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StrangePlaces.net gathers humour stories about travel. They have a list of actual stories told by travel agents in the United States. Their conclusion… Americans should never be allowed to travel.
I had someone ask for an aisle seats so that his or her hair wouldn’t get messed up by being near the window.
A client called in inquiring about a package to Hawaii. After going over all the cost info, she asked, “Would it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii?”
I got a call from a woman who wanted to go to Capetown. I started to explain the length of the flight and the passport information when she interrupted me with “I’m not trying to make you look stupid, but Capetown is in Massachusetts. “Without trying to make her look like the stupid one, I calmly explained, “Capecod is in Massachusetts, Capetown is in Africa.” Her response … click.
Just when it seemed we needed some good news about air travel, any good news, the numbers have come out from the National Transportation Safety Board. You might have gotten the impression from the recent crack down on safety inspections that planes must be falling from the skies, but such is not the case.
No one died during 2007 in accidents among larger scheduled U.S. airlines and smaller commuter aircraft, and deaths in private plane accidents dropped to 491, their lowest total in more than 40 years, the government reported Wednesday.
But on-demand aircraft - charters, air taxis and tours, and medical flights with a patient aboard _ saw accident deaths jump from 16 in 2006 to 43 in 2007, according to preliminary annual figures from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The Israeli government wants to show you another side of Israel than you usually see on the public beaches and is “sexing up” its image with bikini clad women.
The frontier has always been known as a place that is less safe and secure than more established lands. Frontier Airlines declared itself to be in a similar place this week when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. When a company files Chapter 11 it is asking the courts to provide temporary protection from its creditors so that it can restructure and eventually return to normal operations.
On April 10, 2008, Frontier Airlines Holdings, Inc. filed voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, in the Southern District of New York. This action followed an unexpected attempt by Frontier’s principal credit card processor to substantially increase a “hold-back” of customer receipts, which threatened to severely impact Frontier’s liquidity.
Frontier Airlines intends to continue normal business operations throughout its reorganization process. Specifically, we expect to continue to:
- Operate our full schedule of flights;
- Honor tickets and reservations and provide refunds and exchanges per our standard policy;
- Maintain our EarlyReturns frequent flyer program and other award-winning customer service programs;
- Provide employee wages and benefits without interruption; and
- Pay suppliers for goods and services received during the reorganization process.
U.S. State Department officials have issued a travel alert prompted by drug violence in the north of Mexico, warning that victims have included foreign visitors and residents.
American visitors are advised to be especially alert about their safety in the border region, and to avoid areas where there are high levels of drug dealing and prostitution.
“Violent criminal activity fueled by a war between criminal organizations struggling for control of the lucrative narcotics trade continues along the U.S.-Mexico border,” said the warning, dated Monday. “Attacks are aimed primarily at members of drug-trafficking organizations, Mexican police forces, criminal justice officials and journalists. However, foreign visitors and residents, including Americans, have been among the victims of homicides and kidnappings in the border region.”
American Ambassador Antonio O. Garza Jr. said in a statement that the alert reflected the current reality in Mexico: “These conditions are widely known here in Mexico from watching the news every day, but many tourists are simply not as aware of what goes on in other countries as they are in their own.”
In February, The Times reported that Tijuana was a ghost of its former self. At the time, more than 50 people had been killed in the onetime party town since the beginning of the year.
Other reports have counted scores of drug-related slayings so far this year in another border town, Ciudad Juarez. Mexico’s drug wars killed more than 2,500 people in 2007.
This caught my eye in part because 30 people (high school kids and adult sponsors) I know just returned from a trip down to Tijuana to help build houses. What this article only implies at is how this violence is affecting regular working Mexicans like the people I know down there.
