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  • Which Americans have passports, and which Americans don?t?

    Which Americans have passports, and which Americans don?t?
    30% of Americans have passports. But where do those Americans live? New Jersey takes the prize for the highest percentage of passports issued: 68.36%. At the low end: Mississippi, with just 19.86%. Via C.G.P. Grey, see the graphic below: For the “yes, but…” file: This dataset actually reflects addresses for issuance, not ownership of US [...]

  • Double up? Citibank?s American AAdvantage Visa comes with a connected Amex

    Double up? Citibank?s American AAdvantage Visa comes with a connected Amex
    The Citibank envelope that was in the mailbox when I returned home today contained two new American Airlines AAdvantage linked cards. But, in a first for me, I received both a replacement Visa and a new American Express. Huh? When I signed up for the card, it was just a Visa. How did I now [...]

  • Liquid scanner update: Maybe next year?

    Liquid scanner update: Maybe next year?
    Some optimism for you on a Friday afternoon: Researchers at the University of California at Davis seem to have come up with a liquid scanner that can tell explosives from hand creams or beverages. Good news, but it’s not ready for implementation yet, as the video below details. I particularly enjoy the two beverages that [...]

  • Do we really need smartphone apps for individual hotels?

    Do we really need smartphone apps for individual hotels?
    Perhaps it was inevitable: Smartphones now control about 35% of the US market, and in response to that growth, hotels are creating dedicated apps for their guests. But I’m not referring to apps by broad-based chains, like a Starwood or a Hilton app. No, individual hotels are contracting with programmers to create single-property apps. I [...]

  • Another thing to worry about?: Rental car recalls

    Another thing to worry about?: Rental car recalls
    Is your car rental company taking care of manufacturer recalls in a timely manner? Odds are, they’re not. For many recalls, it’s not a huge deal. But every now and then, something horrible happens — such as a PT Cruiser which caught fire, leading its occupants to lose control and crash. After five years of [...]
 
 
  • The Cranky Flier

  • Cranky on the Web (May 13 ? 17)

    Cranky on the Web (May 13 ? 17)
    In the Trenches: Setting Priorities – Intuit Small Business Blog There are a lot of projects I’d like to complete here at Cranky Concierge. But instead of trying to do them all, I need to pick one at a time and focus. United’s New Seats: the Good, the Bad, and the In-Between – Conde Nast [...]

  • Topic of the Week: United?s Channel 9

    Topic of the Week: United?s Channel 9
    United announced it would pull inflight entertainment off its A319s and A320s when it puts new seats on the airplanes. That means that Channel 9, the channel that lets you listen to cockpit communications, will disappear until they can find a way to stream it to your own device. Will this impact your choice of [...]

  • Who the F*&@ is Lion Air?

    Who the F*&@ is Lion Air?
    You may have heard the name Lion Air before, but chances are you’ve never flown the airline, a low cost carrier based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Lion has been known for a few things over its decade-long history; some good and some bad. The bad? Naturally, it’s safety-related. And the good? Well, it’s debatable if it’s [...]

  • Virgin America Loses More Money, Puts All Efforts on Going Public

    Virgin America Loses More Money, Puts All Efforts on Going Public
    After 6 years of big losses, it looks like the time is finally coming for Virgin America to start making money or just go away. The airline decided to announce both fourth quarter 2012 and first quarter 2013 results yesterday, and there were some bright spots. But many of the moves that were announced from [...]

  • What it Means When Southwest Says It Has De-Hubbed Atlanta

    What it Means When Southwest Says It Has De-Hubbed Atlanta
    When Southwest bought AirTran way back in 2010, all eyes were on Atlanta to see what the airline would do there at AirTran’s homebase and biggest hub. What followed was months of shrinking, but now Southwest has moved on to phase two. It is de-hubbing Atlanta. That sounds radical, but, uh, what does it really [...]
  • Budget Travel Tips - EuroCheapo

  • Barcelona: Four cheap hotels with personality

    Barcelona: Four cheap hotels with personality
    Even in a city as vibrant as Barcelona, staying in a ho-hum hotel can make a grand vacation bland. Your stay will be much more enjoyable if you can find accommodation that feels as alive as the city itself. Truth be told, though, most of the hotels and hostals featured on EuroCheapo?s Barcelona page have » Read more

  • Congrats to Valerie, our Summer in Berlin Giveaway Winner!

