The holidays are coming, and if your plans involve travel, expect to lose large chunks of your youth to the painful ritual of waiting in line. Aside from the occasional ascetic masochist, nobody digs the ol' "hurry up and wait" game. Yet, you'll be doing plenty of standing in line at airports, hotels and retail establishments. Last year, I wrote about what you can do to make this easier. Now, let's turn our attention to the queue-masters - the people and organizations responsible for creating and managing what become monstrosities from late November through the end of the year.

Below, I'll kick this off with six suggestions to airlines, airports, hotels and others in the business of making you wait in line. But, treat this as my opening offer - I'd love to get your ideas on this.

To start, here's what I suggest:

1. Ban parallel lines: think of most grocery stores. If there are five cash registers, there are five lines. A super-efficient employee can make people in one line happy while pissing off the rest. Instead, use a single line in which the person at the front goes to the next available teller/agent/representative. This approach is gaining popularity, but some places (mostly retailers) are still living in the past.

Continue reading Six ways to make waiting in line better (and shorter)

Six ways to make waiting in line better (and shorter) originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Hijack scare blamed on TSA screwup at Florida airport

Hijack scare blamed on TSA screwup at Florida airport originally appeared on Gadling on Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Why the TSA insists on screening wheelchairs originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This is a what NOT to do story if you're ever in a Pilatus PC-7 Mk II. Do not, I repeat, do not, use the black and yellow handle located between your legs to steady yourself. Not even if you're pretending to be Tom Cruise in the movie Top Gun. Pull on that handle and you'll find yourself out of the plane before you can say, "Ooops, I shouldn't have done that."

That handle is what the pilots and passengers can use to activate the ejector seat in order to shoot out from the plane in case of an emergency.

In the case of this recent mishap, the passenger was on a joy ride with an expert pilot of South Africa's Silver Falcons air display team when he pulled the lever during one of the maneuvers.

And whoosh!, there he went--the two rockets attached to the back of his chair catapulting him right out of the plane 100m up into the wide open sky.

Luckily, the ejector seat is designed to release a parachute so the man safely floated back to solid ground near the Langebaanweg airfield not far from Cape Town, South Africa.

If one could be assured that you'd land as safely as this guy did, you have to admit this does sound like it would be a blast in more ways than one.

I wonder if pilots will now post a sign front of the passenger seat saying, "DO NOT pull the yellow and black lever. DON"T EVEN TOUCH IT. Ever." [news.com.au]

*The Pilatus PC-7 in the photo is from the Royal Netherlands Air Force

Man accidently ejects himself from plane originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Want to ignore airport security rules? Become a celebrity! originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Heather,

Yesterday the flight attendants got terrible news at US Airways. THREE base closures. Mine included. In all these years, I've never commuted. And now, gone early next year: BOS, LGA and LAS. We got the news in the crew room. Some of the senior girls started to tear up. One cried, "I have thirty years, I've never commuted." The base is closing and we didn't even receive any information on base transfers, voluntary furloughs, whether or not we can keep our parking lot space, bidding packets from the other bases and seniority lists to help make a decision. Any tips? Prayers? An Article to educate us newbies?

Sincerely,

In shock

Dear in shock,

I'm sorry to hear about the unfortunate news. I understand why you and your colleagues are frustrated and upset. Honestly, I'm not sure which is worse, your airline closing three bases or the fact that they did not alert employees until the last minute, only to do so with little to no information. These are your lives we're talking about, not just base closures! While commuting is not always easy, it is doable, and chances are you might even become a better flight attendant because of it. I know I did. First, here's the prayer you're looking for. And now for a few tips...

Continue reading Galley Gossip: Advice for the employees of US Airways

Galley Gossip: Advice for the employees of US Airways originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It sounds counterintuitive, right? Normally, customers expect that extra effort, and we complain constantly that we don't get it enough. What we sometimes don't understand, though, is that the extra effort is at the root of many of the customer service problems we encounter. Going the extra mile at the wrong time can be a disaster.

