Haven't Booked a Summer Cruise Yet? That May Work In Your Favor This Year
Posted on 05/08/2013, 3:30 PM
During “Wave Season” this year, a tsunami hit. Let me translate. “Wave Season” is the period from January from March during which the cruise lines try to pin down the majority of their yearly bookings. They do so by ramping up advertising campaigns and offering incentives to passengers and travel agents. But not even the sassiest TV ad could distract would-be travelers from the unfolding ...
Airlines Make You Miserable to Maximize Profits, And It's Unfair to the Crew
Posted on 05/06/2013, 9:45 PM
On U.S. Airways, boarding announcements are like a comedy sketch. Gone are the days when getting on a plane was a simple matter of passengers who need extra time, then first class, then everyone else. Nowadays, it's a ridiculously confusing, hard-to-hear, multi-tiered hierarchy of status level members, credit card holders, fare class purchasers, and beyond that, umpteen "zones". At U.S. Airw...
Giant New Roller-Coasters Have Been Added to the Nation's Theme Parks, In Addition to a Spectacular Penguin Exhibit at Sea World in Orlando, Florida
Posted on 05/06/2013, 10:15 AM
On yesterday's broadcast of The Travel Show (wor710.com, noon to 2, Eastern Time), the nation's foremost expert on U.S. theme parks--Robert Niles--was asked to name the most significant new theme park attractions for the coming summer--new facilities so important as to warrant a trip there. He named three: First, a remarkable new penguin pavilion in Orlando's Sea World--a struc...
Holiday Inn Pays Guests to Stay at its Properties..Sort Of
Posted on 05/03/2013, 9:00 PM
Holiday Inn will be giving a minimum of $25 in gift cards for either gasoline, train discounts or air discounts to those who stay for two-nights between now and June 30th. Stay 3 nights, and the chain will reward you with a $50 gift card, 4 nights nets $75 and if you can bed down for 5 nights, you'll be eligible for a $100 card. Does that make this a great deal? Not necessarily. Before you sp...
Holiday Inn Pays Guests to Stay at its Properties..Sort Of
Posted on 05/03/2013, 9:00 PM
Holiday Inn will be giving a minimum of $25 in gift cards for either gasoline, train discounts or air discounts to those who stay for two-nights between now and June 30th. Stay 3 nights, and the chain will reward you with a $50 gift card, 4 nights nets $75 and if you can bed down for 5 nights, you'll be eligible for a $100 card. Does that make this a great deal? Not necessarily. Before you sp...
Americans Were Recently Made Aware of How Much We Spend on Air Transportation As Compared With How Little We Spend on Rail Transportation
Posted on 05/03/2013, 1:30 PM
During the recent week when the dreaded Sequester caused flights to be delayed all over the nation, resuting in grave inconvenience to millions, we learned that the purpose of the hold-up was to save some 5% of the money the federal government spends each year on air traffic controllers--the people in the airport towers. That 5%, we were told, amounted to 637 million dollars, which means--...
The Bad News About Flights That Arrive Early
Posted on 05/02/2013, 9:30 PM
Did your latest flight arrive early? Mine did and that's not necessarily a good thing. As a recent analysis in USAToday showed, airlines are padding their flight times to improve on-time stats. That means on-time and early arrivals, yes, but also more time spent just sitting on the darn plane. In fact, USA Today found that 93% of flights are now longer than they were in 1995. So we're all...
The Bad News About Flights That Arrive Early
Posted on 05/02/2013, 9:30 PM
Did your latest flight arrive early? Mine did and that's not necessarily a good thing. As a recent analysis in USAToday showed, airlines are padding their flight times to improve on-time stats. That means on-time and early arrivals, yes, but also more time spent just sitting on the darn plane. In fact, USA Today found that 93% of flights are now longer than they were in 1995. So we're all...
It's Going to Be A Bumpy Ride: The Effect of Global Climate Change on Airplane Turbulence
Posted on 05/01/2013, 9:15 PM
Here's an odd, and disturbing, bit of news. Scientists are predicting that as carbon dioxide levels rise, so will air turbulence for transatlantic flights. The bumpiness will be caused by the jet stream moving ever farther north, and disrupting flights. According to a study published by the journal Nature Climate Change both the frequency of turbulence and its strength will increase sign...
It's Going to Be A Bumpy Ride: The Effect of Global Climate Change on Airplane Turbulence
Posted on 05/01/2013, 9:15 PM
Here's an odd, and disturbing, bit of news. Scientists are predicting that as carbon dioxide levels rise, so will air turbulence for transatlantic flights. The bumpiness will be caused by the jet stream moving ever farther north, and disrupting flights. According to a study published by the journal Nature Climate Change both the frequency of turbulence and its strength will increase sign...