    Congrats to Valerie, our Summer in Berlin Giveaway Winner!
    Congratulations to Valerie, the winner of our “Summer in Berlin” giveaway! She’ll be flying with a guest on airberlin from the US, plus receiving five nights of accommodation at A&O Hostel and Hotel, and free sightseeing passes from visitBerlin! Valerie’s submission, a fabulously illustrated series of vignettes, tells of her trip to Berlin in the » Read more

  • A Trio of Irish Airlines: Aer Lingus, Aer Arann and CityJet

    A Trio of Irish Airlines: Aer Lingus, Aer Arann and CityJet
    Mention that you have just snapped up a cheap fare with an Irish airline, and folks will generally assume that you have been tackling Ryanair. But the Republic of Ireland has a trinity of other air carriers offering scheduled passenger services. Each deserves a look. Flying the flag with Aer Lingus Aer Lingus is by far » Read more

  • The scoop on Berlin?s best ice cream

    The scoop on Berlin?s best ice cream
    It may be just starting to warm up, but that doesn’t stop Berliners from regularly indulging in a few scoops of German gelato. Italian ice creams followed Germany’s first guest workers from their homes in Italy and today “gelaterias” exist in even the smallest towns across the country. While they may never meet the selection » Read more

  • Paris: 14 excellent budget hotels in the nearby suburbs

    Paris: 14 excellent budget hotels in the nearby suburbs
    Strictly speaking, the suburbs of Paris (“la banlieue”) are those communes that lie beyond Paris “intramuros,” in other words, outside the Peripheral Boulevard, the highway that runs around the city. While the word “banlieue” is meant to be a socially neutral term, the media often use it in a derogatory sense that is inexact and » Read more
  • Go Green Travel Green

  • Icebreaker Via Shorts Review: Best Shorts for Travel

    Icebreaker Via Shorts Review: Best Shorts for Travel
    I recently heard about a shirt ? made of wool ? that you could wear for 100 days without washing because wool is such an amazing fabric. While I wouldn?t wear them for 100 days straight without washing, the Via shorts that Icebreaker sent me to review are also made of wool and are pretty [...]

  • The 17 Best Foods to Buy Organic

    The 17 Best Foods to Buy Organic
    At Go Green Travel Green, we frequently recommend shopping local at farmer’s markets and fruit and vegetable stands for your produce, meat, and dairy. In fact, we’ve listed what we deem the best farmer’s markets in the US! However, we live in the real world, and in the real world are busy schedules and food [...]

  • KEEN Aliso Daypack Review

    KEEN Aliso Daypack Review
    I’m a big fan of small backpacks. Small backpacks allow you to pack light, which saves you money on luggage fees, but more importantly they give you increased flexibility and freedom because you can easily change plans at the last minute when you’re not weighed down by stuff. I’m also a huge fan of daypacks. What’s the difference between a daypack [...]

  • Complete Guide to Family Volunteer Vacations

    Complete Guide to Family Volunteer Vacations
    Many travelers, myself included, attest to the fact that any sort of travel is eye-opening, fostering global understanding and reducing prejudices. Taking your kids out of their home environment, no matter how far, will undoubtedly broaden their minds. This said, should you consider booking a family vacation with a volunteer organization? What is a family [...]

  • How I?m Teaching Kids to Appreciate Nature While Traveling

    How I?m Teaching Kids to Appreciate Nature While Traveling
    When kids have seen, felt, and interacted with nature firsthand, they’re much more likely to relate to the natural world and strive to protect it as they get older. As the NWKids columnist for OutdoorsNW, I have ample opportunity to expose my kids to wilderness in our region, but the great thing about the outdoors is [...]
 
 
  • CANOE Travel Features

  • Finding good hotels in Europe

    Finding good hotels in Europe

    A major expense of any European vacation is the cost of accommodations.

  • Multi-day weddings closer to home gains popularity

    Multi-day weddings closer to home gains popularity

    Destination weddings are getting closer to home.

  • Heathrow's Yotel offers tired travellers beds

    Heathrow's Yotel offers tired travellers beds

    Q: I have a short stopover in London's Heathrow Airport and want to catch a few hours of sleep. I can't access the business lounge and the idea of sleeping on the seats in a busy airport like Heathrow doesn't really thrill me. Is there any place nearby worth looking into?

  • Chinese metropolis still exhibits traces of European colonization

    Chinese metropolis still exhibits traces of European colonization

    Guten Tag, velkommen an der Qingdao. A welcome in German to this large east coast port city in Shandong province may seem unusual, but a century ago it would have been fairly common.

  • 48 hours in Bucharest

    48 hours in Bucharest

    Got 48 hours to explore Romania's capital and its eclectic mix of western architectural ideas, eastern imagery, 20th century totalitarian megalomania and buzzing nightlife?