Is using video chat in-flight a security threat, inconsiderate, or neither? John Battelle was sitting onboard a wi-fi enabled cross-country flight on United Airlines, and fired up video chat to wish his wife and kids a good night. (He stresses that he used headphones and the in-laptop microphone.) Then, mid-chat, a flight attendant told him to shut it down : “Security. Cameras not allowed!” …  Read More →

Upgraded: Wine you can bring onboard a flight It’s not the original intent of winemakers, and I’m sure the airline industry doesn’t advocate this, but 50ml wine sample bottles may soon be put into regular production. 50ml? 50ml is certainly below the TSA’s 100ml cutoff… Downgraded: Continental exit row seats Starting March 17, exit row seats will cost you extra money , unless you’re a Continental OnePass elite... 

Priceline has rolled out two new short-term features: A searchable display of winning bids for their Name Your Own Price hotel product, and an increased payout on its best-rate guarantee. Both are visible on the same page of their site, called the “ Big Deal Guarantee .” The display of winning bids is nice, but given that the BetterBidding or BiddingForTravel message boards exist to catalogue winning bids with greater precision,... 

In a world of a-la-carte pricing and fees for … everything… it’s always been an irony of sorts that economy hotels have continued to be as all-inclusive as they are. Free internet, free local calls, and free breakfast are commonplace at the lower end of the hotel spectrum, while at the luxury end, you’re paying for each of those. (The sweet spot may…  Read More →

Update 10:00am EST: An update on site uptime: After much wrangling, and hours on the phone with tech support, I’ve been able to restore the site fully to its state as of Friday afternoon. For those who tried to leave a comment, browse the archives, or do anything other than viewing the (cached) homepage over the weekend, welcome back. Things should be working normally again. Posting to return to normal soon. And thanks for your patience.... 

Beginning May 7, Marriott will start offering Gold and Platinum elite members free internet, but only in the US (excluding Hawaii and US territories) and Canada. Obviously they’re following Hyatt and Starwood’s lead here, although both of those chains provide free internet globally. This is better than nothing, although Marriott has a long way to go before they have a competitive loyalty program, in my book.  Read More →

Upgraded: Kids taking charge in aviation When I was a kid, I loved — loved! — going up to the cockpit during the flight. I remember sitting in a Pan Am 747 cockpit somewhere over the northern Atlantic, and the captain pointed out some icebergs floating below us. I suppose Dwight Schrute and I have the Pan Am experience in common. But in today’s security environment, kids can’t get that experience… but they can direct... 

A couple days ago, I received a “FareCatcher” airfare alert e-mail from FareCompare , and I noticed a pair of very similarly priced fares: Similar price, enormous difference in distance. Charlotte to Greensboro is 83 miles. Charlotte to Spokane is 2060 miles. A nearly 25-fold difference. Let’s look at that on the map, courtesy of the Great Circle Mapper , for laughs: Yes, yes, yes, airlines price tickets on more than just distance... 

It’s a good-news/bad-news scenario. American Airlines’ regional carrier American Eagle is upgrading the interiors of its Canadair CRJ-700 regional jets, to include 9 first-class seats. 25 existing planes will be converted; 22 new planes are on order. All are expected to be online by July 2. Putting a first-class cabin on regional jets puts them more in line with the “exPlus” product United has been offering …  Read More →

Toilet Wars: They’re on. Japan’s ANA has announced (pdf) that their larger aircraft on international routes will feature one lavatory reserved for women only. Seriously. The image above shows the pink signage that will demarcate the testosterone-free zone on the restroom doors. I’ve been skeptical of airline marketing targeted to a single gender for a while. (You may recall my skepticism of the efforts by American Airlines... 

I received an odd message today from the general manager of a Crowne Plaza Hotel. She asked me to delete a hotel review I left on TripAdvisor nearly five years ago, well before the current management took over the property. Putting aside the author’s horrible, HORRIBLE grammar and spelling, I can sympathize and understand why a hotel manager might want to have old reviews deleted. When I stayed at the property, it …  Read More →

The PBS investigative series “Frontline” used the one year anniversary of the February 2009 crash of a Colgan Air Q400 (flying under Continental colors) as a springboard for an hour on the issue of regional airlines, their safety, and their relationships with their affiliated airlines and the FAA. Much of it isn’t news to travel geeks, but for many, the report will be a revelation. It’s a disturbing report, and well worth... 

Upgraded: British Airways first class Downgraded: Qantas first class Just days after Australia’s Qantas announced that they would be ditching two-thirds of their first-class seats (except on the A380) and making business class their primary premium cabin, British Airways went the opposite direction. Instead, they are pumping serious cash into an upgraded first-class cabin . Upgraded: British Airways Visa Miles In the spirit of the last... 

A photo from the Intel visitor center in Santa Clara, where they invoke Moore’s Law — the observation that, roughly translated, speed of computer processing chips doubles every two years, while the price moves inversely — toward air travel: The 1-cent flight? That part we’ve seen, albeit with plenty of strings attached. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the concept of a 3635-mile flight in 1 second. Granted,... 

Downgraded: Toyotas in rental car fleets Bad enough that Toyota’s massive recall is affecting so many vehicle owners. But it’s affecting rental cars, too. Enterprise, for example, has removed 83% of their Toyotas, but that leaves 17% in the fleet. If you’re given a Toyota at the rental counter — any rental counter, not just Enterprise — you may want to request documentation that the recall repairs have been completed....