Comparing the Cost of a Ham Sandwich on European Budget Airlines

by Neil Woodburn on

With the rash of budget airlines flooding the skies of Europe comes a rash of hungry passengers who must learn to fly without the now-missing complimentary meal, or fork out the big bills to purchase something on board.

Captive consumers trapped within an airplane have no other options but to eat the expensive food now sold by flight attendants. They do, however, have a choice of which airline to fly if they want some cheap(er) eats.

CheapFlights.com has put together a rather extensive chart comparing the cost of a ham sandwich and a gin & tonic aboard 22 European budget airlines.

Costs for a gin and tonic vary from free (Air Berlin) to nearly $9 on Ryanair. Ryanair offers much cheaper tickets than Air Berlin and obviously makes up part of their profit difference with over-priced drinks and $7 ham sandwiches. That’s perfectly fine with me. Just sell me the cheap ticket without the frills; I don’t want to subsidize someone else’s free in-flight alcohol when I myself drink only water while flying.

Wait! Water’s still free, isn’t it?!?

GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of October 15

by Adrienne Wilson on

Last day of the work week has arrived and I’m ready to hit the town, but the week would not be complete without Gadling’s Take Five. So, I offer you these tasty little finds you may have missed and then I’m hitting the road. Have fun!

5. Antarctica: The Land Waaay Down Under:
I envy Erik, I envy Carolyn Swindel and anyone else who’s been to Antarctica and for good cause. (Always for good cause.) In this blurb, Erik touches on his travels to the land waaay down under and points us to Ms. Swindel’s details on the incredible icebergs and nature to be found in Antarctica. Read it and you’ll be just a tad envious too.

4. No Fly List Exposed:
Mmm… Having once worked in an environment that dealt both with a list similar to that of the No Fly list and the general public I understand the frustrations among innocent Americans. Not that it is too surprising, but in this piece I point out the 60 Minutes episode that calls out the many, many, glitches in the system. It is pretty upsetting even if your name isn’t Robert Johnson or John Thomas.

3. Milk Bombs on Planes:
If your a traveling breast-feeding mum you may have come across some recent challenges with airport security, but if there is a will there is a way. When Iva puts her feelers out there we soon discover ways to get that non-toxic breast-milk on board thanks to some clever readers. Check it out.

2. Parks in Winter:
Winter is more than a month away still, but the temperature is still dropping and making some national parks less desirable to visit. Erik turns the beat around so that all parks don’t get left out in the cold and names about seven worth parading through during the winter.

1. Removing the “Ugh” from Ugly Americans:
Why don’t we just remove the “Ugh” from all nasty travelers? Wouldn’t that be great?!? Until then we should ALL take a look at this piece helping to rid the world of the culturally Ugly American. And I really do insist on ALL nationalities reading this piece. I’ve met some so-so travelers from distant places before and thought they were pretty ugly if not nastier.

The Very Worst Airport Wait Times

by Neil Woodburn on

There have been a lot of unkind words directed at TSA these days.

The Transportation Security Agency is the agency responsible for keeping our airlines safe. Unfortunately, as a result, they are also responsible for keeping us waiting longer than we’ve ever had to wait to ensure such safety.

This is both good and bad. Obviously, I’d like to get to my destination in one piece, as much as anyone else does, but sometimes the security delays are painful.

As you might suspect, some airports are much worse than others. Thankfully, USA Today has sent in a team of researchers to determine which airports are the worst offenders. A nifty flash presentation on their website allows visitors to rank airports by the most traffic (Los Angeles is #1), by the maximum wait time experienced (Harrisburg, 230 minutes), and by the “percentage of wait line measurements that exceeded 10 minutes” (Kona-Hawaii, 21.8%).

Given the information unearthed by the USA Today researchers, I might have to relocate to Kahului-Maui, where the maximum wait time is a mere 13 minutes. Aloha!

Sydney Wins…Again

by Erik Olsen on

Probably the most frustrating things about this story for me is that I’ve never been to Sydney. Australia is the only continent, in fact, that I’ve never visited…a fact that distresses me a great deal. Something simply MUST be done to rectify this. But that, dear gadling reader, is not you problem. So onto the news at hand.

The news at hand is this: Sydney, the Australian cultural capital (I said CULTURAL Capital, please no emails about geographic illiteracy) has once again been selected as the world’s number one city by readers of Conde Nast Traveler. This is frightening to say, the 11th time the harbor city has won the award since it (the contest, not the city) began in 1988. That’s quite an amazing feat for a former penal colony that supported Britain’s criminal and bureaucratic castaways. OK, ok, ease up. I know that’s an old tried and true way to upset Aussies. Again, no email, please (that means you, Howie ;-)). BTW: Budget Travel Magazine has got a piece on Sydney y’all might enjoy.

Anyhoodle, the idea is that readers…apparently an itinerant bunch…selected the best city based on ambiance, friendliness, culture sights, restaurants, lodging and shopping. About 28,000 readers voted this year, giving Sydney a score of 87.7, followed by the Italian city of Florence with 86.8, and San Francisco and Bangkok each with 85.9. Why New York is not on the top of the list is a mystery to me, especially since I know both Bangkok and New York and…well, Bangkok is exciting at all, but the best? Nah. All said, though, more than ever before do I need to hustle and get these bones to the land down under.

All New JetBlue

by Erik Olsen on

I noticed this the other day, but for got to point it out. I need to throw out some props to my favorite airline – JetBlue – for getting a facelift. And contrary to the latex-like lifts many Hollywood has-beens get, this one actually gives the site some much-needed pep and color. There are even (gasp!) images of smiling, impossibly happy travelers whose flights have obviously not just been canceled. The site now also puts right upfront in bu beauty numbers the best deals they’ve got going. For example, as my fingers flit across the keyboard right now, one could book a flight from JFK to Ft. Lauderdale…now WHY anyone would do that is best left up to your Spring Break-addled imagination.

Another interesting, if uber-corporate-rah-rah feature is the “flight blog” or flbog by CEO David Neeleman, who waxes gleefully about all the wonderful new things his airline is doing, but offers little of titillating value. So, overall we give the new look a thumbs up and wish that other airlines (Unite3d ,hello?) would join them into the Web 2.0 world.