Southwest and Virgin celebrate Thanksgiving with sales originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The unsure future of in-flight wifi originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

United plans for new image overhaul originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Obviously the best thing about being a flight attendant is being able to travel at a moments notice, as long as there's an open seat available on the flight. The second best thing about being a flight attendant has got to be all those days off! The third best thing about being a flight attendant is that we never know what the day will bring, and being able to leave that day behind as soon as we step off the plane - the good, the bad, and the ugly. Or the not so ugly as was the case on my last trip.

"I'm sorry," whispered my coworker, cutting his eyes at Taylor Treat, the winner of the Miss Oklahoma pageant this year. "But I'm prettier than her."

I looked at her, looked at him, looked back at her, and tried not to laugh. Because...well...In his own special way my colleague did indeed give the beauty queen a run for her money, all 200 pounds of him, with flawless coco butter skin, lashes as long as J-Lo, and....wait a minute, was that gloss? His lips were unusually shiny.

"Why Andre..." I handed a passenger a can of Dr. Pepper. "I do believe you're jealous!"

Snorting, he slapped a beverage napkin down on a tray table and turned to the last row of passengers. "Something to drink?"

Just another day on the job.

It had started out like any other day, only on this particular day when we arrived at the Oklahoma City airport I ripped my skirt leaping out of the crew van like a world class athlete. I don't know what I was thinking, trying to make that five foot jump to the curb. The sound of fabric splitting caused my entire crew to gasp, which caused me to walk backwards, or sideways, depending on where passengers were located, as I made my way into the airport, through security, and onto the airplane.

One thing I've learned over the years is that bad things can lead to good things. It's true! Because if it weren't for the ripped skirt I would have never met the passenger with the double-sided sticky tape, and if hadn't met the sticky tape man, I would have never met the beautiful young woman sitting beside him, a woman who will actually be competing for the Miss America title in January. And that's how I almost - ALMOST - got wear a sparkling crown during the beverage service. Only something tells me if I had worn it, Andre would have snatched it away and placed it on his own bald head.

One of the great things about being a flight attendant is that I meet all kinds of interesting people, flight attendants and passengers alike. Take for instance passenger 3B on our flight the day before. He sat in first class wearing a black polo shirt with the word POP ROCKS plastered across his chest in bright red letters.

Continue reading Galley Gossip - Miss Oklahoma, Pop Rocks, a ripped skirt & other strange things on planes

Galley Gossip - Miss Oklahoma, Pop Rocks, a ripped skirt & other strange things on planes originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Keep up on Thanksgiving airport traffic with Travelocity's Task Force originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

One of the best features of the MSC cruise I took with my 17 year-old-daughter and 7-year-old son this summer from Venice to a Greece was the kid's club. It wasn't that I wanted a place to dump my son--we took him on every shore excursion, but when we were on the ship, it gave him a chance to play with other kids and use up energy. He has a lot of energy.

For anyone taking a cruise with a child--or a teen for that matter, look to see what the options are for his or her age group. Also, make sure that before you get your mind set on a particular cruise that your child is age appropriate for that cruise.

Look at the shore excursion options if you're interested in those to see what age a child has to be in order to go. Some trips have age requirements due to safety factors. If excursions are mostly for adult passengers, maybe you ought to reconsider your choice.

There's a handy press release guide at CruiseCompete.com that highlights cruise line offerings for the younger crowd--even infants. When planning a cruise vacation with a child this can be a handy place to start. As you read through each listing, you'll notice specifics like what ages are programs geared towards and what services are offered for babies. Some cruises don't have any specific programs for kids, while others are a kid's paradise.

Checking out options is a great way to visualize a cruise in the first place. That's what happened to me. I imagined my son on the cruise and then we had to go.

Kid-friendly cruises: A resource to find them originally appeared on Gadling on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When the five people who ranged from an R& B singer moving to NYC to seek her fortune-- to a young man trying to get to Hartford, Connecticut and his sick grandmother as quickly as possible, sidled up to the Greyhound ticket counter in Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan, they weren't itching for a fight. What they wanted was some compensation for their Greyhound induced travel woes.

See, the bus they had taken from Cleveland had arrived two hours late. It's not unusual for a bus to be late. Traffic, weather and a bus breakdown can occur. Their bus's lateness was due to driver error. The driver, after a scheduled rest stop, had headed the bus back towards Cleveland for more than 70 miles.

What made this snafu feel worse is that they would have arrived earlier than the scheduled arrival time if it wasn't for the driver's mistake. If you've ever been on a road trip that has been lengthened by the wrong way, perhaps you'll recall that jumpy nervous twitch that ensues--the kind of feeling where any moment you could LOSE YOUR MIND.

As written in the previous post, Gadling knows these details because Gadling was there. Here's the rest of the story. What happens when a passenger does complain? Airlines take notice.

Continue reading Greyhound customer service delivers after bus heads wrong way for more than 70 miles

Greyhound customer service delivers after bus heads wrong way for more than 70 miles originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading How to effectively complain about your trip via Twitter

How to effectively complain about your trip via Twitter originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Laptop desk that fits on your steering wheel ... originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Galley Gossip: 5 tips for getting through airport security quickly

Galley Gossip: 5 tips for getting through airport security quickly originally appeared on Gadling on Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Delta joins the ranks of "cashless cabins"

Delta joins the ranks of "cashless cabins" originally appeared on Gadling on Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Earlier this week, a pig on an airport runway in Zimbabwe wrecked a plane and panicked passengers as the plane was taking off. On Wednesday, it wasn't a pig that created a travel brouhaha. It was a low flying pelican--plus a cell phone.

