Frugal for Life has some suggestions for avoiding your baggage getting stolen, the most surefire one being to not check a bag in the first place. You can also use a cheap, neon bag, as thieves prefer more nondescript bags and tend to target those fancy “LV” emblazoned bags. Also, you can insure your bag, usually as part of trip insurance, which usually costs 5-8% of the total trip price. Do you use any special tactics to thwart luggage thieves? Leave your thoughts in the comments. [More]
travel
Travel: Is That Online Deal For Real?
By 5.27.10
Our inboxes and search results are filled with great-sounding travel deals, $35 airline tickets, $399 three-day all-inclusives and the like, but have you ever actually tried to snag one? Oftentimes it seems a low “landing prices” shoots up after all the fees are added, or if you try to get a date other than a very narrow set, or you want to do something crazy like return home afterwards. NYT took a look and found that while that’s true, there are a few things you can do to improve your chances of getting a price close to the advertised one. [More]
Whoops: New Florida Airport Opens 100 Miles Away From The Oil Spill
By 5.23.10
Bad timing. A new international airport opens up in Panama City, Florida today — only 100 miles away from the notorious BP oil spill off the coast of Louisiana. Instead of celebrating, the area’s visitor’s bureau is trying to convince tourists that the water is still clean. [More]
Australia Customs Guys Live The Dream, Search Computers For Porn
By 5.21.10
People are up in arms that Australian customs officials have taken it upon themselves to go porn-hunting on travelers’ computers, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. If they find anything, they’ll confiscate the dirty stuff in order to prevent you from exporting it to the untainted island. [More]
Will The Continental / United Airlines Merger Screw Consumers?
By 5.19.10
The prevailing attitude has been that impending nuptials between United and Continental will be a disaster for consumers, but the NYT has taken another look and come to some slightly less hysterical conclusions. [More]
Airfare From Atlanta To Vegas Is … Sorry, Too Late
By 5.18.10
How much will it cost you to fly from Atlanta to Las Vegas? Don’t bother checking; by the time you do, the price will have already changed. According to a new study from Yapta, the fare for flights between those two cities has changed 2,472,916 times so far this year, or once every six seconds. Better practice hitting that refresh button if you want to get a deal. [More]
United Leaves Blind Passenger On Plane
By 5.18.10
Jessica Cabot was born blind, but she’d been on two flights by herself before boarding a United Airlines flight last month, so she figured she knew what to expect. On all three flights, she was told by the flight attendants to remain seated until everyone else was off the plane, and then someone would help her off. That worked the first two times at any rate. [More]
United, Sick Of Breaking Guitars, Tries To Set Olsen Twin On Fire
By 5.17.10
An Olsen twin was flying from JFK to to Los Angeles when the United Airlines plane she was traveling in caught on fire and had to land in DC. [More]
Will Love For Continental Make You Forget You're Flying United?
By 5.12.10
While United Airlines has languished near the bottom of many quality and popularity rankings, Continental’s image has stayed sky-high. And now that the two are merging, will the new United benefit from Continental’s popularity — or will the new airline be derided as nothing more than the old United with a new set of paint? Industry-watchers questioned by Ad Age aren’t very bullish: “Fares will be higher, and service will be reduced,” warns Chris Elliott of elliott.org. [More]
Delta Paid $2,800 For Lost Dog Valued At $20,000
By 5.10.10
Paco wasn’t the only dog lost in transit before it was loaded onto a Delta aircraft. Four years ago, Vivi, a whippet who won the Award of Merit in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, escaped from her kennel as it was being loaded onto a Delta flight and was reportedly seen running across the tarmac before escaping into the marshy marsh. A media frenzy ensued…. [More]
America's 20 Least-Visited National Monuments
By 5.9.10
We’ve all heard of Mount Rushmore, the Washington Monument and other big-name tourist attractions. But if you want to hit the road this summer and get away from huge crowds, there are some monuments off the beaten path you might want to look into. The L.A. Times highlights 20 such places for the adventurous traveler into a new experience. [More]
Google Looks Into Expanding Into Online Travel Services
By 5.9.10
Google just loves being helpful – and being the go-to source for anything and everything you could ever wish or desire. Which is why it’s not surprising that new reports are saying Google is extending its long arm into the online travel business, and could be in talks to acquire fare-shopping developers ITA Software. [More]
How To Fit 10 Days Worth Of Stuff In A Standard Carry-On
By 5.7.10
The NYT has a slideshow that demonstrates how a flight attendant packs enough stuff for a 10 day trip into her carry-on. Yeah! This is how you do it! Now if only Amazon would hire this lady. [More]
Houston and Cleveland Lose, Chicago Wins In UA/Continental Merger
By 5.5.10
If and when the United/Continental merger is finalized, it’s going to be very good news for Chicago, which will retain its status as the new airline’s headquarters. Cleveland, on the other hand, will lose out, since it will basically be a redundant hub stuck between the airline’s bigger operations in Chicago and Newark. And, Houston, current HQ of Continental? Sorry, pardner. [More]
What Should You Do With Your United and Continental Miles?
By 5.4.10
The Continental/United merger may not be officially consummated for several months, if ever. In the meantime, what should you do to make sure your frequent flyer points with the two airlines don’t fly the coop? Consumer Reports has some tips to protect your miles, including cashing some of them in right now, before any changes are made to the reward structure. [More]
Which Hotels Have Decent Wi-Fi?
By 5.3.10
If you want to pay out the nose for Wi-Fi, stay in a W hotel, says HotelChatter. The site has released its 6th annual report on Wi-Fi in U.S. hotels, and the W Hotel chain is named as the worst with no free lobby access and $15/day room rates. Other hotels that suck when it comes to wireless: DoubleTree, Four Seasons, Marriott, and Mandarin Oriental. [More]
United And Continental Will Merge, Become Largest Airline
By 5.3.10
The NYT says that Continental and United Airlines have agreed to a $3 billion merger that will create the world’s largest airline, eclipsing current front-runner, Delta. [More]
