The ultimate pre-wedding party: Off & Away offers $22,500 bachelor / bachelorette auction

by McLean Robbins on

Ever wonder what happens to the palatial pads used in MTV’s “The Real World” after the season is over? In at least a few instances, they’ve been turned back into their original hotel suites, available for show devotees or high-rollers to rent by the night.

Luxury hotel deal purveyor Off & Away is offering their highest-priced acution to date with the ME Cancun suite apartment that housed The Real World: Cancun‘s housemates during the 22nd season.

The three-night package includes accommodations in the Real World suite for up to ten people.

The suite features four bedrooms, all with ocean views, two Jacuzzis, three private balconies, a full kitchen, six showers and six bathrooms, a private laundry room, computer, iPod docking stations, Wii and Rock Band equipment, massage chairs, pool table, and a jellyfish acquarium.

Suite amenities include:

  • Round-trip airport transfers
  • Champagne on arrival
  • Personalized en-suite check-in
  • Tropical fruit upon arrival
  • Buffet breakfast is included for all registered Suite ME guests
  • Complimentary non-alcoholic beverages throughout the stay
  • Twenty-four hour room service
  • One complimentary international newspaper each day
  • Personal staff of Aura-Experience manager, housekeeper and chef* (chef available upon request for additional cost)

Valued at $22,500, the auction package is part of their romance themed “Whole Lotta Love” series, combining romantic wedding, engagement, honeymoon and bachelor/bachelorette packages. The auction series will begin on February 11 and run through February 14.

Off & Away operates on a different model than most flash-sale sites. Members buy bids ($1 each) and increase the price of a given room, suite or experience in small increments, 10 to 15 cents at a time. Each bid also adds a few seconds to the countdown clock. The top bidder when the clock reaches zero wins the prize, and unused bids can be applied as a credit towards Off & Away’s preferred network of partner hotels. We’re big fans of this model, which, while time consuming, can allow users to win luxury hotel experiences at upwards of 90% off, a significantly larger discount than many other flash sale sites.

To join Off & Away, click here.

Ubiquisys Attocell could enable roaming-free international cellphone calls

by Dana Murph on

Femtocells aren’t new. For the past few years, they have trickled out onto Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint using various names, and while they’re perfect for those who have subpar cellphone coverage in their own home, they aren’t great for avid travelers dealing with international roaming. If you’re unfamiliar with the technology, it works as such: a femtocell is a miniature cell tower, of sorts, which connects to your home broadband Internet connection. This basically creates a cell tower in your home, and it routes your calls out through the Internet instead of via the nearest “real” tower.

Unfortunately, all of the US carriers have locked their femtocells to work only in America, and even when you change locations domestically, most require you to update your address in your online profile before it can work elsewhere. There’s a GPS beacon attached to all of them, which works as the ball-and-chain for travelers. The ultimate femtocell would be the one that you could take anywhere, and plug into any Internet connection, in order to have five bars of local cell service anywhere in the world. It would all but eliminate roaming fees while you were chatting in your overseas office or hotel room. But wouldn’t it be even nicer if you could take that idea, and make it mobile? That’s exactly what Ubiquisys is doing with its newest product, the Attocell. Read on for more details.This USB dongle is considered a “personal femtocell,” cramming the technology that’s usually found in a router-sized box into a single USB adapter. The setup couldn’t be simpler: plug the Attocell into a laptop that has an Internet connection (for example, this would work through a laptop out in a French coffee shop with Wi-Fi freely available), and then use the connection it creates to make a phone call via the web. It’s sort of like Skype, except you’re using your actual phone number, which is far more convenient.

The company hasn’t coughed up pricing or availability details yet, but should do so next month with a formal unveiling at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. We’re told that a number of carrier talks are already in progress, but we have to worry about what fees (if any) will be tacked on. The ultimate goal would be to buy this adapter and then use it without limits for free, but it’s unclear if the carriers involved would let that fly. If they charge too much, it will end up simpler to just make a call while roaming, but we’re crossing our fingers that it won’t go down like that. This could very well be the answer to a lot of prayers from those who travel overseas routinely and have to swallow massive roaming bills each time they return.

[Via Engadget]

Craigslist user scams New York Times writer in London

by Elizabeth Seward on

Being victimized by internet scam artists isn’t hearsay–it’s happening all over, to all kinds of people, and all of the time. New York Times writer, Seth Kugel, published his personal testimony yesterday–a testimony of innocent trip-planning gone wrong.