Evidently, as the pelican made a low flying move in front of a million dollar sports car--a Bugatti Veyron, the man driving this expensive beauty became startled and dropped his cell phone.

Quick quiz:

What shouldn't you do if you drop your cell phone in your car?

Answer:

Don't do what this guy did. He bent down to pick up the phone.

Bad move.

If you've ever bent down to pick up anything when you drive, you know how easy it is for the car to swerve.

That's just what happened in this case. The man swerved the car right off the frontage road of Interstate 45 near Galveston, Texas and into a salt marsh. Luckily, the salt marsh wasn't so deep that the car disappeared entirely.

When the police showed up, it was easy to spot the car's silver grey shine where it waited for rescue 20 feet from shore---at least the part that wasn't under the briny water.

After the incident, along with gaining notoriety for being the owner of a salted, wet million dollar car, the man did get a call from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. [msnbc]

Low flying pelican and cell phone vs million dollar car: car loses originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Kids fly free to Vail this winter originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

An open letter to Kim Jong-Il of North Korea originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hi Heather,

I listened to your Frommers podcast recently and found it very funny. I especially liked your comments about people's attitudes to flying and the bit about control freaks. It made me realize what I've suspected for some time which is that I am a control freak, especially when flying!

My last trip a couple of weeks ago I ended up shouting halfway up the plane at another passenger who got up to stroll to the toilets when the seat belt signs were on. They were the latest in a line of many and had also stopped to have a little chat with their mates on the way back. Being British I get a bit huffy about people not following instructions, I think it's a national quirk, and, normally being British I might just have carried on muttering to the lady next to me along the lines of "Well really, can people not read, what's the point of putting the signs on, what are the crew doing about it, nothing etc etc". But it was a miserable flight in economy on Continental across the Atlantic and the fact that I'd unexpectedly just had to pay 5$ for a bottle of white wine vinegar was doing nothing to improve my temper.

I'd like to report that the effect of my outburst was instantaneous, that the guilty party sat down and no one else got up. Sadly she just shouted back "I'll go to the toilet when I want to, thank you VERY much." Everyone between her and me on the flight went quiet and I just felt like a right idiot. I bought another bottle of white wine vinegar and fumed quietly for a bit, half wishing we'd hit a bit of turbulence next time someone got up when the signs were on, "to teach them a lesson." How sad is that! Next time I'll do as you suggest and try and relax more!

Regards,

Marie B.


Dear Marie,

Your letter cracked me up and now you've got me thinking that I may have been British in a past life or something because I, too, am a bit of a rule follower. Nothing drives me crazier than a passenger who thinks they're exempt from following the rules. Really, how many times do I have to ask someone to turn off the electronic device before takeoff? Hello, Mr. Exit Row, I know what you're doing all bent over like that with your head crammed between your knees. Do ya really think that I think you're whispering to the floor? Please, do me a favor and don't make tap, tap, tap you in front of your seatmates who are now giving you the evil eye. I mean really!

Continue reading Galley Gossip: Enforcing rules in flight!

Galley Gossip: Enforcing rules in flight! originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hot air ballons take flight once again over Luxor, Egypt originally appeared on Gadling on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Plane Answers: 5 things to look for on your next flight

Plane Answers: 5 things to look for on your next flight originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Up in the Air: George Clooney becomes a frequent flyer originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jason Barger already knew a fair amount about people before he headed off his 7-day, 7-airport travel spree to do nothing but watch them interact. He'd spent many a spring break leading adolescents and adults on house-building ventures in Mexico, a trip that took him through various airports with a band of travelers of all ages, for example.

Wanting more fodder to further develop his ideas about airport behavior and what it says about humanity, he decided to airport hop logging thousands of miles and observations as he zig zagged across the U.S. While he watched people either shine with behavior that would make Mom proud --or in such a way that if they were a piece of luggage no one would claim them, Barger honed his ideas about how the airport is a perfect metaphor for modern day life.

The result was Step Back from the Baggage Claim, a book that Barger hopes people will leave on a bench somewhere for someone else to pick up once they're done reading it. The result of passing the book along will be that people will think about how they interact as they move through their day.

Ever since I read Barger's book, I've made my own observations about airport interactions. It does seem he's onto something. Over the past months since his book came out, gaining steam through venues like the Washington Post and ABC News, I've kept up with Barger's efforts. Yesterday, there was a post on his new video.

Today is a Talking Travel interview with questions Barger answered through e-mail in between a trip to the Dominican Republic to help with a house-building effort there. If you are looking for a tasty bite to eat that's not expensive while passing through an airport, Barger has a suggestion.

With Thanksgiving travel rapidly approaching, listening to Barger's advice to step back from the baggage claim is not a bad idea.

Continue reading Talking Travel with Step Back from the Baggage Claim, Jason Barger

Talking Travel with Step Back from the Baggage Claim, Jason Barger originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Frequent Flyer Master -- A product review

Frequent Flyer Master -- A product review originally appeared on Gadling on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.