Expedia suspends sale of American Airlines flights [BREAKING]

by Tom Johansmeyer on

I just heard from a spokesman for Expedia a few minutes ago that it has suspended the sale of flights by American Airlines. Expedia revealed the following to Gadling:

“We have been unable to reach an agreement with American Airlines due to American Airlines’ new commercial strategy that we believe is anti-consumer and anti-choice. American Airlines is attempting to introduce a new direct connect model that will result in higher costs and reduced transparency for consumers, making it difficult to compare American Airlines’ ticket prices and options with offerings by other airlines. American Airlines’ direct connect model is of questionable, if any, benefit to travelers, would be costly to build and maintain and would compromise travel agents’ ability to provide travelers with the best selection.

“As a result, the sale of American Airlines flights on our website has been suspended. We remain open to doing business with American Airlines on terms that are satisfactory to Expedia and do not compromise our ability to provide consumers with the products and services they need.

“We cannot support efforts that we believe are fundamentally bad for travelers. With or without American Airlines’ inventory, we have a robust supply base and broad array of choices for our customers and we continue to offer hundreds of flight options for the routes served by American Airlines.”

This follows Expedia‘s decision to hide fares by American Airlines in its search results and American’s move to pull out of Orbitz. Also, Delta has removed its inventory from CheapOair, OneTravel and Bookit.

New Years Resolution: Add more adventure to your life

by Kraig Becker on

Now that 2010 is officially behind us, and another new year has gotten underway, it’s time to get those annual resolutions in order. Along with the usual vows to lose weight and exercise more, I have one other recommendation, one that is simple in premise but opens up a host of possibilities, especially for travelers. In 2011, lets all make a New Years Resolution to put a little more adventure into our lives.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Adding more “adventure” sounds like a risky proposition. After all, the very word adventure conjures up images of Indiana Jones hacking his way through dense jungles, machete in hand, while fending off hostile natives and giant snakes – not to mention malaria. But that’s only one, albeit extreme, vision of what an adventure can be. The trick is to define what the word means to you, and then pursue a few adventures of your own.

For example, my 2010 adventures saw me trekking through the Himalaya to Everest Base Camp, riding jet skis in the Florida Keys, and spotting wolves in Yellowstone, amongst others. For some Gadling readers those probably sound like fun, exciting activities, but for others they likely don’t seem all that enjoyable at all. You see, we all have our own definition of what adventure means to us, and what works for me, doesn’t necessarily work for you.

Perhaps your idea of an adventure is sampling new and unusual foods while exploring a South American country. Maybe it’s traveling through Europe by train without any kind of pre-set itinerary or cycling through Asia along the ancient Silk Road. Maybe it is as simple as going on a Caribbean cruise or as extreme as climbing a mountain. Or perhaps your adventure involves finally getting a passport of your very own and visiting a foreign country for the first time.

The point is, in 2011, make an effort to not only define what adventure means to you, but pursue a few more of your own. That can include everything from a day trip to a local hiking trail, a weekend escape to a nearby vineyard, or a weeks long journey to explore a destination you’ve always wanted to experience. It’ll make for a more interesting and exciting year to say the least, and you may find that it is a more fulfilling one as well.

Happy New Year everyone! Have an adventurous 2011!

2011: Attack of the Oasis sisters?

by Chris Owen on

The big…make that GIANT story for 2010 in the world of cruise vacations was Allure of the Seas, sister-ship to last year’s 220,000 ton Oasis of the Seas from Royal Caribbean. The monster ship gobbled up headlines, berth space at ports and will send other ships running in 2011.

I liked Allure better than older sibling Oasis but that might have been because they worked all the kinks out that come with moving 5000 people on, off and around a ship each week by the time Allure was born. Technically “twins” they’re really not exactly clones and both ships have a distinct aura about them that’s undeniable. Allure is actually a wee bit longer, enough to give her captain verile bragging rights, and both ships have some different minor features. Still, combined, they close in on half a million tons of ship and that’s nothing to ignore.

Each ship has more restaurants, more cabins, more things to do, more people to see than any other ship at sea. Feature-hungry cruise passengers got everything they had been asking for and more.

Is this a case of “be careful what you ask for, you might just get it?”

Between the two, Royal Caribbean has chased a lot of ships out of South Florida, leaving much of the market to themselves.

Time will tell but so far prices are holding at a high level and the new ships are filling up fast which equals success in any body’s book. They better too, at more than a billon dollars each, there’s a lot riding on their success. Down the line Royal Caribbean is going to have to find some new places for the ships to visit as guests get over the wow-factor and want to get off the ship at ports. That’s no easy task.

Not one port was set up to handle this size vessel before they were built and all ports had to be modified to make it work. Surely, it’s worth it to local economies to have a ship dump 5000 paying tourists off for a day. Southampton is drooling over the possibility and maybe even Brownsville, Texas will throw their hat back in the ring to finally get that cruise port they want so bad.

The future of new-builds for Royal Caribbean holds an empty slate which makes sense. The Oasis sisters will be a tough act to follow.

Bellagio hotel cancels $25,000 casino chip

by Melanie Nayer on

In a move that might even make Danny Ocean rethink his plans, the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas just announced it would cancel its $25,000 casino chips in an effort to thwart thieves who hit the casino a few weeks ago.

Associated Press reports the luxury Las Vegas casino and hotel is canceling the high-roller chip to send a message to thieves: the chips are worthless if they aren’t redeemed by April 22. Apparently, a man in a jumpsuit stole $1.5 million in chips from the casino and made off on his motorcycle two weeks ago. AP reports the majority of the stolen money was in the form of $25,000 chips.

The hotel also advises guests who might have $25,000 chips lying around to cash them in now, before the chips are out of commission.

We’re just wondering: If you had a $25,000 chip from the Bellagio, would you have it just lying around in your coin jar?

Family takes $900 cab ride home in blizzard to end Disney World vacation

by Leigh Caldwell on

After her family’s Christmas “dream” vacation at Walt Disney World, Emilian Emeagwali faced a camp-out at the Orlando airport, possibly for days, while the Northeast dug out from a blizzard.

But, she says, she had a physical therapy practice to get back to in Elmont, New York, and she couldn’t wait.

So, she switched her family’s flights to arrive in Buffalo rather than a New York City airport, and figured when they got there, they would take a bus home.

Of course, when they arrived the buses weren’t running, and there was no word when they might start up again. So, Emeagwali opted for a more creative solution. A cab driver said he would take her family home for $1,100. She bargained him down to $900 and then she and her five kids piled into the minivan for the cab ride.

It took 13 hours to make the 400-mile journey during the blizzard. Emeagwali has been hailed by ABC News for her “creativity.”

Ummm, yeah. Fortunately, nothing happened to this family and the cab driver on this crazy trek.

I get it – she needed to get home. But, really? Would you risk your children’s lives in conditions like that, driving across the state in a blizzard?

I can’t imagine that once she got there she could work for several days anyway. Part of the risk of travel is getting stuck somewhere, because of weather, mechanical problems or other unexpected troubles. Maybe, just maybe, the best solution is to accept your situation and deal.

[Image credit: Flickr user Johan Lange]