FareFinder: Tuesday, March 31

Spring is here, which means golf season is, too. Marriott Vacations and the Faldo Golf Institute are offering “Class Is In” packages starting at $955 for 3-Day Golf Schools and $635 for 2-Day Golf Schools, which includes villa accommodations, personalized instruction and three rounds of championship golf in Orlando or Palm Desert, CA.

In honor of its 50-year celebration, the four-star Caravelle Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam is offering 50% off hotel rates through 2009 when you book your stay online in the month of May.

Your weekly, last-minute airfare specials from Continental.com and Delta.com for the week.

Carnival Cruise Lines' summer sales include $50-$120 in onboard credit for select Caribbean cruises.

Last-minute cruise deals on Royal Caribbean International ships include a five-night western Caribbean sailing for as little as $349.

United and Marriott Team Up for Travel Deal

Thanks to the wonderful world of Twitter (you can follow me here or PTG here) and @MarriottIntl (easily one of the best corporate twitter accounts ever), I was able to find out about the following deal, in which United Airlines and Marriott are teaming up to help people save money on traveling. 

Exciting, no? Anyway, the gist of the whole thing is that if you book a select United Flight by April 5, you get 20% select Marriott hotel reservations. Now, obviously, there are catches to the whole deal, but if the travel works out for you, then, well, it can be a great combo. 

Said catches appear to be: "Travel is valid on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday" (meh), "14 day advance purchase is required," "3 night, Friday night or Saturday night minimum stay is required" and travel must be completed by June 17, 2009.

The nice thing is that most of the fares are ridiculously low (you can view them here and purchase as well), with especially cheap flights out of Chicago. I need a late May flight from Charlotte to Dallas, so this doesn't really serve me well (~$300.00 is what I'm staring at) but for someone who just had a business trip to a major city spring up, this is pretty freaking ideal.

Also, this isn't necessarily something brand new, as Marriott and United are already partners, but if you're in either of the mileage/reward clubs, this would work out quite nicely.

Scope the deals here.

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Las Vegas During Earth Hour Saturday Night

Gizmodo put this awesome little photo set together, and I'd be lying if I didn't think it was totally and completely mezmorizing. Which is why I'm reposting it, obviously.

The Las Vegas Strip before Earth Hour on Saturday evening:

And the Las Vegas Strip during Earth Hour on Saturday:

And, of course, the grand .GIF finale, featuring the magic of the "on/off switch" appearance:

World’s First Zero-Star Hotel Opens Outside Zurich

Ramsey Qubein is Travelin' Light's on-the-road correspondent.

What exactly is a zero-star hotel like? Well, the Null Stern Hotel (literally: no stars) is housed underground in a nuclear bunker near Sevelen, Switzerland (an hour from Zurich). Two brothers and fellow artists Frank and Patrik Rikin are responsible for this $10 per night lodging, which they claim is a great option during tough economic times. Open for nearly three months now, guests experience little more than a clean, army-style bed and communal shower. Private rooms go for $30, which appeals to couples or those seeking a space of their own.

Heating is not the strength of this noisy bunker, and guests receive a hot water bottle when they arrive. Amenities are few and far between, but pairs of slippers and earplugs are part of the deal.

Switzerland has a nuclear bunker in most towns designed as a precaution during the Cold War. One caveat though: the government is allowing the brothers to use the bunker as long as they wish, but if it is needed for the city’s security purposes, local residents get to use it free of charge.

Virginia Beach Meteor ... Or Just Your Casual UFO?

Virginia Beach and North Carolina may have experienced a meteor explosion on Sunday night. Or perhaps Agents Sculley and Mulder were just in the neighborhood -- because despite residents' claims to the police and weather services that something bright exploded in the sky Sunday, the National Weather Service says they have no record of anything meteorlogical.

One motorist who saw the lights while driving east of the Staples Mill Road exit of Interstate 64 described it as similar to “what falls away from big fireworks” but “much bigger” and “from much higher up."

In other words: "Aliens, obviously." But that motorist wasn't the only one:

“It was very, very bright and lasted less than a second,“ said Richmond resident Jay McNamara, who was returning home with his wife on River Road when they saw an object in the southeastern sky. “It was smaller than the moon and a white or yellow color."

"And round, like a flying saucer," McNamara continued. Okay, not really. However, I think there's a pretty good chance that this is going to get run as a UFO sighting, just because, again, the National Weather Service recorded no meteroic activity despite the flurry of e-mails that hit a local news station's inbox.

The point of it all? If you're scared of aliens, avoid the beaches of North Carolina and Virginia in your travels for at least the next few weeks, until things clear up.

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FAA Wants to Hide the Info About Planes Hitting Birds

Airplanes, by the nature of "flying," tend to deal with birds a lot. It's part of the business; I think everyone understands that.

