Mobissimo

Lonely Planet, the oft-seen, dog-eared travel guide known world over, is having a travel writing contest:

Do you love travel? Do you have a way with words? Then it sounds like you're ready to taste one of the most sought after jobs in the world. We are searching for three budding travel writers to hit the road with a Lonely Planet author, sample the day to day of being a travel writer, and then write some kick-arse content for us when you return.

I've won this contest 12 years in a row, but if you decide to de-throne me, you are more than welcome to challenge my prodigous travel knowledge, my arsenal of languages, and my Capote-esque wit. Just kidding - I mean about the 12 years in a row. But seems like a great opportunity to flex your travel writing muscles. Dreams of walking the Appian Way, swimming in turquoise pools off Cyprus, eating fried scorpions in Vientiane are just an entry form away. Speaking of, if you would like to try your hand at travel writing, we are looking for writers and editors here at the MobiBlog. Please contact us if you are interested in building the most comprehensive travel blog ever created. Hyperbole.

The Torino Winter Olympics have kind of snuck up on everyone, they're only 11 days away, yet it seems like no one really know about them. Bonus for you, there are a plethora of major event tickets still available, and not just curling, and accomodations are said to be plentiful. Check the official site for more information and tickets and check Mobissimo for the best Airfare and Hotel deals. Using Mobissimo PowerSearch, you can search up to three different destinations for Torino, I chose Milan, Torino, and Nice, and the fares were $438, $715, $414 respectively from New York City. That's pretty cheap this close to the games. In addition, accomodations can be had for a mere $52. Go out, support the home team and take a little break to a special city.

Well, if you're going now, you are a true fan, and for that, we at Mobissimo applaud you. However, your cost of airfare has risen tremendously. Across the board, huge increases - this is last minute travel, which is never cheap, unless you're trying to flee the country.

For flights departing 02/03 returning 02/06

Departure City	Arrival City	Airfare	% Change
New York (NYC)	Detroit (DTT)	$526	58.70%	Search
San Francisco (SFO)	Detroit (DTT)	$643	31.63%	Search
Los Angeles (LAX)	Detroit (DTT)	$563	33.55%	Search
Chicago (CHI)	Detroit (DTT)	$174	22.08%	Search
Las Vegas (LAS)	Detroit (DTT)	$406	47.78%	Search
Seattle (SEA)	Detroit (DTT)	$633	38.11%	Search
Pittsburgh (PIT)	Detroit (DTT)	$636	80.92%	Search
Miami (MIA)	Detroit (DTT)	$384	19.66%	Search
Denver (DEN)	Detroit (DTT)	$475	34.62%	Search
Tokyo (TYO)	Detroit (DTT)	$1045	21.58%	Search
Average		$549	37.06%

You missed the 2 week advance purchase, so the tickets to SuperBowl XL are going to be a bit more. On average a little more than 10%. Think about drinking 10% less beer, eating 10% less chicken wings, and ... you get the point.

For flights departing 02/03 returning 02/06

Departure City	Arrival City	Airfare	% Change
New York (NYC)	Detroit (DTT)	$380	14.62%	Search
San Francisco (SFO)	Detroit (DTT)	$573	17.30%	Search
Los Angeles (LAX)	Detroit (DTT)	$477	13.17%	Search
Chicago (CHI)	Detroit (DTT)	$148	3.83%	Search
Las Vegas (LAS)	Detroit (DTT)	$280	1.82%	Search
Seattle (SEA)	Detroit (DTT)	$616	34.51%	Search
Pittsburgh (PIT)	Detroit (DTT)	$365	3.62%	Search
Miami (MIA)	Detroit (DTT)	$321	0.00%	Search
Denver (DEN)	Detroit (DTT)	$395	11.86%	Search
Tokyo (TYO)	Detroit (DTT)	$870	1.22%	Search
Average		$442	10.55%

Ok, so Detroit heads my list of places I would rather not visit. Ok, I know that the city offers Eminem, breathtaking vistas, and vibrant street life, but somehow I just can't bring myself to start liking the place. However, SuperBowl XL, yes, 40, not Extra Large you buffoon, is being held there. I have no idea why such a place would be chosen over a sunny clime like Miami, Southern California, or even Jersey, but it's happening, and I guess you want to be there. And so, the Mobissimo SuperBowl FareIndex (which we will update every other day) enters the picture. From the most athletic supporting cities in the world (yes, don't think for a second that your friend Shinjo in Tokyo wouldn't kill to see the SuperBowl in person) to Detroit, we have collected the best fares possible. We've given you a couple days before, arriving on Friday - to paint your face and get in jacka** mode - and after, leaving on Monday - inevitable hangover - to truly enjoy all that is Detroit City. Who ever said I wasn't a sports fan?

For flights departing 02/03 returning 02/06

Departure City	Arrival City	Airfare	% Change
New York (NYC)	Detroit (DTT)	$283	-	Search
San Francisco (SFO)	Detroit (DTT)	$404	-	Search
Los Angeles (LAX)	Detroit (DTT)	$366	-	Search
Chicago (CHI)	Detroit (DTT)	$137	-	Search
Las Vegas (LAS)	Detroit (DTT)	$270	-	Search
Seattle (SEA)	Detroit (DTT)	$300	-	Search
Pittsburgh (PIT)	Detroit (DTT)	$339	-	Search
Miami (MIA)	Detroit (DTT)	$321	-	Search
Denver (DEN)	Detroit (DTT)	$311	-	Search
Tokyo (TYO)	Detroit (DTT)	$849	-	Search
Average		$358	-

Prices to almost all Latin American destinations are cheaper. Yes, January is a great time to go south of the border, where it is summer. Seriously, Hawaii and Mexico are over-rated tourist holes, try Venezuela (and enjoy being an American in a Chavez environment) or Argentina. Trust me, these places are gems, a little bit off the beaten path, but worth it. Challenge yourself.