I remember a case presented at a conference I attended back in 1999 (yeah, it made an impression), when I was a consultant in the hotel industry. Some customer service guru was teaching us how to better serve our clients - which was pretty important, since our clients, the hotels, were in the service business. She discussed with us a bank teller who spent extra time with a customer - going that extra mile" - even though there was a long line waiting. The guru couldn't summon enough praise for this teller. Even though everybody else was waiting, this teller put forth more than was necessary to make a customer happy.

Almost as soon as the story was over, people in different parts of the audience barked almost in unison, "What about everyone else?" The service aficionado spent several minutes ducking and dodging as a growing number of attendees hurled the lines of "I'd be pissed," "That's not good service!" and "Do you really believe that stuff?" She eventually recovered and finished her session, but the discussion at the bar that night was all about whether to please the one at the expense of the many.

Continue reading Travel professionals: stop going the extra mile

Travel professionals: stop going the extra mile originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you were to steal 1,000 pieces of luggage, where would you keep it all? Wherever they shoved the bags, Keith Wilson King and Stacy Lynne Legg-King saw the police pull them out of their house one-by-one and stack them in the yard. The duo had been pinching luggage from the baggage carousels at the Phoenix airport, amassing an impressive collection of stolen goods ... so big the police couldn't provide an exact number.

Phoenix Detective James Holiday called what the Kings did "a livelihood," rather than the pieces of luggage picked up a bit at a time or only as a one-shot deal.

Keith King was originally arrested three weeks ago for misdemeanor theft. The police kept an eye on him, though. When he went back to the airport again, the police followed him home (on Monday). The next day, they searched the King home and found many, many more. Both King and his wife were arrested, with the latter also picked up on charges of tampering with evidence.

The moral of the story? Be careful what you check!

[Photo by sun dazed via Flickr]

Husband and wife team steals 1,000 bags originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Five reasons why I love Korea's Incheon International Airport

Five reasons why I love Korea's Incheon International Airport originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Plan your airport layover with T+L's Airport Navigator originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

People love to complain about the dismal state of air travel these days. Whether it's the stomach-churning airline food (and there's so little of it!), the complete lack of leg room, or the fact that your luggage was for some reason routed through Honolulu, we've come to expect some pretty poor service from quite a few airlines these days.

In any other industry, customers register their indignation by refusing to spend money at the offending establishment. Found a finger in your Caesar's Salad? You're probably never visiting that restaurant again. Tired of your cable cutting out in the middle of House? You just might cancel that company's service and call up their competitor (who'll probably even throw in a year of Starz at no extra charge!)

But with airlines, we're like the pathetic girlfriend who's been cheated on five times but still believes her boyfriend when he says, "Seriously, this time will be different! I've changed!" The worst airlines stay in business because by and large people are willing to put up with crummy service if it means they get a cheap flight.

Continue reading Poll: Have you ever passed up the cheapest airfare to avoid a bad airline?

Poll: Have you ever passed up the cheapest airfare to avoid a bad airline? originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Breakups are tough, but we always seem to get through them. Whether it's strip clubs or buckets of ice cream, there are plenty of coping mechanisms. The latest is to move into an airport. I don't know how this makes you feel better, but it seems to be working for a German tourist. Heinz Muller, a former pilot, was dumped by a Brazilian girl he met on the internet and subsequently hung out in the Campinas airport -- about an hour from Sao Paulo -- until he was finally removed Thursday. Muller was taken to a hospital for psychological testing. Big shock, right?

By the time he was ... ummmm ... evicted from the airport, Muller had run out of money. Broke and unwilling to say when he planned to leave, he subsisted on food court meals bought for him by airport employees. They had no plans to boot him, since he was in the country legally, but doctors decided he needed a closer look. Muller resisted slightly, but the authorities didn't need to use force.

