Last weekend, on Easter Sunday, San Franciscans took to the streets for the annual big wheel race. The BYOBW (Bring Your Own Big Wheel) race takes place annually on Easter at Potrero Hill in San Francisco. It is a hilariously splendid event. Full grown humans dress up as luchadors, superheros, chickens, and even Michael Jackson and take to the hill on a variety of wheeled contraptions, including the eponymous big wheel. This video is a collection of some of the epic fails and crashes from the 2011 race. For a gallery of the many strange entrants on their racing wheels, click here.
North America
Travel through North America by country:
Travel through North America by U.S. state:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Travel through North America by popular city:
Acapulco, Austin, Boston, Cabo San Lucas, Charlotte, NC, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, Memphis, Mexico City, New Orleans, NYC, Ontario, Orlando, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Quebec, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan, San Jose, Washington, D.C.
Travel through North America by popular things to do:
Alcatraz, Broadway, Central Park, Disneyland, Disneyworld, Golden Gate Bridge, Graceland, Grand Canyon, Pearl Harbor, Statue of Liberty, Times Square
Travel group promoting Trusted Traveler Program
Should frequent flyers and business travelers get through airports faster than everybody else? Yes! says the U.S. Travel Association who is trying to convince lawmakers that big airport users need special attention.
“Travelers encounter much hassle at our nation’s airports, and it’s time for Congress to act,” said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. “A one size fits all approach to security is inefficient. If Congress implements a trusted traveler program, we’ll see more Americans traveling – and that will create more American jobs.
Called the Trusted Traveler program, the idea is to have those who go travel extensively go through an extensive background check and basically be certified safe to fly. At the airport, the Trusted Traveler would zip through security and have a minimum of checks.
The “Be Trusted” campaign is a national grassroots campaign advocating Congressional implementation of a trusted traveler program. The campaign will include advertisements in newspapers and airports, social media, events at airports, an advocacy website and toll-free number to connect travelers directly with members of Congress, and an online petition.
Flickr photo by redjar
Airline bumps get more profitable
Have you ever been bumped from a flight? Taken vouchers to involuntarily skip a leg of your journey through life? Told that you were removed from your flight to the Westminster Dog Show, forcing Bacon the Norwich Terrier to miss his best in breed event? Me either. We are the lucky 99.99%.
Some are not so lucky. According to Brett Snyder at CNN, 65,000 individuals were involuntarily bumped from flights in 2010 due to overbooking. That is a lot of angry people for sure, but actually only represents 1 in 10,000 air passengers. Regardless of the size of this small minority of travelers, the Department of Transportation heard their shrieks of anger and decided to significantly increase compensation awarded to “the bumped.” Being unlucky is about to get much more lucrative.With the old rules, an airline that delivered you to your destination within two hours of your original arrival time was obligated to refund the value of your one-way ticket up to $400. The new rule calls for double the value of your one-way ticket, for up to $650. For delays longer than two hours, the airline is now required to refund you four times the value of the original ticket, up to $1300. That amount is up from a maximum of $800 under the old rules.
So why do people get bumped in the first place? The majority of airlines sell more tickets to every flight than they have seats. They want their flights full, and since some people do not show up to fly, the airlines overbook to ride the line of maximum profitability.
Of course, an increase in fares will likely piggyback this increased compensation scheme. Since airlines must now account for these increased overbooking penalties in their profitability algorithm, they may sell less seats per flight. This could increase the price per seat marginally.
Who knows? Maybe you will make out like a bandit from this increase in bumping compensation. I would definitely not mind pocketing $1300 for arriving three or so hours late to my destination. What do you think?
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flickr image via Andrew Morrell photography
Brooklyn gets its groove on with new Hotel BPM
Brooklyn is becoming the new hot-spot for New York hotels. Starwood is set to open its 50th Aloft hotel in Brooklyn on June 1, and now comes word that a new boutique hotel, Hotel BPM, will open later this summer.
Hotel BPM, named for the music term “beats per minute,” is the brainchild behind hip-hop deejay DJ Bijal. The boutique-style property will feature 75 guest rooms, environmentally-conscious amenities and a DJ Bijal-selected soundtrack that will stream through the hotel’s public spaces.
“As a deejay, I’ve had the opportunity to travel often,” says DJ Bijal, Visionary and Founder of Hotel BPM, in a statement. “This hotel is the culmination of the best hotels I visited when I was on the road: BPM will offer great value, great comfort, and great style.”
Guests of Hotel BPM will find environmentally-friendly amenities including Gilchrist & Soames BeeKind bath products. Each room has 40-inch HDTVs; laptop-size safes; personal Keurig coffeemakers and free Wi-Fi. A lounge off the lobby area will serve lite-bites and cocktails, and there is also guest parking and a fitness center for use.
The price for a room at Hotel BPM start at $160 per night for a King room and $180 per night for Doubles. In comparison, the new Starwood Aloft Brooklyn offers room rates from $195 this summer.
The verdict: New York travelers wanting a bit of cost savings without compromising room quality and comfort might consider trekking it over the bridge to trendy Brooklyn for a night.
Virgin America’s flight for Chicago challenge
In May, Virgin America will begin flying to Chicago O’Hare from Los Angeles and San Francisco. To celebrate their service to an airport traditionally dominated by legacy carriers, Virgin is rolling out a social media contest to entice travelers to “put the smack down on everyday air travel.”
The contest invites Chicagoans to submit a photo or video via the Virgin America Facebook fan page that will be voted on by fellow Facebookers. Entrants will receive a two for one offer on the new routes, but the top ten vote-champions will receive a whole lot more.
The votes will be tallied to crown the top five videos and top five pictures. The winners of the vote will receive complimentary air travel for two from Chicago to Los Angeles or San Francisco on a competitor airline and return airfare on Virgin America’s inaugural flight to Chicago. The winners will be challenged to contrast the stale environs in the legacy cabins of the competition to Virgin’s neon aesthetics, clean lines, and personal touch screens.The winners will also be put up for three nights at either the posh Mondrian hotel in Los Angeles or the modern Clift hotel in San Francisco. For the cherry on top, Sir Richard Branson will welcome the winners on the red carpet for their return to Chicago O’Hare airport.
So get creative and upload some shots. Who knows, maybe come May you will be soaking in the pool at L.A.’s Mondrian wondering just how your life got so sweet. The contest ends on May 11. Virgin America will donate $5 per entry to Stand up for Cancer.