Galley Gossip: Gifts for flight attendants (and travelers)

by Heather Poole on

A stun gun, Xanax, travel massager that glows in the dark, ten foot pole for not touching things with, these are just a few of the things my flight attendant friends want for Christmas. What, not your gift-giving style? Okay so perhaps one of these will do….

1. PASSPORT COVER – In this day and age you might not want to advertise your country of origin. Not to mention it’s kind of fun dressing up the old passport some of you should be very proud of based on the number of stamps inside. If you’re a passenger, check out the adorable covers at Flushshop.com. Flight attendants will want to go with Modcloth’s Safety Misinformation Passport Wallet. (pictured)

2. BAG TAGS – All those crew bags lined up against the wall in flight operations look alike. No one wants to end up on a layover with clothes we’ve never seen before. A unique bag tag will help. One of the the funniest ones I’ve ever seen read “Baggage Handlers are Hot.” Ya know that bag made it to its final destination! Flight attendant Bailey loves Anne Taintor’s line of sassy, vintage bag tags. (And he’s going to kill me for sharing this with you.)

3. OVEN MITTS – The oven racks are hot, hot, hot! This is why flight attendants no longer have fingerprints. Because I’m always accidentally leaving mine behind on the airplane, I can never have too many pairs. Flight attendant Eric is a fan of Grips. As for me, I like Fred’s Hot Head dog shaped insulating mitt.

4. MINI TRAVEL ROLLER SET – Looking good is important to flight attendants. This is not always easy when our layovers are only eight hours long and we’re scheduled to work ten to fourteen hours a day. But somehow flight attendant Joann always manages to look fabulous and I have a feeling it has something to do with her Conair mini roller set.5. GREEN TRAVEL/REUSABLE TOTES – My friend Melanie can tell domestic flight attendants from international ones by the bags they carry on their layovers – Harrods vs Trader Joe’s. For just $2.99 you can help us show off our travel style with a fun international tote from World Market. Or how about (sending me) a Loot Bag from Anya Hindmarch, creator of the “I’m not a plastic bag” bag.

6. TRAVEL SOUND MACHINE – At the layover hotels, flight attendants are usually assigned one of two rooms – the one across from the elevator or the one next to the ice machine. My friend Cady wouldn’t have been able to survive a Disney Cruise or her last visit with the in-laws without her Brookstone travel sound machine. It’s great at blocking out noise from others.

7. TIFFANY’S AIRPLANE CHARM BRACELET – Because it’s from Tiffany’s! And it’s an airplane. Need I say more?!

8. A FULL FARE TICKET – So we can actually get to where we’re going! The flights are full and flying standby is not always an option anymore. Earlier this year Jet Blue offered a 30 day all-you-can-jet pass for just $599. Something like that would have been amazing for the commuter in your life.

9. VIDEO CAMERA – Documenting travels can be just as fun, if not more fun, than actually traveling! Don’t believe me? Just ask Sodwee, AKA Airboy – or better yet watch one of his videos. I love the Flip because it’s easy to use.

10. iPAD – Staying connected to family, friends is very important. Being able to do a last minute trip trade is just as important! So is watching movies, listening to music, and surfing the web on a layover. That said, nothing in the world would make a flight attendant happier than an iPad. Santa, you listening?!

Check out my 2009 Gift Guide

Which airline charged more than $500 million in cancellation fees?

by Tom Johansmeyer on

There isn’t as much money in cancellations as there is in baggage fees, it seems. So far, close to $2.6 billion has been charged for bags this year (with three quarters measured), and U.S. airlines have only racked up $1.7 billion in cancellation fees. And, as usual, there’s one culprit that consumes around 30 percent of this, with the top five airlines accounting for more than 80 percent of the cancellation fees charged in the United States so far this year, according to the Department of Transportation.

Curious? Well, the list will look pretty familiar to you, largely because the largest airlines are most likely to generate the most revenue from cancellation fees.

Delta wins this fee race, as it did baggage fees, with more than $530 million in cancellation fees, followed by American Airlines ($353 million), United Airlines ($243 million), US Airways ($192 million) and Continental Airlines ($181 million). JetBlue takes a distant sixth with $85 million, and the numbers only get (much) smaller from there.

Mammoth Mountain debuts newest in ski area dining: snowcat food “trucks”

by Laurel Miller on

The national street food/truck/cart obsession is hitting the slopes. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that on December 18th, California’s Mammoth Mountain Ski Area will unleash North America’s only snowcat-mobile kitchen. Could this be the start of a new ski area dining trend?

Known as Roving Mammoth, the two “foodcats” are built from refurbished snowcats outfitted with small kitchens. They’ll roam the mountain from 9am to 2:30pm, offering ravenous skiers and boarders carbo-loading in the form of burritos, calzones, and churros, as well as cold, non-alcoholic beverages.

The up-to-the-moment location of the ‘cats can be found via a My Mammoth Twitter account (be sure to keep handwarmers in your gloves for faster burrito-seeking). Stops will include high-volume spots such as South Park, the top of Lift 14, and the bottom of Chair 9, but weather and events will also determine where the foodcats roam.

FYI, United and Horizon Air begin nonstop daily air service to Mammoth from the Bay Area on December 16th, via SFO and San Jose.

[Photo credit: Flickr user Telstar Logistics]

Researchers show how airport backscatter scanners can be fooled

by Scott Carmichael on

Two researchers from the University of California have published a report on airport security backscatter x-ray machines, and show that despite the millions invested in the technology, its effectiveness may be overrated.

In the report, Leon Kaufman and Joseph W. Carlson provide a very technical analysisof the technology, and how hidden items can be kept from being detected when they are placed outside the side of the body or items with hard edges. Even when the x-ray exposure power is increased beyond normal levels, these items remain undetected.

Of course, some may argue that releasing this information only helps terrorists – but getting stuff like this out in the open also shows that the massive investment in backscatter technology is not going to be the holy grail in airport security products.

Combine these findings with the privacy concerns and untested safety aspects, and they are suddenly not looking as great as the did when they first arrived at the airport.

If you don’t mind some light technical reading on this lazy Sunday, check out the report for yourself (PDF file).

Southwest launches “12 days of luv” Twitter promo

by McLean Robbins on

We at Gadling are big on contests – particularly when the prize involves deeply discounted travel. As the song goes, for 12 days in December, your “true love” is supposed to give you gifts. Well, this year, Southwest Airlines wants to be your own “true LUV,” minus those silly Turtle Doves and annoying Drummer Boys.

They’re giving away 12 $1,000 gift cards, one each day during the “12 Days of LUV” promo (sponsored by Visa).

To enter, follow their Twitter account (@southwestair) and submit a themed FUN holiday photo that corresponds with the tweeted request. To be included in the contest, Twitterers must include the #12daysofluv hashtag and the requested original photo in their tweet.

The judges will be judging on the following qualities:

* Creativity and Originality: 20%
* Entertaining: 25%
* Southwest Appeal: 35% photo should reflect our Culture and Fun-LUVing Attitude.
* Rules: 20% Read and complied with the official rules.

Sounds simple, right? Now get tweeting.

Oh, and don’t forget to follow us while you’re at it (@Gadling).

[Flickr via YoLoPey]