Tagged With "airport fees"
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Memphis, Tennessee 2) The King's chariots
Elvis loved cars and mechanical toys of all types, including motorcycles and airplanes. He had the money to indulge his passions, and you can see many of his favorites right across the street from Graceland . The Elvis...
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Lufthansa: Name your own upgrade...
Lufthansa has come up with a unique new...well, not sure if I should call it an offer, a game, a fee or a lottery! Economy passengers on Lufthansa's 747-8s is offering passengers in economy to bid on an upgrade to premium economy, or from economy to...
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For those who hate Heathrow, Gatwick plans new allure
London's Gatwick Airport, second only to Heathrow in British air traffic, is in a hot competition with Heathrow for the right to build an additional runway to accommodate growing air traffic in Southeast Britain. Part of its strategy is to line up a...
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Update: Loyalty Programs and Credit Cards
For some of us, credit cards are more than a convenient way to pay—they are the lifeline to free travel through loyalty programs. Between points for purchases and bonuses for opening or upgrading credit card accounts, it's possible to get quite...
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Europe's busiest runway gets busier...
Gatwick Airport, London, has installed new software for Airport Collaborative Decision Making, a concept that means all vendors, airlines and the airport itself sharing information for safety and efficiency. The result is an increase in the airport's...
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Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport Adds Another International Route
Eva Air is the latest to announce new service to Houston's Airport. The new route will go to Evas's base go in Taipei. ANA,Korean Air,SAS, United, & Spirit all have added or announced new routes to Houston in 2014. Read More: http://www.usatoday.com/story/...ontinental/20514757/
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Have you a reservation, sir? Thailand considers selling tickets to country!
Thailand is considering charging a 30-baht daily fee for tourists, or 500-baht (about US $16) for stays longer than 3 days. The government believes it will bring in "better quality tourists," and deal with foreigners who overstay their visas,...
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Say it isn't so! Southwest to charge for bags???
There are only two domestic airlines in the US that don't charge for checked bags -- Southwest and JetBlue. Will Southwest start charging a baggage fee? Click on this link to read more
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The "Noah's Ark" airport
We normally think of airports as people places, but Frankfurt's airport handles twice as many animals as people each year, and it's a very busy people airport! Everything from horses to fish to rare exotic creatures. An interesting piece...
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Good News For Musicians Traveling by Airplane
The U.S. Department of Transportation issued a final rule to implement section 403 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012. The rule requires that each U.S. airline allow passengers to carry into the cabin and stow a small musical instrument,...
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Tahquitz Canyon, Palm Springs
It's a great time of year to be visiting the desert regions of the Southwestern USA. The weather is warm and pleasant, the wildflowers are starting to bloom, and the oppressive heat of summer is a distant...
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Washington Oaks Garden: a Peaceful Paradise in Florida
With all that Florida has to offer, you'd think it would be hard for anybody to pick a favorite place in the state. In my case though, it's not. By a mile,my favorite place is Washington Oaks Gardens State Park. Washington Oaks is one of the most...
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El Yunque: A visit to the rain forest
When we began planning a trip to Puerto Rico, and planning to include our 14-year-old granddaughter, we sent her some of the material we were gathering and asked her what her priorities were. She, and we, both had El Yunque right near the top of the...
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Frontier's raising bag fees; will the other "low-costs" follow?
Frontier Airlines, which last year joined Spirit and Allegiant in the ULCC (ultra-low-cost-carrier) class that seems to mean ULC (ultra lots of charges) for most folks, is raising its fees for checked bags. The only checked bags that will not go up by...
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Will foreign transactions fees fade away?
Foreign transaction fees, that annoying 3% (usual rate) that your card issuer charges to translate your 100€ hotel room into dollars, seem to be fading...but slowly, according to a survey by creditcards.com. The fees, which can add up to a...
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World's best airport? You have to leave home to find it!
Skytrax has released its ratings of the world's top airports, and the line-up at the very top has no representatives from North or South America. Six of the top 10 were in Asia, and the rest in Europe. Topping the list again is Singapore's Changi...
