Travel, Cruise

The TSA is well aware that the removal of shoes is not our most popular policy.
So goes the latest post on the agency’s blog, explaining the testing of some new shoe scanners at LAX. During the trial period, you’ll be able to keep your shoes on as you walk through one scanner–but you’ll have to […]

So you’re done with kayaking Manhattan and ready for an edgier boat trip? If you’ve got your basic boat skills down, one of the world’s most picturesque kayak trails is just a few miles from the states, in Mexico’s Baja California.
The sparsely populated coastline along the Sea of Cortez is one of North America’s most […]

Virgin America apparently doesn’t have enough going on with constant fare sales and giving away trips to space. So the carrier has launched the Virgin America Community–and as you can see, the airline made the announcement via Twitter.
So far it looks like VA is simply soliciting info from fliers; as far as we can tell, […]

Delta has announced a new frequent flyer mile chart, but Is this a good news, bad news story?
Delta is now charging up to 60,000 miles round-trip for a domestic coach frequent flyer ticket, but spending those miles will get you the "last seat on the plane" free of capacity controls. The airline also has the […]

Apparently it’s not just airline passengers getting slapped with criminal charges these days. Former SAS cargo executive Timothy Pfeil is turning state’s in an investigation into a conspiracy by airlines to violate antitrust rules. A plea agreement will have him serve six months in exchange for help in further investigations into how numerous airlines illegally […]

As the Beijing Olympics loom, Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) is warning visitors that the Chinese government may well spy on them. At a press conference yesterday, he declared that:

The [Chinese] government has set up a system to be able to spy and gather information about each and every guest at every hotel where Olympic visitors […]

Israel’s most claustrophobic hiking trail, Hezekiah’s Tunnel is an ancient narrow path below the City of David in Jerusalem. Built in 701 BC, the tunnel was constructed as an aqueduct to bring water to Jerusalem residents while the city was under siege by the Assyrians.
Today, visitors can hike through the S-shaped tunnel, also called Warren’s […]

OpenSkies, the premium transatlantic airline launched by British Airways, recently announced it would start Amsterdam-New York service. But the bigger news from the airline is that it’s about to rip out all its economy class seats.
Yep, now that Eos, MaxJet and Silverjet have left the market, OpenSkies is going all business class, removing the 30-passenger […]

First things first, the editorializing. Pay the extra bucks and get a real passport, already, okay? Now, from the State Department:
The passport card facilitates entry and expedites document processing at U.S. land and sea ports-of-entry when arriving from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The card may not be used to travel by air. […]

While Bill Diffenderffer is ostensibly back to his writing career and other Skybus folks are sorting out a bankruptcy mess, the LCC’s planes are being shipped overseas to other airlines that, you know, can afford to fly them.
One A319 ended up with Airblue, a newish Pakistani carrier that’s looking to expand. Another is on the […]