However, since the airlines haven't come up with any radar to detect said birds yet, it's always helpful to know, as a consumer of airline products, just how often airplanes are running ... a fowl. (Sorry.) But, it would appear that the FAA wants to hide this information from consumers to avoid a national panic.

The government agency argued that some carriers and airports would stop reporting incidents for fear the public would misinterpret the data and hold it against them. The reporting is voluntary because the FAA rejected a National Transportation Safety Board recommendation 10 years ago to make it mandatory.

And it should be voluntary. There's absolutely no reason why the FAA should be able to hide this information from the public, considering that it lacks any real terrifying news. Everyone and their brother knows that birds and airplanes are in the skies together.

Attempting to quash this info from the public just serves to damage the reputation of the government and make the FAA look like an organization that has something to hide.

Medical Tourism Growing Rapidly

Over the past several years medical tourism has grown into a full-fledged travel market. Patients from all over the world... the United States, Scotland, Jordan, Kenya... are traveling to India for surgery.

It's estimated that in 2009, roughly 6 million Americans will travel abroad for some kind of surgery or medical treatment. There are many reasons to travel abroad for medical treatment, but for American and European patients the reason is usually cost. Many operations in India cost around a tenth of what the same operation costs in the United States.

Companies such as Los Angeles-based Planet Hospital are creating a niche in the service industry as medical travel planners. "We find the best possible surgeons and deliver their service to patients safely, affordably and immediately," said Rudy Rupak, president of Planet Hospital. "No one should have to choose between an operation to save their life or going bankrupt."

Planet Hospital, which works with international clients as well as Americans, books patients' travel and arranges phone interviews with potential surgeons. Patients are greeted by a company representative at the airport in the country where they've chosen to be treated; a 24-hour personal "patient concierge" is also provided, a level of service that's standard among many of the top medical travel planning companies.

While critics of medical tourism point out the frequent lack of medical care for locals, Indian doctors insist that the practice is beneficial to their country as a whole. They argue that the professional and social sides of India do not necessarily need to grow at the same time or rate, and that creating more professional jobs and increasing the nations income is as good a way to help their country as any.

Whether or not you agree with the practice, it isn't going to stop growing any time soon. Already a $60 billion a year industry, experts say medical tourism could be worth $100 billion a year by the end of 2010.

FareFinder: Friday March 27

Love breakfast? The good people at the Beverly Hills Conference & Visitors Bureau have a slew of breakfast-themed hotel packages for you.

Vail Resorts offering three- and six-night all-inclusive "Epic Summer" vacation deals that include tours with experienced guides, accommodations in Keystone or Breckenridge, transportation to/from Denver International Airport and all meals.

Speaking of Colorado, The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs is touting a Spring Break for Families package that starts at $85 per person, per night, that includes discounts and resort credit for multiple night stays.

Mandarin Oriental, Riveria Maya, offering a five-night beach package for $2,170 through November, which is $60 less per night than their Web-advertised "Delight" special. Need to call hotel at 52-984-877-3888 or toll free in the United States at 1-866-585-8575.

Seychelles Goes the Way of Iceland

Clear blue waters. White-sand beaches. Wealthy vacationers soaking up the sun. Seychelles has all of these things. Unfortunately, this tiny island country off the coast of Africa is also bankrupt.

This playground of the rich and famous is saddled with more than $800 million in debt, taking a page out of Iceland's "How To Destroy a Country's Economy" handbook. With sagging revenues from the country's two biggest source industries -- fishing and tourism -- Seychelles' debt is about the same as the country's total economy.

It's already defaulted on one $230 million loan and is now seeking relief from countries -- including the U.S. -- it owes.

"We borrowed more than we can repay," complains Ralph Volcere, the editor of Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly and a vocal government critic. "This was wholly irresponsible."

In the hopes of boosting its tourism industry, the country is launching an "Affordable Seychelles" campaign with the motto, "Once-in-a-lifetime vacation at a once-in-a-lifetime price," in the hopes of drawing visitors. Affordable might be overstating it, but there are certainly deals to be had.

The Wave, a 'Red Rock Stunner' Is Basically The Best Thing Ever

Courtesy of the L.A. Times, who always seem to have excellent travel pictures, comes this shot of "The Wave," a "red-rock stunner on the border of Arizona and Utah" is a bunch of really, really old sand dunes that have turned to rock. It's fairly insane and excellent.

Komodo Dragons Kill Indonesian Man

Two Komodo dragons mauled a fruit-picker to death in eastern Indonesia, police and witnesses said Tuesday, the latest in a string of attacks on humans by the world's largest lizard species.

31-yr-old Muhamad Anwar was on the island of Komodo, one of four places in the world the lizards can be found in the wild. Anwar was mauled after falling out of a sugar-apple tree.

