TravelPost.com Insider

Gone Fishing - Visit Us at Kayak.com

Administrator — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:04:12 +0000

Wondering where the TravelPost.com Insider went? Come visit us at the Kayak.com blog, where we’re serving up travel advice, deals and other tidbits every week.

What Joe Sharkey, Chinese Visas and Pets Have in Common

Administrator — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:38:44 +0000

….Nothing, except they all made our list of travel news items for the day:

In the New York Times, Joe Sharkey laments the return of the Saturday night stay rule, designed to discourage business travelers from booking the lowest airfares.

At the same time a hated old rule may be coming back, a well-loved new airline has launched its latest new route. Virgin America began flights between Seattle-Tac and Los Angeles International today.

Moving on from planes flying high in the sky, we land on news of a visa crack down in China. Chinese authorities have reportedly begun limiting visas in Hong Kong, which is popular entry point for travelers to the vast nation. The changes are reportedly in response to security concerns expected to come with the influx of tourists visiting the country before, during and after the Olympics.

Back in the States, we learned that the FAA has responded to increased criticism and scrutiny of its airline safety inspection practices by reassigning (but not firing) its top inspection official to a pencil-pushing administrative position instead.

And that’s not the only travel-related spring cleaning that’s going on today. Gizmodo highlights an airplane cabin for sale on eBay. Wondering what one would do with an intact airplane cabin? The seller has plenty of creative, if not practical, ideas.

If you’re looking for more creative ideas, you’ll find plenty among the 2008 Webby Award nominees, which were announced today. We weren’t surprised to see our parent company, Kayak.com, on the list.

And speaking of awards, here are some for all the four-legged travelers in the house: Animal Fair magazine has announced its 2008 Cesar Five Dog Bone Awards for best pet-friendly companies. Continental won out among airlines, while Austin’s The Driskill Hotel prevailed in the hotel category. The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess scored highest in the resort category.

Today in Travel: Airlines’ World of Hurt

Administrator — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:30:20 +0000

What’s the biggest travel news of the day? Well, for airlines, things are still looking pretty bleak. Joining Aloha Airlines and ATA, Skybus shuttered its doors over the weekend, and British Airways is still trying to paw its way out of the Heathrow Terminal 5 mess that’s made its shiny new building the hub of what is quite possibly the biggest travel debacle thus far in 2008. Continental has decided to join the fray of airlines charging $25 for coach passengers to check a second piece of luggage.

While some airlines are busy charging travelers more, some are having sales. JetBlue’s spring sale is going on now and keeps popping up on just about every travel newsletter I’ve gotten today - and I get a lot of travel deals newsletters. Speaking of JetBlue, I had been wondering about the exact cost of JetBlue’s new extra legroom offering ever since I learned of the new program, and now we have the answer. The New York Times reported yesterday that the airline is pricing its roomier seats (38″ of pitch) at $10 extra for flights under 600 miles, $15 for those between 600 and 1,500 miles and $20 for flights over 1,500 miles.

Extra legroom isn’t the only new perk to be offered to airline passengers. Today, the EU announced that it will allow aircraft operating in the region to offer in-flight mobile phone services. Get ready for some in-flight altercations to go along with that. Like star-crossed lovers that just can’t call it quits, Delta and Northwest are reportedly back in merger talks.

Meanwhile, Kiplinger’s has added a new Business Travel section to its online offerings. A quick perusal revealed some decent articles, nothing earth-shattering yet, but we’ll keep checking back.

And with that, we’re off to dig through more RSS feeds, blogs and travel news sources. Back tomorrow with more of the latest travel news.

Bloggers Say Nay to Air Canada’s On My Way

Administrator — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:52:25 +0000

Air Canada’s newly announced On My Way program sure sounds all sugar ‘n spice on the face of it, but bloggers are having a field day slamming this new customer service offering. In brief, the program offers travelers the option of paying an additional fee ($25 or $35, depending on flight length) that, in the event of flight delays caused by problems beyond the airline’s control, entitles them to complimentary hotel accommodations, meals, etc. and rebooking on the next available flight, Air Canada or otherwise. Like I said, sounds good at first, right?

Upon closer inspection, On My Way sounds like it should be named Pay or Stay Put. While Hartford Courant writer Jeanne Leblanc laments the program’s “preferential treatment for basic services that should be covered in the cost of the ticket and provided on a first-come, first-served basis,” A View from the Wing’s Gary Leff argues that the program amounts, at best, to the same sort of gamble consumers make when they buy extended warranties from places like Best Buy. The bottom line? Not only is the program, in many ways, a slap in the face to travelers, it’s a pretty bad financial deal for most of us.

