Mobissimo

Here's an article that really does little to instill faith in the airlines and their baggage handling procedures:

HOUSTON - Authorities were trying to figure out how dozens of pieces of luggage belonging to air travelers ended up in a trash bin behind a Houston pet store.

FBI special agent Rolando Munoz said 68 pieces of luggage from various international flights were discovered. He said the luggage was turned over to Continental Airlines to sort out.

The bags belonged to travelers at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, said Sgt. Dana Wolfe, a spokeswoman for the Harris County Sheriff's Office, which first responded to the luggage report. She said tags on the bags showed some of the travelers were going to or from London and Dubai.

Great. I'm sure that the contents had been picked over as well. Carry ons, MobiTravelers, carry ons.

If you're thinking of visiting us here in the U.S., think again. According to the FutureBrand Country Index, we don't have much to offer other than good shopping, a positive family environment, and capitalism. In fact, we don't even make the top 10 for authenticity or history. Even Costa Rica, the vanilla ice cream of Latin America, beat us in the authenticity department. So, if you're planning a vacation next year, skip us and head to one of the more authentic and historical countries that made the Top 10.

Via Mobissimo.IN.

File this one under strange travel tales. A women at LAX accidentally put her grandson through the x-ray machine. Evidently there was a bit of a communication problem between the screeners and the woman. The baby was pulled out quickly, but still taken to the hospital as a precaution. Wonder if he's going to have a strange fear of flying for the rest of his life. The screeners blame the "pressure" of the job:

Security experts said the incident underscored a more widespread concern about the screening process at LAX and other airports. "The screeners are still reporting that they're being pushed," said Brian Sullivan, a retired Federal Aviation Administration security agent. "If a baby can get through, what the hell else can get through?"

Next time make sure the Gerber and milk go through so the kid has something to eat and drink. Via LA Times.

Here's why low cost airlines in China are not going to be viable any time soon:

A new Chinese budget airline that sold tickets for as little as 13 U.S. cents has been fined for violating government price controls, a news report said Monday.

A Spring Airlines subsidiary was fined $20,000 for violating rules that limit discounts on government-set ticket prices, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Spring's Jinan Spring Holiday Travel Agency sold 400 tickets on flights between Shanghai and the eastern city of Jinan for 1 yuan (13 US cents), the report said. They accounted for 10% of seats on Spring's flights from Nov. 30 to Dec. 10.

A regular one-way ticket on that route costs 910 yuan (US$116), including taxes.

Chinese airlines are barred from offering discounts of more than 45% on the government-set price, said an official of the Jinan Price Bureau, who would give only his surname, Tang.

Via Associated Press.

I fly. I fly a lot. And sometimes, even I fly coach. And that's where problems start. Who owns the armrest? Can you get the upper part and he/she the back part? What about the guy hanging his coat from your seat? Do you put your seat upright while eating? Is it ok to punch out the old woman who thinks she can cut in front of the lavatory line? Wow, these are questions that you need answered, and here is the solution.

There are no formal requirements to buying an airplane ticket and boarding a plane, other than coming up with some cash and passing security. But maybe flying should be more of a privilege, with its own rule book.

Virginia Flores, a human resources and technical consultant to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, among other clients, flies every week for business and has come up with a comprehensive set of basic do's and don'ts for air passengers that I think is worth sharing. Its section titles suggest the almost kindergarten-like inability of some travelers to play well with others.

Virginia Flores, she's the end all be all apparently. Give it a shot, if anything, it's worth a chuckle. Little perturbed by her no drink and fly statement, that's the only way to fly, and with the booklets of free drinks that United gives me, they're begging me to get hammered, throw stuff, and get thrown off planes. Sh**, was that outloud? Anyway, sweet, get hammered, wake up in a different time zone.

United recently said that they're considering following Ryanair and EasyJet down the path of  "Getting on the plane is cheap, flying is expensive" strategy by charging a low base fare for certain seats. Passengers flying these fares will not have pre-assigned seats, be eligible for frequent flyer miles, or be able to check baggage:

United is considering selling tickets that would offer customers a bare minimum for air transportation that would not include in the price the ability to check bags, get frequent fliers and assigned seats. The "bare fare concept" would feature a basic promotional fare and the option to buy seat assignements, the ability to check bags and get a frequent flier mile credit.

Nice. The Ryanairization of the U.S. airline industry continues full steam. Via the Denver Post.

