Travel Log: December 2003 Archives

Brought to you by the best travel agency for business and executive leisure travel

« November 2003 | Main | January 2004 »

Happy New Year!

From all of us at BizNetTravel, we wish you a happy, health and prosperous 2004!

Andras Revesz | December 31, 2003 | Advice | Permanent link | Comments (0)

International Tech Travelers: Plan Ahead

I'm traveling for New Year's in beautiful Budapest, Hungary. Weather's beatiful, the city's beautiful, the girls are beautiful, nothing to complain about.

Except...that I forgot to bring a power adapter. My computer wasn't the problem, as like most modern computers the power supply suits both Europe's 220 volts as well as the U.S.'s 110. But my various other electrical devices, notably my Palm Pilot and digital camera chargers, are a different story. I have friends who live here, expatriates, so somehow I assumed they would all have power adaptors I could borrow. Turns out they've lived here so long they've gone native and don't need power converters anymore. Moreover, there appears to be nowhere in town besides the far-flung airport that stocks converters. In the end, I had the presence of mind to call the Budapest Hilton (figuring their out-of-town guests must encounter such frustrations), and they graciously lent me a converter for a few days for a modest deposit.

Lesson learned, however: sort out international power conversion issues before traveling.

The converter pictured above is available on Amazon for $20. TravelSmith also has a nice-looking kit for $15, but their URLs are too long and retarded for me to bother with here. Search "power converter" on their site and you'll find it.

Rick Bruner | December 31, 2003 | Advice | Permanent link | Comments (0)

Expedia and U.S. Airways Make Up

We reported earlier in December that U.S. Airways and Expedia had a falling out that resulted, temporarily, in U.S. Airways ceasing to sell its tickets through Expedia. We're pleased to update this story now to say that they've patched up their disagreement and again U.S. Airways tickets are available via Expedia.

We note, however, U.S. Airways is meanwhile back in the news announcing layoffs of 550 flight attendants. Happy New Year, indeed!

Rick Bruner | December 31, 2003 | News | Permanent link | Comments (0)

BizNetTravel Holiday Card

We're sending out holiday email cards this afternoon to clients and visitors to the site who have signed up for our newsletter. If you'd like to receive a copy of our holiday card, please sign up for the newsletter in the left margin of every page on this site (scroll down a bit to see the sign-up field).

Rick Bruner | December 23, 2003 | Permanent link | Comments (0)

The Crazy World of 2003 Travel

This USA Today article takes a look back at travel in 2003. It was a challenging year with SARS, power outages and long lines. The article reminds us of some of the year's most interesting travel related incidents such as Charles McKinley shipping himself home in a box to save on airfare and Nathaniel Heatwole successfully smuggling box cutters and other items on board a Southwest Airlines flight after having alerted the government he was planning to do so. Read the article to find out more about why a horse was on a plane, the man who flew in a kilt and no underwear and the bible thumper who was duct-taped by fellow airline passengers.

Steve Hall | December 23, 2003 | Best / Worst | Permanent link | Comments (0)

Happy Holidays

We at BizNetTravel would like to wish you all a safe and happy holiday season and New Year!

Andras Revesz | December 23, 2003 | Permanent link | Comments (0)

Orange Alert Raises Likelihood of Travel Delays

USA Today and the Washington Post report on the hightened terror alerts just issued by the Homeland Security Deparment over the weekend. The message seems to be the same as we've heard before: nothing too specific, but keep an eye out for anything suspicious. By and large, travelers seem to be taking the new warnings in stride; airlines have not reported any major changes to travel plans since the new warnings were issued.

Our advice is get to the airport at least two hours in advance of flights, as if travel wouldn't have been slow anyway with the holiday crowds. Just take a good book and think about all that delicious food waiting for you at the other end of the flight.

Rick Bruner | December 23, 2003 | News | Permanent link | Comments (0)

Best Business Hotels of 2003

Everyone loves lists. Here's Forbes on the best new 2003 hotels of the year. Includes a slide show.

Rick Bruner | December 23, 2003 | Best / Worst | Permanent link | Comments (0)

Manhattan to JFK in 35 Minutes for $11.75

The New York Times story lead says it perfectly:

A hundred years to the day after the Wright brothers first flew, nearly 60 years after Robert Moses dismissed an early version of the idea, 40 years after Idlewild Airport became Kennedy, and 34 years after man landed on the moon, New York City got its long-awaited train-to-the-plane link yesterday.

Sort of.

Rick Bruner | December 23, 2003 | News | Permanent link | Comments (0)

Song Provides Seat-back Entertainment

Discount airline Song has matched a popular featuer of its rival JetBlue with personal entertainment centers on the back of every seat throughout coach class. Presently, only three planes in Song's fleet are so outfitted, but the airlines says that all 36 planes will have the entertainment centers by March, featuring 24 channels of satellite television, music and trivia. Meanwhile, JetBlue, not to be outdone, is arranging with at least one Hollywood studio to provide pay-per-view movies on its seat-back screens. Boston Globe reports.

Rick Bruner | December 18, 2003 | News | Permanent link | Comments (0)