Five reasons Thanksgiving travel will be miserable (by the numbers)

by Tom Johansmeyer on

You may have gotten a break last year, but the 2010 Thanksgiving holiday will be a return for the norm. Fares are increasing, and traffic is following, as more passengers take to the skies thanks to a recovering economy. The Air Transport Association puts year-over-year Thanksgiving travel growth at 3.5 percent. This is enough to show the tide has turned, but it still doesn’t compensate for the ground lost to the recession.

With more people flying, you will probably find yourself fighting for the armrest, sitting next to someone in that middle seat (unless you’re the unlucky passenger) and struggling to cram your carry-on into the overhead bin.

Let’s take a look at five data points that point to an unpleasant Thanksgiving flying season, with information reported by Reuters:1. 24 million people will fly during the 12-day period around Thanksgiving (November 25, 2010)
2. Daily volumes will range from 1.3 million to 2.5 million
3. Planes will be running close to capacity, with load factors approaching 90 percent
4. Fares are headed up to 18 percent higher than last year (according to Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare)
5. There are fewer seats, with capacity down 10 percent from 2008 levels

Click here for six rules for air travel during the holiday season >>

[photo by Augapfel via Flickr]

Global Exec Aviation and Blu Cigs partner to keep smokers satisfied

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Global Exec Aviation would like to thank you for smoking. Sorta.

The charter airline is sympathetic to the feelings of smokers, a rarity in today’s world. Spend a few hours on a plane, if you’re in the habit of puffing, and the result is a nic fit with an intensity determined by the length of your flight. Cross the Atlantic, and that first opportunity to light up is impossible to describe.

No, Global Exec Aviation isn’t going to let you fire up in flight, but it will give you the next best thing. The airline is partnering with Blu Cigs, which makes electronic cigarettes. The devices emit a mist rather than smoke, and the vapor contains the nicotine that makes a long flight easier to bear. So, if you fly Global Exec, there will be Blu Cigs on hand for you.

According to USA Today:

“Definitely it’s the first step,” Jason Healy, president of Blu Cigs, says of the partnership with Global Exec Aviation of Long Beach. “It’s largely to gather feedback … and just highlight the fact it’s an option.”

Smoking has been prohibited on all commercial flights to, from and within the United States since 2000, USA Today reports, but charter flights can choose to allow smoking as long as they provide a non-smoking section.

For those hoping the Blue Cigs will be provided on commercial flights … don’t hold your breath. Southwest spokesman Brad Hawkins told USA Today, “We have no plans to offer e-cigarettes, and we currently do not allow their use in-flight.” A spokesman for American Airlines says the same.

Jason Holi, one of the operations managers at Global Exec thinks that perspective might be a bit hasty:

“We’re in a customer-service industry,” Holi says. “If I have a passenger who’s a white-knuckle flier but a heavy chain smoker, I want to make it as accommodating as possible for him.”
Keeping your customers happy – what a novel concept!

[photo by Vanessa Pike-Russell via Flickr]

Top ten overrated international travel destinations

by Catherine Bodry on

Laurel brought us the US’s top ten overrated travel destinations, and we thought it was time to go global. Here are ten international sites, in no particular order, that just aren’t worth a two-hour wait in line, fighting the crowds, or covering long distances to get there:

1. Eiffel Tower, Paris
Seriously, your photos of Paris are going to look much better with the Eiffel Tower in them. If you feel like getting high, Notre Dame is a much cooler spot.

2. Oktoberfest, Munich
If getting drunk with a bunch of American college student is your idea of a good time, then be sure to hit up the Hofbrauhaus tent.

3. The Blarney Stone, Ireland
Don’t do it. Stay away from the nasty, germ-infested piece of rock. Surely no luck can come of kissing that stone cold sore, right?

4. Cancun, Mexico
Crammed with spring-breakers and holiday makers, Cancun is party-central and really no different than, say, any other beach city in the States.5. Niagara Falls, Ontario
The volume of water thundering over Niagara’s limestone cliffs is arguably amazing, but the neon lights under the falls and Vegas-like cacophony built up around them are over-the-top.