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The Airport...and how it got that way
You've all probably got an airport you hate, and a favorite (or perhaps least-hated) one. And I'm sure you've often wondered why they put the baggage claim there, and why the food is over there, and why it just so often seems to be two miles to the...
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"Lactation Station" joining airport amenities
Milwaukee's General Mitchell airport has become the first to install free standing pods for nursing mothers. They are self-contained pods with comfortable furniture, outlets for breast pumps, and space for nursing on the go. Three have been installed...
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What do Travelers of all ages want at hotels? Connectivity
Whether you're a Baby Boomer, a Millennial, or a "whatever Generation", when it comes to hotel stays we all want good online connectivity. It seems that internet access has long gone from a luxury to a requirement while traveling...
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Britain's Flying Tax Gets a Shave
The much-hated British Air Passenger Duty (APD) which for the past several years has made flying in and out of the UK more expensive than many other routes, is getting some adjustments and reductions. British tourism and travel companies, as...
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Airport playgrounds take off for kids
The GO Group supplies limos and shared shuttles at airports, but they've also taken a look at what goes on inside the airports, and found what they call the Top Five Airport Playgrounds for Kids, including the "Kids on the Fly" shown below at...
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Airports, Airlines battle over passenger fees
It's hard for a traveler to tell what's going on sometimes in the pot-calling-the-kettle-black wars of the air travel industry. We've covered elsewhere the dispute between the legacy airlines and the Gulf carriers over subsidies and "Open Skies."...
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Zermatt's Saint Bernards retire from pictures
Modern times have decimated traditional ways and images all over the world; this evening I was devastated to learn that the famous Saint Bernards whose image, with brandy keg, says "Alpine" whenever and wherever you see it, are no longer used in...
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Tiny tugs in the future for airports?
You've probably never heard of a μtug (yes, that's a Greek letter) but you might, soon. It's a class of tiny robot that borrows abilities from gekkos and inchworms to pull weights 2000 times its own weight on any surface it can stick...
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Zipcar adds more airports; tests one-way rentals
Zipcar, which rents cars by the hour to its members for short-term use, is expanding its on-airport locations, adding seven more for a total of over 50. The new ones include Orlando and Tampa. For those who aren't familiar with Zipcar, it works...
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She believes she can fly...no ticket needed!
Marilyn Hartman seems to have a need to fly, and no intention of bothering with mundane issues such as tickets or security. The 63-year-old California woman has a long history as a serial stowaway, and a number of arrests while trying. Considering how...
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"Kona Coffee": Greenwell Farms Coffee Tours
Kona coffee is world famous for its full-bodied, non-bitter, bold flavor. Hard to put the taste into words, but it's good coffee! The micro-climate just south of Kona, around 1000 - 2000 ft above sea level, is perfect for...
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British Air adds year-round Iceland flights
British Airways will be flying Heathrow-Rekyjavik three times a week, starting October 25, becoming the first mainline trans-Atlantic carrier to offer year-round service. BA and others have operated summer services, but the winter has been largely...
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Mixed messages in the air: chocolate and healthy fruit
We're getting mixed signals again from the airlines, on the snack front this time. On the one hand, sweet Valentine's Day chocolates, on the other an offer of fresh healthy fruit. First the chocolate: The topper is a chocolate lava cake offered...
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Spirit grows its route system
Spirit, the penny-pinching fee-hiking airline everyone loves to say they hate, must be doing something right, because they're able to launch nine new non-stop routes from Atlanta and 3 from Los Angeles in the next few months. The routes will be...
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TSA-confiscated items: Wonder where they go?
Every day, hundreds of items are surrendered to TSA at airports around the country (note the word: TSA doesn't like to say confiscated). Where do they all go? Seems that after the liquids and aerosols are disposed of, the rest go on trips of...
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"Sky-Fi" cost keeps shifting...up and down
The more it becomes clear that inflight Wi-Fi is what passengers want, the less clear it is just how much will be available and how much it will cost. Airlines are switching—with costs involved—to satellite based services from vendors such...
