Air Canada Passengers Get A Free Concert On Their Delayed Flight

by Jessica Festa on



Sometimes, having a delayed flight isn’t such a bad thing, at least not for passengers aboard a recent Air Canada flight from Toronto to Frankfurt. Luckily for them, the Canada-based Lemon Bucket Orkestra were on the flight, and able to provide some free, impromptu musical entertainment.

According to USA Today, the group is a self-proclaimed “Balkan-Klezmer-Gypsy-Party-Punk Super-Band.”

“Our plane got delayed 20 minutes so we got out the instruments,” the band explains on their YouTube page.

You can check out the live performance above. What do you think?

Have Klout, Will Travel: Cathay Pacific Offers Klout Perk at SFO

by McLean Robbins on


Last week, Klout announced “Klout for iPhone,” and this week, the influx of app-based perks begins. Their first partnership is one we’d actually enjoy – if we were traveling internationally from SFO. The company that pioneered social media influence measurement has partnered with Cathay Pacific Airways to allow anyone with a score of 40 or over to show their Klout score at the door to enter the airline’s First and Business Class Lounge.

This applies to any visitor traveling through the “A” boarding area at SFO’s international terminal, even if they aren’t a Cathay Pacific passenger.

Inside the lounge, you’ll get access to the airline’s signature noodle bar, workstations and showers, as shown in the video above.

Have you used this perk? What did you think?

Virgin America; United To Begin San Francisco To Washington, DC, Nonstop Service

by McLean Robbins on

Virgin America has been awarded permission to fly into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport beginning sometime this summer. United Airlines began their service today.

While the well-known carriers already fly direct to San Francisco, its US hub, out of Washington Dulles International, this new route opens up additional opportunities for the business and leisure traveler looking to fly from DC proper, rather than 45-minutes outside of the city.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to bring our unique brand of service to this underserved route – and to better connect one of the world’s leading economies to our nation’s capital,” said David Cush, President and CEO of Virgin America. “Until this year, San Francisco has been the largest travel market in the nation previously without nonstop flights to DCA.”

Typically, long-haul flights are rare from the Washington airport, which normally doesn’t allow flights beyond a 1,250-mile “perimeter limit.”

Most of the prior “beyond perimeter” awards had been made to non-California airports. Smaller markets awarded DCA flights in the past include: Denver (four frequencies), Seattle (two frequencies) and Phoenix (three frequencies). Despite its size and the importance of Northern California’s innovation-based technology sector to the national economy, prior to this year the Bay Area never had nonstop service to DCA. As a result, local consumers and businesses suffered for decades with higher fares and limited choices – either flying to Washington Dulles or taking one-stop connecting flights when traveling to downtown Washington, D.C.

A big cheers today for Virgin, United and DC!

[Flickr via maka]

In-Flight Cellphone Calls To Be Allowed On Virgin Atlantic Flights

by Meg Nesterov on

Passengers on Virgin Atlantic will soon be able to make in-flight cellphone calls, send texts and browse the web on their way home from Europe, it was just announced. The new service is part of the airline’s upgrade to the Airbus A330, which will also provide expanded in-flight entertainment, USB ports and a very spiffy upper class. Cellphone service will initially be available only on London to New York flights, but will be expanded to more cities by the year’s end. There are a lot of caveats, however: you’ll need to be on a Vodafone or O2 network, only 10 calls will be allowed at one time and service won’t be cheap. Calls will cost 1 GBP per minute and texts 20p each. You’ll also still need to turn off your devices for takeoff and landing, and turn them off within 250 miles of US airspace, so no flight-long games of Words With Friends.

Gadling readers: would you use this service? Do you think it’s any improvement over the old-school in-flight phones? Or will it just be another amazing innovation that no one appreciates?

[Photo courtesy Flickr user Highways Agency]

Bid To Fly The Friendly Skies, Today

by Chris Owen on

The idea of flying the friendly skies in a commercial airplane apparently still has its allure for many. A common dream is to be behind the controls of a jumbo jet, responsible for not just the $100 million aircraft, but also the lives of passengers and crew. Today, one would-be “pilot” will win that incredible experience in a United Airlines simulator training session – if they bid enough award miles.

Put your money away, but get out your United MileagePlus card because the current bid is over 200,000 miles with just one day left to bid.

The high bidder and a guest will fly to Denver on June 1, a day ahead of the training session, with flight, hotel and ground transportation included. Professional instructors will explain how it all works, allow you to pick the airport and weather for your flight and even let you try out the evacuation slide and the slide raft, just in case something should go wrong.

If you win, look forward to a Q & A with airline professionals, learning about safety and emergency procedures, two hours flying time in the flight simulator used to train pilots and a catered lunch.

See more at United Airlines.

[Flickr photo by by curimedia]