For flights departing 02/05 returning 02/13

Departure City	Arrival City	Airfare	% Change
San Francisco (SFO)	Rio de Janeiro (GIG)	$865	-1.21%	Search
San Francisco (SFO)	Buenos Aires (EZE)	$857	-11.861%	Search
San Francisco (SFO)	Sao Paulo (GRU)	$804	-6.50%	Search
San Francisco (SFO)	Santiago (SCL)	$988	19.15%	Search
San Francisco (SFO)	Caracas (CCS)	$684	-5.46%	Search
San Francisco (SFO)	San Jose (CR) (SJO)	$522	-0.41%	Search
San Francisco (SFO)	Panama City (PTY)	$712	9.77%	Search
San Francisco (SFO)	Mexico City (MEX)	$415	-0.85%	Search
San Francisco (SFO)	Lima (LIM)	$642	-7.15%	Search
San Francisco (SFO)	Quito (UIO)	$670	-8.24%	Search
Average		$716	-1.57%

Why do some people have to ruin things for the rest of us. Free booze on int'l flights is one of the only things that makes those flights bearable. Seems not everyone can handle the gift responsibly according to this  report:

A court appearance in Central Florida was set this week for a 32-year-old Polish passenger who became unruly and struck flight attendants during a trip from Mexico to Britain.

You would think that after a relaxing trip to Mexico, this passenger would be in a great state of mind and would be snug in his coach seat thinking about the 30 cent tacos he ate, the beautiful beaches he lay on, and the wonderful, friendly people of Mexico he met. Unfortunately for Rafal Marcir Krawczyk this was not the case. Don't hate me for national profiling, but I'm going to bet two words somehow entered into this equation: Vod-Ka.

Microjets, or even smaller business jets, i.e. 4-6 people, may become the preferred choice for a certain flying segment. Read more here:

WASHINGTON - America's already crowded skies are about to become more congested. Taking off for the first time this year will be small, speedy, cheap jets that big airlines worry will cause traffic jams around major metropolitan areas.

Interesting news, does this spell the death of major airlines? Probably not, while cheaper than regular business jets (i.e. GIVs, Lears) microjets are still out the range of most flying travellers. However, with the arrival of low-cost carriers using outlying airports, perhaps the market for these jet can develop. Because of their size, microjets can use municipal airports, those reserved for the Cessnas of the world. One more development of microjets would probably be 'time-sharing' of such jets by several parties, thus offsetting the pricing even more.

I remember the glory days of aviation flying Pan Am after WII. We would dress up in our finest clothes, drink champagne and gin tonics, smoke Cubans, laugh out loud in a knowing way, and generally enjoy the fine life that was air travel back then. OK, maybe I didn't but I can dream, no? Anyway, in an effort to reduce costs even more now that they've eliminated lettuce, pillows, blankets, tickets, and happy flight attendants, carriers seem to be following in the footsteps of Southwest and introducing the seemingly chaotic, but as it turns out, infinitely more efficient boarding free-for-all :

Industry giants United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, as well as discounter AirTran, have abandoned the traditional back-to-front boarding of their coach sections. America West has made the move, too.

The motive: Time is money for airlines trying to stick to a schedule and to keep their planes flying as many hours as possible. Traditional back-to-front boarding clogs the cabin by drawing too many people into a confined area at once, says Eitan Bachmat, a professor of Israel's Ben Gurion University of the Negev.

Welcome to the brave new world of everybody is a low cost airline. Read the whole article on USA Today.

NY Times travel is a good place to start to get ideas for traveling down to Central and South America. The guides are not comprehensive, but offer good ideas for activities and destinations throughout the region. They're focused on the following countries

• Argentina
• Belize
• Brazil
• Chile
• Costa Rica
• Ecuador
• Panama
• Peru

For those of you that missed Power Search Tool #1, that would be OneBox search. Haven't used it? Do it now by clicking on the little text link on the search box that says Try our one-box search. Done? Good. So let us introduce you to Power Search Tool #2, Multi-search. This is a neat little trick for searching from one origin to multiple destinations. So, for example, you're trying to hit the beaches in Mexico and are searching multiple destination like Cancun, Cabo, and Puerto Vallarta. Well, now instead of conducting each search independently, all you have to do is input your origin city and then your 3 destination cities in the destination box separated by a semicolon. So, for example, you query would read SFO to Cancun;Cabo;Puerto Vallarta in either the traditional or the one box search. Try it if you're searching for a cheap way to get into Europe (LAX to LON;FRA;CDG) or for the cheapest airport for a weekend of skiing (SFO to SLC;DEN;YVR). We think it's a pretty cool tool for you power users. Let us know what you think or how we could improve it.

So you're looking to hang with Brad or Colin, or maybe Scarlett or Bai Ling, well maybe not Bai Ling. You head to Sundance, the only place where you'll see A list stars in UGG boots instead of 6 inch Louboutins. If you have nothing to do between Jan 19-29, stop by, tell them we sent you. You can read more about the SFF here.

The programs of Sundance Institute® include the annual Sundance Film Festival, held in Park City each January and considered the premier U.S. showcase for American and international independent film.

Ok, I've been once, and it was the time of my life. I hung out with Woody, he discussed putting me in his latest movie as a butler, I balked. However, I did get to party with Colin. Colin Jacobs of Ohio that is. Flights from San Francisco are from $435, from Los Angeles from $325, from New York $389. Rooms are in Salt Lake City unfortunately, but there are some nice rooms there for $59.