It is a rare thing for a U.S. Ambassador to write an open letter to travelers urging them to consider visiting a country, but that is what the US ambassador to Kenya, Michael E.Ranneberger did this week. In light of the unrest Kenya and the resulting drop in tourism to the country Ranneberger’s remarks should be seen as a green light to travel to that country again.

I urge you to look again at Kenya as an exciting destination for tourism and for doing business, be it trade or investment. In 2007, a record 102,000 Americans visited Kenya, many to enjoy the richness of the country’s culture and the majesty of its landscapes and unparalleled wildlife.

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If you have every had the experience, as I had, of arguing with a ticket agent in JFK for 15 minutes that he is about to send you bags to SJO (San Jose, Costa Rica) and not SJC (San Jose, California) then you understand the benefits of knowing the 3 letter abbreviation for the airports you are traveling from/to. But how do airports get their designations and why do some of them seem to make no sense at all?

I found a great in depth article titled Airport ABCs: An Explanation of Airport Identifier Codes that explains the history of these cryptic codes.

From ABE (Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton, Pennsylvania) to ZRH (Zurich, Switzerland), airports around the world are universally known by a unique three-letter code: the “International Air Transport Association (IATA) Location Identifier” in aviation-speak. It’s obviously much easier for pilots, controllers, travel agents, frequent flyers, computers and baggage handlers to say and write ORD than the O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois—but how did this practice start, and why are some airport codes easy to understand (ABE and ZRH) while others seem to make absolutely no sense (ORD)? Well once upon a time, before the editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune, Colonel Robert McCormick suggested a name change as tribute to pilot Lt. Cmdr. Edward “Butch” O’Hare, United States Navy, there was an airstrip well to the northwest of Chicago with a quaint, peaceful name—Orchard Field.

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As someone who is 6 foot 3 inches tall but too cheap to buy a first or business class airline ticket i was very interested to read an article on GeekAbout.com for The 10 Most Comfortable Airline Economy Seats

Their winner was Virgin America which is consistent with other reports I have heard. My only quibble is that they list United Airlines, but be aware that they are talking about the more expensive economy plus ticket. One of the worst experiences I have had with an airline seat with no leg room was in an economy seat on United from Hawaii to California.

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According to the Tampa Bay News Channel 10 (heard via Travelography) there might be something worse than having the airline lose your luggage.

Oldsmar, Florida— Barbara Blewitt loves to travel and purchased a set of high quality Land’s End luggage last year. But on a recent trip to Atlantic City aboard Spirit Airlines she couldn’t believe what she saw when she arrived at baggage claim.

“I looked and there on the floor was my luggage,” says Blewitt who discovered her bag had been mysteriously burned

“I said what does that mean, what happened here? My clothes are burned!”

In fact, the luggage was so badly burned, almost everything inside, worth an estimated $350, was ruined too.

“I had no clothes, no underwear, no cosmetics, nothing but a burned suitcase,” Blewitt said.

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In these days of $4 a gallon gasoline and sky high jet fuel costs airlines are always looking for ways to save on fuel. According to USA Today, some of the methods are familiar ones to many drivers.

Drivers have long known that slowing down on the highway means getting more miles to the gallon. Now airlines are trying it, too — adding a few minutes to flights to save millions on fuel.
Southwest Airlines started flying slower about two months ago, and projects it will save $42 million in fuel this year by extending each flight by one to three minutes.

On one Northwest Airlines flight from Paris to Minneapolis earlier this week alone, flying slower saved 162 gallons of fuel, saving the airline $535. It added eight minutes to the flight, extending it to eight hours, 58 minutes.

That meant flying at an average speed of 532 mph, down from the usual 542 mph.

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MSN had a great article from the stranger side of travel called 10 wacky complaints about air travel. You might be surprised what people complain about. My favorite complaint was this one:

Early bird. Complaints about late arrivals are so common that I recite the canned response by rote: “I am sorry for your inconvenience. Please check with the gate agent or customer service representative for connection information …” But only twice have I had a passenger complain that the flight was arriving too early. What to say? Perhaps, “I am sure we will do better to delay you next time”?

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There is a new player in the hotel review space which is TVTrip.com. TVTrip hosts video reviews of hotels. At this time they have “115 destinations, 5530 hotels, 494008 reviews, 4937 videos”. That is a very small percentage of the world’s hotels but the value of actually being able to see the hotel (if they have a review for it) seems of greater value to me than a textual review.

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Royal Caribbean is working on a what should be the largest cruise ship in the world. The ship, called Project genesis, is scheduled to launch in 2009. The ship will carry 5,400 passengers and will have 16 decks.

The most unusual aspect of the design is a park like interior with green plants. Many of the staterooms will have balconies over looking this area.

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What’s the worst news a parent can receive? That would have to be that your child is dead. But what if that news is incorrect?

The Daily Telegraph reports:

Briton Chris Miller was told a flight carrying his partner and children had landed in India because another passenger had fallen ill, the BBC reported.

He also learnt his children had been taken for treatment for chicken pox.

But when the other passenger, a 22-year-old male backpacker, died, staff from the Emirates airline contacted Mr Miller by mistake.

Mr Miller said on the BBC that a staff member had passed on details for “the undertakers dealing with the body”.

The British father said he was stunned and a wave of grief and disbelief swept over him.

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Budget Travel reports a surprising development at Walt Disney World. Something free from Disney? Cool.

For the last few years, Walt Disney World has offered free dining plans in September to entice visitors during a notoriously slow month. Well, Disney announced yesterday that the Disney Dining Plan will once again be offered free with select vacation packages. If you stay at one of Disney’s “value” or “moderate” category resorts—or at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa—between Aug. 24 and Sept. 20, 2008, and you book a 5-night “Magic Your Way” package (at a starting price of about $1,300 for a family of four), then they’ll throw in the dining plan for free. The plan ordinarily costs $38 per day per adult.

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