How much baby food is too much to carry on?

by Iva Skoch on

I really, honestly, do not envy people flying with children. As if their children’s mid-air temper tantrums are not exhausting enough, getting through security–taking off your infants’ shoes while simultaneously removing your laptop and chasing your toddler who rushed through the metal detector with his teletubby in hand–is probably enough to make you want to stay home at all costs.

Now, I hear that parents are also being harassed about the amount of baby food they bring on board. The TSA rule says you may carry on baby food and liquids in “reasonable quantities for the duration of your itinerary.” The definition of reasonable quantities, of course, varies.

This NY Times article talks about parents who carry on more baby food than necessary in the winter time because flights get delayed, and they don’t want to be stuck with a hungry baby and no food. For example, for a two and a half hour flight, a couple wanted to carry on five or six 2-ounce jars of Gerber’s baby food and 20 ounces of Similac baby formula in two sealed 8-ounce and two sealed 2-ounce plastic bottles just “to be safe.”

TSA said that for that much baby food, they would need to bring a doctor’s note. Um, what exactly should the note say? “This is one hungry baby! TSA, have mercy?”

Time to start burning those Northwest Airlines miles

by Grant Martin on

All of the buzz in the underground is that Delta and Northwest Airlines are seconds away from a merger. As speculation swirls around who’s going to come out on top, who’s going to be laid off and whose aircraft are going to be rebadged, an interesting conversation about frequent flyer miles has emerged.

What happens to the frequent flyer programs when two airlines merge? The worst case scenario is that the airline on top squishes the smaller carrier and that those miles turn to zero. In this case, that would be Delta usurping Northwest’s program. And that’s got passengers scared pink about the future of their accounts. Some have been hoarding miles for years in a 401k nest-egg type of fashion, thinking they’ll travel the globe for free as they hit their golden years. What will they do if their balance turns to dust?

The notion of total-loss to many frequent flyers has them scrambling to put the miles to use. Since award tickets are refundable, many are booking tickets far into the future that they may refund after the merger. Others are buying tickets for friends, family and strangers, while expunging the remaining balance on piles of magazine subscriptions.

What am I going to do with mine? I’m currently sitting on top of enough miles to book a ticket to Europe. Part of me wants to sponsor a contest on Gadling for a free ticket, while another part wants to just book a ticket to Munich for Oktoberfest. Either way, I’m not hopeful about the future of Northwest’s Worldperks program.

Smuggle poppy seeds, face jail

by Iva Skoch on

I am sure that life has been better for the unfortunate Swiss person, arrested in United Arab Emirates (UAE) after the airport security people found “three poppy seeds on his clothing after he ate a bread roll at Heathrow airport,” as reported in The Times.

The charity Fair Trials International, which assists people facing trials abroad, issued a warning following a spate of arrests of visitors to Dubai and Abu Dhabi stating that carrying some foodstuffs and common over-the-counter medications could warrant a four-year prison sentence in UAE.

Among the banned substances are foods containing poppy seeds; melatonin, which is taken to ease the effects of jetlag; codeine, a common ingredient in pain relief medication, and any trace of drugs such as cannabis, however small. For a full list of substances banned in the UAE, click here.

Remember, no poppy seed bagels before flying to Dubai. It’s not a Jewish thing. It’s a poppy seed thing.

What strange things have been found on planes?


Click the image to read the bizarre story…

FAA investigating if pilots fell asleep on Hawaii flight

by Anna Brones on

Last Wednesday a Go! flight from Honolulu to Hilo overshot the airport by 15 miles before turning and landing safely. Air traffic controllers were unable to reach the plane for 25 minutes, leading people to speculate whether or not the pilots drowsed off en route.

Most commercial flights between Honolulu and Hilo have an autopilot function, but towards the end of a flight the pilot needs to manually set a lower altitude for landing. If you fall asleep, doing so can be difficult. Maybe the stewardesses need to serve more coffee next time.

Brits on traveling to the US: more hassle than it’s worth

by Iva Skoch on

Despite the weak dollar, the number of Brits visiting America is down 11% since 9/11. As this blog by The Guardian suggests, traveling to the US is just too much hassle these days.

The author, Ed Vulliamy, who travels frequently between London and the US, sounds quite angry about the whole thing: “And now here comes a new bag of tricks from Washington’s Department of Homeland Security: demanding to be informed of everything about you – by yourself and your government – before you try and buy a ticket, even if you are merely flying over America,” he writes. “Who the hell wants to apply online for permission to visit the US before even buying a ticket? Why should information on a friend or relative pushing a passenger in a wheelchair to the gate at Prestwick be dispatched to the CIA?”

One of his points especially struck me. He says that “the paranoia and war on terror, of which the new travel measures are part – have robbed and abused the emotional power and dignity of New York’s response to al-Qaeda’s murderous visit that morning: the carpets of flowers, the tributes, the missing posters and peace signs. This kind of language, this paranoia and manipulation of what happened has nothing to do with the real best of America. And godammit, that’s why it is still worth braving.”

It is hard to argue with that.