He was bleeding badly from bites to his hands, body, legs and neck after two lizards, waiting below, attacked him, according to a neighbor, Theresia Tawa. He died at a clinic on the neighboring island of Flores soon after.

Attacks on humans by Komodo dragons — said to number at less than 4,000 in the wild — are rare, but seem to have increased in recent years.

An 8-year-old boy was killed in 2007 — the first recorded deadly attack on a human by one of the endangered lizards in three decades. A park ranger narrowly survived after one of the animals entered his hut last month and started biting his hands and legs.

Komodo Dragons are enormous reptiles that can grow up to 10 feet long and weigh a staggering 150 pounds. In addition to their enormous size, Komodo's also have shark-like serrated teeth and saliva that contains more than 50 strains of bacteria.

Anwar's death is a tragedy, but serves as a cogent reminder to excercise extreme caution around wild animals, no matter how unlikely an attack may seem.

FareFinder: Tuesday, March 24

VacationMyrtleBeach.com offering Grand Strand resort specials starting at $48 a night.

The four-star Post Hotel Weggis in Switzerland offering a two-night Spring Awakening package that includes accommodations, meals, wellness treatments and mountain bike rentals for $780.

Continental.com last-minute airfare specials this week include Newark Liberty to Bermuda for $149 or Montreal for $128 and Houston to Mexico City for $209. All prices are for roundtrip tickets.

Delta.com partnering with Sandals Resorts to offer a four-night all-inclusive vacation to Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort & Spa for $1,149 per person, including airfare.

The St. Regis Washington, D.C. offering a Weekend Traditions package that includes accommodations, breakfast at the elegant Adour restaurant and complimentary valet parking, starting at $395.

FareFinder: Monday March 23

(Ed. Note: This was scheduled to run on Thursday, and we apologize for the delay. My bad.)

Golf.VisitNC.com offers a sweepstakes for golf lovers. Enter to win the dream golf getaway now through March 31.

Radisson Edwardian's 12 hotels in London and Manchester are offering an Advance Purchase promotion, which gives you 20% off the best available rate.

Divi Carina Bay Resort & Casino in beautiful St. Croix offering specials during the St. Croix Food & Wine Experience, which is April 14-18.

South African Airways once again offering its "Planes, Trains and Safarimobiles" special for September, which is basically a 10-day all-inclusive vacation in South Africa (airfare, most meals, accommodations, tours, etc.), for $2,999 plus tax.

Mount Redoubt: The Alaska Volcano Explosion

Volcanoes are all the rage right now. Last week, an underwater volcano erupted in Tonga, and this week, it appears Alaska's Mt. Redoubt is getting ready to blow the roof off the sucker.

As you can see from the photo above, courtesy of the Alaska Volcano Observatory, Redoubt kicked off its eruption party early Monday morning with "another large explosion" on Monday morning.

The craziest news is that "40-50 earthquakes" per hour have been occurring for quite some time. Anchorage is believed to experience some ash fall-out, but, aside from Kenai, the potential damage appears to be minimal.

Make sure and check out the descriptions of previous explosions at Alaska's Volcano Observatory website, a picture of which you can see here.

Ultimate Wedding Destination: Juliet's Balcony

In an attempt to bolster tourism, Verona, Italy, has opened Juliet Capulet's balcony for wedding ceremonies.

The Capulets, from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, were fictional characters, but it's believed they were based on the Capellos, a real 13th century family in Verona. The Capello home is often visited by tourists who touch a bronze Juliet statue for good luck.

The tradition for couples is to first stroke the right breast of the languid bronze statue of Juliet in the courtyard -- the gesture is believed to bring good luck -- then leave love notes on the house's walls and Gothic wooden doors.

In addition to the love notes and statue-fondling, the city of Verona will now be offering the courtyard as an epically romantic wedding spot.

...[Verona] wants to strengthen its romantic reputation by offering love-struck couples the chance to tie the knot in the courtyard right below the famous stone balcony.

For now, the city's convention and visitors bureau does not have any plans to promote violent gang wars, thumb-biting, betrayal, real suicide or fake suicide, but if tourism continues to decline a non-romantic advertising campaign may be explored.

Underwater Volcano Erupts In Tonga

An underwater volcano has been erupting for several days in Tonga, a South Pacific island chain North of New Zealand and East of Australia. The eruption has launched smoke, steam and ash thousands of feet into the air.

So far winds have been pushing the smoke and ash away from populated areas, but scientists and local authorities are keeping a close watch just in case. The Associated Press has already circulated some amazing photos.

Attitude Hotels Offers Up-scale Options for Gay Travelers

Pedro Castro, a gay Portugese travel marketing professional, is trying to expand up-scale options for gay travelers. After many negative experiences at gay hotels, Castro decided to create a brand for high-end, design-conscious, gay and lesbian hotels around the world. Attitude Hotels is the result. Think Leading Hotels of World with a gay-lesbian focus.

