India Eases Its Visa Rules, While Russia May Be Closing Its Doors to Many Visitors
Posted on 12/01/2014, 2:15 PM
As per usual the news out of Russia is puzzling. Instead of easing restrictions on travelers and thus helping their sanction-damaged economy, the Russian government may be making the world's hardest–to–get visa even more difficult to obtain. Bloomberg News is reporting that a bill was submitted to the Russian parliament yesterday which would establish "reciprocity" with those countries who a...
Sneak Peek of the New World Trade Center's Observation Deck
Posted on 11/10/2014, 9:00 AM
The final tourist amenity at the new World Trade Center site, which some visitors still call Ground Zero, has announced what it'll offer tourists when it opens in the spring. The observation deck, called One World (which would have been a better name for the whole building, come to think of it), will be on the 100th, 101st, and 102nd floors. The main views will be on the 102nd, where floor-to...
The Airlines Made HOW Much on Fees?
Posted on 11/10/2014, 8:00 AM
Remember when the airlines put extra fees in place and told us that it was because fuel costs had spiked? Yeah, they lied. Fuel costs went back into line, but the extra fees remained. Now, the airline consulting firm IdeaWorksCompany found, the airlines are raking in cash at a record level. The airline industry will make $49.9 billion in ancillary fees this year, up 17.2% from last year w...
The Airlines Made HOW Much on Fees?
Posted on 11/10/2014, 8:00 AM
Remember when the airlines put extra fees in place and told us that it was because fuel costs had spiked? Yeah, they lied. Fuel costs went back into line, but the extra fees remained. Now, the airline consulting firm IdeaWorksCompany found, the airlines are raking in cash at a record level. The airline industry will make $49.9 billion in ancillary fees this year, up 17.2% from last year w...
New Scanner Debuts: You May Fly with Fluids Soon
Posted on 11/04/2014, 10:00 AM
A new machine being tested in 65 of Europe's 550 airports could mean you can bring full bottles of liquid on flights again in Europe as soon as January 2016. The Cobalt Light Insight100 machine points lasers at travelers' containers of liquid to determine the chemical properties of what's inside. Each unit costs $64,000 and requires officers to place the questionable vessels inside a small...
Passenger Detained by FBI for Wearing a Speedo: Watch
Posted on 11/03/2014, 12:30 PM
Jerome Jarre is a celebrity of sorts. Some 7.5 million people follow his mini-videos on the app called Vine, where he has made a name by gallivanting around city streets doing wacky things in an effort to get people to smile—tickle a stranger here, kiss a stranger there. Jarre, a French national who lives in the United States, has gained enough notice for his relentlessly goofy positive energ...
Air New Zealand's Hobbit-Themed Safety Video is Another Viral Smash: Watch It
Posted on 10/23/2014, 2:00 PM
Kaboom! That's the sound of yet another volley in the ongoing Wacky Safety Video Wars. This time, it's Air New Zealand that has launched another salvo. Because the final film of the Hobbit trilogy is about to be released, 2014 is the last year that New Zealand can milk the Lord of the Rings franchise for every drop it's worth. And boy, does it. You wouldn't think that anyone could wring a...
U.S. Workers Hand Their Bosses $52.4 Billion a Year in Unused Vacation Time
Posted on 10/22/2014, 4:00 PM
Most employers have a "use it or lose it" policy for vacation days, and a new study using information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics has calculated just how much money Americans are losing by not using them. A total of 169 million vacation days are left on the table each year, said the analysis, and "by forfeiting this time American employees surrender $52.4 billion in benefits." T...
Are Venice's Gondolas Endangered by Rising Water?
Posted on 10/21/2014, 11:00 PM
The curling iron comb of the gondola's stern is no longer practical for Venetians. Venice's gondolas cut an iconic profile: slender hull, swooping shape, swan-like stern rising behind the crooning gondolier. But according to the Guardian, the rising back of Venice's gondolas are about to be amputated. It seems that rising sea levels, already one of Venice's most lamentable and wel...
World's Highest Observation Deck Opens, Shatters Height and Price Records
Posted on 10/16/2014, 2:00 PM
The world's highest observation deck has opened on the 148th floor of the 2,717-foot-tall Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai. That makes the deck 1,821 feet above street level, or a little more than a half a kilometer up—certifiably the highest observation deck in the world, according to Guinness. By comparison, the Empire State Building's observation deck on its 86th floor is a measly 1,050...
