GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of September 17

by Adrienne Wilson on

Hear ye, Hear ye it is time again for another weekly glance at some spectacular plugs you may have missed. Just make sure you don’t miss them this time. Or else!

5. Cool Subways:
Long ago I mentioned the cool underground transportation scene seen in Tehran, Iran, but in this piece Erik points us to some so-called “Cool” subways in destinations like Moscow, Munich and Stockholm. If you’re not in rush to get to your final stop; check them out. That goes for the real thing and his blurb here on the web.

4. Puerto Rico Island Hopping:
Ah, Puerto Rico! With a light hurricane season and considering hurricane season is almost officially out of here who wouldn’t want to go island hopping in Puerto Rico? Thanks to Iva we’re one step closer in making the dream come alive or deciding which method or hopper plane works best for you.

3. Red Corner: The Horrors of Flying in Russia:
I’ve never been to Russia or flown on one its friendly planes, but I’m hearing more and more stories like the one Neil points us to in this scary piece. If you’re making St. Petersburg or Moscow a must-see destination sometime soon check this article out to shake yourself up a little.

2. Medieval Trials in Modern Day India:
Culture pieces are my favorite and this one is pretty interesting. Learn how to find a thief in India by reading this hot topic. After knowing how trials in modern day India work you’d think no one would steal, but it sadly looks as if that’s not the case.

1. Gadling Podcast: Joshua Berman:
Podcast time and with this one Erik delves into the world of guidebook writing with Joshua Berman who writes for Moon Guides, but recently published Living Abroad in Nicaragua released by Avalon Publishing. If you’re curious to know what it takes or Joshua’s take on the world of mattress flipping, sniffing and reporting (a.k.a. travel writing), tune in, plug in, and give it a listen.

Dealing with Miles

by Erik Olsen on

It’s a question that all travelers have, but few know all the nitty-gritty details. Several airlines have gone bankrupt and others have kicked up the number of miles you need to get that free round-trip flight somewhere sunny and warm. The fact is, a lot of travelers are wondering how they can keep their miles and/or make the best use of them.

Well, one guy who keeps a focused eye on the subject is Edward Hasbrouck AKA the Practical Nomad. Hasbrouck has written this very handy FAQ to answer all your questions about what will happen to your miles. Chances are, the value of your miles has declined over the years and they may continue to do so. But there are things you can do, as we’ve written about here several times before, to spend them. You can, for instance, get stuff like restaurant gift certificates. By the way, another fine place to keep track of anything and everything Frequent Flier, is to go to FF Magazine. They’ve got news and facts on the latest changes in airline policy as well as a myriad ways you can spend those miles and not let them go to waste.

New USA Today Travel

by Erik Olsen on

For those who care what the country’s great lowest common denominator newspaper is up to these days travel-wise, y’all might be interested to know that USA Today has redesigned its travel section with a range of “new or revamped features” that offer (not surprisingly) lots of new advertising opportunities.

Still, all is not lost from a reader’s perspective, as they have kept the handy City Guides section and are placing greater emphasis on consumer input, travel tools, and blogs. For example, you might check out the “Flight Center”, featuring a flight tracker, departure delays map, Wi-Fi locator, and information on fares and airline mileage programs. The key word there where I am interested is Wi-Fi locator. What it should say, of course is FREE Wi-fi locator, as many of us hate to be violated at the airport by $12.95 one time use fees like those at some airports.

I still think that USA Today looks like it was designed back in the HTML 2.0 days or by someone’s nephew, but hey, the travel section occasionally carries good stuff, so I suppose it’s the content that counts.

Red Corner: More Bad News for Russian Aviation

by Neil Woodburn on

Just after posting yesterdays rant about the horrendous state of flying in Russia, I received my weekly update from Transitions Online covering the same topic-albeit with far less black humor and far more terrifying statistics.

Here’s one to really scare you: there have been “26 major Russian airline accidents since the breakup of the USSR” and 20 percent of them have occurred at a single airport-Irkutsk. Some blame the presence of a nearby mass grave from Stalinist times casting a curse over the runways. Others, perhaps more practical, blame a decrepit aviation system, aging pilots, faulty planes, and airport runways constructed with sagging concrete blocks.

And then there are the bizarre, yet uniquely Russian reasons why the aircraft industry is in such horrible state. Take, for example, the Vnukovo Aircraft Repair Works in Moscow. Workers were stealing parts from the local Saturn automobile planet in Rybinsk and using them to replace parts which had broken on the planes they were servicing.

If you plan on flying within Russia any time soon, take a moment to read this informative article. A few mores stories like the one above and you’ll start thinking seriously about Russia’s wonderful train system which rarely ever crashes.

Red Corner: The Horrors of Flying in Russia

by Neil Woodburn on

It’s always fun to read a good rant, especially if it’s aimed at the airlines.

Fly The Unfriendly Skies is just that. But, it’s not the typical rant you might hear from a passenger at Heathrow or LAX. No, this one is aimed at that quirky phenomenon known as Russian Air Travel.

Ever since the days of Aeroflot, flying in Russia has been a nightmare. The advent of a smattering of independent airlines to service the country after communism fell has seemingly only exacerbated the problem.

Fed up with the whole system, Aspi Pahars, writing for The Exile, rants on about what one can expect when flying in Russia. He particularly digs into the rebranding of Siberian Airlines, which is now painted bright green and known as S7. The rebranding was necessary due to the rather poor track record of the company. I flew the airlines to Irkutsk a couple of years ago, against my better judgment, and managed to survive. This is not always the case. Earlier this summer, the same flight skidded off the runway and exploded into flames.

While catching on fire is certainly one of the worst things that can happen while flying, Pahars spends time to rant about many of the smaller annoyances as well–such as the new internet bar in Sheremetyevo Airport which charges an hourly rate but allows users to visit only a single site while online.

Take a moment to check out this humorous rant; some of your complaints will seem petty in comparison.