Great American Road Trip 2009: The fly and drive combo New Mexico to Montana and back

by Jamie Rhein on

For the past seven summers, ever since we moved back from India, we’ve embarked on a Great American Road Trip. The first was the mega version that put 10,000 miles on a new Ford Taurus station wagon in three months. Mind you, this was in 2003 with a 10 year-old and a 1 ½ year old-and without video games, computers or a DVD player.

This year’s version is a fly drive combo. Three months for tootling around between the Atlantic and Pacific is harder to come by-three weeks, doable. Without a burning desire to drive through the Midwest to get to Montana from Ohio like last year when I waxed poetic about Wisconsin’s cheese curds, we flew on Northwest Airlines (aka Delta) over those endless corn and soybean fields to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Sure Albuquerque is no where near Montana, our main destination, but there’s a reason for the detour.

I used to live in Albuquerque. So did my husband. Between us, we have loads of friends we haven’t seen since that first road trip. Besides, Albuquerque is a budget destination with cheap flights to get there and inexpensive car rentals for heading out on the open road IF you rent away from the airport (more on that later).

When planning a Great American Road Trip, I highly recommend the fly then drive option. One year we flew to Denver and drove to Montana. Another year we flew to Seattle. With a limited time frame, the flight cuts out the parts you don’t necessarily want to see and provides the time to see those places that you do. If you’re going to be renting a car when you reach your main destination, why not head a few states away for the opportunity to explore the bounties in between?

For us the bounties might be a national park, the largest metal sculptures in the world, a mom and pop restaurant with regional food, or a town that a highway bypassed. Sometimes we know where we’ll stop before we head out, or one of us notices a point on a map and says, “Let’s stop here.”

In the next few weeks, as we’re traveling in a Toyota Sienna van through New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Montana, where the landscape and people have a flavor so unique I could return again and again, I’ll fill you in on the places we’ve stopped and give some Great American Road Trip how-to suggestions.

We passed by Arches National Park a week ago. It’s been a busy week. Stay tuned. Ghost towns, neon and great eats on the way.

[The first photo was taken two years ago at the parade at Flint Creek Valley Days in Philipsburg, Montana where I am now. The second photo was taken last year at the pheasant family sculpture, part of the Enchanted Highway, on the way to Regent, North Dakota.]

Southwest launches massive fare sale

by Grant Martin on

Usually, we at Gadling don’t raise much fuss when an airline puts a few routes on sale. But Southwest really isn’t an airline when it comes to fare pricing. They’re a paradigm. When they drop fares, other airlines usually drop fares. As a result, shockwaves surge through the entire pricing network, travelers like you and I jump on tickets from any variety of carriers and everyone goes home happy. Doesn’t that sound nice?

So here’s the skinny. Southwest’s promotion puts fares on sale from $30 to $60 to $90, depending on distance. Travel is good from September 9th to November 18th for any day of the week except for Friday and Sunday.

Keep an eye out for price matching as well. For example, tickets from Detroit – Boston for $60 one way that may require a layover on Southwest may be the same price on a direct carrier.

The promotion runs through 11:59 tonight, so you’ve got some time to lock your tickets in, call your significant other and pull the trigger. Just don’t wait too long or availability might dry up.

Book your tickets at southwest.com, where the sale is prominently featured.

“United Breaks Guitars,” by Sons of Maxwell, whose guitars were broken by (you guessed it) United

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Back in early 2008, the band Sons of Maxwell was traveling on United Airlines from Halifax to Omaha when they stopped to change planes at O’Hare Airport in Chicago. While they were seated in the airplane, the woman behind them shouted, “My God, they’re throwing guitars out there!”

Sure enough, the band members looked out the window just in time to see the baggage handlers tossing around their $3500 guitars like they were grandpa’s suitcases. When United Airlines refused to take responsibility for the significant damage that happened to the band’s Taylor guitars, the band promised the airline they’d write three songs about the incident. The video for the first song, which is pretty funny and also quite catchy, can be seen above.

A United spokesperson says the airline has contacted the band directly to “make things right.” The spokesperson also says she “loved” the video.

Passenger thoughts on carry-on bags: Wear a helmet

by Jamie Rhein on

In yesterday’s article “Travelers Weigh in on Policing Carry-ons” in the New York Times, Joe Sharkey said that he received 300 e-mails with complaints about overhead bins and carry-on bags. According to Sharkey, people are fussing right and left regarding other people’s carry-ons.

Reading the responses that Sharkey highlighted reminds me a bit of people’s complaints about other people’s driving. Instead of grousing about the lack of blinker use, people driving too close, people driving too slow in the fast lane, or too fast in the slow lane, or talking on a cell phone instead of paying attention to the road, people are turning other people’s carry-on bags into modern day travel hazards and symbols of human rudeness.

For example, one person suggested that with the amount of stuff people are cramming into overhead bins and the dangers of falling objects, wearing a helmet while flying isn’t a bad idea. He might have a point.

Here’s an idea. Like Sharkey also mentioned, maybe the airlines could rent helmets as a way to make more money. Hard hats, for that matter, could easily be decorated with an airline’s logo.

10 annoying passengers as told by a flight attendant

by Scott Carmichael on

Here at Gadling, we love stories about annoying passengers. It gives us a chance to read about the kind of things that annoy us when we travel, and there is something deeply satisfying knowing that we are not the only ones that get annoyed when we bump into one of these annoying people.

Our tart friends over at Lemondrop have compiled a list of annoying passengers, from the perspective of a flight attendant.

Now, this is of course nothing new, as we have our very own Heather Poole who has her own fantastic lineup of “pet peeves”, but it is interesting to see the overlap, and which things seem to annoy flight attendants the most.

And while we are on the topic of annoying people, check out our own list of ten annoying passengers, listing everything from “the escalator obstacle” to “the recliner“.

And fear not – Gadling will soon be publishing a list of airline employees that annoy us. It’s going to be quite the list, and I’m willing to bet it lists a couple of employees that have made you roll your eyes in the past. And lets be honest, who hasn’t come across a flight attendant who has the kind of attitude that makes you wish he/she stayed home that day.

%Gallery-66271%