Next time you fly Turkish Airlines, you might ask for the veggie dish, because it looks like Turkish Airlines has about 1,500 lbs of camel to dispose of. Mmmm. Camel steak. Evidently it's a common practice to sacrifice an animal to mark a happy occasion or event. In this particular case, the delivery of the last of 11 planes being decommissioned from the Turkish Airlines fleet due to mechanical problems. The airline's officials were not too happy with the animal sacrifice when they learned of it via a local newspaper:

The camel was sacrificed Tuesday at Istanbul's Ataturk airport and about 1,540 pounds of meat was distributed among the staff. The event surfaced when several newspapers ran the story along with photographs of the camel being led into the airport grounds and of workers holding up bloody pieces of meat after the sacrifice.

Bloody pieces of meat. So good. We want to party with these boys. Via AFP.

If you've been to India, you'll have seen the entertaining spectacle that is the Indian rail system. Particularly the art of jumping on and off a moving train, cramming yourself into small spaces, positioning yourself strategically so you can get off at your destination, and of course, hanging out of the train to feel the cool breeze on your face. MobiBlog India posted this great video of the experience of hanging out of a train.

JetBlue has decided to emulate EasyJet and Ryanair by adopting the "Getting on the plane is cheap, flying is expensive" strategy. Which roughly translated from Irish means, charge the low fares to get them on the plane then nickel and dime them with fees for everything from baggage to drinks to, in the case of JetBlue, higher quality pillows and blankets. That's right folks, if you want the cheap blankets and pillows that have been washed every other week, you get them for free. Higher quality pillows and blankets, presumably washed every flight, infused with rose oil, and carefully tucked in around your tired body by expertly trained massage therapists, will cost you extra:

JetBlue Airways Corp.may offer fluffier blankets and pillows for an additional charge, as it seeks to catch up to competitors in generating side revenues from its passengers, its chief executive said on Thursday. "We're trying to figure out what's a value add to our customer," David Neeleman told the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington, D.C. "What's something that we don't currently charge for today that we can continue to give for free but then take a step up and give them an option."

Via Reuters.

Turbanhead was traveling from Bangalore to Mumbai a while back and noticed some airplane personnel making repairs to a wing with what appeared to be duct tape? Now surely it can't be duct tape, but whatever was being used was close to it in color, size and adhesions properties. But duct tape? Granted, when we flew Air Deccan this year the carpeting in the aisles had been worn down by feet so much that you could almost see the floor through the carpet, but duct tape? Actually, according to a comment on YouTube, the tape is some kind of aviation repair tape.

"The patch materials were aluminum alloy sheet and aramid fibre reinforced composite prepreg. A cold curing acrylic based adhesive was used for bonding. Specimens with simulated patch repairs were subjected to both constant amplitude and flight simulation fatigue testing under various environmental conditions. The results indicated that bonded patches are potentially very good repairs for areas weakened by corrosion and its removal."

Anyway, begs the question whether you want to fly on any airline that is making repairs to their airplanes with tape, no matter how many test were conducted. Watch the video below.

If you love to read but can never find enough time to work through the rapidly growing pile next to your bed, think about heading to Oregon and staying at the Sylvia Beach Hotel, a hotel catering to book lovers the world over. Located on the Oregon coast and offering sweeping views of the Pacific, there are no phones or t.v. in the rooms or common areas. But that is only part of the charm of the hotel. The main attraction is the books. Everywhere. In common areas. In your rooms. In fact, in addition to a large shared library downstairs, each room has a different literary genre as a theme. So for example, you can stay in the Agatha Christie room in one of the Classics rooms or if you're more into Best Sellers, the Alice Walker room. There are over twenty different literary themed rooms including:

Best Sellers

Alice Walker
Dr. Seuss
E. B. White
Edgar Allan Poe
Emily Dickinson
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Hemingway
Herman Melville
Jane Austen
Lincoln Steffens
Meridel Le Sueur
Sigrid Undset
Tennessee Williams

Classics

Agatha Christie
Colette
Mark Twain

Novels

Gertrude Stein
Oscar Wilde
Robert Louis Stevenson
Willa Cather

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Easyjet, second only to Ryanair in the art of nickel and diming, is introducing pre-boarding a la carte. For £2.50 to £7.50 depending on the flight, you can be one of the chosen few allowed to board first and fight for the coveted overhead space. Joy of joys, we can't wait to see how this plays out. From the EasyJet site:

Speedy Boarding is a new service from easyJet that guarantees you’ll be amongst the first people called to board your flight whenever you checked in. For a small fee of between £2.50 and £7.50 ¹, select the Speedy Boarding option when you make a booking and we’ll get you through the gate first.

How to become a Speedy Boarder:

• Select your flight
• Add the Speedy Boarding option to each flight in your booking ²
• Check-in any time before your flight closes
• When the gate opens, you’ll be called to board first

So Speedy Boarders have the best chance of being first on board
with the first choice of seats!