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Halloween is right around the corner and many cities around the United States are offering deals to haunted hotels and other ghostly locales.

Salem, Massachusetts, home to the famous witch trials in 1692, offers many ghost tours and other special Halloween events. From just under $700, you can get a three night package that includes tickets to the annual Halloween night costume ball at the historic Hawthorne Hotel, as well as a three night stay at the nearby Emerson Inn. You can get more information and book this deal at emersoninnbythesea.com.

New Orleans, Louisiana is a great place to celebrate Halloween. Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter has been home to many mysterious events. They are offering a special Haunted Halloween Weekend package that includes two night hotel stay and murder mystery activities for the three days from Oct 31 to Nov 2. Rates start at $479 per person and can be booked online at hotelmonteleone.com or by calling (800) 535-9595.

San Antonio, Texas offers a variety of ghost tours and other haunted events around the famous San Antonio River. Stay at the historic Gunter Hotel for a special rate of $169 for Halloween with a two night stay. The deal includes breakfast for two at Barron’s restaurant. Call (866) 716-8134 and ask for rate plan FMLTO1.

photo credit: Svenstorm

We’re starting to feel sorry for airlines. If it’s not financial problems connected to rising fuel prices and global economic problems, then it’s bad publicity from some serious incidents and accidents. In the past week the headlines have been full of airline near-misses and trauma for passengers, to the point where we almost don’t feel like flying anymore; take these examples:

Strange Smell Makes Emirates Plane Turn Back

On a flight leaving Perth, Western Australia for Dubai, the pilot decided to turn back after an hour or so due to the smell of some kind of fumes in the cabin. Some passengers also noticed a small amount of smoke. Emirates is a new darling on the international airline scene and although this incident made people nervous, many praised the pilot and Emirates for handling it so well.

Bomb Scare on Etihad

It turned out to be a hoax, but the note detailing a bomb threat, found in the toilet of an Etihad Airlines plane flying between Abu Dhabi and Islamabad, forced the plane to be diverted to land in Karachi. Passengers were asked to leave the plane while it was searched and it was then cleared and determined that the note was a hoax.

Communications Failure

Air traffic controllers had a stressful time of it in Virgina this week when a communications failure meant that chaos reigned in the skies between Florida and destinations to the north. Naturally people are worried that these kinds of communications failures - which seem to be happening more frequently - could lead to an error and an accident.

Hijack Attempt on Turkish Airlines

On a Turkish Airlines flight to Saint Petersburg in Russia this week, a hijacker told the other passengers he had a bomb strapped to his body. The man was drunk, and wrote a note to the captain demanding to be let inside the cockpit or he would explore the bomb. However the other passengers managed to overpower him and keep him pacified until he was arrested upon landing.

Theories on Qantas Mid-Air Drop

In an incident that happened last week, a Qantas flight to Australia had a serious mid-air drop which left a number of passengers incident. This week, the media has been full of various attempts to explain the incident: from passenger use of laptop computers or other devices through to the most recent theory, naval communication base signals that interfered with the Qantas plane’s computer.

photo credit: egmb757lover

If you are a student who does a lot of traveling, you are well aware of how quickly the expenses add up. It is not uncommon for a student who goes home during the holidays while in college to rack up a significant amount in travel expenses.

Thankfully, Southwest Airlines now has a program that can help college students save money. The program, which is called the Southwest Airlines College Rapid Rewards Program, allows college students between the ages of 18 and 23 to earn free airline tickets. Simply pay for three round trip tickets from Southwest Airlines and you will then be eligible for the free ticket.

In Southwest Airlines’ normal Rapid Rewards program, it usually takes at least 8 round trip flights (16 credits) to earn a free ticket. However students will earn four bonus credits for enrolling, plus they’ll get one bonus credit for each one-way flight they make while they are enrolled in the program.

With 60 destinations, Southwest Airlines reaches most major college cities in the United States. To enroll, students can go to Southwest.com/rrenroll/college. On that page, you can read more about the program and complete your registration for the Southwest Airlines College Rapid Rewards Program. Every little bit of savings helps. Read more from the Seattle Times to learn about other special travel programs for students.

photo credit: Ack Ook

Even as airlines across the world experience troubles thanks to economic woes and increases in fuel prices, we are still excited about getting more A380 super jumbo planes into service, and so are the airlines that have ordered them. Since the first A380 commercial flight from Singapore Airlines a year or so back, we have been tempted by talk of taking a shower on board an Emirates A380 or having internet access on a Qantas A380.

Where Are All the A380s?

