Travel Log: June 2004 Archives

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

« May 2004 | Main | July 2004 »

Singapore Air Completes Longest Flight in History

CNN reports Singapore Air has made its first long haul, non-stop flight from Sinapore to New York's Newark Airport. The flight was made in 18.5 hours, a new record for the most miles flown non-stop. The previous record was held also by Singapore Air for its LA to Sinapore non-stop.

The flight was fully booked and while passengers boarded in Singapore, Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" was played in the cabin.

Steve Hall | June 29, 2004 | News | Permanent link | Comments (0)

United Airlines Announes Non-Stop Chicago to Shanghai Service

Joining other airlines in the trend towards long-haul non-stops, United Arilines has announce non-stop service from Chicago to Shanghai beginning October 31. Long-haul non-stops out of New York and San Francisco are now common. The addition of the Chicago-based non-stop to China adds to the airline's status as the only U.S. airline flying non-stops to China.

A press release reports United will use combined passenger and cargo Boeing 777 aircraft for the service and will add Boeing 747-400's to the mix as demand increases.

Steve Hall | June 29, 2004 | News | Permanent link | Comments (0)

New Program Allows For Streamlined Airport Security Check

The Boston Globe reports a pilot program by the Transportation Security Administration is testing the viability of allowing select travelers who submit to an advance background check to bypass lengthy airport security measures. The pilot test will include up to 2,000 travelers, begin at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport then expand to Boston, Los Angeles, Houston and Washington. One sincerely hopes these background checks are extra thorough.

Those who pass background checks are able to walk through a special gate at the airport but still pass through the metal detector and pass bags through the baggage screen. The trial is free. If is becomes standard practice, a yet to be determined fee will be charged to those who join.

Steve Hall | June 28, 2004 | News | Permanent link | Comments (0)

Northwest Pilot Lands at Wrong Airport, Tells Passengers Not to Look Out Windows

We've all had that miserably feeling of making a big booboo, and our first instinct is always to try to cover up our mistake and hope no one notices. A pilot for a Northwest flight recently had such an experience, when he accidentally landed his plane at a small military airport instead of Rapid City, South Dakota, where he was scheduled to land. You had to admire his creative spirit in trying to cover up his mistake, though: he authoritatively instructed passengers not to look out the window while he was in discussions with the surprised military representatives. CNN reports.

Rick Bruner | June 27, 2004 | News | Permanent link | Comments (0)

Window Seat: Reading the Landscape from the Air

Me, I'm an aisle man. But I have respect for the window watcher on flights, those who just love to see what the world looks like from 30,000 feet up, a priviledge our ancestors never could enjoy, let's not forget. Now, window seat lovers of the world can unite around this new book of photos published just for people like them, by Gregory Dicum. Check out NPR's web site for a feature story about the book.

Rick Bruner | June 27, 2004 | Travel Guides | Permanent link | Comments (0)

Find the Perfect Seat for All Airlines on SeatGuru.com

Looking for the best places to sit on various airlines? Look no further than SeatGuru.com, which has mapped out the seating configurations for every major airline and all of their various aircraft.

And if you really want to avoid the worst seats in the airline industry, check out Christopher Elliott's article "Sardine Seats: 5 Worst Economy-class Sections".

Rick Bruner | June 24, 2004 | Good Resources | Permanent link | Comments (0)

10 Perfect Summer Getaways

Fine Living has the details on 10 summer getaways that you might not have otherwise thought of:

• Wellfleet, MA
  
• Moab, UT
  
• Sanibel and Captiva Islands, FL
  
• Ashland, OR
  
• Williams, AZ
  
• Santa Cruz, CA
  
• Wilmington, NC
  
• St. Joseph, MI
  
• Glacier National Park, MT
  
• Fisherman Island, ME

Rick Bruner | June 24, 2004 | Featured Destinations | Permanent link | Comments (1)

July Fourth Travel to be Heavy Despite Gas Prices

According to AAA information reported Tuesday in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 39.4 million people are expected to travel 50 or more miles over the Independance Day holiday. Despite rising gas prices, that's up from 38.2 million a year ago.

Thirty five percent or travelers will stay with friends and family, 33 percent at hotels, 25 percent will head to the beach and 11 percent will travel in RVs or camp in a tent.

Steve Hall | June 22, 2004 | News | Permanent link | Comments (0)

Airline Miles Getting Harder to Spend, Says E-Rewards

A new survey by E-Rewards, a loyalty-program consulting firm, has found that many travelers are experiencing increasing difficulty in redeeming their airline miles. The problem is apparently due to a combination of factors including a glut of mileage points already allocated to travelers and increasing competitive pressures in the airline industry making fewer seats available on all popular destination flights. Because standard 25,000-mile point redemptions get last priority when the airlines are allocating seats, increasingly often would-be travelers are told no seats are available for their desired trips. Unless, that is, they are willing to redeem double their points, in which case the airlines treat the transaction as revenue and seats magically become available. The NY Times reports.

Rick Bruner | June 22, 2004 | News | Permanent link | Comments (0)

Commercial Space Flight Closer to Reality But Still Far Off

The Houston Chronicle reports Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is financing a method of space flight that could one day be commonplace and shift ownership of space flight from NASA to businesses. Called SpaceShipOne and designed by 61 year old Burt Rutan, the craft is designed to reach the fringes of space - about 65 miles above the earth. Rutan, designer of "Voyager" which in 1986 was the first plane to fly non-stop around the world without refuling, founded a company called Scaled Composites and has been working on SpaceShipOne, financed by Allen, since 2001.

A company called Space Aventures has already collected $98,000 from 100 people who have made reservations with the organization for flights such as the one SpaceShipOne will attepmt its 65 mile high flight Monday morning at 6:30 AM.

while companies an business people have expressed interest in this mode of travel, the need for businesss travel to space is far off. Afterall, there has to be business to conduct and so far, there are no conference rooms in space.

Steve Hall | June 21, 2004 | Permanent link | Comments (0)