Tut Hotel Packages, which are being offered by 15 Philadelphia hotels between Feb. 3 and Sept. 30, 2007. Starting at $189/night, the packages include two anytime VIP passes to the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit at the Franklin Institute Science Museum. VIP tickets mean you can visit the museum whenever you want during opening hours. Regular visitors have to make reservations to see the exhibit. Some hotels include extra perks with their version of the package. Guests at the Doubletree Hotel Philadelphia, for example, will receive a breakfast buffet and overnight parking with their package.

This is the only East Coast stop for the popular exhibit, which features 130 artifacts that once belonged to the famed Egyptian king. After its Philly run, the show leaves the U.S. for London. Hence the hype…

King Tut Hotel Packages

If you’re traveling into central London on an express train from Heathrow or Gatwick airports before June 30, 2007, you can upgrade to first class using the code BAUPGR. You’ll need to book your train tickets online by March 31, 2007 to score the deal.

The free upgrade translates into a savings of about 9GBP each way on express trains from Heathrow to Paddington or Gatwick to Victoria. Not bad. First class seats mean reclining chairs, free newspapers, work tables and refreshment service on trains from Gatwick and more legroom, free newspapers, continuous wireless service and disembarkation near the destination station’s exit on trains from Heathrow.

Here’s how to book, excerpted from the Business Traveller newsletter (linked below):

When taking the Heathrow Express you should collect your ticket(s) from one of the ticketing machines at the station, using either the eticket reference number or the credit card used to book the ticket.

The procedure for using Gatwick Express is easier. Passengers simply board the train and provide the reference number or show their credit card to the conductor.

Free First Class Upgrade for Airport Expresses