Flight Search

Airfare War!

2010-04-30T08:35:00.002-05:00

This week's fare war kicked off with AirTran's new sale on Tuesday, which was subsequently matched by American and Delta. You can find thousands of discounted domestic and Caribbean routes in AirTran's systemwide sale, and many popular U.S. routes with American's and Delta's promotions. Continental, JetBlue, Frontier, and US Airways are also competing with unannounced low prices on many

Virgin America: Hello MCO & YYZ, So Long SNA

2010-03-18T12:12:00.001-05:00

Virgin America has announced plans to fly from Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO) to both Orlando and Toronto starting later this year. Toronto will mark Virgin's first international service while Orlando will be Virgin's second foray into Florida - and a route that potentially strikes at the heart of JetBlue.Toronto makes a lot of sense for VA - good demographics, little low-fare

Pay Now or Pay Later: A New Choice at Priceline - And the Next OTA Battleground?

2010-03-17T18:12:00.001-05:00

Priceline.com has begun including "pay-at-checkout" inventory alongside traditional, "pay-in-advance" merchant model hotel inventory at select hotels. Priceline has developed a Users are then given the option of paying upfront or now in the rate display when they click to select the hotel. And this isn't a matter of simply including traditional agency inventory sourced via a Global Distribution

Getaroom.com Tries Print - WSJ no less

2010-03-12T09:53:00.000-06:00

We were a bit surprised to be leafing through yesterday's Wall Street Journal and find the ad (left) for getaroom.com in Section A. No, in the Personal Journal (Section D) where most travel related advertising and leisure oriented stories end up, but actually in meaty section A. First take is, wow, interesting audience to go after - would not expect the average WSJ reader to be drawn to any

San Diego CVB: Expedia "Partner of the Year" While City Sues Expedia Over Occ Taxes

2010-03-12T09:52:00.001-06:00

Expedia Media Solutions (the media arm of Expedia Inc.) yesterday announced that the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau had named Expedia.com "Partner of the Year." According to the press release, the San Diego CVB was recognized as "a top advertising partner and major sales channel for San Diego hotels." The press release continues: "'As a promotion partner, Expedia not only grew San

FW: Haiti Needs YOUR Help

2010-01-14T04:54:00.001-06:00

A somber moment from our usual glib. The pictures and news reports coming from Haiti are shocking to say the least. North America's poorest country (indeed, one of the world's poorest countries) has been rocked by a brutal earthquake of epic proportions. I encourage all of our readers to take a brief moment to assess their position in life and consider donating to the Red Cross in order to help

FW: What Are the Odds You'll Catch Swine Flu on Your Next Flight?

2010-01-13T09:36:00.001-06:00

We just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a happy National Influenza Vaccination Week. To celebrate, we're letting you know about the latest findings from smarty-pants scientists. They have figured out some kind of formula to determine how exactly the H1N1 virus can spread in a plane during a transatlantic flight.

Port-au-Prince: 7.0 Earthquake Strikes Haiti

2010-01-12T19:00:00.001-06:00

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck near Haiti's capital city of Port-au-Prince today. Details are just beginning to emerge but there is no doubt this is a catastrophic event. There are reports that a hospital has collapsed and the damage is just now beginning to be assessed. The quake could be felt as far away as Cuba and is said to have lasted for over a minute. Many news outlets are reporting

Complete Guide To Full-Body Scanning at Airports

2010-01-08T09:49:00.000-06:00

There's going to be a lot of talk about full-body scanners in 2010, we can tell. So in an effort to help you understand what airports will have them, what happens when you use them, and your rights, we've dedicated a week to explaining it all in Full-Body Scanners 101. We're not even a month into the year and already it's already obvious that media will be wasting a whole lot of breath on the

Full-Body Scanners 101 :: Part 4 :: Your Rights (as of early 2010)

2010-01-08T09:46:00.000-06:00

Although this is the final lesson on full-body scanners, it's always a good idea to look back at the past posts before we jump into this last look at your rights when it comes to this new security measure. Here's what we've covered so far: · Full-Body Scanners 101: What Airports Have Them? · Full-Body Scanners 101: The Two Types and How They Work · Full-Body Scanners 101: How Naked is Full-Body

Full-Body Scanners 101: How Naked Are Full-Body Scans?

2010-01-08T09:41:00.000-06:00

So now that we've told you at what airports to watch for full-body scan machines and how both types of available models actually work, it's about time we discussed the most important question when it comes to this new security procedure: how naked do you look in a full-body scan? The answer might surprise you, because although many people are really enjoying making a fuss about privacy and

Full-Body Scanners 101: The Two Types and How They Work

2010-01-08T09:36:00.000-06:00

In the first part of this series, we told at which airports you'll be encountering full-body scanners, and as our week of focusing on this privacy-busting security measure continues, we're getting into the technical bits. This second lesson in Full-Body Scanning 101, is exactly how these behemoth machines (which can easily break down, apparently) function, and what technology they're using to

Full-Body Scanners 101: What Airports Have Them

2010-01-08T09:32:00.000-06:00

Full-Body Scanners 101 :: Part 1 :: What Airport Have the Machines (as of early 2010) Whatever your position on full-body scanners, if you're going to do some heavy traveling, there's always the chance that you might be faced with having to virtually strip down for one. To become fully informed on this security procedure, let's first focus on where exactly these big bad boys hang out... What

