Travel Alert! Virgin sale to from LA – Sydney — for $480!

by Grant Martin on

Alert! Virgin just put Sydney on sale from Los Angeles! Their front page says $1600, but if you get in and tinker with the dates, the price will drop to about 250$ one way. Combined trip: less than $500.

Here’ s how I got my fare.

  1. Go to Virgin’s homepage first.
  2. Make sure you’re on the America site, if you aren’t change it.
  3. Click Departure from Los Angeles and Arrival to Sydney
  4. Select dates after March 1
  5. On your search, if you don’t see the fares you like, click back and forth on the “Arrivals” box. Sooner or later a fare will come up around $250.
  6. Then click back and forth on the departures.
  7. You may have to mess around with the dates to find something that works.
  8. Good luck!

Mind you, Virgin had to push back launch a bit from December from the strike that’s currently rocking Boeing. So there is a chance that things could get jiggered a bit.

You also might recall that a few people had problems with the initial sale that Virgin offered last year.

But if you’re willing to take the risk (for <500$) and are confident that you’ll get a refund if things turn south, give it a go.

See you in OZ!

Daily deal – Navigon 2100 GPS unit with text to speech for $79.99

by Scott Carmichael on

It has been a while since I last posted a GPS unit as my daily deal, but the wait was worth it as my deal today is for the very highly rated Navigon 2100.

This car GPS unit has a 3.5″ display and features “Reality View”. Reality View is a Navigon invention that shows the actual lanes and simulated street signs on highway junctions. It works surprisingly well, and takes the guessing game out of trying to find the right exit.

The Navigon 2100 also features text to speech with spoken street names. The unit comes with a car charger cord and a high quality windshield mount.

It is currently on sale at CompUSA for just $79.99 but the catch is that you’ll be receiving a refurbished unit. If you want to make the unit even better, you can pick up a half-price lifetime traffic activation card at Amazon.com. This card contains a code which can be used to activate the integrated traffic information receiver in the Navigon 2100. Cities that are covered in the Navigon traffic service can be found here.

Magic bullet for all your on-the-road stomache troubles

by Jerry Guo on

In honor of our ongoing series, Catching the Travel Bug (entertaining stories of Gadling bloggers who get violently sick … maybe “entertaining” isn’t the right word here), here’s a herbal cure that just might do the trick.

It calls for just eating a handful of Quassia, which contains “phytochemical quassin, the bitterest substance found in nature.” Apparently it’ll cure all sorts of nasty things, from amoebic dysentery to giardia and worms. If this really is proven to work, that would be quite impressive as these travel bugs are caused by entirely different creatures: an amoeba, a parasite, and well, a worm. And to top it off, you can get it at a herbal shop for a few bucks, no prescription needed.

Sounds much better than getting Cipro, but I would recommend you check it out yourself as I’m not a MD (or even someone with a college degree).

New TSA rule aims to improve security and cut down on hassle

by Meg Massie on

Up until now, airline passengers have only been required to provide as much as their first initial and last name to get a plane ticket. However, due to the high rate of false matches to names on the government’s terrorist watch list, passengers will soon be required to provide their full name and birth date before they can fly.

If your name resembles a name on the watch list, you might get held up at security. It has happened to Senator Edward Kennedy as well as to numerous children, but the TSA says that if they have a full name and birth date for every passenger, they won’t get all the false matches they get with the current first initial and last name system.

Airlines have resisted because of the cost and hassle of updating their computer systems, but as of July 2009, full names will be mandatory. Travelers who book flights without giving all the required information will be unable to print or receive boarding passes until they confirm the missing information with an airline ticket agent.

While the TSA is confident that the new procedure will greatly reduce false matches, it’s not clear that it will actually improve security. Security expert Bruce Schneier says terrorists could get around the rule by buying a ticket using someone else’s name.

Turn your bike into a moped for $124.99

by Jerry Guo on

Ever wanted to bike across America or at least get out of your town for the weekend? I love biking, but dread climbing uphills, so perhaps what I would really love is getting a moped.

And for those who are rather adept with a toolbox, you can build your own for $124.99. What you get is a 50 cc engine, which is approximately 3-4 horsepower. Yes, that does sound pretty weak, but the product description claims that’ll get you 25-30 mph, which is actually quite fast. If you don’t believe me, see the video below.

To check out the engine kit, see here.