Gadling

US Airways Flight 728 was forced to land in Boston Monday night, far short of its London destination. John Alexander Murry, of Glasgow, was arrested just after 11 PM, causing the plane to stay on the ground for two hours before resuming its Philly-to-London route.

The 50-year-old Scottish man, according to prosecutors, was being "unruly and disruptive," it seems. The crew continually asked him to stop blocking the aisle, but Murray allegedly wasn't willing to comply. So, he'll be telling his story to a judge in East Boston District Court, where he was scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday. The charge is interfering with a flight crew.

According to a US Airways spokesman, the pilot chose to land in Boston and have Murray bounced "in the interest of safety."

Tipping's a tough nut to crack. Should you tip a housekeeper? Back in the day, the rule was leaving some cash only if your stay was 30 days or longer. Since then, however, it seems to have changed. And, what's appropriate for a valet? Bellman? Skycap? Travel means tipping, and there are plenty of points at which you can expect to do this. If you go to the same hotel or use the same car service frequently, you may want to adjust your tipping habits, as well.

If these questions make you feel ignorant, you're not alone. Michael Lynn, a prof at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, has conducted to nationwide tipping surveys and has found that a third of the respondents don't know to leave 15 percent to 20 percent of the tab at a restaurant. Throw hotels and drivers into the mix, and it's unsurprising that the rules aren't understood as clearly as they could be.

So, USA Today and I are helping you know what to tip and when. A recent article by Gary Stoller provides some good ideas, and I've tossed in a few of my own.

Tokyo is the top dining city in the world, according to the latest Michelin Guide. With 11 restaurants at three stars, it's pushed past Paris, the former top dog in the culinary world. Eight of the nine Tokyo restaurants with three starts retained their Michelin ratings year-over-year, and three were bumped up from two stars to three for 2010. Paris has only 10 three-star restaurants in the 2010 Michelin Guide, and New York only has four.

According to Oyvind Naesheim, Nobu Hong Kong's executive chef, "Tokyo is an unbelievable city for food," continuing, "The passion and perfection at some top Tokyo restaurants show us why this city is so outstanding in fine dining."

Two thirds of the 197 Tokyo restaurants listed by Michelin focus on Japanese food, focusing on common styles includingfugu, soba, sukiyaki, tempura and sushi. Three of the 11 three-star spots went to French Restaurants.

In total, Tokyo has 261 stars, more than any other city in the 23 countries that Michelin covers. Look for the list of Tokyo three star restaurants after the jump.

The chill hasn't quite crept into the air yet, but it's coming. We know it's coming. So, instead of waiting for the frost to form on your windshield, line up your next trip to the tropics now, and be ready to take off as soon as it starts to get cold. A new RockResort hotel is about to open in the Dominican Republic and is waiting for you to show up, kick back and soak in the sun.

The Balcones del Atlantico will be the second RockResort to open in the Caribbean, following the first, The Landings in St. Lucia. When it opens in February, the resort will boast 86 two- and three-bedroom villas that are integrated into the natural surroundings.

Paul Toner, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of RockResorts and Vail Resorts Hospitality, says, "Building on the tremendous success of The Landings St. Lucia, A RockResort, which opened two years ago, we were eager to expand in the Caribbean region." He continues, "We look forward to managing this island resort and sharing with our guests the iconic beauty of the Dominican Republic, and the exceptional guest service that RockResorts is known for at all of our properties."

Gallery: Balcones del Atlantico, RockResorts

Solo business travel can be downright depressing. Even if you hate team dinners (and your colleagues), don't mind dining alone and prefer a bit of privacy, frequent individual business trips can turn you into a hermit. After a while, you socialize almost not at all, become intolerant of other people and seek out the types of conversation that can only be held in your own head. Along the way, you can become perpetually annoyed or even seriously depressed. The tendencies that characterize your personal life can invade your job performance, as well. Sucking at work can take a toll on your self-esteem, intensifying the problem. Before you know it, you're beholden to this toxic dynamic -- extracting yourself requires a triumph of the will, which is unlikely when you're trapped by the pressure of a seemingly inescapable situation.

Prevention is really the only course of action at your disposal. Otherwise, you're left waiting for someone else to notice the problem and pull you out of your rut. For lone road warriors, unfortunately, regular exposure to anyone is rare. Clients are most likely to realize the situation, but that's more likely to result in a call to your boss than to you. Your extrication from the perils of solo business traveler life thus could come at the cost of a ding to your career. To avoid this, you'll have to be, as the management gurus say, "proactive."

