News & PR
Amusement parks, ice-skating rinks, wave pools, and IMAX theatres—believe it or not, these are all found inside of select malls around the world. And although many know of Minnesota’s Mall of America, which continues to be a popular road trip destination, the shopping centers that beat it in both size and attractions require an international voyage.
Flight attendants are a step closer to qualifying for benefits under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
The Senate late Tuesday approved a measure to clarify the intent of the landmark law so that airline flight crews are covered.
The 1993 law grants eligible workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for family emergencies or after the birth of children. It generally covers employers with 50 or more workers.
Flight crews were considered excluded under the original law because they don’t work traditional 40-hour weeks.
The percentage of airline flights in September that arrived within 15 minutes of schedule, according to the U.S. Transportation Department.
In parenthesis is the carrier’s ranking the previous month.
1. Hawaiian Airlines, 94.1 percent (1)
2. Alaska Airlines, 90.0 percent (2)
3. Southwest Airlines, 89.1 percent (6)
4. Frontier Airlines, 89.1 percent (4)
5. JetBlue, 88.7 percent (15)
Google, Yahoo, eBay and Microsoft, competitors on the Web, all have the same idea for marketing themselves this holiday season: temporarily providing free Wi-Fi access in airports, airplanes and public places.
Google Inc. announced Tuesday that it would provide free Wi-Fi access in 47 airports across the U.S., including Boston, Houston and Seattle, through Jan. 15. The airports handle about 35 percent of U.S. air travelers, the company said.
Travelers who connect to a wireless "hot spot" at one of the airports will see a browser page that gives them the chance to donate to three charities and have the donation matched by Google.
That old adage "No rest for the weary" could have been coined with Mark and Barbara Van Art in mind.
Driving from their home in Glendora, N.J., to North Carolina, the Van Arts wanted to stop at a rest area on Interstate 85 in Virginia, but it was closed because of state budget cuts. Exiting the highway, they headed for a fast food restaurant — only to discover that it was the same one they had stopped at during an earlier trip and found dirty. It was back to the highway in search of a rest area.
More and more budget-travel tipsters are pointing towards Twitter, Facebook and social media outlets as the source for wild cheap airfares these days. And it’s true, in a way. By subscribing to the pundit feeds online it’s possible to get the inside scoop on a few good routes, often saving a few shekels on a future itinerary.
These are hard times for clothing-optional travelers.
Last summer, thanks to two highly-publicized incidents, naked became synonymous with crazy. In one, a passenger stripped during a US Airways flight and resisted an attendant’s efforts to cover him; in the other, a Southwest Airlines flight was forced to turn around after a male passenger went au naturel.
Anyone renting a car in Maine would be paying the state 12.5% of their bill in excise taxes starting last month if the legislature there had its way.
But residents blocked the state’s new tax-reform law — which included a tax increase from 10% to 12.5% on rental car bills — by signing petitions in opposition. If the signatures on the petitions turn out to be valid, the increase will be put to a vote in June, says Sara Lewis, a Maine taxation official.
People scared of flying can now press a button on their iPhone to help them deal with their panic.
Long-haul airline Virgin Atlantic Airways has launched an application, or app, for its Flying Without Fear course which boasts a success rate of over 98 percent. Apps are a source of information, games and other novelty ideas for users of Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch devices.
The airline said in a statement that this app was designed to help people overcome fear, be it of the unfamiliar aircraft, the strange noises a plane makes, or of losing control.
Adventurous travelers hoping to one day go into space received good news yesterday when the Barcelona based company behind the Galactic Suite Space Resort announced that their orbiting hotel will open for business in 2012, ushering in a new era in travel.
The world’s first space hotel will begin operations with just a single pod that can hold up to four guests and two pilots. Other pods will be added over time, increasing capacity as needed. The zero-g resort will orbit the Earth at 30,000 mph, completely circling the planet once every 80 minutes, while offering visitors 15 sunrises per day.