Google’s New Orleans Time Warp

I recently extolled the virtues of Google Earth, which offers amazing satellite imagery of this planet with all kinds of extras that make it a fascinating and useful tool for travelers. Apparently, though, you shouldn’t trust it to show you the truth about New Orleans.

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If You Cough, Get Off

I believe that Continental Airlines has some mighty fine pilots, but I’m not sure they make such great doctors. Which is why it worries me that a Continental pilot kicked a teenaged girl off a flight because she had a coughing fit.

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Google Your Flight Status

So, cool new thing. Google has a service that allows you to send a text message from your cell phone for flight status information. By allows you, I mean you. Not me.

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How To Stow Away

I linked to a story about how to fall off a cruise ship. So I guess I owe you this one about how to sneak onto a cruise ship.

World’s Sexiest Accent

Budget Travel Online has released the results of its online poll about the sexiest accent and the winner is: British. Why do I suspect massive voter fraud by people named Nigel?

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I’ll tell you where to go … SAN FRANCISCO, AGAIN

The shifting fare sales to San Francisco are giving me a credibility problem. The last one I blogged about was evaporating as I typed, which is why I now announce a $280 round trip on Delta with some trepidation.

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How To Fall Overboard

"Alcohol and night swimming. It’s a winning combination!" — Lenny, The Simpsons

The Associated Press has answered the age-old question, how do you fall off a cruise ship? The answer seems to be: get drunk and get stupid in any ratio totalling 100 percent.

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Avoiding Travel Company Collapses

Being stranded or losing your vacation airfare when an airline or other travel company collapses financially is not a traveler’s worst nightmare, but it’s close. If you’re wondering how to avoid getting into that situation, I have some tips that might help.

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Mexican Airline Grounded

Reuters is reporting that the Mexican government has grounded Lineas Aereas Azteca because of safety concerns and financial problems. I hope that if airline doesn’t start flying again, the people holding the 25,000 outstanding tickets get their money back. But I wouldn’t want to be holding my breath on that one.

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I Like The TSA

I remember when the security checkpoints at Bradley were a gantlet (or gauntlet, but gantlet is preferred) of surly, sarcastic and impatient guards shouting inconsistent orders at harried passengers. Unprofessional doesn’t begin to describe the attitude. Say what you will about the TSA, I think it’s a major improvement.

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