Muller's been in the country all month. He arrived in Rio de Janeiro on October 2, 2009. Only 13 days of this time, however, was spent living in the Campinas airport. He washed himself in the airport's bathrooms and slept on chairs. This must have become pretty tedious -- the airport only has one terminal.

To pass the time, Muller plucked away at his laptop, which was placed on a luggage cart. Looking for a new girlfriend reason to stay in the country, maybe?

German pilot dumped, lives in Brazilian airport for two weeks originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Blizzard forces delays and cancelations at Denver airport originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• We've all had our bad days on the road -- or at the airport in particular. When you're not getting your way, you might want to follow these suggestions to have a better time traveling. [via CNN Travel]
• JAPAN. It's such a unique place to travel, but there are some things to do and not to do in Japan. [via Matador Trips]
• I recently took a coastal drive across the Golden Gate Bridge to Bolinas in Marin and was quickly reminded how much l love the California coastline. Here are some really worthy coastal drives that you can still take before winter sets in. [via MSNBC Travel]
• More and more people travel with their laptops, and more and more destinations are becoming wired for tech travelers. Here are six of the world's most wired places. [via Open Travel]

'Til tomorrow, have a great evening!

More Gadlinks HERE.

Gadlinks for Wednesday 10.28.09 originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Man reconstructs entire Pan Am first class cabin in LA condo originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Relive 1960's air travel with Plane Talk originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

How do you prepare for your flight? originally appeared on Gadling on Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Survey ranks Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle and Los Angeles worst airports in the world

Survey ranks Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle and Los Angeles worst airports in the world originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shortly after the baby was born, the plane landed in Kuala Lumpur. The aim was for the emergency landing to occur before the baby arrived but obviously the baby had other ideas.

Giving birth in flight, with the help of a doctor who was on board, has landed this mom a jackpot of free flights on AirAsia for life. The airline has also bestowed these riches to the newborn.

Can you believe the luck? Just two days old and already a budget traveler to envy. Think of all the nifty vacations this kid will be able to go on. AirAsia, a budget carrier, flies all over Asia and to the United Kingdom.

In a way, this is also like being granted lifelong companion fare status. If either mom or son want to travel with a friend or relative, they could offer to pay a portion of the companion's ticket in order to share the wealth and have a steady stream of traveling pals.

Happily, mother and son are doing well, even though, the birth was 11 weeks premature.

Want a lifetime of free flights? Give birth on board originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Missing a highway exit, thus driving well past it and needing to turn around may be common, particularly if a driver is feeling spaced out and road hashed. Missing an airport, thus flying past it, is unusual. Even so, it happened this past Wednesday. A Northwest Airlines Airbus A320 overshot Minneapolis where it was heading.

Luckily, the plane only went 150 miles further before the pilots realized their mistake and turned around. I guess they must have missed the fact the landscape below had turned from rural to suburban to urban. Minneapolis does have impressive architecture and it's not small. How do you not notice a city?

Overshooting Minneapolis wasn't the pilots only mistake. They didn't contact radio controllers for over an hour. Because of this, the Air National Guard was alerted to be on stand-by and airport police met the plane when it landed at Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport. Police involvement is standard procedure when there is a communication failure.

As an explanation for the big whoops!, the pilots said they were distracted by a heated discussion they were having about airline policy. That must have been some discussion.

There is a possibility that the pilots may have been suffering from pilot fatigue which caused these errors. They could have been taking a snooze. Whether it was fatigue or a heated discussion, the pilots are suspended from flying during the investigation.

As for the 144 passengers, they didn't know anything was amiss until the police showed up.

I can imagine those people who had scrambled to get their bags out of the overhead bin before the seat belt sign went off thinking when they saw the police board the plane, "Wow, I won't do that again. I promise I'll keep my seat belt fastened and wait for that last ding. I swear I will." [Bloomberg.com]

*The photo is of an aerial shot of Minneapolis. Along with the tall buildings, it seems like the water could be a nifty visual cue to keep in mind when flying to Minneapolis.

Northwest pilots fly plane miles past airport where plane was supposed to land originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.