Your sanity and livelihood are on the line. Fortunately, you're inherently equipped to protect yourself, and the travel environment offers much that you can use. However, both your mind and the hotel offer plenty in the way of temptation, so try to stay on an even keel.

Here are six ways to ward off hermitdom for the solo business traveler:

The message is clear: shape up or ship out.Up to 300 Holiday Inn hotels could be booted from the brand if their owners don't get their respective acts together. Intercontinentals Hotel Group has told them they need to get on board with an enormous improvement plan by February 1, 2010.

Does 300 sound like a lot? It is. In fact, it's 12% of the 3,300 hotels that fly the Holiday Inn flag. The holdouts haven't begun to play ball with the brand's requirements, which include new bedding, pillows and towels -- not to mention modern music, a renovated lobby and green uplighting on the exterior. The total package is expected to cost around $1 billion.

Kevin Kowalski, brand chief for Holiday Inn, made clear how flexible the mother ship is willing to be: "We're not changing the timing." So, he told the owners of these 300 hotels, "If you have a quality problem, fix it." Not doing so by the deadline will garner the hotel owners failure letters. Sound relatively harmless? Their banks will get them, too, which could trigger some hefty consequences.

[Photo by curioustraveller99 via Flickr]

Congress is digging into all those new airline fees. Extra bags, special check-in situations ... you name it. Before you start cheering on our lawmakers, though, you should know that they aren't doing this from a sense of consumer advocacy. Frankly, Congress doesn't give a damn how much you pay for air travel. But, it does care how you pay. Why? A cash-strapped government is wondering if it's leaving money on the table.

When you look at your receipt, the line with "taxes" has never been lost on you, right? Well, the add-ons aren't included in this number: Congress has a tax on airfare, not all the other stuff. So, for the airlines, this has been a tax-free revenue stream, one that's been crucial to helping the already bruised airlines survive the current recession.

Yet, is it really just airfare in another form? That's what Congress wants to know. Even if this is a different form of revenue, do you think it will be left untouched? Of course not! The government needs money, and there's nothing stopping it from passing a new bill to tax the extra services. How much resistance would be raised?

The Obama Administration is taking a closer look at the airline industry with the hopes that something can be fixed. Transportation Secretary Roy LaHood is pulling together a panel that will investigate the problems the industry faces and hopefully come up with a solution. But, I don't think anyone's breath is being held.

The airlines are always swamped with criticism, with consumers unhappy about customer service levels, on-time arrivals and departures, the shrinking list of amenities and increasingly cramped conditions. Now, shareholders are speaking louder about declining revenues and profits. Employees are losing their jobs, and regulators and industry observers worry about continued safety violations, including drunk and distracted pilots.

Ultimately, LaHood's goal is for the panel to put together "a road map for the future of the aviation industry." The panel is being convened thanks in part to a push from the airline unions, the stakeholders worried most by the layoffs that have now become routine. According to The Associated Press, they believe the industry is "dysfunctional."

Of course, it didn't take the airlines to offer their thoughts ask for money -- lots of it. They claim that radar technology that dates back to World War II isn't as effective as a GPS-based alternative. The industry would love to see this upgrade ... as long as the government writes the check. The FAA is already prepared to spend $15 billion to $22 billion on this effort, but there is an additional $14 billion to $20 billion currently sent over to the airlines. The upside would be reductions in airport congestion, fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

Commercials don't work any more, and print ads are all but dead. So, how do you get the word out? If you're Larry Beard, you have a couple of girls grind in the back of a truck with clear plastic sides while driving around Las Vegas. This isn't for everyone. After all, Beard is the marketing director at Deja Vu Showgirls -- which is exactly what you'd think it is.

Now, he has to stop.

Sin City authorities made him stop toting the strippers around, but the club is ready to fight. His vehicle rolled up and down the strip from 10 PM to 2 AM. Strippers inside gave a taste of what goes on inside the club. And yes, in case you were wondering, the truck had poles for the ladies to work.

What's the happiest place on Earth? Well, Disney claims that title, but here's the problem: Utah does, too. If they were in different countries, no conflict would exist, but since they do, we have to sort this out.

A Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index recently released ranks Utah highest among all states in happiness. And, if that's not enough, Men's Fitness magazine ranked Salt Lake City fittest in America. So, the endorphins are firing, and Utah is thrilled. Want to get a little taste of this happiness?

The Gold Medial Podium Package celebrates Salt Lake's Olympic legacy. Skiers and snowboarders can hit the slopes while taking advantage of some great deals. Book a four-night vacation by December 15, 2009 -- including a Ski Salt Lake Super Pass -- at any of the 22 participating hotels, and your fourth day on the slopes and your fourth night in the hotel are free.