Air France And KLM Next Up For International In-Flight Wi-Fi

by McLean Robbins on

One of our biggest pet peeves about long-haul international flights of late has been the lack of Wi-Fi available on board. We can use our in-flight Internet from New York to California, but the minute we head off the coast, we’re out of luck.

The expense of offering this satellite Wi-Fi has proven prohibitive for airlines that see low usage and high costs to outfit planes with new technology. International Wi-Fi isn’t impossible – just infrequently available.

Lufthansa, for example, already offers this service on many of their flights, Qantas has trialed the program between Los Angeles and Australia, and United is set to roll out the service later this year.

Now AirFrance and KLM airlines have joined with Panasonic Avionics to roll out a program of their own. They will begin offering in-flight connectivity trials on long-haul flights beginning in early 2013.

This will enable travelers to stay connected with the world through text messages or emails, and allow for an Internet connection and ultimately live broadcasts of TV programs. On the specially designed in-flight website, a broad range of services will be offered for free, like latest news, TV channels, relevant airline and destination information and unique offers of online magazines.

“Being permanently connected is now part of our customers’ daily lifestyles. This trial run is the first step of Air France’s and KLM’s long-term strategy to offer in-flight connectivity solutions across our long-haul fleet,” said Christian Herzog, senior vice president of marketing for Air France and KLM.

The trial phase will be conducted over the year 2013 on two Boeing 777-300s, operated by each airline. During this period, travelers will be able to hook up to the Internet via their Wi-Fi enabled smartphone, laptop or tablet PC at a fixed rate, as well as use their mobile phone for SMS or email, whatever their travel class.

It sounds like a great program, and one we hope to see more of on other airlines in the future.

[Flickr via slasher-fun]

Play The Stock Market At The Waldorf-Astoria

by McLean Robbins on

As the Facebook stock continues to end the day in the red, summer bar goers can take advantage of betting against the social network in NYC. The Waldorf-Astoria’s Bull & Bear Steakhouse is now offering cocktail discounts based on the stock’s performance that day.

How does this work? Basically, the worse the stock does, the better for your drink prices. A one to five percent drop in stock means $1 off $5 off your evening drink, cocktails like Strawberry Caipirinhas and the Old “Waldorf” Fashioned. For example: a 1.25 percent drop in stock that day means a $1.25 discount on cocktails. Of course, there’s a catch. To take advantage of the offer, patrons also must show they “Like” the Bull & Bear Facebook page.

Known as one of the leaders in New York’s cocktail culture, The Waldorf-Astoria and Bull & Bear’s mixologists offer an array of signature drinks including the Strawberry Caipirinha, Silver Coin Margarita and the Old “Waldorf” Fashioned.

Looks like this is a time to bet against Facebook – assuming you don’t own stock, that is.

Off-The-Beaten-Path Latvia Nominated The Most Beautiful Country In The World

by Jessica Festa on

When many people are asked what they think the most beautiful country in the world is, they respond with popular favorites like Greece, New Zealand or Brazil. While these countries appear to be among the top in the world, a contest sponsored by First Choice is showing there are also some off-the-beaten-path destinations that many people find aesthetically pleasing.

The contest, called “Conflict of Pinterest,” asked Twitter and Pinterest users to put in their two cents on the topic. While Twitter users voted by submitting a tweet, Pinterest users created eye-catching boards for their country of choice.

So far, the top 10 countries in order are:

1) Latvia
2) Mexico
3) Turkey
4) Indonesia
5) United Kingdom
6) Italy
7) New Zealand
8) Brazil
9) India
10) Canada

To explore the votes more closely via an interactive map and cast your vote, click here.

[photo via Algirdas]

Heat-Map Shows Travelers Most And Least Frequented Destinations

by Jessica Festa on

Have you ever wondered what countries are the most and least frequented by travelers? Estonian tech firm Bluemoon has taken data from the photo sharing service Panoramio and created a heat-map based on photos. The map details which countries are the most visited (in yellow), which have a medium amount of visitors (in red) and which are explored the least (in blue). A grey area signifies that no photos have been taken there using Panoramio.

As you can see from the map, Europe is a major tourist destination, as is much of the east and west coasts of the United States and Japan. Certain regions that seem to receive few visitors include Mongolia, India and Australia. Moreover, many areas in Canada and Africa remain unexplored.

They’ve also created a map of the “world’s most interesting remote places.” It only looks at destinations away from cities with remote tourist attractions. Some examples from the data show the Greek Islands are touristy (red), the Amazon Basin has almost no tourism (green) and Ladakh falls in the middle (yellow).

For a bigger view of the map, click here.

Olympic Travel: Where Are Visitors Coming From?

by McLean Robbins on

{To view a larger version of the Olympic Travel Infographic, click here}

Going to the 2012 Olympics? I’m sure it comes as no shock that you’re far from alone in this travel wish. But who will be traveling with you? New data shows just where Olympic travelers are coming from.

Forward Data analyzed bookings and air traffic reservations, which we kindly synthesized, above.Key findings from the research include:

  • You’ll see many, many travelers arriving on July 26, a 143% increase over the year before on that date.
  • US and German travelers were the most likely to book early, but unlikely country Estonia has the largest increase in visitors to London year-over-year.
  • A large increase from Latin America and the Caribbean nations can also be seen, including Jamaica, which has a four-fold increase, and Brazil (three-fold increase).
  • Visitors from Brussels, Amsterdam and Paris will be likely entering the country via rail, not air.
  • Londoners are 11% more likely to stay in the city during the Olympics period than they did in 2011.