Would You Play A Game Of ‘Departure Roulette’?

by Libby Zay on

After arriving at the airport, would you be willing to drop your travel plans to head somewhere else? Heineken is daring travelers at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York to do just that.

At the push of a button, travelers could be whisked away to Bali instead of Branson. Sure, it’s just an advertising ploy to promote Heineken Dropped, a YouTube series that has the beer company sending travelers to random destinations, but it got us thinking about the pros and cons of spontaneous travel. It’d be fun to discover somewhere unexpected — like the man above, who is being sent to the island of Cyprus instead of going on a six-week vacation with his grandparents to Vienna, Austria — but what if you packed completely wrong for the trip?

If you want to read more stories about spontaneous travel, AFAR magazine’s Spin the Globe feature sends writers to randomly chosen destinations. Here’s some recent features from Gadling contributors Don George and David Farley.

[via Adweek.com]

Royal Baby’s Arrival To Be Celebrated At Heathrow

by Chris Owen on

London’s Heathrow airport has plans for a very special “arrival” of the royal baby. The first 1,000 arriving passengers in each terminal after the royal birth, whenever that may be, will be informed of the future heir’s birth with complimentary bespoke t-shirts and British gift boxes including Twinings Tea and Walkers shortbread biscuits.

Departing passengers will also receive the gift boxes in the departures lounges as a farewell, giving them a piece of Britain to take home. Heathrow representatives, collectively speaking over 40 languages, will be on hand to make everyone feel right at home.

While the royal baby will surely trump other comings and goings at Heathrow, the first British Airways A380 was also a recent celebrated arrival. See the video below.

8 Productive Things To Do On Your Next Layover

by Libby Zay on

The next time you have a layover, don’t waste hours on end playing Candy Crush. There are plenty more productive things you can do with your time. In fact, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport now has a kiosk where you can learn CPR. How’s that for useful?

If you’re not passing through DFW, here are some other ideas for constructive ways to pass the time:

  1. Learn a New Language: You won’t master Spanish while waiting for the next flight to Panama, but thanks to a slew of language-learning apps, you can at least practice.
  2. Get Some Exercise: This doesn’t mean you need to roll out a yoga mat in public. Use the break from the cramped airline seat to walk around the terminal or do some simple stretches.
  3. Get a Haircut: You might think it’s cool to look like a homeless person after your backpacking trip through Southeast Asia, but you’re probably the only one. Take advantage of the barbershops and salons that can now be found in many airports.
  4. Reorganize Your Bag: Now that you’re not throwing things in your bag in a packing frenzy, figure out how to reorganize and make it easier to find everything you brought. Now you’ll have room for souvenirs!
  5. Write, Read or Plan: Send a postcard to a friend. Rework that future award-winning travel narrative. Read all those parts of your guidebook you skipped before (unless you hate your guidebook, that is). Plan your next move. Do your taxes. Whatever you choose, just do something.
  6. Get a Drink: If you don’t agree this is “productive,” buy me a beer and we’ll talk.
  7. Write an Airline Review: This one’s for those unplanned layovers. Use that time to let the airline — and everyone else on the Internet — know about your missed connection.
  8. Call Your Mom: Seriously. You should do this more often.

British Airways Tests Electronic Luggage Tags

by Meg Nesterov on

It’s 2013: we can carry hundreds of books on a pocket-sized device, video chat anywhere in the world and order nearly anything to be delivered to our door. So why do we still use paper luggage tags and rely on outmoded technology to track our missing bags? British Airways has teamed up with Designworks to test an electronic luggage tag this month that could eliminate disposable paper tags and allow smartphone users to track their bags. The reusable bag tag would automatically update after check-in with your flight information, saving time to print and attach new tags with every flight. Now if only they could prevent bags from being lost at London’s infamous black hole Heathrow Airport.

Smartphone Technology Getting Closer To What Travelers Want

by Chris Owen on

As smartphone technology continues to advance, travelers are being offered more connectivity choices. Making calls, sending text, voice or video messages and surfing the Internet is becoming commonplace almost anywhere on the planet. Now, pricing is coming in line too as service providers realize what it is we want when traveling.

“Our mission is for all travelers to have the freedom to use their mobile devices the same way as at home when traveling abroad, without having to worry about chokingly high mobile bills,” says Joacim Boivie, CEO and Founder, HolidayPhone, a leading solutions provider of roaming free mobile Internet, voice and text services for international travelers in a Breaking Travel News report.

Like Boingo, the worldwide connectivity company with over 700,000 Wi-Fi hot spots in over 100 countries, HolidayPhone also enables connection. Unlike Boingo, which automatically communicates then connects with local hot spots on your behalf, enabling connection using only an installed app, the HolidayPhone method is a twist on the SIM card pay-as-you-go trick that has travelers buying cards for each country they visit.Providing an easy, inexpensive way to call and access mobile Internet while abroad without roaming fees, HolidayPhone’s travel SIM cards are prepaid and sent in advance. Before departure, U.S. users forward calls to a provided U.S. landline number. On the plane, they insert the HolidayPhone SIM card in their smartphone. Landing at the destination, their phone is ready to use, at local rates.

Here is more on how HolidayPhone works: