Hold the cologne – Airplane tip

by Gadling Staff on

Most travelers know to shower before they fly. It’s common sense that when you’re going to be captive for hours, with no personal space, the last thing anyone needs is body odor. What some new travelers don’t realize is that even the tiniest amount of aftershave or perfume can be toxic to cooped-up fliers.

At home, your loved one may adore the smell of your fu-fu, but people sitting near you on a packed flight, will not — and there is just no way they can get away from it.

So, to recap: shower; wear fresh, clean clothes; but please hold the cologne.

Calling about your plane tickets? Clear your afternoon

by Grant Martin on

Three hours into my phone call with the Delta Airlines Platinum desk yesterday evening, I started to suspect that something was awry. Wait times on this normally outstanding phone line are usually in the seconds, not hours, and for a delay of this magnitude, something must not be right.

Indeed, while Saturday’s weather at my Hong Kong flat was cloudy and balmy, the snow in the United States was continuing to fall, resulting in countless canceled flights, missed connections, buried airports and subsequent calls to customer service. Investigating the matter deeper, I found similar frustrations at other carriers, with some travelers reporting jaw dropping on-hold times and others saying that they had simply been hung up on.

In short, the airlines’ IT infrastructure can’t seem to handle the number of service calls this weekend. So if you’ve got immediate business, make some time. First, ensure that your issue can’t be resolved over the web or via your travel agent. If they can’t do it and if the need is immediate, call your airline, open a bottle of scotch and turn on the Olympics — it’s going to be a long, arduous journey — and you haven’t even left home yet.

But to the airlines: Has Valentine’s Day 2007 taught you nothing? The snowy debacle that stranded hundreds of passengers in airplanes and airports across the east has been heralded as the perfect model of airline incompetence. By now you should have a disaster-proof mechanism to communicate with passengers in the case of inclement weather — even if it’s outsourced overseas, it’s better than hanging up them. Get it together!

Budget Travel helps you plan a nonstop Caribbean getaway

by Katie Hammel on

As the northern half of the US starts to get cold and skies turn grey with threats of snow, thoughts naturally begin to turn to weekend getaways to warmer climes. The Caribbean is calling, but when it takes two or more connections to get there from your city, it’s hard to escape for a quick weekend warm-up.

If you don’t know which islands can be reached in one flight from where you live, Budget Travel can help. The magazine has a new online tool that can help make planning a trip to the Caribbean islands a little easier. Their “Nonstop Caribbean” destination finder shows you which islands are accessible via nonstop flight from your city. It also tells you which airlines make the flight and how long the flight lasts. The tool can even help you plan your vacation, with suggestions on which hotels to stay at and what activities to do on the island.

A380 flies to Antarctica for New Year’s 2010

by Andrew Evans on

This New Year’s Eve, Qantas will be taking one of their super swank A380’s to Antarctica. Seats are for sale to the masses starting (checking watch) NOW. This special flight is the first time the double-decker jumbo jet has ever flown this far south, let alone to Antarctica. The plane will take off in Sydney and pick up in Melbourne before spending four hours doing low, figure-eight patterns over the icy, white expanses of the seventh continent. (That sounds really, really cool but also sounds kind of like landing at Heathrow in winter.) Passengers will get to greet the “dawn” of 2010 (remember, the sun doesn’t set) and revel in the rare and incredible view of the southern polar summer without packing a coat.

If you don’t catch the inaugural New Year’s flight, there will be a repeat A380 flight on January 24th or you can take your honey on a boring old split-level Boeing 747 for Valentine’s Day 2010.

One is loath to mention–but must–the doomed sightseeing Air New Zealand Flight 901 of two score and three days ago, which smashed into Antarctica’s highest mountain, leaving shattered champagne glasses icily scattered across the coldest place on earth. There, I mentioned it.

These one-time Qantas flights can be ticketed with their travel agency partners at Antarctica Sightseeing Tours.

Southwest and Virgin celebrate Thanksgiving with sales

by Katie Hammel on

Here are two more things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving – Southwest Airlines and Virgin America. Both carriers have announced Thanksgiving sales to celebrate the holiday.

Sample one-way fares in Southwest’s seven-day sale include: Austin to Houston for $59, Baltimore to Chicago for $97, Chicago to Las Vegas for $148, Denver to Milwaukee for $96, Fort Lauderdale to Long Island for $103, LA to Oakland for $59, Orlando to Nashville for $94, and Portland to Spokane for $58.

Fares start at $47 (and go up to about $159) each way plus tax. The tickets must be purchased by November 30 and are good for travel through February 9. A 14-day advance purchase is required, travel is valid every day except Fridays and Sundays, and there are a few blackout dates.

Tickets for Virgin’s sale must be purchased by December 2 and are valid for travel December 3 to 17. One-way fares range from $59 to $249 and include LA to Seattle for $79, LA to New York for $169, and Las Vegas to New York for $249.