Hi there. Notice a recent change in the number of airport security issues? Yup, either the TSA is feeling starved for attention or they’ve instituted a quota system. Or the terrorists are winning. Or, or, well, yeah. Here at Flight Blog action has been taken: A new category for blog posts. That’s what you do […]
This video’s a simulation of world-wide air traffic patterns over 24 hours:
(via MapRoom)
With the many airline deaths and impending deaths in the news, it was clear Flight Blog needed a new category of posts to address these casualties of the air business. Thus, you get the Airline Death Pool category on Flight Blog. Welcome, aloha, death pool — I know there’s not much that’s swimming in you […]
CNN reports on an Orbitz survey:
Asked to cite their “most problematic” trip experiences, 40 percent of those surveyed cited flight delays and 21 percent said airport security. Only 15 percent said hotel amenities and cleanliness, while 9 percent cited rental cars.
Other interesting bits from the survey:
59% say cheapest prices is the most important factor when […]
Flight Club helps folk meet other folk in airports (and on airplanes). There are thousands of travelers stuck in airports now. What better way to relieve some boredom than to sign up with Flight Club and find other travelers stuck in your same airport? If this sounds like a stinky disaster in the making, well, […]
Edward Tufte probably doesn’t need to see this, but you do. This is a funny, insightful and cute doodles-as-analysis / unsophisticated stat site: indexed.blogspot.com (via Information Aesthetics).
Other favorites of mine:
Pop Stars vs. Possums
Contraception for the lazy
Biological clock warning signs
The beer cycle
If the answer to the above three questions is “yes, yes,” and “yes,” here’s a tip for you. When leaving your car in the parking lot, make sure your headlights are all the way off. According to the long-term parking-lot attendant who jump-started my car yesterday, almost all of the people who kill their battery had early-morning flights (in the Charlotte airport, that works out to 20 jumpstarts a day).
There are several ways you could remind yourself to turn off the lights: tie some string around your finger, tie a bow around your steering wheel, tape a post-it to your windshield.
I have never seen a flight-fare search program do this before: List the cheapest fares for one route for an entire month. This one does that, and it does more. Here’s a screenshot of the best deals when flying from Chicago to Denver in December:
You have to register before you can use it, and it’s free to use, and it’s well worth it. Check it out at http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/
Check out TravelPost’s list of wifi access locations and cost — it covers 218 U.S. airports. Useful information … if you’re looking for internet, that is. It was updated two days ago, which means this is something they keep an eye on. It looks like he information is pulled from TravelPost editors and readers…
I’m not making fun of airline safety or anything, but I’m intensely curious why the U.S. Transportation Security Administration felt the need to single out “Toy Transformer Robots” on their list of what you can and can’t bring in your checked luggage and in your carry-on.
Also, and this is something I didn’t know: It’s okay to bring saline or eyedrops with you, as long as the container is four ounces or less. Mascara and toothpaste are still no-nos, that is, unless you feel like putting them in your pocket.