While organizing his pending trip to London, Kugel found himself on Craigslist looking for attractive sublets in good neighborhoods. When he came across a Notting Hill studio available for a seemingly fair price (around $73 a night), he emailed the address in the ad and was responded to right away.

When the respondent requested that Kugel wire the money directly to his bank account, red flags should have been waving wildly in his face. But in Kugel’s defense, he’d recently lived in Brazil for two years; a country he claims utilizes wire transfers for even everyday expenses, like medical bills.

But he was duped. And that’s really all there is to it. Myriad are the ways in which internet scammers trick users out of their money, but it sure seems like accommodations, be them temporary or ostensibly permanent, are among scam artists’ favorite lures.

The good news? Kugel pieced together an insightful and resourceful list of ways in which we all can better avoid being scammed. You should read it here.

[photo by Elizabeth Seward]

Best Tumblr Travel Blogs to Follow

by Elizabeth Seward on

Everything changed for me when I discovered Tumblr. It was a little over a year ago. I found myself perusing blog after blog, following them, and finding myself fascinated with my own little dashboard each day. Like a mix between Twitter and Google Reader, I’d found my favorite place to hole up on the internet and it was customized specifically for me. In no time, I found myself inspired enough by the Tumblr community to hurl myself into a project for 2010–a project that involved me releasing 52 songs throughout the year; one per week.

Now that the obsessive project has come to an end… I still love Tumblr. And of all Tumblr blogs I look forward to checking in with each time I get a chance, including those featuring brooding vintage fashion models, the Tumblr Travel blogs are conclusively my favorite. If you’re into travel, namely brilliant travel photos and engaging travel stories, you’ll addict yourself to Tumblr. My favorite travel blogs are always changing–it’s easy to discover new sources of inspiration on Tumblr. But here’s my current top 5 (in the order they come to mind).

1. Landscape, Lifescape
Best for: jaw-dropping photos that’ll make you want to go everywhere and see everything.

2. Three Guys Heading West
Best for: from-the-road pictures brought to you by, you guessed it, three guys heading west.

3. Wiseash
Best for: NYC moments captured as they happen.

4. Tiny World
Best for: Cool videos highlighting cities across the globe.

5. The World We Live In
Best for: Beautiful and emotionally-charged photos from all over.

[photo by Elizabeth Seward]

Internet at sea: It’s not just the price to worry about

by Chris Owen on

When we think of using the Internet on a cruise the first word that usually comes to mind is “price.” Using the Internet can be expensive on board cruise ships. But of equal or greater concern should be security. Identity thieves are everywhere, even at sea, waiting for us to slip up and give them the opportunity to invade our privacy. Here are some tips for being secure using the Internet at sea.

Using your laptop
When using a wireless network on a cruise, first make sure you are actually using the ship’s network by asking a crew member for the specific names of the ship’s legitimate networks so you recognize them when you connect.

Anytime you enter a password, even for web mail or Face book through what appears to be the ship’s login screen, verify that you have a secure connection in the browser address bar. Look for https:// (the “s” is for secure) and the locked security padlock icon.

Better yet, change your password before leaving home to one just for the cruise. Your booking number is not a bad idea but not your cabin number where would-be thieves on board could find you later is not. Be sure to change back after you get home.

Internet Cafe computers
“If you’re using a computer in a ship’s Internet cafe, take extra care with your login and password information” says JustAskGemalto.com, a company specializing in digital security. They advise organizing for security protection before traveling, using one-time passwords, smart cards or USB tokens for added security.

Also, be sure there is virus software on those Internet cafe machines and that it works. Look for a familiar name like McAfee or Symantec and no red flags or alerts that something is wrong before using one of their machines.

Be sure to clear the “Remember My Passwords” check box if it appears and when you’re done with your Internet session, clear your browsing history at Internet Explorer/Tools/Internet Options/Delete Browsing History.

Oh, and about that pricey Internet package? You’ll probably have to just live with that. But for making cell phone calls, there’s a new plan from AT&T that can help with that. Called “Cruise Ship Passport“, the new plan for AT&T customers discounts rates at sea and offers 15 minutes of voice and 15 messages (text, picture or video) along with a reduced overage rate.

Flickr photo by Jose Goulao