Australian “free” fares must be free from now on

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It’s a seductive little move: offer free flights, and then slap the passenger with taxes and additional fees. Tiger Airways just did it this month. It attracts potential customers, generates buzz … all the good stuff that an airline needs in this market. A new law, however, is going to bring all this to a close. Air carriers will have to disclose all the “extra” costs up fronts, and free, for once, will mean free.

And, it’s not just the airlines. This overhaul of consumer protection laws covers any company that sells travel – including hotels and town car companies. It could even rope in dive tour providers.

We can debate who loses with this development forever, but the winners are immediately apparent: anyone who voted for this law looks like a consumer rights champion. Beat up on the airlines, if you’re an Aussie elected official, and you’re really asking the voters to let you keep your job.

Flight attendant pleads guilty to bomb hoax

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It was a bad week for Australians, it seems. A naval officer was physically restrained on a flight to London. Not too long after, Matt Carney, a flight attendant from Melbourne, was sentenced to 18 months in jail in England. It was his own fault: he left not one but two(!) notes on a plane to London, “warning” of a bomb. Of course, he was working the flight.

The 23-year-old soon-to-be-former flight attendant is from Melbourne, but he’ll have a new home for a while. As soon as his Emirates Boeing 777 landed at Gatwick Airport, Carney was arrested. No explosives were discovered. One note was found in the lav, the other in the flight attendant’s luggage.

The note was “discovered” when Carney found wires in the lav. Though they weren’t connected to anything, the crew monitored this smallest of spaces. A passenger later found the note, which included: “We have the Taliban to thank for this.”

In pleading guilty to making a hoax threat (he denied endangering the safety of an aircraft), Carney said through his lawyer that he was stressed and tired. If Dubai to London wore him out, let’s see how he handles 18 months in the slammer.

Naval officer finishes flight in restraints

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Something happened between Melbourne, Australia and London, England. A Lieutenant Commander from Canberra “became rowdy” in the sky and “accosted” another passenger. The details of the encounter were not revealed, but the Sydney Morning Herald reports that it involved a scuffle, landed the sailor in restraints and ended with arrest when the plane touched down at Heathrow Airport.

During the flight, the crew was able to subdue the naval officer to keep him from further scuffling with other passengers. What the team in the sky began, Metropolitan Police finished, when they took the 57-year-old into custody in London.

Apparently, the alleged perp was said to be “behaving oddly.”

Tourism Australia TV ad a winner: See it and start packing

by Jamie Rhein on

“Sometimes we have to get lost to find ourselves. Sometimes we have to go on a walkabout.”

If some angelic looking child whispered this in my ear while I slept, I’d hop out of bed and head straight to Australia myself. This alluring bit of dialog is only part of what makes Tourism Australia’s ‘Come Walkabout’ TV ad brilliant. With Baz Luhrmann’s creative juices adding to the mix of the ad’s creators, there is almost a complete movie here in all of a minute and a half. In a way, it’s the poem version of the full length feature film Walkabout, but happier–much happier.

For it’s brilliance, the ad won the silver Clio Award as an entry in this prestige’s international advertising and design competition. It’s like the Oscars for commercials. According to this article in Scoop, the ad’s impact has already been felt, particularly by folks looking for adventure. I wonder how crowded that swimming hole surrounded by gorgeous scenery will get?

Ten Mountains For The Amateur Mountaineer

by Kraig Becker on

A lot of adventure travelers also happen to be armchair mountaineers. They follow the worlds top climbers as they make bold attempts on impossibly high and remote mountains in all corners of the globe, and they cheer them on as they stand at the top of the world. Many of them secretly wish they could go on their own expeditions to these distant peaks, but for a variety of reasons, they never have the opportunity.

It turns out there are a number of great climbs that can give you the feeling of your own big mountain expedition, without the big mountain expense and the need to give up several months of your life. Forbes Traveler has put together a list of ten such mountains each of which will challenge the heartiest of travelers, while delivering a true mountaineering experience.

Several of the mountains on the list are icons that are already popular with amateur climbers. Mountains like Mount Blanc on the border Italy and France. The 12,000 foot peak is considered the birth place of modern mountaineering, and is one of the classic climbs of Europe. The 19,340 foot Mt. Kilimanjaro is also considered a classic climb, taking trekkers to the highest point in Africa.

The other mountains on the list, while possibly lesser known, offer unique mountain experiences that are sure to thrill any adventure traveler and would-be mountaineer. These peaks can be climbed in a matter of days, rather than weeks, and they won’t leave your pocket book quite so empty as say an Everest expedition, which can cost upwards of $50,000 and require two months of time on the mountain.

So, if you hear the call of the mountains yourself, and you can’t resist the lure, strap on your crampons, grab your trekking poles and head to any one of these peaks for an adventure of your own.