Gading Take FIVE: August 1–August 8

by Jamie Rhein on

This was a week of a wide range of travel news that captured the essence of variety in the entertainment world.

  • On the classy end of life, Josh posted on a museum exhibit about Finding Grace Kelly in Paris.
  • On the opposite end, Iva gave us the scoop on a character actor who hit a flight attendant and a police officer.
  • Also, on the bad behavior side, Aaron offered details about a flight attendant suing televangelist Joel Osteen’s wife.
  • If you want to see for yourself how celebrities behave, Grant told us about celeb spotting in Ann Arbor.
  • To see what a famous person’s private jet looks like, check out Sir Richard Branson’s sweet number.

There was also a wide range of details about how air travel can make you or break you.

So, that’s more than 5, but I saw patterns. Have a wonderful weekend!

Gadling Take FIVE July 25– August 1

by Jamie Rhein on

Since I missed last week’s Gadling Take FIVE, I am including posts from before last Friday and including more than five. As usual, it’s hard to pick.

  • Start off with Iva’s post about her trip to the Community Baboon Sanctuary in Belize. Like she said, don’t let the mosquitoes stop you.
  • Scott personally tested Travelon toiletry sheets. After reading what he wrote, I think these would work great in a pinch.
  • Josh sniffed out airfare deals to get you to Asia and the hotel room bargains to be found in Las Vegas.
  • After reading Jerry’s Talking Travel interview with Adelle and Ron Milavsky, authors of Take Your RV to Europe, you might find yourself considering this interesting travel option, particularly if you have a few months at hand.
  • If busy airports are not your thing, check out Jeffrey’s post on the busiest to know which ones to avoid. Atlanta’s Hartfield’s International Airport is first on the list.
  • Anna passed on the news that TSA shoe scanners are being tested at LAX so that passengers may not have to remove their shoes anymore.
  • And, in case this slipped past your radar, even though it was just posted today, Discovery Channel has a casting call for an Alaskan adventure TV show. You might have to beat out Aaron, though. He wrote up the post, and I think he should totally go for it.

Cheap air travel options if the tropics suit you

by Jamie Rhein on

What I really want is a cheap airfare to New York City from Columbus, Ohio. Since that’s not on my horizon, I’m taking an Amtrak train from Cleveland and a Greyhound bus back. For adults traveling with children, both offer a discount that can’t be beat.

If I were to head to the Caribbean, the Bahamas, or Bermuda, I might find different options that would put a cheaper airplane ticket in my hand. According to a recent “Practical Traveler“ in the New York Times,’ there are tickets for a bargain to these tropical locations.

Check out American Airlines, JetBlue. and Air France for the deals. Perhaps, you’ll be lucky and an airport near where you live will have one of those bargain flights to a place you’d like to go. Going to Cancún out of JFK airport in New York City is only a few dollars more than a trip to Denver, for example. Denver’s nice, but I wouldn’t exactly call it a destination for a holiday.

Yes, I did go to Denver myself two years ago and considered it part of a summer vacation, but there weren’t any hours relaxing by a pool.

One day, I might be looking to head to the tropics, but for now, it sure would be great to find a deal to New York. My son who is six years-old thinks Greyhound will be swell.

Also, an airline to keep an eye on for a travel deal, according to the article, is Southwest. As the article points out, Southwest has not offered a travel deal for awhile.

Fare Alert! Another secret sale to Buenos Aires

by Grant Martin on

United just posted a secret sale to Buenos Aires, Argentina last night that has lasted well into today, slurpee day (7/11), from several corners from the country.

From departure points such as Los Angeles, Washington DC (Dulles), and New York City you can get to Buenos Aires LATER THIS MONTH for only about 600$ total. For high tourist season in the United States, that’s a downright steal. So if you haven’t got plans for the kids’ summer vacation, now is the time to strike.

Check your local airport to see if there are similar deals or cheap connections to a target city.

And don’t forget — it’s winter down in Argentina right now, so you might want to consider a trip over to the Andes for some skiing or maybe some time down in Patagonia watching some glaciers fight. You also might want to pick up a couple kilos of some of that delicious Mendozan wine and that Argentine steak while you’re down there.

If you’re worried about visas, American’s don’t need any pre-departure paperwork for immigration.

To book the ticket, use a flex search on Kayak over the next few weeks to find availability. You shouldn’t have a problem finding seats for flights later this month.

Happy Trails!

How to rent three cars and get a free plane ticket on Delta

by Grant Martin on

Got some free time over the next three weeks? Delta just launched a promo offering 9,999 miles for each rental with one of their auto partners Avis or Budget. Each qualifying rental gets you the miles, regardless of how long you keep the vehicle, as long as you book with Delta’s Car Search tool. You have until the end of the month to rent and you need to sign up to become a SkyMiles member first.

Sure, you may not be traveling three times in the next month, but do you need to? If you can get three car rentals cheap enough, the time and money invested in getting a car at the airport for 24 hours can easily be less than a domestic ticket that you could book with miles.

Rental car fees vary wildly across geographical boundaries, but almost every airport in the country has either an Avis or a Budget rental car location. And many of those rural locations have plenty of inventory (at damn good prices) available for the rest of July.

Here in Detroit, a car rental over a weekend night on Budget is about 55$. Times three is 165$ for 29,997 miles or an award ticket. In Kalamazoo, a more rural airport near where my parents live, it’s 24$. That’s 72$ for a flight.

Sure, you have to factor in what you’re going to DO with the car and what you’re going to do with YOUR car while you have the rental. You could always just take it home or to a parking lot and park it. Or park it on the lawn of the rental company.

But it’s not a bad way to rack up a few frequent flyer miles to use for future adventure on Delta Airlines.

What could you do with 25k miles or a domestic award ticket? You could fly from your freezing hometown in New Hampshire down to Phoenix next January to get some sun and play some golf while your coworkers freeze. You could fly to Colorado to get some kick ass skiing in next May. You could pay for your girlfriend to come visit you next time you’re in San Diego on business.

Sound like a good use for your 74$ invested this month?