The budget standoff – Intensifies the Air Travel Headache
There is the prospect of significant effects on air travel.
In recent days, Ray LaHood, the transportation secretary, has been warning that the budget cuts would create major disruptions in air travel. He said, for instance, that staff furloughs at the READ MORE
The poet Maya Angelou once said you can tell a lot about a person from the way they respond to three things: a rainy day, tangled Christmas lights, and lost luggage.
Maya, Maya. Where were you at 2 a.m. the dark night I arrived in Paris without my bags? I needed my suit for the next morning, not folksy aphorisms or your musings on why the caged bird sings. Personally, I find the caged bird sings most beautifully when he has his laptop charger and toothbrush.
We’ll never know quite how Dr. Angelou would cope with the news that a vacation’s worth of clean underwear has been flown to the wrong Portland. But she’s right to suggest READ MORE
One of our favorite travel story of last week involved players from Barcelona football club, and their request for all-female cabin crew when flying with the team’s official carrier, Turkish Airlines. The pampered millionaires (a cliché appropriate for such occasions) are apparently fed up with having to deal with gawping, autograph-requesting male cabin crew.
Spanish football giant Barcelona has requested all female cabin crews during official sponsor Turkish Airlines flights due to the extreme interest male attendants usually show in the players, Airporthaber has reported.
The male flight attendants constantly asked for autographs and jerseys from globally-loved players like Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta, which eventually became a problem for the team officials.
Turkish Airlines has therefore granted Barcelona a handpicked crew, made up of 20 female flight attendants, to accompany the players during their flights.
Source the hurriyetdailynews.com
Travellers heading from London to New York can now experience the transatlantic trip in sublime comfort aboard ‘Miss Sunshine’ (as Virgin Atlantic’s new A330 aircraft has been dubbed) in the much-awaited Upper Class Suite.
The airline’s in-house design team joined forces with London-based studio Pengelly Design for the seating and with VW+BS for the bar and interior elements. The super-shiny, futuristic space comes complete with Swarovski Crystal embellishments, mood lighting, and a hefty dose of the Virgin colour palette.
Four years in the making, the sleek suites feature elegant leather seats that each conveniently have their own aisle access, beds that are longer than any other airline’s, frosted Perspex passenger divides for light and privacy, and easy access storage solutions. Meanwhile a gleaming bar, which is separate from the cabin, provides a space to mingle with other passengers.
In keeping up with our digital age, the team has ensured we will never have to go without. A programme called AeroMobile, allows passengers to use their own mobile phones in the air. Even better, the new entertainment system is smartphone, tablet and USB compatible, giving passengers the choice to read, watch or listen to their own media.
The re-designed cabin will also soon be available on the Mumbai service, from October this year. Meanwhile, the Virigin team is currently working on resizing and tweaking the Upper Class Suite to fit their 787 Dreamliners, which is due for delivery in 2015.
Sara Henrichs – Wallpaper
Deal Delta becomes “Official Airline Partner of Chelsea FC”
Win a trip to London to watch Chelsea FC
LONDON, June 25, — Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) has made its first signing of a UK soccer club by striking a multi-year deal to become Chelsea Football Club’s official airline sponsor. The deal brings together two major international brands: Delta, a leading global airline; and Chelsea FC, the champions of Europe. The partnership will commence in July 2012.
Delta will be exclusively designated as the “Official Airline Partner of Chelsea FC” and the agreement will give Delta numerous benefits including: LED exposure at each home game and exposure on the Chelsea FC website. The Delta logo will also be included on media backboards for interviews conducted at Chelsea’s stadium around Premier League home matches.
Additionally, Delta will benefit from entitlement space at Stamford Bridge’s Millennium Hotel, enabling the airline to entertain guests at Chelsea’s home in a Delta-branded environment.
Delta is synonymous with sport in the United States where the airline is the official airline sponsor of leading U.S. sports teams including baseball’s New York Yankees, hockey’s Los Angeles Kings and American football’s Minnesota Vikings. This summer, Delta will welcome the Chelsea FC team as they tour the United States. In July, they will play the French team, Paris Saint-Germain, at the new Yankee Stadium, which is also sponsored by Delta.
“We’re delighted to sponsor Chelsea FC, a top-flight London club with a fan base of millions throughout Delta’s worldwide network,” said Perry Cantarutti, Delta’s senior vice-president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “Partnering with a leading club in the English Premier League is an exciting way to strengthen our brand both in the UK and around the world while a tie-in with Delta will help build Chelsea’s brand in the U.S.”
This year’s winner of the Champions League and The FA Cup, Chelsea FC is one of the best-supported clubs worldwide and allows Delta to reach an international audience of more than one billion.
