American Express reports strong upcoming Holiday travel demand

by Scott Carmichael on

American Express researched the upcoming Holiday travel plans of 2,005 adults, and found some positive trends – 39% of Americans will be traveling this upcoming season – and 30% of them plan to spend more than they did last year.

Each traveler will spend between $460 (average) and $560 (affluents) on their trip. 19% of travelers will be away from home for Thanksgiving, 19% for Christmas and 6% for New Years eve.

Surprisingly, only 12% of Holiday travel takes people outside the U.S. and most trips are relatively short – which means 74% of travelers will be on the road. To boost the economy, 23% of travelers plan to go further than they did in recent years, 19% will spend more on their hotel and 8% will treat themselves to business or first class tickets.

Those that are not traveling have good reasons too – 30% can’t afford it, 11% has family visiting them and just 9% think the Holiday season is too stressful and hectic.

Top destinations for Holiday travel include Orlando, New York City, Miami and various cities in Hawaii. Of course, American Express reminds its cardholders that they can take a vacation using their Membership Rewards Points, and 11% of consumers in the research did just that – making their trip a very nice end of year bonus. When booked through American Express Travel, customers can earn double Membership Rewards points, room upgrades and more.

[Photo credit: cursedthing]

First craft lands at Spaceport America (Exclusive Video)

by Stephen Greenwood on

The future of travel is one step closer to taking off. Last Friday, Spaceport America officially dedicated its recently completed tarmac by welcoming two craft to land in front of a large crowd of Spaceport officials, future astronauts, and press.

Gadling was on-site to witness history as Virgin Galactic’s spaceship VSS Enterprise, carried by mothership White Knight II, made a dramatic flyover and landed on the enormous 200 ft wide by 10,000 foot long runway.

Situated under restricted airspace in the desert of New Mexico, the Spaceport is the first purpose-built commercial facility designed for vertically and horizontally launched spacecraft. The facility will serve as Virgin Galactic’s headquarters for the initial 20 years of operation, but aims to serve as a base for many types of commercial spacecraft as this new industry is formed.

For more information about Virgin Galactic’s approach to commercial spaceflight, head on over to their website. For a look at the event and interviews with Richard Branson, Governor Bill Richardson & a few future astronauts, watch our exclusive video below!


Traveler to be caned for overstaying visa in Singapore

by Grant Martin on

Tourist visas and their respective extensions are a matter of hot discussion among travelers in Southeast Asia. Many countries only issues visas for 30, 60 or 90 days, but the long term traveler often has reason to stay beyond. As a result, many simply cross the border into another country, stay for a bit and turn right around, earning another tourist visa on the inbound journey. Some even riskier folks choose to stay past their visa date and simply face any punishment that the state issues forth. Usually, that penalty is minor.

That is unless you’re Kamari Charlton, a US citizen who recently overstayed his visa in Singapore and who has now been sentenced to three lashings with a cane. Mr. Charlton, who stayed nearly six months longer than his visa allowed, was in the small Asian city state while his wife was on a medical visa. On departure he was detained pending investigation of assorted fiscal adventures — when it was then revealed that his visa was past due.

The plot further thickens with Mr. Charlton’s claim that he was discriminated against in the ruling — a similar case with an Asian relative was dismissed with a fine.

Needless to say, this serves as a pretty extreme reminder to mind your visa’s due date when entering a country. The consequences could be stronger than you think.

Two Federal Air Marshals escape Brazil after in-flight assault charge

by Scott Carmichael on

During a recent flight from Houston to Rio de Janeiro, two U.S. Federal Air Marshals were requested to assist the crew with an unruly passenger. According to crew reports, an intoxicated female passenger tried to start serving herself more alcohol from the galley.

The air marshals approached the lady, and she struggled with them. At one point, she bit a marshal, so she was handcuffed and placed under arrest.

Upon arrival at Rio de Janerio airport, the duo attempted to turn the woman over to local authorities, but they themselves ended up being arrested for assault. As it turns out, the woman they had arrested is the wife of a prominent Brazilian judge.

Their passports were confiscated, and the two were not permitted to leave the country. At this point, they could have waited for the diplomats behind the scenes to fix the situation, but they opted to flee the county on alternative travel documents.

According to CNN, the duo believed the charges against them were retaliatory and decided it was in their best interests to leave the country as soon as possible. Arresting the marshals violates the Tokyo Convention – which allows aircraft operators on international flights to restrain passengers “who are committing or about to commit an offence liable to interfere with the safety of persons or property on board or who are jeopardising good order and discipline“.

The whole incident will probably be fixed by diplomats at the State Department, and I’m sure someone will be taking a very close look at the Judge behind the charges so see whether they were warranted or whether someone overstepped their rights. Unfortunately for the women – being the wife of a powerful judge does not mean you have a free pass to create havoc on a plane.

Full body scanners arrive at JFK – TSA head doesn’t want to use them

by Scott Carmichael on

Earlier this week, JFK Airport in New York plugged in their first batch of full body imaging machines. The director of the Department of Homeland Security had many good things to say about them, but when the time came to actually show them off to the media, she handed the floor to some brave volunteers. In a real case of “do as I say, not as I do”, Janet Napolitano really only wanted to talk about them, not actually use them.

The new scanners will be used for all passengers selected for secondary screening, but those passengers can decline and be subjected to an enhanced pat-down. Ever since the first scanners were implemented, passengers have been told over and over again that the images will never be misused, and that images won’t be stored. With those rules in place, I’m not entirely sure why the head of the department that installed them wouldn’t want to show them off herself.

Of course, it could have something to do with the real fear that the radiation is considered unsafe, or that her colleagues working the monitors may see a side of her she doesn’t really feel comfortable sharing. She wouldn’t be the first government employee to be mocked for something shown on the revealing images.

Now they are showing up at more and more airports, you may have been asked to go through a virtual strip show -were you comfortable with that?

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[Photo credit: Getty Images]