US Airways Charges for Water

by Josh Lew on

Like every other airline in the country, US Airways is making cuts and adding charges. But the struggling carrier is going beyond charging for checked baggage and snacks. They are even going to charge you for water. So far that just means bottled water and soft drinks aren’t free anymore. Not many travelers would be surprised if the next round of fees include a charge for flushing the toilet or washing your hands.

The airline has already made drastic cuts. They removed movie screens from planes flying domestic routes, claiming that the extra weight added to fuel costs. Now, the pay-for-water scheme has passengers wondering what’s next.

Airlines seem to be wary of scaring off customers by raising fares significantly. For some reason, it seems that they have no fear of thinking up new fees and smacking you with them when you least expect it.

Sure, the no water thing can be easily remedied. Stop by the terminal convenience store or bring a bottle to fill up at a drinking fountain or (sigh) buy one from the flight attendant.

But, it’s the principle.

Why not raise fees a dollar per person and keep offering water on flights? At least then, people would know what they were paying up front and wouldn’t have to stick their heads under the lavatory faucet to remedy a dry mouth.

Sir Richard Branson’s Private Jet

by Grant Martin on

Ever wonder what it’s like to be rich and famous and have your own private jet? Well, it looks a lot like this. Passing through the Mojave Desert airport last week, Gadling spotted Richard Branson’s Falcon 900EX, the French made, long range, ultra luxe corporate jet.

Sporting a blown up decal of Branson’s iris on the tail fin (the same, minus additional artistic work, done for Virgin Galactic), this jet has a maximum cruising altitude of 36,000 feet, speed of mach 0.87 (662 mph) and in its factory configuration can seat up to fourteen passengers. One can only imagine what sort of extravagances the Branson family has upgraded the aircraft with though. The range and speed of the aircraft make it perfect for important jetsetting moguls like Branson, who frequently needs to commute from his home United Kingdom to his island in the Caribbean to business in Southern California quickly.

Looking at the exterior of the aircraft, one can see that Sir Branson has clearly created this aircraft as a mobile advertisement for Virgin Galactic. In addition to the similar tail fin markings, the evolving VG aircraft have been stenciled near the cabin door, while the engine markings are G-GALX and the aircraft itself is named Galactic Girl.

Still, quite the improvement over conventional travel. Had Sir Branson not been buried under a phalanx of reporters we would have asked for a tour, but I suppose we’ll have to save that for the next visit out to the desert.

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Daily deal – Garmin Nuvi 270 GPS unit for $199

by Scott Carmichael on

The deal of the day for today, is the Garmin Nuvi 270 portable GPS unit.

This highly portable GPS device weighs just 5.2 ounces and has a 3.5″ high resolution display. At just 0.8″ thick, it’s the perfect device for in your car, or in your pocket.

At $199, this is not the cheapest basic GPS unit on the market, but the Nuvi 270 does have one trick up its sleeve: it comes preloaded with maps of North America and Western Europe.

In addition to this expanded map, the Nuvi 270 also has turn by turn voice prompts, which means you will get basic spoken directions (but no spoken street names).

Like most other Garmin Nuvi units, the Nuvi 270 comes with some handy features for travelers; a built in currency converter, measurement converter and even a world travel clock.

Included in the box is of course the unit itself, a car charger cord, a windshield mount and a self adhesive dashboard mounting disk, for people living in California and Minnesota, where mounting a GPS unit on the windshield is illegal.

The Garmin Nuvi 270 usually retails for $299, but it can be purchased from Costco.com for just $199 after a $100 instant rebate. The deal is valid till August 11th, or until Costco runs out of stock (if you get a message saying the item is not valid, try again in a few hours, Costco seems to keep “finding” new inventory).

The Nuvi 270 can be purchased here, just keep in mind that if you are not a Costco member, you’ll have to pay a 5% surcharge ($10), though I have read reports of that being waived if you pay with an American Express card.

Idaho State Parks Plug In

by Josh Lew on

Idaho State Parks are seeking to redefine camping. The places where Ernest Hemingway used to pitch his tent and cast his fly rod is going wireless. At least, some of them are.

Park officials are looking closely at an experimental program that currently connects five state parks to the internet. The parks in question are Bruneau Dunes, Harriman, Henrys Lake and Ponderosa.

So far feedback has been good; though purists are obviously a bit miffed at the combination of nature and tech. After all, state parks are one of the last remaining places where you can go to get away from those who compulsively check their email or MySpace friends list.

A survey conducted as part of the pilot program shows that most people are in favor of campground WiFi. Campers claimed that they would use the service for practical reasons like checking weather reports, contacting family, looking up information about the park, and making arrangements for future camping expeditions.

But who are these survey respondents? If you are thinking that most are the type who consider camping parking bus-sized RVs somewhere with lots of trees, you’re right. Kind of. Many of those in favor of the WiFi were representing the old school: tent campers. So, like it or not, it seems the marriage of tech and nature is going to go ahead in Idaho.

A definitive look at the airlines’ rule 240

by Grant Martin on

Our good friend over at Airfare Watchdog, George Hobica, rolled up his sleeves this past week and dug deep into the muck of rule 240, the near-mythical term dictating how an airline needs to treat you in the case of a cancellation or misconnection. It’s kind of a tricky rule to wrap your head around, so I’ll let George explain it for you here:

“Rule 240 originally stated that in the event of a cancellation or flight misconnection, the airline would have to put you on their next flight out, or, if that wasn’t “acceptable,” on the next flight out of a competing airline if that flight would get you to your destination sooner, all at no additional cost to you. If only first class was available on the other airline, then they had to upgrade you. This only applied in circumstances under the airlines’ control, such as crew failing to show up, or mechanical problems.”

Back in the day each airline had one of these rule 240’s, but since deregulation in the industry many have stricken this rule from their operations. Each carrier, however, now has some derivative, which is where Airfarewatchdog came in and compared the differences.

It’s a handy guide if you ever get marooned by the airlines on the road and need to leverage a trip back. But a word of warning from a frequent traveler if you want to invoke rule 240 or some manifestation thereof: make sure you do your homework, know your airline, its rules and how they can apply them – you need to stay on the offensive if you’re going to get what the carriers have promised you.

Grab a scotch, take a deep breath and start reading the rules per airline over at Airfarewatchdog.com here.