After getting all defensive and insisting on its impeccable safety records late last week, Southwest today announced that it has decided to do a little spring cleaning in response to the FAA’s investigation of its safety practices. Based on its own “internal investigation,” the airline has decided to place three employees on administrative leave and hired an outside consultant to come in and evaluate its maintenance program. No word on which employees were involved or what their roles were within the company.

Southwest Airlines Responds to Preliminary Findings of its Internal Investigation

Bolt Bus, a new low-cost bus line with service planned up and down the East Coast, has announced it will launch a Boston to New York route in April. The New York-DC route begins on March 27th.

Why would you want to ride the Bolt Bus? Well, for one, you get free wireless Internet access (though the company admits it can be spotty at times), power outlets in the seats and three more inches of legroom than found in standard coach buses. On top of that, fares start at $1. Yup, there are a limited number of $1 fares, but hey, at least they offer ‘em. The company suggests buying tickets several weeks in advance to score the lowest ticket prices.

Pretty funny stuff, via Engadget. A traveler carrying one of the new MacBook Air laptops (touted as the world’s thinnest laptop for its ability to fit into a manila folder) baffled security agents with the high-tech device’s lack of drives or ports. The laptop aroused enough suspicion to keep the traveler, one Michael Nygard, detained long enough to miss his flight. Luckily for Nygard, a younger, in-the-know TSA worker stepped in to explain the laptop’s mysterious features to the wary security team.

Guess what? You can’t. At least not while you’re using the Denver International Airport’s free wireless Internet access. Boing Boing is one of the sites that the airport has reportedly blocked. The Vanity Fair web site is another. Ostensibly, the airport’s decision to block certain web sites is meant to protect children from accidentally spotting porn on the laptop screens of pervy travelers, but they seem to have gone a little overboard. Also, the airport mentions nothing about the policy on its own web site.

As Jaunted points out, it “discovered” the censorship months ago and also found similar censorship practices in place at some hotel chains.

Denver’s Airport Wi-Fi Blocks Racy Sites

Here’s a tip: If you’re trying to breakup with your boyfriend, don’t cook up some loony scheme to accomplish the task by calling in repeated airport bomb threats. Nah-gunnah-happen, folks. Instead, such a tactic is likely to have the following outcome:

Woman Gets 2 Years for Break-Up Bomb Hoax

Of course, in this case, it is worth noting that the woman’s crackhead logic did kinda end up producing the intended effect. She will, in fact, get some relief from her unpalatable relationship. Two years of it, to be exact.

Needless to say, this is not a headline any traveler wants to see:

Southwest Airlines Flew ‘Unsafe’ Planes

Not surprisingly, Southwest Airlines has refused to comment. Oh the irony that an airline could be so uptight about passenger conduct and yet so lax with its own.

Some unsuspecting guests at Disney’s Pop Century Resort were recently bilked out of close to $11,000 after handing over their credit card numbers to phone callers pretending to be resort employees. Luckily for the guests, Disney refunded the money. But news of the scam is a reminder to travelers that - as the old adage goes - when something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

If a person claiming to be a hotel employee calls your room and requests a credit card number for any reason, tell them you’ll be happy to clear up the matter in person with a visit to the front desk. There’s absolutely no reason a hotel employee should need to take your credit card number over the phone when you’re a current guest.

Credit Card Scam Hits Unsuspecting Walt Disney World Resort Guests

It seems the placebo effect is alive and kicking. Thank you, Airborne, for proving this scientific wonder to the general populous once again. Yesterday, the well-known peddler of herbal supplements aimed at travelers made headlines when it agreed to pay a $23.3 million settlement in a class action lawsuit brought against the company for false advertising. While Airborne refuses to admit any wrongdoing or false claims, its willingness to drop megabucks to halt the lawsuit speaks volumes.

According to AP news reports:

“There’s no credible evidence that what’s in Airborne can prevent colds or protect you from a germy environment,” said CSPI Senior nutritionist David Schardt. “Airborne is basically on overpriced, run-of-the-mill vitamin pill that’s been cleverly, but deceptively, marketed.”

I’ll admit it. I was one of the suckers who thought these things actually worked. God knows how many of those things I’ve taken. But I’m looking on the bright side. No more narsty glasses of fizzing Airborne before hopping on the plane.

If you were similarly duped, you could be eligible to receive a refund for the Airborne products you purchased. You can find info at the link below:

Airborne Settlement Information

The MGM Grand at Foxwoods started accepting reservations yesterday. The new $700 million complex is slated to open May 20th in the sprawling Connecticut gambling mecca, which, as you may or may not know, happens to be the largest casino in the world. Yeah, bigger than any casino in Vegas. Rates are advertised starting at $295/night, but for a Friday night in June, you can expect to pay $350 and up.

The new resort casino will offer 825 rooms, a 4,000-seat theater, outdoor pool, full-service spa, nightclub, meeting space, upscale retail shops and several restaurants. Oh yeah, and gambling. Don’t forget the gambling.

The TSA has begun testing family lanes at Denver International and Salt Lake City airports. While supporters of the experiment say this may help ease congestion at airport security gates, some call this kind of trial “the ghetto-ization” of anyone with children. I’m not sure how I’d feel if I was traveling with children, but I think I’d rather head through a security lane populated by other people with children than endure dirty looks and snide comments from a bunch of crabby, impatient travelers without kids. Of course, who knows? If everyone with children is routed through one security lane, then travelers with children might very well end up with the slower, inferior service - and that wouldn’t be fair. While the TSA is just testing the new procedure at the moment, the practice could spread to other airports if the trial proves successful.

TSA Tries Airport Security Lanes for Families