Murakami Debuts at Brooklyn Museum

Administrator — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:19:55 +0000

This weekend, a retrospective exploring the work of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami opens at the Brooklyn Museum. Anime, manga and pop-culture fans will no doubt turn out in droves to see Murakami’s iconic works, which include murals, sculptures and a host of giant, action figure-esque characters (check out Hiropon, a little lady with enormous, milk-spurting breasts). One unusual aspect of the show is a full-size Luis Vuitton store contained within the museum, an artistic extension of Murakami’s collaboration with the company and its creative force Marc Jacobs.

This is one of those rare exhibits that holds equal appeal for fashion addicts, art lovers, anime fans and pop-culture aficionados. Runs through July 13, 2008.

Wormholes on the Way

Administrator — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:56:14 +0000

Sweet! According to a New York scientist, teleportation and forcefields could be possible within decades. How’s that for advancement in travel? Watch out airlines, wormholes, here we come.

Free Rooms at Citizen M Hotel

Administrator — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:29:42 +0000

Earlier this year, I posted about Citizen M, a cool hotel opening this summer at Amsterdam Schipol Airport. The hotel started taking reservations today. As an opening promo, the hotel is offering 100 free nights scattered throughout its reservation calendar. As I was messing around with it today, I found one available Aug. 16, 2008, and I’m sure there are others still left. I thought it was important enough to post about here and over at Kayak.com. You can check out the Kayak.com post below if you want.

Either way, it’s a cool deal at a hotel I’d love to be visiting this summer. Sadly, the ‘dam is not on my itinerary. Hopefully, it will be on one of yours….

Free Rooms at Citizen M Really Do Exist

Meet the World’s Dirtiest Cities

Administrator — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:43:46 +0000

Where are The World’s Dirtiest Cities? Forbes recently came up with a list. The 25 cities deemed the world’s dirtiest won their places on the list with disease-infested water supplies, life-threatening air pollution, plentiful raw sewage and rank public sanitation problems. Drum roll, puh-lease. The cities are:

1. Baku, Azerbaijan (pictured)

2. Dhaka, Bangladesh

3. Antananarivo, Madagascar

4. Port au Prince, Haiti

5. Mexico City, Mexico

6. Addis Abada, Ethiopia

7. Mumbai, India

8. Baghdad, Iraq

9. Almaty, Kazakhstan

10. Brazzaville, Congo

11. Ndjamena, Chad

12. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

13. Bangui, Central African Republic

14. Moscow, Russia

15. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

16. Bamako, Mali

17. Pointe Noire, Congo

18. Lome, Togo

19. Conakry, Guinea Republic

20. Nouakchott, Mauritania

21. Niamey, Niger

22. Luanda, Angola

23. Maputo, Mozambique

24. New Delhi, India

25. Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Tips for Canceled Flights

Administrator — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:32:38 +0000

With all the canceled flights hitting travelers this week due to increased security inspections, I thought it would be a good time to highlight some past posts I’ve written about handling unexpected flight cancellations:

Call Airline, Then Stand in Line

Passenger Strategies for Canceled Flights

At the end of the day, there is no magic solution when a flight suddenly gets canceled. Whenever I’m stuck in that situation, I have a three-pronged attack:

1. First, I call the airline immediately with my re-booking request

2. While still on the phone, I hustle to the customer service/re-booking desk

3. Lastly, I embrace distraction. They won’t get you on the next flight, but a traveler should never underestimate the soothing power of some trashy magazines, a laptop, airport nachos and - let’s get real here - draaanks in the terminal’s watering hole.

Opens Skies Means More Choices, Not Cheaper Ones

Administrator — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 18:58:51 +0000

Just so we’re all clear about this Open Skies business, you know - the agreement that goes into effect this coming Sunday, U.S. travelers may soon have more choices for traveling to and from Europe, but they shouldn’t count on those choices being any cheaper over the long run. Two stories to read, compare, ponder:

Getting to Europe Is About to Get Easier

Open Skies Won’t Mean Lower Fares

And all this leads us to an important question: how much will travelers value choice when prices are roughly the same?

My hope is that the increased competition that comes with the Open Skies agreement encourages better conditions for travelers - even those better conditions have nothing to do with cheaper airfares. Like better schedules, shorter travel times or the availability of more in-flight services…