2010 › May

Riders stuck hanging upside down on U.K. coaster

by Leigh Caldwell on

Most roller coaster fans will tell you that the best part is the adrenaline rush you get when the ride ends. But what happens when a ride leaves you hanging?

That’s what happened to five people riding the Mumbo Jumbo coaster at Flamingo Land theme park in Yorkshire, England, on Tuesday.

London’s Daily Mail reports that the thrill seekers were riding the coaster when their ride car came to a stop, leaving them dangling upside down about 50 feet off the ground.

They were stuck there for about 20 minutes before being freed from the ride by theme park workers.

Flamingo Land officials say mechanical problems weren’t to blame for the incident. Apparently a rain poncho dropped by a park guests got stuck under the ride car, and that brought the fun to an end.

The Mumbo Jumbo opened in July 2009. Guinness says the coaster holds the world record for having the steepest drop.


Ask Gadling: How do I extend the benefits of my elite status?

by Grant Martin on

This week’s question comes from Julie in Ann Arbor, Michigan

“This year I have Gold Medallion status on Delta, which I probably won’t ever have again. Are there any good programs or perks that I qualify for now that I won’t in the future and should consider taking advantage of?”

Gadling: The Gold Medallion status that you’ve earned on Delta Airlines is a valuable perk. With it, you’re entitled to a 50% 100% earned mileage bonus on all of your flights, select seating (including bulkhead and exit row seats) and two free checked bags, among other perks, during this year’s travel. You can find a full list of benefits on Delta’s website.

If you earn 50-75k miles this calendar year you’ll be able to retain these perks, while if you fly only 25-50k miles your status will drop to silver. Below the 25k mark, your status will drop to nothing on the 1st of March, 2011. Those two extra months in the beginning of 2011 are rollover months during which you’ll retain your 2010 status (and perks) but against which you’ll earn miles for the 2011/2012 years. So if you don’t earn 25k miles through the end of this year, well, you can try to earn 25k in January and February of 2011 to keep your status active.

But if your status is due to expire irrespective of your travel plans, there is not much you can do to extend your benefits into next year. The best way to take advantage of 2010’s status is to coordinate and travel as much as you can (perhaps at the whim of one of your friends) before February 28th, 2011. In addition to the upgrades and bonuses that you’ll get as a gold, you’ll also be entitled to numerous other benefits including Delta’s new Sky Priority service.

View more Ask Gadling: Travel Advice from an Expert or send your question to ask [at] gadling [dot] com.

One forward reaching benefit that you may want to consider is enrollment in the Delta Sky Clubs. While not as nice as they once were, Sky Clubs provide a pleasant oasis from the normal airport hubbub with free limited snacks, televisions, soft chairs and wireless internet. Memberships range from one year to three years to a full lifetime, and those rates are discounted based on your elite status.

Though there aren’t many ancillary benefits that Skymiles Gold can afford with other companies, you may want to consider trying to “status match” to another airline. At year’s end, get in touch with a competing airline, tell them that you’re switching preferred carriers and ask for similar status. They’ll ask you to send over your credentials and depending on their policy, should give you some sort of status. I’ve done this with British Midlands (bmi) before and have been very pleased with the accompanying benefits from Star Alliance Gold.

If you haven’t earned enough miles by March 1 2011, it’s not unheard of for the airline to offer you a “soft landing” from gold to silver, though given Delta’s recent revenue management tactics this may be a far reach. A polite letter to Skymiles indicating your planned flights (ie revenue) upcoming may further validate your case.

Until then, take advantage of your status and hoard as many miles as you can. Skymiles has been particularly stingy on releasing inexpensive rewards lately, so you’ll need every single mile that you can get your hands on.

The 10 countries with the world’s worst drivers

by Grant Martin on

Traffic is an inevitable part of travel. Angry motor scooters in Rome, pileups in Los Angeles and snarls in Cairo conspire to throw our best-laid plans into chaos. Doug Lansky feels your pain. In his upcoming book The Titanic Awards, a compendium of the world’s worst travel mishaps, he’s compiled the following writeup and list of the top ten worst countries for driving.

When I rented a car in Napoli, the manager at the Hertz office told me “Driving here is like a video game. You just have to relax, stop thinking, and feel it in your stomach.” The traffic signals were especially tricky as the red, yellow and green colored lights were obeyed no more than Christmas decorations. Red lights were run as a matter of decent driving.

It’s not just Naples — travelers across the planet have griped about the quality of driving abroad. According to a survey of over 2000 people from 80 different countries, I wasn’t the only one who found it challenging. The percentages below are the voting results of our survey of the worst drivers in the world. Disagree with these results? Take the new survey at TitanicAwards.com. For more fun survey results and other “Worsts of Travel” tales, check out the book, The Titanic Awards (Perigee, May 4, 2010).

Italy 12.7%


India 9%

China 8.6%

Egypt 6.8%

France 4.2%

Vietnam – 3.7%

Thailand 3.5%

United States 3.4%


Indonesia 2.9%

Mexico 2.2%

British Library investigates the power of maps

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Maps tell us much more about a place than just where to go. The history, culture and biases of mapmakers all find their way into these uniquely geographic works of art. A new exhibition at the British Library titled Magnificent Maps aims to give visitors a closer look at the culture behind maps, bringing together a one-of-a-kind collection of important historic maps from as far back as 200AD, special events and an interactive website.

The maps featured at the British Library exhibition aren’t just your average Rand McNally fold-up. The event’s centerpiece is the Klencke Atlas from 1660, the largest book in the world, coming in at over five feet tall and six feet wide. Among the other 80 some odd display pieces is range of never-before-seen artifacts, including a miniscule coin showing a map of the German town of Nuremberg from 1773. The exhibit aims to show the maps in a new light, one in which they are not just reference tools but works of art, often created by powerful kings and countries hoping to further their own purposes. In connection with the special events, the BBC has also launched a series of content on maps, including special programming and articles surrounding the topic.

It’s easy to take maps for granted as factual, scientific documents. But as Magnificent Maps tries to show us, these documents are open to interpretation. The exhibit is happening from April 30th through September 19th of 2010 at the Library’s headquarters in London.

Daily gear deals – $8 card reader, $40 iPod and more

by Scott Carmichael on

Today’s first deal is for an IOGEAR 12-in-1 card reader. This one is my personal favorite, because it takes SD(HC) and MicroSD cards, without an adapter – which makes it perfect for copying files onto my mobile phone. On sale for $7.99 over at Amazon.

Next up is a 4GB iPod Nano. This player is refurbished, but that also brings the price down to a mere $39.99 (plus $5 for shipping). For sale at the oddly named cowboom.com.

Next up is another refurbished product – this time for the Mophie Juice Pack Air iPhone charging battery case. We recently reviewed this case, and mentioned its regular price of $80 – so being able to order a refurb for $30 makes this a hot deal! On sale over at Midnightbox.com.

Today’s final deal is for an 802.11n WiFi adapter for your laptop. This “high-gain” adapter can greatly increase the reception of signals on your laptop, and increase the transmission speed when on a network that supports .n speeds. On sale for just $9.79 – be sure to check out the free bonus products being offered on the same page. Click here for this deal.