6. Stonehenge, United Kingdom
Crowds jostle for space not to get close to the monoliths, but to capture them on film from a distance. That’s right; you can’t even get up close anymore. And a major highway runs right by it, ruining any ambiance that might remain.

7. Hoi An, Vietnam
This little town popped up again and again among the Gadling crew as one that has shoved out any local culture in favor of coddling tourists – if “coddling” can also encompass aggressive selling.

8. The Atomium, Brussels
Another Gadling un-fave, the Atomium is, in the words of our esteemed editors, “boring.” There’s no real reason to visit it other than to take a couple of pics and say you’ve been there.

9. Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy
Here you’ll find a tower that is cabled up so it won’t lean any further, and tourist posing for photos where they pretend to hold it up. It’s not worth the journey.

10. Universal City Walk, Los Angeles
Not much more than an attempt to dazzle with bright lights and big screens, Universal City Walk is three blocks of cheese. There’s shopping for “memorabilia” and whatnot, and lots of families vacationing. Skip it and spend the day at Disneyland.

Did we miss any? What places do you think are overrated?

[Photo Credit: Flickr user Al Ianni]

New Pyongyang restaurant opens to rave reviews

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Forget Manhattan, Pyongyang seems to be the hottest spot for new restaurant openings. Sure, there seems to be a new dining option popping up in New York City every time you blink … but that’s to be expected! When new options come to North Korea, it’s a bit more noticeable.

Only two weeks ago, word hit the west about a new burger joint in the North Korean capital, called Samtaesung, with links to Kim Jong-il’s younger sister, Kim Kyong-hui. Well, there’s now another hot spot in the city, according to the Korea Central News Agency, the official “news” mouthpiece of the regime.

The KCNA reports that a 6,000 square-meter restaurant, Okryu Restaurant, was just finished. Apparently, it can handle thousands of visitors and “is a catering centre for providing best service to people.” This is a start that would make most capitalist restaurateurs salivate!

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And, as is always the case with the North Korean media, it only gets better:

With the appearance of the elegant, magnificent and exquisite restaurant, a good combination of national, classical and contemporary architectural styles, the area of Okryu Restaurant has turned into a street of catering facilities built in a peculiar Korean architectural style to be proud of.

The opening was celebrated with a ceremony last Friday, and some major people were in attendance: “Jon Ha Chol, vice-premier of the Cabinet, Ryang Man Gil, chairman of the Pyongyang City People’s Committee, officials concerned, soldier-builders, officials and employees of the restaurant.”

[photo by yeowatzup via Flickr]

This winter, keep using your iPhone with 180’s Tec Touch gloves

by Scott Carmichael on

As winter starts getting closer, we also get closer to the point where you can’t leave the house without a pair of gloves. And if you have ever tried using your touch screen smartphone with a regular pair of gloves, you’ll know that almost every current model won’t work through the fabric.

Modern touch screen technology uses a capacitive system, which picks up a signal from your body. When protected by gloves, this signal can’t be picked up, which means you need to remove your gloves to use your phone.

Now, this may not be a huge problem if you just wanted to play a bit of Angry Birds, but if you get a call, or need to reply to a text message, things can get cold and inconvenient.

Last year, 180s introduced the first iPhone compatible gloves – using a special metallic tip on the fingers. The technology is called Tec Touch, and this year, they have expanded the technology to almost 20 different pairs of gloves. Tec Touch enabled gloves start around $20, up to $80 for a pair of active vented gloves with built in goggle wipe.

So, if you go shopping for winter gear this season, and you’d like to keep using your iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android or other device with a capacitive screen, look for a pair of gloves with technology that is designed to work with the screen. One important tip – when shopping for gloves with Tec Touch, make sure the fit is perfect – because your fingers need to be in the tips of the gloves to work with the metal sensors.