“It is a fantastic opportunity for Chelsea Football Club to partner ourselves with Delta Air Lines, an industry leader in aviation,” said Chelsea FC Chief Executive Ron Gourlay. “Their passion for innovation and first-class service around the world make them a perfect match for us and we look forward to working together as we continue to develop the Chelsea name across the globe.”
To celebrate the Delta-Chelsea FC partnership and help kick off the team’s U.S. tour, customers can visit Delta’s Facebook page to vote for a U.S. city to host a fare promotion from the United States to London this summer. Visit Facebook.com/Delta to vote.
Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. During the past year, Delta was named domestic “Airline of the Year” by the readers of Travel Weekly magazine, was named the “Top Tech-Friendly U.S. Airline” by PCWorld magazine for its innovation in technology and won the Business Travel News Annual Airline Survey. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to nearly 350 destinations in 65 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry’s leading trans-Atlantic joint venture withAir France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline’s service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, a world-class airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and more than 50 Delta Sky Clubsin airports worldwide. Delta is investing more than $3 billion through 2013 in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.
The winner will receive:
• round-trip economy class air transportation for 2 from winner’s home gateway to London (ARV $2,400)
• 2 tickets to the Chelsea FC home opener on August 25 at Stamford Bridge (ARV $400)
• 3 nights hotel accommodations (ARV $1,600)
• $500 American Express Gift Card
• Total Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”): $4,900.00
Enter to win here.
The lounge has been conceived as a harmonious pathway, consisting of sections which are conductive to walking acting as a prelude to the journey ahead.
The architectural concept was inspired by a park and developed around a contemporary reinterpretation of the plant expression.
Shapes, material and colours conjure up nature and the organic world. The paths are organised and give structure to the lounge like offshoots of a plant: taut lines and curved shapes go hand in hand with the vision and retain privacy without partitioning.
This upmarket lounge, which is over 3,000 m2, is situated in the new S4 boarding satellite at Paris-Charles de Gaulle.
Designed by Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance and Brandimage.
With the goal of making bland airline meals a thing of the past, the culinary team at British Airways Height Cuisine turned to Chef Heston Blumenthal to help them tackle the challenge of serving great-tasting food at 35,000 feet. In his show “Heston’s Mission Impossible” Blumentahl explored why so many foods loose flavor at altitude. He then set about developing techniques to solve the problem. Blumenthal suggests that the key to creating flavorful airline menus can be found in the ability to harness the powers of umami-rich ingredients.
Umami flavors now power British Airways’ Height Cuisine menus. Mushrooms, shellfish, truffles, tomatoes and other umami-rich foods can be found in the Gate Gourmet kitchen
The word umami may seem to have popped up recently, but according to Tim Hanni of the Napa Seasoning Company, this particular taste “was dubbed umami, a vernacular word for ‘good’ in Japanese, by Dr. Ikeda in the early 20th century, who formally presented research in 1908 that umami was a separate, primary taste.” Hanni, also known as the Swami of Umami explains, “The umami taste sensation is triggered by natural glutamate that is found in a vast array of foods: meats, poultry, seafood, dairy/cheeses, vegetables and fruits. Umami is amplified significantly when compounds called nucleotides, associated with fermentation and ripening, are added to the mix.” After much research and exploration of the power of umami, Hanni created his own product, Vignon, an all-natural, all-purpose seasoning made with sea salt and over 20 ‘micro ingredients’ that makes everything taste more flavorful and rich.
Umami flavors now power British Airways’ Height Cuisine menus. Mushrooms, shellfish, truffles, tomatoes and other umami-rich foods can be found in the Gate Gourmet kitchen. These techniques add power to the overall flavor profile of the food without needing to increase the amounts of salt and sugar. They are carefully prepared and sent up in the air to help make the experience of flying more enjoyable and delicious.
Sitting in Club World or World Traveler Plus class, looking down at a colorful plate of Caledonia blue shrimp with grilled artichoke, tomato petals and sherry truffle vinaigrette, or a Provencale vegetable lasagna with basil ricotta and creamy yellow tomato sauce, passengers now have a much better chance to taste the intended flavor of the food that has been carefully prepared and served with pride by the British Airways’ cabin crew.
Umami Flavors Fly High
British Airways menus powered with the fifth taste serve food high in flavor and lower in salt and sugar.
by Largetail in Travel on 29 June 2012
Although Anthony Bourdain recently said MIA doesn’t suck as badly as some other airports, the foodstuffs there isn’t exactly gourmet. That being said, there are a few gems out there if you happen to be passing through Terminal D. All of the decent eats are located past security, which could be the only good thing about that super saver airfare that has you connecting through Miami and seventeen other cities before you reach your destination. Alas, a light at the end of the terminal.
