Southwest Airlines Now Has A ‘No-Show’ Policy

by Elizabeth Seward on

Southwest Airlines’ leniency with “no-shows” has been a popular attractor for many customers. The airline has long boasted that their customers get to keep the total value of their flight purchase, even when they simply don’t show up.

While the idea of not losing money in the case of an emergency might seem appealing to the masses, only a small minority of Southwest customers have been taking advantage of this deal and they’ve been doing it habitually. For that reason, Southwest will now be enforcing its own version of a “no-show” policy. Passengers will still receive the full value of their flight purchase if they cancel, but they have to cancel no later than 10 minutes before the flight takes off. This updated policy is still sensible and comparatively customer-oriented.[Thanks, USA Today]

World’s Largest Lunch Box Museum

by Elizabeth Seward on

Cool Hunting Video: The World’s Largest Lunchbox Museum from Cool Hunting on Vimeo.

Allen Woodall is the owner of the world’s largest lunch box museum. The museum, which is situated in Columbus, Georgia, is now home to thousands of lunch boxes and related items. The title of “world’s largest lunch box museum” appears to be self-appointed, but convincing enough. In the video above by Cool Hunting, Woodall gives a tour of his prized lunch box museum, offering nuggets of lunch box history along the way.

Spirit’s Eyebrow-Raising Ads Seem To Be Working

by Elizabeth Seward on

If nothing else, Spirit Airlines is original. The company has created MILF ads, a campaign timed with the Anthony Weiner scandal called “The Weiner Sale,” ads that referenced the BP oil spill of 2010 (one of the slogans was, “Check out the oil on our beaches”), and more. Spirit Airlines has famously created ads just three hours after related news events and they don’t seem to mind that the ads usually look campy and hastily made.

And yet, no matter how offended some seem by these ads, no matter how unprofessional they might come off as being, the company’s approach must be working. Spirit Airlines was called the most profitable airline in the country last year by The Wall Street Journal.

Photo Of The Day: Leaving Denver

by Jake Thiewes on

“Please stow your electronic devices for takeoff.”

Flickr user (and Gadling Flickr Pool member) Peter Rood might have bent that rule just a little bit on his recent departure from Denver, Colorado. The view from Rood’s flight, as it ascended through the stormy skies, is gorgeous.

We’d love to feature your photos and videos on Gadling, so please add them to our Flickr Pool (with Creative Commons licensing!), tag @GadlingTravel on Instagram or email us at OfTheDay@gadling.go-vip.net.

Slideshow: Souvenir Travel Clothes That Don’t Translate Back Home

by Laurel Miller on

We’ve all done it. Caught up in the excitement of a great trip, we find ourselves “going local,” and buying an article (or wardrobe) of indigenous clothing to show our love for a place. Sometimes, as with vintage aloha shirts, pretty kurtas, handcrafted leather sandals or Latin American peasant blouses, these looks play well back home. At their worst, however, they make the wearer resemble a clown, costume party-refugee or garden variety idiot.

I understand the urge to wear groovy clothes that scream, “I’m a world traveler!” But more often, bad sartorial choices are the result of too many margaritas, too much pakalolo or the shopping frenzy that results from visiting foreign craft fairs and artisan markets. God knows, I could stock a Goodwill with past purchases. But, like cornrows on white girls, male sarongs or anything from Hilo Hattie, most wearable souvenirs are better off left in their place of origin.

View the slideshow for a selection of frequent travel fashion violations.

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