Extra Travel Fees Here To Stay, Like It Or Not

by Chris Owen on

Extra travel fees bring customization options that can make for a more pleasant air, hotel, land or sea experience. Also called “user fees,” those who value the option they provide are relatively happy to pay. After all, these are not mandatory fees but options. Still, just the dollar amount makes experts wonder, “What’s next?”

Airline fees should add up to $36.1 billion in 2012, according to a recent study from IdeaWorksCompany reported in the Los Angeles Times. That includes extra travel fees for checked baggage, Internet use, food, drinks, premium seating, quick boarding and more. Up more than 10% over 2011, online travel agencies and airlines have figured out how to position buying options in the booking process. Out of convenience, passengers make online buying decisions to save time at the airport.”They are understanding how to raise and lower fees to maximize overall revenue and how to better position items in the booking path to drive better sales,” said Jay Sorensen, president of IdeaWorksCompany in the Los Angeles Times report.

While there are no hard numbers on cruise line extra travel fees, those can add up too, as travelers choose premium dining options, tours ashore and onboard extras to customize their travel experience.

Sure, we don’t have to check luggage, enjoy a drink on board or use the Internet in the air. It is a choice travelers make, an optional travel expense.

Air travelers can choose to carry on their luggage, take any seat they get, enjoy whatever is included with the flight and not spend one penny more on extra travel fees. Cruise travelers can indeed sail and spend nothing more than the price of the cruise.

But do we really want to?

Apparently not, as extra fees are becoming so commonplace that they are rarely questioned or even complained about. Optional user fees are designed to charge those who want the service and let others save the charge as we see in this video:


[Photo Credit: Flickr user mroach]

Video: Plane Hits Car In Texas

by Laurel Miller on

In perhaps the biggest “oops” of the year, the driver of an SUV failed to see a stop sign, and collided with a small aircraft at the Northwest Regional Airport, near Dallas. WFAA news reports that only minor injuries were sustained by the passenger of the vehicle, as the plane’s landing gear clipped its roof. Pilot William Davis was completing his first solo flight, and his wife happened to be filming his landing when she captured the collision. For his part, Davis says he’ll never fly a plane again, after this near miss.

Apparently, a private road crosses the north end of the landing strip. The only indication to drivers that there’s potential risk of decapitation by landing gear is a faded “STOP” painted on the asphalt. Frank Laudo, driver of the SUV, says he didn’t see it. You’ll be inclined to believe him after you watch this video.


Photo Of The Day: Buffalo In Yellowstone

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Yellowstone National Park is among our country’s most famous, and arguably most beautiful, natural wonders. In addition to dramatic scenery, the park is home to an impressive array of wildlife, including elk, wolves, bears and that most iconic of symbols from the American Plains: the buffalo. I love the lighting, the idyllic setting and most importantly, the herd of buffalo grazing in today’s photo of Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley, courtesy of Flickr user Max Waugh Photography.

Taken any great photos of our nation’s national parks? Why not add them to our Gadling group on Flickr? We might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

[Photo credit: Flickr user Max Waugh Photography]

Space Shuttle Now Officially A Tourist Attraction

by Chris Owen on

Space Shuttle Atlantis arrived this week at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to begin life as the star of a $100 million exhibit called the Shuttle Launch Experience, expected to open in July 2013. It was the historic final journey of a space shuttle orbiter, signaling the beginning of life after space for the shuttle fleet.

“We think visitors to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will be awed and inspired by how they will see and experience Atlantis,” said Bill Moore, chief operating officer of Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in a statement.

Atlantis completed its historic final journey led by 30 former astronauts who joined the orbiter for the final leg of the trip. Parked in front of the last open wall of the 90,000-square-foot exhibit building, Atlantis will be encapsulated in a protective wrap while that wall is completed.

Once inside the visitor’s complex, Atlantis will be raised 36 feet off the ground then rotated about 43 degrees to mimic spaceflight. On display, its payload bay doors will be open and the robotic arm extended.

Along with Atlantis, the Shuttle Launch Experience will have over 60 interactive, immersive exhibits about the entire shuttle program including a 363-foot-long Apollo/Saturn V rocket and other unique space artifacts.

At the entrance to the Shuttle Launch Experience, guests will walk past a full-size external fuel tank and two solid rocket boosters. Strategically positioned, a silhouette of the orbiter is attached to show guests the exact size and placement of the 184-foot-tall space shuttle.

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex opens daily at 9 a.m. Admission includes the Kennedy Space Center Tour, the new Shuttle Launch Experience, 3-D IMAX space films, Astronaut Encounter, Exploration Space: Explorers Wanted and the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, featuring historic spacecraft and personal astronaut memorabilia. For more information, call 877-313-2610 or visit www.KennedySpaceCenter.com.

Right now and through November 12, the space center is offering a sneak peek, up-close and personal look at Atlantis as part of any tour. During scheduled times, a Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex tour guide will take guests through the construction zone and allow guests to take pictures and pose within the secured area.

NASA has spread around the tourism wealth by positioning remaining orbiters around the country. Enterprise is at the Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City, Discovery is at
Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Virginia and Endeavour is at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, California.




[Photo Credit: NASA photo]

Travel Gifts To Capture The Moment

by Chris Owen on

Travel gifts that capture a moment when we were with someone at some special place can be as simple as a smartphone photo taken at just the right time. A bar napkin from a time and distant place shared, snuck into a Christmas card, brings us right back to that place. Just one pebble taken from a beach during an enchanting vacation, on our desk back in the real world, can bring a flood of great memories when needed. As holiday shopping season approaches, taking some time now to consider thoughtful travel gifts can make for some of the best gift giving possible.

How about cufflinks that have the exact spot on the planet where we met our special someone engraved on them?

That’s exactly what American Samantha Jenkins gave to Bengali Rham Khandoker to remember when they met and instantly fell in love several years ago. Forbidden by his Islamic religion from being with Rham, Samantha had these cufflinks made as a symbol of their love that can exist only via Skype, email and text, but never in public. It’s about as close of a real world, physical symbol that they may find.Surely that’s an extreme story but not a bad idea for a travel gift with meaning. Skip the tourist attraction bobble-heads, T-shirts, snow globes and other trinkets. With holiday shopping coming up, think about something someone could not buy for themselves. Something unique that will be around for years to come, long after the clothing, gift card or wish list item someone else gave is gone.




[Photo Credit: Flickr user rikomatic]