Open skies agreement starts to bear fruit: Delta/KLM/Air France routes to open

by Grant Martin on

Much of the hullabaloo about the Open Skies Agreement between the United States and the EU died down after consumers realized that prices won’t be drastically affected. Despite speculation that 10£ transatlantic tickets were on the horizon, marketing and the low-cost-carrier airline network have a long way to go before we see anything like that.

Another benefit to the OSA though is the available collaboration among carriers for landing slots. Alliances such as Skyteam and Oneworld now can substitute their partner flights in place of older, less used routes. For example, if British Airways’ LHR-JFK flight isn’t doing so hot, they can cancel the slot and give it to Cathay Pacific for LHR-HKG.

Why do we care? This means alliances can shuffle volume between EU and transatlantic sectors and create more routes across the pond. In the most recent venture, Delta has teamed up with Air France and KLM, permitting Delta to use several of Air France’s hubs across Europe. Directly, this means more non-stop flights from the US to EU. I would venture that more supply means lower prices, but with the volatility in the airline market these days, who knows?

Gadling’s European Guide to Drunken Street Hot Dogs

by Grant Martin on

If there is one consistency among the bar scenes in every country I’ve been to it has got to be post drinking pilgrimage for late night food. Whether this is the 24 hour pizza place over on Broadway or the gyro stand under the bridge, nothing hits the spot after a hard night of drinkin’ like three hot dogs, four plates of poutine and a bottle of Powerade.

Over the past year or so I’ve had the opportunity to sample some of the international post-bar hot dog scene. All in the name of Gadling research, my friends. No, I haven’t sampled every street hot dog outside of every bar in every country, but I’d say I’ve had enough ground pig insides to list a few favorites.

  • Third Place: Prague. The standard. The Czech version of late night eats comes from the numerous permanent stands they have scattered between New and Old Town. The dogs are huge, condiments are-a-plenty and the price is a steal.
  • Second Place: Paris (above). The gastronomique. Quality grilled onions and peppers plus delectable core materials knocks this Parisian snack up an order of magnitude on the delicious chart.
  • First Place: Stockholm. The thunderhaus.Three words, ladies and gentlemen, deep fried onions. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier, but the addition if cronions to hot dogs rockets them off the delicious spectrum. I could eat these puppies for breakfast lunch and dinner.

For the record, do not try the late night food in Moscow. You’ll be sorry.

More Fare Sales from the Mainland to Hawaii

by Grant Martin on

In case you haven’t been reading your travelzoo/orbitz junk mail for the past few days, there is a pretty serious fare sale going on from the mainland out to Hawaii. Availability has been spotty over the weekend and a few people got some 250$ tickets from Chicago and Detroit out to Honolulu for October and November (sorry I was gone this weekend and I couldn’t tell you guys earlier).

Well, this morning a new chapter of the fare sale unfolds, with United releasing seats out of Atlanta (see below) through mid-March of next year. Blackout dates are generally Friday-Monday and it looks like fares are bottoming out at about 320$. You’ll have to fiddle around with dates to get the right price; try using a flex search on your favorite search engine to find an appropriate time. I’m picking up 322$ on UA from 16-22 Jan right not on Kayak. Remember, MLK day is Jan 21.

United has a 24 hour cancellation policy so you can book early and ask questions later. And as I say every time a secret sale happens, book early. This fare won’t last long.

Update: word on the street is that Delta is launching a similar sale from WAS in a few hours. Keep your eyes peeled.

Update2: Also good from Salt Lake City and Phoenix.

Yard Sales, Parisian Style

by Grant Martin on

Twice a year, residents of Levallois-Perret, a small community on the outskirts of Paris, explode onto the street in a veritable orgasm of yard sales. I came down out of my sister’s apartment last week to discover about twenty square blocks of solid second-hand mayhem, complete with food carts, inflatable Harry Potter moon walks and general French glee.

Naturally, the locals have frenchified the entire operation. When I purchased a set of teacups from these two guys they were in the middle of lunch — with wine and cloth napkins. On the way back when I snapped this picture they were smoking cigars with cognac. It doesn’t really create the same mental image as when you think of an American yard sale, does it?

Among the normal bric-a-brac one can expect at a second-hand sale are a high volume of espresso glasses, copper cookware, wine implements and other vintage, European wares. But the best part about the entire experience is picking up something truly unique to bring home — nothing’s worse than picking up a totally sweet European sweater at the London H&M to find out that they already have stores littered around the US where you can buy the same thing for 1/2 the price.

But as the French verb directly translates, “souvenir” is “to remember”. Either way you reach enlightenment, via yard sales or chain stores, vous allez souvenir.

Skybus to Cut Flights and Add More

by Jamie Rhein on

Rats! Be still my heart. I just heard that Skybus is canceling its Columbus to Bellingham flights starting in the spring.

I wrote that line last Thursday after I heard it on one of my local news stations, but I couldn’t get a confirmation if this was indeed fact. Skybus wasn’t talking on their website and whatever I did find, was a vague might. Today, it’s official. My husband even called me downstairs with the news. “No more flights to Bellingham,” he said, pointing to the headlines on the front page of the paper. I, of course, went into my, “Oh, I knew that,” mode.

What a disappointment. Besides Bellingham’s flights ceasing in March, so is the San Diego route and one of the LA flights. Triple darn. My husband was getting ready to book a cheap flight to San Diego to see his cousin. I do have to say, that if you plan ahead, you can get a flight to Seattle for almost as cheap as our Bellingham flight was this summer. By the time we were finished paying for luggage, two beverages and priority boarding, I think we were up to $360 a piece. I’d rather pay a little more for the service and not have to be at the airport with a child before the crack of dawn.

Skybus has a new round of $10 tickets through May on all their locations, but we can’t make up our minds where we want to go or when. It’s too hard making decisions so early in the morning and by the time the caffiene has kicked in, it’ll be too late for us, but if you’re awake, go for it. There are more flights to Ft. Meyers, Florida and Greensboro, North Carolina now, and you can fly directly from Portsmouth, New Hampshire without going through Columbus on a few of the flights.