Terminal D’s Five Standouts
1) Beaudevin: This 42-seat wine and cheese bar based on the one in the Brussels airport is a swell place to swill while waiting for your most likely delayed flight.
[Terminal D, Gate D24 North Terminal, post security]
2) Cafe Versailles: There’s nothing like a shot or ten of Cuban coffee at Versailles after a long haul or, if you’re one of those who likes to yap to strangers next to you the whole way there, before a long haul. Cuban sandwiches and lots of clamor en Espanol reminds you that you’re not in Kansas anymore, if but for a few hours. And, if the line’s too long at this one
[After checkpoint, Terminal D, Gate D21 North Terminal], there are two others [Gates D5 and D44].
3) Lorena Garcia Cocina:Her investment in America’s Next Great Restaurant may not have been the wisest, but Lorena Garcia’s investment in MIA (or vice versa, rather) has proven to be a pretty worthy one, serving ‘sensible, Caribbean’ cuisine to the mass transit masses.
[After checkpoint, Terminal D, Gate D53 North Terminal]
4) Icebox Cafe: South Beach brunch and bakery staple set up shop at MIA to satisfy the sweet tooth of bitter air travelers.
[After checkpoint, Terminal D, Gate D8 North Terminal]
5) Sushi Maki:The express version of the Coral Gables, South Miami, Kendall and Brickell mini-chain gives you a delightfully raw deal en route to or from your destination. Cooked faves include Kobe sliders and sushi tacos. Sushi Maki
[After checkpoint, Terminal D, Gate D29 North Terminal]
When they collide, which will prevail?
As it turns out, it’s no contest. A reader writes about what played out at this year’s Carnaval: We doubt that the same joie de vivre is possible in a TSA-sanctioned environment.
This video touches on two of your themes: airport security and cross-cultural differences. It’s a bloco, or parade dance party, at Santos Dumont the city airport for Rio de Janeiro. Minute 1:30 to 2:00 has the best sambaing.
Passengers are entering the screening queue from the left of the scene above and passing through metal detectors there. Then they head toward their planes (including the man walking toward the camera at the left).
A reader who travels very frequently in and out of China’s main airports was in Beijing Capital airport today. He sends a shot of the security line a few hours ago at what is now the second-busiest airport in the world.
A reader writes,
“Greetings from Beijing Airport! Last year I sent you a photo of the TSA equivalent and it’s still so much better than TSA! You could say in software terms it’s a much better UX! [User Experience.] Every time! ”
What’s your experience? We would love to know.
Original Article: theatlantic.com – James Fallows is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and has written for the magazine since the late 1970s. He has reported extensively from outside the United States, and once worked as President Carter’s chief speechwriter. His latest book, China Airborne, will be published in May.
Fit for arduous travel schedules and lengthy commutes, the recently released luggage line from Powerbag features an on-board charging system to keep you on the grid no matter how far from an outlet you may be. Each bag’s removable and rechargeable power source comes equipped with an Apple device connector, Mini and Mico-USB cords, and a standard USB port, putting out enough power for up to four devices at once. Most importantly, the smart charge system diverts power to the devices that need it most, preventing your tablet from hoarding all the juice.
On the outside of each bag you’ll find a small button that illuminates to display the current battery level of the internal power source. The bag’s deliberately subtle design—charging level is momentarily displayed at a touch of the adjacent button—allows you to safely carry expensive electronics without drawing attention.
The Business Class Pack is a basic backpack with all the highlights hidden on the inside. We love the the number of compartments and velour-lined pockets, preventing your gear from getting all scratched up. Its most notable claim is a “checkpoint-friendly” zipper that opens to lie the bag flat so you don’t have to remove your laptop from the rear compartment for airport security screenings. Life changing.
Much like its over-the-shoulder brother, the Instant Messenger bag is defined by its subdued design and tech-driven inner workings. With a padded laptop sleeve and numerous zippered pockets, this sling bag has more than enough room for long-distance travel or the everyday commute.
Outfitted with a removable 6000mAh battery, the bags offer enough juice to fully charge an average smartphone up to four times before the power supply needs to be refilled. Both packs feature a small AC adapter plug on the outside that connects to any wall outlet for easy recharging. The Business Class Pack and the Instant Messenger bag sell for $180 each directly from Powerbag online. Other styles are also available, and smaller chargers are available at a lower cost.
by Evan Orensten from the original article at coolhunting.com