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Spain's "ghost airport" will come to life with Ryanair
Spain's embarrassingly-empty Castellon-Costa Azahar airport, unused since it was opened with great ceremony nearly five years ago, will finally get passengers. Ryanair will announce a schedule of flights from U.K. and northern Europe today, according...
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AA-USAir loyalty merger...and a maybe last chance
American Airlines will merge its two loyalty programs "within 30 days" according to e-mails sent yesterday to all members of the USAir Dividend Miles program, which will be folded into the AAdvantage program. All existing miles will transfer; for some...
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American, USAir loyalty programs will merge Q2 2015
American and USAir have just notified their frequent flier program members (AAdvantage and Dividend Miles) of more detailed plans for merging the two plans, including a date: 2nd quarter of 2015, as well as details of the merger plan. All USAir...
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Wow Air Brings the Wow to Airline Prices
Icelandic Airline Wow is starting service to Boston in (March,2015 )and Baltimore in (June 2016) They have posted some great airfares to Reykjavik,London and Copenhagen. Some prices today were lower than $250.00 rt ! Read More:...
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Marriott to offer free wi-fi to all its Rewards member
Marriott is breaking the old internet template used by many hotel chains. Lower priced hotels, including lower end Marriott properties (eg. Fairfield Inn, Courtyard) have offered free wi-fi for some time. Upper end Marriott properties have...
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Boston Gains More International Routes
Boston's Logan Airport is becoming more of an international hub, with 13 new international routes in past couple of years. The latest is an El Al-operated route to Tel Aviv that will begin this summer. Other recent additions include a Dreamliner...
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Billy Bishop Airport, Toronto. Where Gumbo was #77
Gumbo's heading out to Toronto's Billy Bishop Airport (YTZ), sometimes also called Toronto Island Airport. Congratulations to ace travel sleuths Roderick Simpson and PortMoresby (by email) for being the first to correctly...
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Historic Route 66 (pt 3) - Flagstaff to Gallup
The next leg of my trip was the shortest distance I had to drive, but it took the longest time. There was a lot to see along the way. Flagstaff AZ I was last in Flagstaff 20 years ago. It was a dismal depressed town in which nothing was...
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What do travelers like least about airlines?
Could it be full crowded planes? A near absence of customer service? Smaller narrower cramped seats? Mediocre food you need to pay for on the plane? No, as we've previously reported, travelers really dislike add-on...
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Fee-free weekend kicks off National Park Week
U.S. National Parks will celebrate its annual National Park Week starting Saturday, April 18th, with two days of no entry fees (Saturday and Sunday) to kick off the celebration of America's more than 400 National Parks, big and small. Many...
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Traveler advocates ask DOT to cap change fees
FlyersRights.org has petitioned the Federal Department of Transportation to put a $100 cap on change fees for international flights. The fees, which used to run around $50 to $100 now go as high as $750, and the group says they have no relation to the...
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Gumbo's Pic of the Day, February 26, 2014: The Hope Diamond, Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.
Throughout my academic life I have come across the famed Hope Diamond. In elementary school I remember seeing photos of this magnificent gem. In middle school I remember hearing stories of its notorious curse. In high school...
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NYC airports set records for busy...
The five airports operated by the Port Authority of NY and NJ (JFK, Laguardia, Newark, Stewart/Newburgh and Atlantic City) set a record for passenger traffic last year, with 117.1 million passengers, up 3 million from the year before. And,...
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Airlines, Airports split over new fees
You'd think the airlines had never heard of a fee they didn't like, but now they've found one. Maybe what they don't like about it is that the money goes to airports, not airlines. The charge, which the airlines call a "tax" is the Passenger Facility...
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Waived Booking Fees on AA Award Travel
This may not be news to some of you, but it is new to me. Heading to the AAdvantage webpage to see what flights might be available, I discovered a notice informing us that American now waives fees when booking by phone, starting today, when reserving...
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Easyjet 'Hands Free': travel gift or ripoff fee?
Easyjet offers Hands Free for a price. Is it a helping hand, or just another nickle-and-dime fee?