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Plane Answers: Do jets have keys, my first airline flight and overwing exits {Gadling}
Sep 18th 2009 5:38PM It shouldn't obstruct the exit, either... you're meant to put the door on the armrests. I'd guess tossing it over the seatback to the forward or aft row of the exit would have the same conservation of energy issues and would also have the potential of injuring other people if they were still *in* that row...
Four of the most expensive travel products you can waste your money on {Gadling}
Jul 31st 2009 5:26PM Agreed, divide 16,900 by 16 segments (assuming you're smart enough to use your whole allowance) and you get just over $1,000 per segment. If you book the right segments, that's one heck of a bargain, considering that many true First class seats cost in excess of $5,000 per segment (a sidestep.com search shows a First class flight from DFW to LHR in the low season with a saturday night stay at $7,617 r/t and that's just two segments!)
If I could convince the wife to let us budget the green for it, I'd jump on the Oneworld thing. One of my major goals in life is to visit all seven continents at least once before I die. The Oneworld deal is a great way to get the six easy ones out of the way!
Five tips for booking a better town car {Gadling}
Jul 22nd 2009 11:36AM At the risk of being labeled a spammer, I use AAA Affordable in the Dallas, TX area... the owner of the company personally handles every pickup, even if it's not him behind the wheel. His drivers are required to call him and report status when they pick up a customer, and he doesn't hesitate to replace drivers with less than impeccable records.
The ONLY time in almost two years of using his service that I have had to wait for a car was when my flight arrived over 30 minutes early even though flightstats and the airline were reporting an on time arrival. It was rush hour and he had two guys nearby, so he sent BOTH of them because he figured one of them would find a good way to get around the traffic and not keep me waiting. Sure enough, I had just enough time to walk back inside for a pit stop and as I walked back out my phone was ringing, the owner calling to tell me who to look for.
German airline to offer smoking, not non {Gadling}
Jul 17th 2009 8:53AM Oh, man, I would have killed for something like this on my first ever international flight from DFW to GRU. 13 nic-free hours for the pack a day smoker I used to be was torture. I do remember quite fondly the lax attitude about smoking in public places down there, though. We had barely cleared the jetbridge when people were already lighting up.
Quitting was the best decision I've ever made, though. I've been smoke free for two years now and I can put in an easy half-hour on an elliptical without collapsing in a fit of coughing. It's very nice :)
Onboard Central America's thriftiest carrier: Sosa {Gadling}
Jul 13th 2009 1:37PM Kinda reminds me of my trip from San Juan Isla Grande (SIG) to Culebra (CPX), PR on Air Flamenco... Big props (ha ha, punny!) to the guys at AF, though, they covered the safety and customer service well, but flying on a smaller aircraft can be a little nerve wracking at first if you've never done it before. This particular flight seated 10 including the pilot, and seat 1A was *shoulder-to-shoulder* with the pilot (yes, there was a passenger seated at the co-pilot's yoke, not me, I was in 2B). The best part of the flight was when the pilot used a quick glance over his shoulder as a navigational aid to set up his approach at CPX.
Up until that point the smallest plane I'd been a passenger on was an Embraer. Assigned seating? Yes, based on your weight, which you had to provide at the time of booking. Air vents? Yeah, open the window. Exit rows? Yup, every row. Onboard video? Sure, if you count watching the GPS over the pilot's shoulder. Oh, and the baggage claim at CPX was literally an opening in the wall with a little metal table under it. They tossed the bags through the opening after hand-carrying them from the area behind the back seat on the plane.
It was, without a doubt, one of the most memorable and fun flying experiences of my life!
Hotels chains - picking the right one and how to become a loyal guest {Gadling}
Jul 2nd 2009 11:05AM Be careful, though, loyalty can become a trap. I've been very fortunate in my experiences with Marriott (Platinum, just shy of 100 nights so far this year), but I've had a few trips where the only Marriott close to where I needed/wanted to be had issues (price, quality, cleanliness, etc.). Complaints to corporate offices can sometimes resolve these, but if they don't you may be stuck if you want to keep earning your status and points.
The nice thing about loyalty, though, is that I'm currently staying a top-notch property in Alpharetta GA. I'm on the preferred floors every single week, and the desk clerks greet me by name when I walk in the door. On top of that I've been earning ridiculous amounts of points that have allowed me to take my wife to a luxurious suite in Manhattan at the Hotel 57 (a Rennaisance property) and early next year we're spending two weeks in a 5-star resort in Phuket, Thailand with no out of pocket costs for the accomodation.
Spreading your loyalty around has its benefits if all you're interested in is elite status. Once I hit Platinum with Marriott I could have started staying at the nearby Doubletree or Hyatt Place to pick up status in another program, but then my points would be spread all over the place and I wouldn't have much opportunity to enjoy the benefits of status and earning points at 1.5 times the normal rate.
Less space in overhead bins? Blame it on the airplane {Gadling}
Jun 24th 2009 4:07PM Ernie Cat, I sent an e-mail to American Airlines about the same problem there. The FA's and GA's are completely ignoring size restrictions and baggage size. To make matters worse, self-entitled elites are ignoring the rule that your "personal item" (often another bag almost as big as the first) goes under the seat in front of you, NOT in the overhead. The end result is that on my weekly flight to Atlanta from DFW, the overhead bins are almost completely full by the time the elites are done boarding!
Business travelers: five pre-flight rituals {Gadling}
Jun 19th 2009 10:45AM I couldn't agree with this list more, especially #5 (anyone looking for a good company in Dallas, call AAA Affordable at 972-636-5200 and tell Armen that Chris sent you)
I fly every week and developing some consistency in your process is the most important thing to getting out the door on time. I always have my bags packed, sometimes by Saturday night, to make sure I have zero stress in the morning on Monday. It usually takes me less than 30 minutes to get ready between a quick shower, shave, and getting dressed. Any extra time I can spend in bed means the world when I have a 6am flight!
Don Q - Puerto Rican Rum {Gadling}
Jun 18th 2009 1:44PM A smarter way to take home some Don Q Grand Anejo is to pick up a bottle from Duty Free on your way out (unless they've stopped carrying it, in which case, shame on them!)
While most products in the Duty Free shops in SJU are off-limits to people flying back to the States, Puerto Rico-produced rums are both available and nice and cheap. And the only limit to what you can carry back with you is what you can carry. The airline won't even count the carry bags of liquor against your carry-on limit as long as you can find a place to stow them!
The only bottle of rum you should ever have to put in carry-on luggage from PR is the Bacardi Reserva Limitada, which can ONLY be purchased at the Bacardi gift shop at the Bacardi plant.
10 passengers we love to hate: Day 9 -- passengers who try to convert you {Gadling}
Jun 11th 2009 1:07PM I haven't had one of these on a flight, but unfortunately both my Mom and my brother fall into this category and they drive me absolutely batty! I finally told my Mom, "look, my wife and I are both very happy with our spiritual decisions and we don't have any plans to change them anytime soon"
If I was sitting next to someone on a flight that was acting that way, I would ask them politely to stop and if they didn't, I would very happily put my earphones in and listen to some Gwar or something :-D