"Gay hotels used to be part of the ghetto from the '70s and '80s," Castro said. "Many of them are run down, and once you get there, you're highly disappointed."

Comprising primarily small to midsize properties arranged in three categories -- value, comfort and premium -- according to price and amenities, Attitude Hotels sets out to guarantee gay and lesbian travelers an experience that is both gay and upscale.

Although some hotels and larger hotel chains already market themselves to the gay community, Castro made it clear that, generally speaking, these kinds of properties failed to understand or meet the needs of the gay traveler. Attitude Hotels are primarily are gay-owned or operated and so provide a more tailored experience for travelers.

"Most of the places are gay-owned or gay-managed," Castro said, noting that Attitude sidesteps conventional hotel chains that advertise themselves as gay-friendly.

"Saying something is gay-friendly is a straight perspective," he said. "It says, 'We accept gay people.'

"I wanted to do [a high-end brand] from the other end, to claim the gay perspective," he said.

A similar consortia, World's Foremost, already exists but primarily focuses on bed and breakfasts in the U.S. Attitude Hotels will be the first brand to represent gay boutique hotels on the international stage.

St. Patrick's Day Parades and Celebrations

In case you missed it, or just need a little help getting in the mood for this evening...

Check out Professional Travel Guide's St. Patrick's Day feature to find out just how many places around the world will be painting the walls green tonight.

Slainte! From everyone here at Travelin' Light.

FareFinder Extra: Yahoo! drops FareChase

Travel Weekly is reporting that Yahoo! will scrap its travel-metasearch product FareChaser and instead defer its booking to Travelocity.

As stated in the article:

(I)n late February Yahoo signed a new agreement that has Travelocity continuing its role as the primary booking engine for Yahoo Travel. In the past, Travelocity sparred with Yahoo over the prominent role that Yahoo gave FareChase on Yahoo Travel.

FareChase, which Yahoo! acquired in 2004, was the forerunner of a host of metsearch products related to travel, namely TripAdvisor, Travelzoo and Kayak. Yahoo said the move will allow it to "focus our efforts on strategic products such as Yahoo Travel Guides and Yahoo Trip Planner."

Travel-related metasearch is beginning to take off, and to see Yahoo! drop its bid to cash in on this growing market is an interesting development, considering that more and more people are using the Internet to find the most affordable deals.

Electric/Green Speedboat [Whimsy]

Sure, this isn't necessarily travel related. But it's a video about a boat, which travels. So there! And it's eco-friendly, which is something that everyone should embrace.

Rapping Flight Attendant Takes World by Storm

Flight attendants, God bless their souls, are incredibly annoying. They don't seem to understand that we all hate the pre-flight instructions that we're wrung through every flight we take. David Holmes, Southwest Airlines steward, puts a different spin on things by rapping the entire pre-flight takeoff spiel. It's rather awesome.

Dhani Jones Premieres on the Travel Channel Tonight

As some of you may know, I'm a bit of a sports nut. Sports, travel and reality television, to a certain degree, are three of my favorite things. 

So imagine my surprise (and excitement) when I found out that Dhani Jones (linebacker for the Bengals -- sports) was appearing on the Travel Channel (self-explanatory) for his new show (again) "Dhani Tackles the Globe" a show that premieres tonight.

The premise is this: Dhani travels around the world, competing in new and different sports.

He learned about rugby in England; the martial art Muay Thai in Thailand; hurling in Ireland; dragon boat racing in Singapore; Schwingen (wrestling) in Switzerland; pelota in Spain; sailing in New Zealand; and surf lifeguard competitions in Australia.

Part reality TV, part travel show, each episode chronicles his weeklong attempt to master a new sport, interspersed with sightseeing trips and forays into the local culture.

"It allows the entree of, 'I'm an athlete, you're an athlete, we both compete. Let's meet each other on those terms,"' Jones said in a telephone interview from Ohio.

It also allows us to see more reality television! WOO. No, seriously -- if there was one more reality television show that you should add to your "to watch" list ... Dhani Jones bouncing around the globe, swimming with sharks (kind of) and dragon boat racing(!) is definitely the play to make; by all accounts it's going to be one of the best new shows that the underrated Travel Channel drops. Oh, also, you can follow him on Twitter for more info.

Icy Hotel Adventures Up North

Ramsey Qubein is Travelin' Light's on-the-road correspondent.

ProfessionalTravelGuide.com has thousands of hotels bearing expert coverage on the ins and outs of their offerings, but some draw attention more than others for their unique lodging style.

Take, for example, the Hotel des Glaces on the outskirts of Quebec City, the only ice hotel in North and South America. During my recent visit there, I was warmly surprised by the lengths the property goes to create a memorable experience for its igloo-bound guests.

