Travel News and Stories for 10/21/2009 : Kathika Travel Website

By newsdesk on October 21st, 2009

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Below is a list of travel news and stories 10/21/2009

Got Pot? Fly Out of Oakland
Oakland International Airport may be the nation’s only airport with a specific policy letting users of medical marijuana travel with the drug.
http://www.mercurynews.com

Loophole Found in Airport Security
Anyone who has passed through an airport since the September 11th terrorist attacks can tell you that airport security measures have travelers jumping through hoops. It seems, however, that not all travelers are subjected to the same rigorous security standards.
http://travel.aol.com

An “unfortunate lag” delays refund by half a year — how do you speed things up?
Marko Grdesic contacted me in April because Travelocity owed him $4,747, but there was no sign of the money. I assumed a polite inquiry would shake it loose. Wrong.
http://www.elliott.org

Lost Your Camera? All is Not Lost
There’s perhaps nothing as upsetting as losing your camera during a trip, particularly at the end, when all of your vacation photos go missing as well (a close second perhaps, is losing your notebook that you’re using to report on a trip, cough, cough). Thankfully, the wonderful Web can often come in and act as a savior.
http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com

The LAX list: 10 airport improvements I’d like to see
So the commissioners who run Los Angeles International Airport look as if they’re about to spend a billion dollars to make the airport a better place, especially for international travelers. They’ll get no complaints from me about that. In fact, I’m here to help. Here are 10 improvements I’d like to see throughout LAX: 1. Fainting couches: For infrequent travelers to [...]
http://travel.latimes.com

New water park to replace Wild Rivers in Irvine
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Wild Rivers water park in Irvine will close forever after next summer. The off-again, on-again water park nestled next to the old Irvine Meadows Amphitheater claims 2010 will be the final season. Of course, it has said that the last few summers. But this time it just may [...]
http://travel.latimes.com

Twenty towns that are picture-perfect
As the sun casts its autumnal glow on thousands of picturesque U.S. cities and towns, it’s the perfect time to recognize the proverbial winners of the country’s civic-beauty contest. Some you may recall from last year, others are brand sparkling new.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com

The best (of the worst) travel horror stories
Doing business usually means frequent travel, and every executive has had her share of travel mishaps and crises. Here, the best of the worst.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com

El Nino Dumps Two Feet of Snow on Tahoe, Launching an Early Ski Season
Need a Halloween costume? Try a snowsuit. With as-predicted El Niño weather patterns already bringing in the powder, Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe is slated to open as early as October 31. Two storms have covered Lake Tahoe with almost two feet of snow in the past week, and forecasts for the rest of the season are promising: Cold temperatures and big snow could keep the season raging through July.
http://ngadventure.typepad.com

National Park Service conducts 11 search and rescue operations per day!
A new study shows that the National Park Service, on average, conducts 11 search and rescue operations per day according to this story from the Associated Press, with operations ranging form finding a lost hiker to rescuing stranded climbers, and just about everything in between.
http://www.gadling.com

Polar Bear Ecotourism Bringing Adventurers Into Alaska
The Inupiat people who live in Northwest Alaska, near the Bering Straits, have discovered a new tourist-friendly way to tap into their culture’s literally ancient store of knowledge. Inupiat guides have begun taking groups and families into the waters to view the polar bears that wander the ice.
http://www.vagabondish.com

Some hotels serve up free phone calls
Business travelers who rely on cellphones to avoid exorbitant charges for using hotel room phones may want to reconsider.
http://www.usatoday.com