But getting on board an A380 is still a rarity, and there have been significant delays in their production so some airlines have waited almost two years for their promised planes. After Singapore Airlines got their first one, they have subsequently taken delivery of five more A380s and are definitely the most experienced in flying with them.

Australian carrier Qantas received their first A380 last month, amongst much fanfare. It will be used on flights between Melbourne and Los Angeles. Emirates got theirs a few months back and have now been told by Airbus that their second A380 will be delivered in just a couple of weeks, on October 24. They use the A380 to fly between Dubai and New York. They are also expecting second and third planes to be finished and delivered by the end of the year, with a fifth one in January 2009.

There are plenty of other airlines still waiting - not so patiently - for their first A380 to be finished. Air France and Lufthansa expect to be getting their first planes during 2009, and Kingfisher Airlines, Korean Air and Thai Airways should be the next airlines to fly the super jumbo. But with firm orders for 58 aircraft, Emirates is the airline planning to make the most use of the new design.

What’s So Good About the A380?

Apart from being the largest aircraft for commercial passenger use, the A380 has a bunch of other innovative features. Airlines are most excited about having a lot more floor space inside the aircraft - 50% more than a Boeing 747 - which means there is the potential to have a lot more passengers on board, and also to design the space in different ways - hence the Emirates idea with the showers. For us passengers, some of the other key benefits of the new aircraft are 50% less cabin noise and a higher cabin air pressure, meaning we might feel a bit better when we arrive at our destination.

photo credit: Aalok Gaitonde

As expected, the economic crisis is taking a large toll on the travel industry. For September, both major airlines and hotels are reporting steep declines in business. According to the New York Times, the seven major airlines carried 9.2% fewer passengers, domestically and internationally, in September 2008 compared to the same month in 2007, while many fares are 15-25% higher than last year.

According to Smith Travel Research, domestic hotel occupancy was down 5% over the previous September as well. As the holiday season isn’t far off, things may get worse for the travel industry before it gets better. Traditionally, the holidays are extremely busy. But with many people choosing to stay home rather than travel over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, the travel slump many continue into next year.

Many four- and five-star hotels, which usually aren’t effected much by economic downturns, are also reporting a decline in business. Third-quarter profits dropped 28% for Marriott International, one of the global giants in the hotel industry. With the Presidential election a month away, the banking crisis and the recession, airlines, hotels and other travel companies are in a scramble to lure the dwindling number of business and vacation travelers.

photo credit: richard winchell

Who would want to be an airline owner these days? The doom and gloom for airlines just keeps adding up: increased fuel costs and the double effect of economic problems - fewer people can afford to fly, and the airlines’ finances themselves might be a bit unstable too. Problems with regulations preventing mergers and takeovers have also left many airlines vulnerable.

50 Airlines to Go Bust in 2008

If you listen to the dire predictions from Giovani Bisignani, the boss of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), then things are looking particularly grim for airlines. With twenty-six airlines already going to the wall during 2008, he predicts that this number could still double before the year is through.

That might mean that travelers need to be extra careful when they are booking flights, especially if they are for dates further down the track - think twice (or do some research) about how stable the airline is and have a Plan B if things go wrong. And remember that it’s not just airlines who are in trouble - tour operators have also come under attack as a result of the economic crisis.

Airlines Lose Over $5 Billion in 2008

The airlines that do survive will likely be facing large losses and increasing debts. According to the IATA, the global airline industry put together is likely to lose about US$5.2 billion during 2008, with the main factors being the rising cost of fuel and falling demand from travelers affected by economic problems. The growth in passenger demand has fallen to its lowest levels in five years and doesn’t look like it will improve.

Indian Airlines Having More Problems Than Expected

One sector of the airline industry that we have heard little about, but might hear more about soon, are the Indian airlines. Although the local airline industry in India had been progressing well, things are now looking bad and $1.5 billion of the global losses to airlines this year will probably belong to Indian airlines. High taxes have become a big problem and made the industry somewhat uncompetitive, and many think that this needs to change. It has also been said that the operating standards need to reach global standards to ensure the industry is safe - both from a physical safety viewpoint and economic safety.

