Pregnant passenger badgered into body scanner

by Tom Johansmeyer on

At Chicago‘s O’Hare International Airport, a pregnant passenger saw that she’d have to go through the full body scanner and instead asked for a TSA pat-down. Her request fell on deaf ears, she told The Consumerist, and was pushed into the decision to get scanned. According to the logic applied by the TSA folks, the passenger says, “Oh it is less than an ultrasound, and it’s really easy so just go through.”

She continues, on The Consumerist:

They repeated again for me to just go through the scanner and it would be done in 5 seconds. I was literally in tears because I wanted a pat-down instead of going through the machine, and I felt they declined me that option. No matter how much I pushed for a hand pat-down, they pushed harder for the machine.

Since the TSA is obligated to offer an alternative to the body scan, the pregnant passenger‘s request was legitimate. There’s no word on where the TSA staffers came up with the medical advice, but I’m not sure I’d take their word for it.

[photo by mahalie via Flickr]

Earn elite qualifying miles on Delta with Hilton stays

by Grant Martin on

It’s pretty common in the travel world to see alliances between airlines and hotels when it comes to earning miles and points; a few points exchanged here and there among giants is an easy way to keep brand loyalty and momentum among the masses.

Normal earnings, however, are almost always limited to redeemable miles — that is, mileage earned won’t count towards elite status or any tiered thresholds that the airline or hotel measures you against over the course of the year.

With this new promotion between Delta and Hilton, however, that’s different. Now, any stay at a Hilton property will earn the traveler upwards of 1000 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM), which means that you can earn part of your elite status on Delta without even flying. While these miles are only limited to 10k over the promotion period, this could be a good way to top up a few extra miles to reach 25k or 50k miles before year’s end — and you can do it without suffering the loss of leg room.

Sign up for the promo over at Hilton and don’t forget to make Delta your earnings partner.

[via Gary at View from the Wing]

Like Cheapflights, get $50 in airfare credit

by Grant Martin on

Interested in selling your Facebook soul for $50 off of your next flight? I am! The marketing folks over at Cheapflights and Vayama launched a campaign soliciting “likes” and shares late last month, in an effort to spread the word about their fare booking site across the web.

All that you have to do to earn $50 worth of credit redeemable from September 8 through October 5 is navigate over to their Facebook page, like the promotion and share it with your friends.

For the increased exposure that they get on the web, you’ll receive a $50 credit towards any purchased flight through the month of September — and from what we can tell, that applies to any flight that they pull up through their GDS.

This means that straight off the shelf, that $200 fare from Chicago to New York that you buy on American Airlines should be $150 after applying this voucher. Not bad for a small slice of your Facebook feed.

Who says money can’t buy friends?

[photo via Egil Fujikawa Nes on flickr]

Slide away at Singapore’s airport

by Julie Gerstein on

Airports are always looking for ways to make their visitor’s travel time experience more enjoyable. And travelers to Singapore’s Changi Airport now have a new way to pass the time: On a super-long indoor slide.

The Slide in Singapore Airports Terminal 3 is considered the longest slide in Singapore, topping out at 40 feet tall, and reaching speeds of around 19 miles per hour. (Scary!). The airport also contains an outdoor butterfly sanctuary, rooftop swimming pool and spa. Can we move in?

Rides cost a pretty penny — each swish down the slide is around $11. It may not be as practical as the dental services offered at Sao Paulo -Guarulhos International Airport, or as time-consuming as the free Sony Playstation consoles at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, but we’ll take it.

Bayless hits O’Hare with two new restaurants

by Julie Gerstein on

Dining at Chicago’s O’Hare airport just got bumped up a notch or two: master Mexican food chef Rick Bayless announced he’s opening two new restaurants in Windy City’s major airport this fall.

The restaurants will feature Bayless’s signature Mexican cuisine, and will be located in terminals 1 and 3 — not a bad way to kill a an hour or so while on an endless layover.

Bayless owns several restaurants in the Chicago area, including the much-lauded Frontera Grill, Topolobampo and most recently, Xoco, which opened in September 2009 in the city’s River North neighborhood. Bayless is a highly respected chef who competed against Bobby Flay on “Iron Chef America” in 2005, and most recently caught national attention when he competed and won Bravo TV’s “Top Chef Masters.”

[Image credit, Getty Images]