Each room or suite (yes, there are suites) is decorated in Arctic style with artwork carved out of the ice walls and varying degrees of illumination providing thematic interest.

Guests hunker down on the slabs of ice (topped with a mattress) and ensconced in a sleeping bag for the evening. Instructions are given in advance to avoid drinking liquids 4-5 hours before bedtime as the bathrooms are outside (although heated, a plus for the most frozen of visitors). Management encourages guests to sleep in as little clothing as possible since the hearty sleeping bags will make clothed guests sweat leading them to unzip only to freeze again. And lest one think the novelty behind this property stops at the exterior walls, there are hot tubs, sauna, ice bar (complete with vodka-laden drinks in ice cube glasses), and an ice slide to entertain arrivals.

Groups can congregate in the grand lounge for drinks or a night of dancing too! Even the furniture (sofas, chairs, and tables) are made of ice.

The hotel takes 500 tons of ice and more than a month of labor to build and only has a high season as it is completely melted during the spring, summer, and fall months. For a truly cool experience you’ll never forget, book a night at the Hotel des Glaces. And if spending the night doesn’t exactly light your fire, day passes are available to take a peak. Just remember to pack warmly!

Sears Tower No More: Willis Tower Is the New Name of Chicago's Biggest Building

The Sears Tower will, in all likelihood, become the Willis Tower. That's based on a press release that Willis Group Holdings, a London-based international insurance broker and the newest owner of the building, released today.

"We are proud to add the Willis name to the tower," said John Huston, executive vice president of American Landmark Properties, Ltd., part of the real estate investment group that owns the building.

"Having our name associated with Chicago's most iconic structure underscores our commitment to this great city, and recognizes Chicago's importance as a major financial hub and international business center," said Joseph J. Plumeri, chairman and chief executive officer of Willis Group. 

No one from Willis would actually confirm that the name of Sears Tower will change immediately, however; the most likely action seems to be that Willis will test the possibility of changing the name and gauge the reaction of Chicago residents. If it's overwhelmingly negative, it's possible that "Sears Tower" will remain. 

But if Chicagoans, like the rest of America, are completely fed up with the "customer service," the "great values," and everything else suprmely awesome that relates to the Sears company, than there's a decent chance that they'll embrace the new name.

FareFinder: Thursday, March 12

Divi Resorts offering a five-day Girlfriend Getaway Package at its Little Bay Beach Resort on St. Maarten starting at $585, which includes a $100 spa treatment, a $50 gift certificate at the resort’s on-site jewelry store and a $100 boat trip to island-hop over to St. Barthelemy for the day.

MSC Cruises extending its Caribbean Spring Sale aboard the MSC Liricia's March 24 and April 13 eastern Caribbean sailings. Interior cabins start at $60 per person, per day for the 10-day itineraries. Plus, kids sail for free when traveling with two adults.

Last-minute airfare deals on Continental and Delta for this weekend.

With March Madness one week away, tickets are still available for 2009 NCAA Tournament games in Greensboro, NC (first and second rounds) and Indianapolis, IN (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight).

World's Largest Swimming Pool [Picture]

From the Los Angeles Times comes this photo of a man-made "lagoon" in San Alfonso del Mar resort at Algarrobo, Chile, the world's largest pool, according to the Guiness Book of World Records. Of course, for more stuff that's really huge and ridiculous (/insert Office joke) check out our World's Largest List. 

Nerd Wants $1,000,000 From Airlines for Lost XBox

Jesse Maiman is on a mission. From God. Okay, not really. But he is on a mission to sue US Airways for $1 million.

Why? Because he thinks that some US Airways employee hijacked his Xbox out of his luggage when he was flying from New Haven, Connecticut (he's a student at Yale) to Cincinnati (presumably heading home.) And he filed suit against them Monday.

The suit seeks to have the airline pay him $1,700 for the loss of the gaming system and for "non-economic distress" of at least $25,000, but "in the maximum amount allowable by law or, in the alternative, in the sum of $1,000,000."

Let's be clear about a couple of things here. First, there is no way in hell that an XBox is worth one million dollars. Ever. Even if said XBox has "a specialized hard drive and components he said cost more than $1,000." 

Secondly, Mr. Maiman packed the XBox in his checked baggage. Anyone who has ever been near an airplane or a baggage conveyor belt knows that luggage handlers are not the most gentle people in the world. 

Thirdly, as Valerie Wunder, spokesperson for U.S. Airways put it, there are loss limits for each checked bag, currently set at $3,300. (And even that number is too high for an XBox.)

And finally, why on Earth was this kid taking his XBox home with him? Because it was Christmas break? And he was really hoping to get World of Warcraft: Harry Potter Edition? I understand that downtime at home is boring, but there's a reason that things like "the outdoors" and "friends" exist -- so 21 year old college students don't spend their entire Christmas break trying to shatter their personal record for ziltgans zapped in one 16 hour gaming span.

