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Couple Races Around State to Avoid Hurricane And Get Married

When you travel to Florida, it's usually filled with expectations of warm, relaxing days spent basking in the sun on the beach. Not so, as the Miami Herald reports, for Amanda Killbrew and John Loper who had traveled to Florida's Captiva Island for a Sunday wedding just before hurricane Frances unleashed its wrath.

Now, the couple is using their planned honeymoon vacation to travel the state in search of a hurricane-free zone to get married. As these "happily ever after" stories go, the hotel in which they had planned to stay in the first place, the Sheraton Yankee Clipper in Fort Lauderdale, has decided to offer the couple an all-expenses-paid wedding and honeymoon suite for this Saturday as the couple tries to tie the knot again — that is unless hurricane Ivan decides to step in. Perhaps these hurricanes are sending a message to the couple?

Steve Hall | September 9, 2004 | News | Permanent link | Comments (2)

Traffic Getting Worse Around United States

The Texas Transportation Institute released its annual Urban Mobility Report today (complete report here). It confirmed what it's is obvious to see from a drive to work every day: traffic is getting worse. Specifically, the press release reports:

• Annual delay per peak period (rush hour) traveler, which has grown from 16 hours to 46 hours since 1982,
  
• Annual financial cost of traffic congestion, which has ballooned from $14 billion to more than $63 billion since 1982 (as expressed in 2002 dollars), and
  
• Wasted fuel, totaling 5.6 billion gallons lost to engines idling in traffic jams.

1. Los Angeles-Long Beach
   
2. San Francisco-Oakland
   
3. Washington, D.C.
   
4. Dallas-Ft. Worth
   
5. Houston
   
6. Chicago
   
7. Boston
   
8. Detroit
   
9. Miami
   
10. New York City

Rick Bruner | September 8, 2004 | News | Permanent link | Comments (3)

UK Travelers Bound For Florida Out of Luck

Because of the pending wrath of hurricane Frances, icWales reports British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Thomas Cook Airlines are among the many UK based airlines who have canceled flights to and from Florida. As many as 6,000 Britons may be affected by the cancellations. On the heels of hurricane Charley, Francis is predicted to pack similary similarly wolloping walloping winds of 145 MPH.

Steve Hall | September 3, 2004 | News | Permanent link | Comments (4)

We Have a Winner!

So, that didn't take long. Steve and I are indeed worse spellers than I thought. Per our bad spelling contest, a certain Beth is the first recipient of a free travel guide book for spotting errors in two posts, namely this one and this one. Beth, go ahead and have your pick from among these travel guides from DK Publishing, and we'll send it off shortly.

Beth, hope you're enjoying our content for more than just its crappy spelling. Moreover, don't forget that BizNetTravel is more than a blog; it's a great travel agency. Andras, our fearless leader, is a master at finding bargains, providing highly personalized service and unearthing classy hotels and other travel recommendations. Personally, I much prefer having someone else nail down all the details rather than doing it myself. Tell your friends. And don't be shy about bragging about your victory on your blog — complete with a link, of course!

As for the rest of you, don't worry, Steve is planning to post shortly. I have to admit, I'm pretty annoyed that it was one of my posts, not his, that provided the winning error. Whatever. I'll live. It's the best PR stunt we've done for this blog to date.

Rick Bruner | September 1, 2004 | News | Permanent link | Comments (1)

Remaindered Links: Cheating Air Marshalls, Thieving Security Officials, Cheapskate Tourists, Incompetent CEOs...

Today's theme for today's Remaindered Links: "Who Can You Trust?" (No one! They're all bastards!)

• USA Today: Scary report from the Homeland Security Department on air marshalls who sleep on the job, fly drunk or stoned, lose their weapons, lie in their reports, use four-letter words and take candy from babies

• NYT: Travel guru Joe Sharkey continues a series about TSA security employees stealing from travelers' bags; popular items include Swill Swiss Army knives and designer clothing

• USA Today: I get spam that says "Fire your boss!" but I never thought it was possible, but United's Association of Flight Attendants is on the verge of giving CEO Glenn Tilton the boot

• Business Report: Various Caribbean ports are sick of cheapskate tourists who crowd beaches for a few hours and buy little more than a cocktail; Mexico considers a passenger tax to discourage large ships

• Miami.com: Still recovering from the bruising Charley dealt it, Florida now braces for Hurricane Frances