With many people in the world “going green” and lending a helping hand to the world around them whenever possible, it is no surprise that the travel industry has seen a rise in the number of green travelers in recent years. Ecotourism is the name given to this still relatively new phenomenon that is quickly gaining steam.
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Everybody wants to have a fun and happy holiday, but not every vacation turns out exactly how people plan. Sometimes it’s a natural disaster like Hurricane Ike or Hurricane Gustav that spoil travel plans. But whether it is a result of a tragic accident, a travel mix-up or getting involved in political upheaval, this week the news seemed to be full of reports of travelers who have had a vacation that didn’t end up as expected - some tragically so, and some with simply unusual outcomes:

• This week in the scenic New Zealand town of Queenstown, a Chinese woman was killed when the tourist jet boat she was riding in flipped and crashed. Several other tourists were injured and there’s now plenty of controversy in Queenstown about how the tragedy could have been prevented.
• In an ongoing saga, a group of eleven tourists from various parts of Europe, along with eight Egyptians, are still being held by kidnappers who snatched them a week ago from south-western Egypt. This week the news came that the group have been moved to Libya and the kidnappers are demanding a ransom of up to $15 million.
• Space tourism is at the very beginning of its existence, but there are already unhappy space tourists. This week a Japanese man who had booked a ten-day space trip to the International Space Station and had undertaken training and medical tests was bumped from the September 2006 flight at the last minute. Now Daisuke Enomoto is sueing Space Adventures, the company that he paid $21 million to, since they didn’t let him take part in the mission and gave his seat to a wealthy United States entrepreneur instead.
• To end on a light-hearted note, there was a woman from Argentina who wanted to travel to Australia and bought a flight ticket online to Sydney. Unfortunately, this poor tourist ended up landing in Sydney, Nova Scotia in Canada and was very surprised that it wasn’t Australia. She took the mix-up in a good-natured way, however, and enjoyed her time exploring this much smaller Sydney.

But if you’re feeling disturbed by this news, don’t worry too long: everybody else who vacationed this week came home safely and probably had a good time too. Statistically speaking, the chances of enjoying your trip are very high.
photo credit: Krikit ♥

If you are planning a vacation to a Walt Disney park, your best bet is to delay your trip to 2009 and get ready to celebrate your birthday Disney style. The reason being that Disney recently announced that free admission will be offered to those people celebrating a birthday.

To get the free admission, all you will have to do is show identification and proof of your birthday and you’ll be admitted at no cost. This deal is available at Disney parks in the United States such as Walt Disney World and Disneyland.

Although a birthday will get you into the park for free, everything else within the park will cost the same amount of money. Additionally, most birthday goers are expected to bring along friends and family to celebrate. For those reasons, many experts expect this marketing maneuver by Disney to make the company a substantial amount of money in the long run.

Disney will begin a series of television ads to promote their free birthday admission policy. Hollywood stars are already taking note, as Miley Cyrus has already announced that she will visit Disneyland on her 16th birthday.

For more information or to register your birthday visit, go to DisneyParks.com.
photo credit: mrkathika

While time on board a plane used to be a special kind of technology free experience when we couldn’t do much in the way of work or staying in contact, that looks like it is going to change soon. Most airlines seem to be resisting the use of cell phones while we’re in the air - something we’re grateful for, because we’re fairly sure we don’t want to hear six different telephone conversations around us while we try to watch an inflight movie.

But surfing the internet is a relatively quiet task, and plenty of airline passengers would be very pleased to be able to surf the web and read their email while they’re in the air. The Gogo service is what’s enabling airlines to start offering internet services to passengers in flight over North America, and it was first operated by American Airlines in August this year. Delta Air Lines and Virgin America are also hooking up to Gogo during 2008. But using VOIP programs like Skype to make telephone calls over the internet will also be off the agenda for the same reason making calls with cell phones is still not allowed.

Problems with Inflight Internet

Although most people have been pretty enthusiastic about the prospect of inflight internet, there’s one major hiccup in the works at the moment: accessing porn online. Airlines (especially, at the moment, American Airlines as the leader of the movement) are worried about passengers viewing inappropriate content while on board. Other passengers have made complaints and now the battle is on: to censor or not to censor?

This week Australian airline Qantas announced that it is only going to offer a limited internet access service when it starts flying its A380 next month. The limited service will include access to email and chat services and a limited selection of “cached internet content”. In fact, Qantas is not directly saying it is an issue related to inappropriate content, blaming it rather on logistical issues. But nobody doubts that the inappropriate content issue is the cause for the decision.

Quite reasonably, advocates for full internet access say that passengers can already watch DVDs or downloaded movies on their laptops completely free of restrictions. We also wonder whether there are really passengers who would choose to check their favorite “inappropriate” sites while in a place so lacking in privacy as an airplane. But we’ll have to wait and see over the next few months or so how the issue plays out as internet access on planes is gradually increased.

photo credit: Jace