FareFinder: Tuesday, March 10

Professional Travel Guide and Apple Vacations offer you the best all-inclusive vacations in Mexico.

Southwest Airlines has unveiled its Spring Fever Sale with deals starting at $39 each way.

VegasPassport.com offering a $99 Bachelors Package that includes admission to the hottest clubs in Las Vegas.

Sonoma Valley Sommelier Experience Package includes three nights at the The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, meals, wine tastings and more.

The San Diego CVB is rolling out the red carpet for those looking for a stress-free Spring Break trip, including hotel specials, packages, attraction discounts and more.

Hotels.com Now Offering Semi-Creepy "Photo Pillows"

Ramsey Qubein is Travelin' Light's on-the-road correspondent.

Now you can sleep with Eva Mendes in a different hotel each night!

…Eva or technically anyone for that matter. Hotels.com will sell you more than a room now that it helps travelers to slumber with their choice of companion. A new service at their web site allows customers to upload (or email, pillowphotos@hotels.com) a photo of anyone (or anything!), and the company will send a pillowcase with the image printed directly on it.

While other companies have been selling everything from pillowcases to blankets with custom photos printed on them, this is a first from a travel company looking to differentiate itself from the pack. Remember, when booking at hotels.com, most hotel chains will not award frequent guest points or honor elite status benefits. But, the thought of snuggling with a feather-stuffed loved one makes up for it!

Delta Cuts International Flights by 10%

In a memo written by CEO Richard Anderson and president Edward H. Bastian, Delta announced its plan to cut international flights by 10% beginning in September of this year.

According to the memo...

...capacity this winter will be down 11-13% compared to winter 2008. Its trans-Pacific capacity will be down 12-14%. The cuts are in addition to Delta's December announcement to reduce 2009 capacity by 6-8%.

Delta currently has more than 70,000 employees world wide. Roughly 2,100 employees will be leaving the company voluntarily over the next year, but current projections show the company still may fall short of its fiscal goals.

Despite the cutbacks and meager projections, Delta is still taking a more conventional approach than some. Ryanair recently announced it may begin charging customers to use the bathroom.

Tiger Kills Chinese Farmer

A 20-year-old Chinese migrant farmer was mauled to death by a Siberian tiger on Sunday.

The young man and two other farmers had been traveling to the Great Wall of China when they decided to take a short cut through a wildlife reserve.

Officials say the farmer ignored warning signs and climbed over three fences, including a metre-high electric fence, to enter the grounds of Badaling Wild Animal World, a top breeding ground that holds more than 10 thousand wild animals.

The two other farmers escaped and alerted local authorities. Staff at the wildlife reserve had to force eight tigers into cages before they were able to recover the body.

While the story itself is a tragedy, it does provide a sober reminder for tourists everywhere that fences and warning signs exist for a reason. For further reminders see: Jurassic Park, The Goonies or Indiana Jones. They all provide excellent, albeit fictional, examples of what happens when people jump fences.

Spectacular Grand Canyon Photos

The Los Angeles Times was fantastic enough to assemble a vertical gallery of shots from the Grand Canyon during sunrise and sunset last week; I meant to link them up earlier but never got a chance (more on that in a bit). 

As you can see above, the photos are pretty freaking spectacular. Swing over to the Times' website and check the full gallery out. Or, alternately, start planning your trip to the Grand Canyon right now so you can take your own pictures and not live vicariously through someone who sent pictures to a newspaper.

Deep Flight Super Falcon Changes Luxury Travel

A company called Hawkes Ocean Technologies is changing the way people think about maritime vacations. Founder Graham Hawkes has been building submersibles and underwater vehicles for over a decade, but in the past his focus has been underwater research and filming.

Hawkes and his team changed their focus from more traditional submersibles to underwater flying machines and the Deep Flight Super Falcon was born.

According to Hawkes,

Deep Flight submersibles are designed to be more agile than any creature living in the ocean -- with the exception of dolphins.

The first vehicle of its kind designed for commercial use, the Deep Flight Super Falcon can reach depths of 1,500 feet, travel at 6 knots, and stay submerged for up to 5 hours.

The first client for the Super Falcon was venture capitalist Tom Perkins, who wanted a toy to keep on his mega-yacht, the Maltese Falcon. The base price: $1.3 million. Another model, which has open cockpits and cannot dive as deep as the Super Falcon, sells for $350,000.

The current state of the global economy has had a profound impact on luxury travel, but it's likely that Hawkes will still have plenty of buyers to keep him and his team busy.

In recent years the ultra-rich have begun looking for new ways to entertain themselves at sea as mega-yachts become old hat. Plus, the prospect of doing barrel rolls with whale sharks and being the first pair of human eyes look at some exotic coral reef is tough to pass up, even if it means breaking the bank.