• Houston Chronicle: Columnist Loren Steffy has an amusing reaction to Northwest Airlines's asinine new service fees by proposing that she will charge newspaper subscribers $5 to read her column in print or $10 if they pick it up off the newsstand, though it would still be free to read online

• AA.com: Also noted, AA.com redesigns its web site for easier navigation

Rick Bruner | September 1, 2004 | News | Permanent link | Comments (4)

ATA to Offer Business Class

The Indianapolis Star reports the financially strapped ATA Airlines will add business class to all 62 of its 737s and757s. The planes will have between eight and 12 first-class sized seats added in the front of each plane. Pricing for a flight between Midway and Indianapolis will be $199 to $299 as compared to the economy class price of $99. Indianapolis to LA will be $249 one way and no business class fare will exceed $399.

In October, ATA will add flight to Dallas and double the number of flights to New Yotk's LaGuardia from its Indianapolis hub.

Steve Hall | August 26, 2004 | News | Permanent link | Comments (5)

Remaindered Links:
Hotels unmasking air marshals, Polution Tourism in Montana, Weirdness in Ohio

• PittsburgLive.com: Discount hotel policy threatens to blow the cover of anti-terrorist air marshals

• StarTribune.com: Unknown prankster causes panic on Carnival Cruise with bogus announcement for the crew (only) to abandon ship

• CNN.com: Former copper mine cum toxic lake a tourist draw in Butte, Montana

• CNN.com: An explanation for why airline food is so bad: your sense of taste is diminished by one third at high altitudes

• RockyMountainNews.com: Looking for a wacky time in Dayton, Ohio? Check out the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, a collection of weird things.

• BizJournals.com: Delta restructuring plan reconfirms they are in it for the long haul with a new long-haul strategy

Rick Bruner | August 23, 2004 | News | Permanent link | Comments (0)

Errors on No-Fly Lists Tricky to Fight, Sen. Kennedy Discovers

Massachusetts Democratic Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy was stopped at airports five times in March and subsequently spent three weeks trying to get his name removed from the Transportation Security Administration's secret "no-fly" terrorist watch list because some would-be terrorist apparently used the alias "T. Kennedy" on some earlier trips, Washington Post reports.

In a follow-up story, a journalist actually named Lolita Baldor (what parent in their right mind would name a daughter Lolita) reports for the Chicago Sun-Times that for other "Average Joes" without Kennedy's political pull, getting on the no-fly list can be simple but getting off can be a nightmare. The piece notes that another Democratic congressman, Representative John Lewis, similarly got stuck on the no-fly list and routinely has problems buying electronic tickets and getting his luggage through check-in without a hand search. Strangely, no Republicans seem to be experiencing similar problems.

Rick Bruner | August 23, 2004 | News | Permanent link | Comments (0)

Remaindered Links:
Star Trek and Dungeons and Dragons Conventions and Norwegian Trouser Snakes

Various remaindered stories today. Who knew Indianapolis was Nerd Central?

• NY Post: The NY Jets football team were unable to book hotel rooms in Indianapolis this week for their big game because nerds in town for a Star Trek convention had every room booked. Wedgies ensued.

• Wizards.com: Celebrating the 35-year-anniversary of the game, Dungeon and Dragons fanatics will also take over Indianapolis August 19-22 for the Gen Con convention. Flood-water pants and pocket protectors run out of stock across the Hoosier State.

• ic Wales: Welsh poll finds that many parents believe that travel better prepares their kids for the world than university. (Related news: Wales's economy is in the toilet. Go figure.)

• Aftenposten: Vacationer in Norway attacked by trouser snake. No kidding.

• AAA: Strong Labor Day Travel To Cap Off Strong Summer Travel Season

Rick Bruner | August 19, 2004 | News, Trends | Permanent link | Comments (0)

Airlines Agree to Limit Flights to O'Hare, Source of Delays

Following up on our earlier report on this, U.S. airlines have agreed to cap flights into Chicago's O'Hare Airport to 88 arrivals per hour in order to limit delays and congestion that have a pass-along impact on the whole U.S. travel indrustry. United and American Airlines will be most effective by the reductions. Expect that this may cause a rise in ticket prices. Reuters reports.

Rick Bruner | August 18, 2004 | News | Permanent link | Comments (0)