Toronto: The New Year Brings A New Name And Maybe New Flights To Toronto City Airport

2010-01-07T09:54:00.000-06:00

We're barely a couple weeks in and already 2010 looks like a slow year for the travel industry, and airports around the globe are more likely to see reduced service rather than an increase in new router However, the Toronto City Centre Airport has been a hit with travelers on Porter Airlines lately, and the Toronto Port Authority is thinking about expanding things a bit. The airport’s first

Continental's Cost-Cutting Could Include The Free Meals In Coach

2010-01-06T08:49:00.002-06:00

While many of us were waiting in line for coffee and pancakes on New Year's Day, there was another slightly more important person with a problem a little bigger than a hangover. As of January 1, Jeff Smisek took over as CEO of Continental Airlines, and he's got a lot of work ahead of him. He replaces Larry Kellner, whose appearance on the in-flight monitors we'll miss—he loved to welcome us

New Airline Seating Design Introduces The Mezzanine Level

2010-01-05T09:51:00.001-06:00

We've seen some unique seating designs in the past, and one thought even won our award for most ridiculous airline idea in 2009. However, with a new year comes new ideas, and we're happy to share a whole new design for airline seating. One company has spent many late nights in the office conference room to come up with their flex-seat plans that hopefully will benefit all travelers—we'll see.

First Airline Bankruptcy of 2010: Mesa Airlines

2010-01-05T09:45:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, we discussed the first airline mileage promotion of 2010. Today, we bring you news of the first airline bankruptcy filing of 2010: Mesa Airlines.Never heard of Mesa? You are not alone, but chances are pretty good you've flown on them at one point or another. Mesa operates ~130 aircraft under the codeshare colors of United, Delta and USAirways from coast to coast. Mesa also operates a

New TSA Restrictions To Damage Airline Industry Throughout 2010

2009-12-29T16:06:00.001-06:00

A new survey indicates that, attempted terrorist attempt and new rules or not, travelers were already going to cut back on 2010 travel. The business travel sector?the bread and butter of the airline industry?was specifically picked out as unlikely to bounce back. The poll means that the cheery projections from two weeks ago, where the industry was going to "rebound" with an $11 billion loss, were

Venice Is Flooded Again; Everyone Go Wakeboarding!

2009-12-25T11:07:00.000-06:00

The terribly wintery weather currently hitting Europe right now is bringing the lagoon waters of Venice up into the piazzas and reminding us of one of our favorite quirky stories from last year: that of the guy who wakeboarded through a flooded St. Mark's Square. We've posted the video for you again above, and believe us that it's worth watching all two minutes because the Red Bull guy also

The World's Top Three Glittery New Year's Celebrations

2009-12-25T11:02:00.000-06:00

You can drink, you can dance, and you can kiss someone at the stroke of midnight anywhere, but somehow the experience of New Year's has more resonance when you're doing all things in the presence of pyrotechnics or a giant crystal ball covered in lights. Hey, everyone likes something sparkly and exciting, and so we sincerely hope that you get to celebrate the turn into 2010 at one of The World's

OTAs Win in Louisville on Occupancy Tax Issue

2009-12-25T10:12:00.002-06:00

This morning, the United States 6th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court's motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Louisville against the usual Online Travel Agency (OTA) suspects. Full opinion here for your reading pleasure. As is usual in these cases, Louisville (and some surrounding areas) filed a lawsuit claiming the OTAs had not paid occupancy taxes based on the rate charged to

DOT: $27,500 PER PASSENGER Fine for Long Delays. Total insanity.

2009-12-25T10:11:00.001-06:00

In what is being heralded as a "Christmas Miracle" by some air travel watchdog groups, the DOT announced new fines for airlines that keep passengers on board an aircraft for longer than 3 hours after departure from the gate.While we are not advocating that passengers should be kept on aircraft for long periods of time and deprived of basic necessities, we do worry that this arbitrary time limit

AirTran Pinches SI Swimsuit Partnership Away from Southwest

2009-12-17T12:52:00.001-06:00

AirTran announced a partnership with Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit edition this morning that culminates with AirTran flying the models from NYC to Vegas after the release of the magazine. Of course there are the usual opportunities for a contest winner to join the models on the flight and more promotional tie-ins are promised. We can only imagine.But what is interesting about this promotion (

The Hottest New Airline Routes For Next Year, Plus 36 From easyJet

2009-12-14T09:18:00.001-06:00

While we're busy speculating on what destinations are next up for Virgin America, here's the need-to-know new routes coming your way: · easyJet is expanding for summer 2010 on an astonishing 36 new routes. After all, they've got pale Britons to get to the sunny spots! The complete, drool-worthy list is here, but a few highlights are: Basel Thessaloniki, Rome Fiumicino Dubrovnik, Ibiza

Palm Beach: Anchors Aweigh, Tiger Woods! His Yacht 'Privacy' Is Ready To Go

2009-12-14T09:15:00.000-06:00

Where in the world is Tiger Woods? Well, he's either still attempting to lay low at his mansion outside of Orlando, or he's en route to North Palm Beach to board his $22 million dollar, 155-foot yacht, ironically named the "Privacy." The Examiner reports that the boat, purchased in 2004 and picked out by Tiger's then fiance, now wife Elin Nordegren, spent the weekend being stocked with supplies