Weirdest Items Seized by Customs

The New York Daily News was kind enough to create a nifty little slideshow of the craziest items seized by customs officials at New York area airports.

The list, which contains lots of things related to narcotics, is pretty amusing, if only because you get to see how people tried to smuggle illegal things into the country. Naturally, anytime someone stuffs dead pigeons in their pants, though, it's going to be the most amusing thing. And remind me of GOB.

FareFinder: Thursday, March 5

Sceptre Tours offering 6-night Ireland getaway at Blarney Golf Resort for as little as $599, including airfare.

Ridiculous Hawaii travel deals from Blue Sky Tours include four nights for two at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa for under $1,200.

Did you miss JetBlue's one-day sale? Here are some alternatives from Continental and Delta.

Speaking of JetBlue, they've just discounted some of their vacation packages with the new "Beachy Keen" promotion.

And while it's not a FareFinder, I pass along this contest: If you're looking for a vacation home on the cheap while helping the non-profit Veterans Retreat, check out this raffle for a 850-sq-ft Miami condo overlooking Star Island.

New Lodge Opening in Kenai Fjords Park

A new lodge is set to open in Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska. The ecolodge will be run by Alaska Wildland Adventures, an experienced tourism and adventure group.

The lodge will be located on the 1,700 acre, native-owned, Pederson Lagoon Wildlife Sanctuary and will be open seasonally from June until mid-September.

The lodge will consist of a main building that contains a lobby, library, bar and dining room plus 16 cabins with private baths, heating and electricity.

The lodge will be accessible by shuttle boats from Seward. Activities will
include hiking, sea kayaking, photography tours and wildlife viewing.

The lodge is an exciting development for ecotourists because it offers travelers a first-hand, pristine Alaska experience and a chance to truly escape from it all. To quote the lodge's own website, "With only sixteen cabins surrounded by a 2,000 acre wildlife sanctuary, it's safe to assume you'll find plenty of "me-time."

Marmara Manhattan Offers Divorce Package

The Marmara Manhattan, an upper east-side hotel and residence, has started offering special package deals for recent divorcees.

The "Suddenly Splitsville" Package offers discounted rates for fully-furnished apartments and includes a number of perks ranging from Haagen Daz ice cream to in-room massages once a month. Full-list below:

- Accommodations in a fully-furnished luxury apartment with sizes ranging
from one to three bedrooms

- Weekly housekeeping services

- A one-year subscription to Divorce Magazine, the only magazine of its
kind, read by those who need advice from attorneys and other divorce
professionals

- A pint of Haagen Daz ice cream to drown those sorrows in

- A bottle of Champagne to toast new found freedom

- A complimentary pass to the 92nd Street Y to work on that new physique

- A complimentary 45-minute in-room spa session (either a massage, facial,
or manicure and pedicure) once a month

- Complimentary wireless Internet to start surfing the dating sites.

- A complimentary copy of "Confessions Of An Online Dating Addict" -- a
book about the trials and tribulations of a woman who dated online in New York
City to learn all about dating on the Web.

- A one-hour consultation with a real estate agent to start searching for a
new place to live

While the Suddenly Splitsville Package comes with plenty of nice perks, the Marmara should have considered a marketing partnership with AshleyMadison.com. Then again, it is difficult to predict if the move would have been popular among the morally bankrupt... if you're out of the house in a fully-furnished apartment does it really count as an affair?

FareFinder Extra: JetBlue one-day sale is crazy good

JetBlue is always trying to stay ahead of the curve. Whether it's additional legroom, free Dunkin' Donuts coffee or the ability to check out ESPN on the TV at your seat, they're always looking to one-up the competition.

Now, for one day, they're doing it on price. And you better hurry, because that one day is to-day. Flights for March 10-April 1 (flying out Tuesdays or Wednesdays) are going for $29-$99 each way.

In all, 21 destinations -- including the New York City-area airports, Washington, D.C., Cancun, Las Vegas and San Diego -- with cheap-o airfare. For example, here are the flights from JFK that are one sale:

• $29* to Pittsburgh, PA (PIT), Portland, ME (PWM), Raleigh-Durham, NC (RDU), Richmond, VA (RIC), Rochester, NY (ROC) and Syracuse, NY (SYR);
  
  
• $59* to Fort Myers, FL (RSW), Orlando, FL (MCO), New Orleans, LA (MSY), Tampa Bay, FL (TPA), West Palm Beach, FL (PBI) and Long Beach, CA (LGB);
  
  
• $69* to Nassau, Bahamas (NAS), San Francisco, CA (SFO) and St. Maarten (SXM);
  
• $79* to Oakland, CA (OAK), Ponce, Puerto Rico (PSE), San Jose, CA (SJC) and San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU);
  
  
• $89* to Chicago, IL (ORD), Las Vegas, NV (LAS), San Diego, CA (SAN), Salt Lake City, UT (SLC) and Seattle, WA (SEA);
  
  
• and $99* to Phoenix, AZ (PHX) and Puerto Plata, DR (POP).

So hurry -- you have until 11:59 p.m. MST today to book these deals.

Emergency Exits Shouldn't Be This Easy to Open

Emergency exits are a critical part of the pre-flight torture preparation for airline passengers. After all, in the event of an emergency, everyone should know that how to get off an airplane.

But at the same time, I'm not so sure I like the idea that anyone can just sprint to the airplane and pop one open. Lest you think they can't, listen to what happened on a Dallas-Fort Worth runway yesterday:

A 26-year-old passenger on board an American Airlines jet from Charlotte to Dallas opened a door and slid down an inflatable emergency chute Tuesday as the aircraft waited to taxi to its gate at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

The man, who had not been identified Tuesday night, reportedly ran into the first class section of American Airlines Flight 1343 and opened the exit door, according to an airport advisory. The plane, an MD-80, had just arrived from Charlotte/Douglas International Airport about 1 p.m. and was parked on a ramp when the incident happened.

Now, maybe he was trying to avoid unnecessary flight expenditures. Or perhaps he really had to go to the bathroom and just happens to be claustrophobic. 

But here's a different issue: how the mess is it possible to open an emergency exit that quickly? I mean, I totally understand why you want to be able to pop those suckers open (it is, after all, hopefully an emergency when they're being used) but I can't even get my car door open that quickly. That's mainly because it locks automatically when the car is moving at more than zero miles per hour. Which is something I might suggest for airlines to consider. 

Scoot Coupe: Future of Rental Scooters?

The Scoot Coupe was unveiled back in 2008 and displayed recently at a Detroit auto show. Available in three engine sizes (50cc, 100cc, and 150cc) and getting around 70 miles to the gallon (80 mpg in some tests), many people are wondering if the three-wheeled wonders will catch on as commuter vehicles.

If you don't want to shell out the US$6,000+ to buy one yourself, wait for your next vacation. Because of their stable three-wheel design, it's likely that travelers will start seeing Scoot Coupes available for rent in popular tourist destinations.

While the vehicles are not recommended for highways (they top out around 45 mph), they would be ideal for exploring small areas like islands in Hawaii or Puerto Rico. Keep an eye out. The Scoot Coupe may just be the next Segway.

FareFinder: Tuesday, March 3

Dreams Resorts is offering two great deals: 15%-50% savings and $200 resort credit when you book by March 31, plus a "Kids Stay, Play and Eat Free" deal on select dates.

Luxury property Post Hotel Weggis is offering the "Winter Dreams at POHO Package" that includes two nights, meals, and other great extras for around $1,000.

NYC & Company extends winter deals for Restaurant Week, Deal-O-Matic, The Signature Collection Third Night and more.

College basketball fans can win a free Caribbean vacation at Nisbet Plantation by choosing the team they think will be this year's Cinderella in the NCAA Tournament.

Looking for something for the family? Check out the new Family Getaways section for trip ideas, insightful stories and travel deals.

[Picture] Vegas Strip in 1954

You don't really need words to explain why this is insane if you've been to Las Vegas in, oh, the last 30 years or so. And if not, what are you waiting for? Plan that trip.

Feel Free to Laugh at Ryanair's Expense

Ryanair is, by at least any symmetric of rough mathematics, the leader in the clubhouse for "Most Unbelievably Ridiculous Behavior by a Corporation," 2009, medium-business section. That's because they first had their employees pose for a swimsuit calendar, then they attacked bloggers, then they debated charging for customers to use the bathroom and now plan on eliminating check-in counters (although that last one might actually be good.) So, from Gizmodo, we present this cartoon:

WANT: Jacket With Inflatable Hood

Not gonna lie -- I don't own many hoodies. Some of my jackets have hoods, but for the most part, I steer clear for various reasons.

However, Gizmodo has a hoodie that I'm pretty interested in, at least for traveling purposes anyway. It brings to mind specifically a flight from Vegas -->Winston in which the lady next to me did a good job of, ahem, filling her seat and therefore ruining my sleeping ability. (She also ate Cheesy Poofs at 4:30 in the morning, which was not "awesome.")

The jacket, confusingly dubbed "Never Stop a Rolling Stone" by designer Rahel Ritchie features a fully inflatable hood that can be manually adjusted via a mouthpiece tucked away in the fabric. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that this concept is available for sale. However, the snowboarding experts at Burton have have had a similar product on the market for a while now. The latter is actually a hoodie and it doesn't feature a fully inflatable hood—but it does have a built in eye mask and earplugs for lullaby listening.

Now, the downside is, well, that you have to wear a hood. Outside of that, though, this is pretty perfect for traveling purposes.