Death To Heathrow! Long Live Heathrow!

There’s all kinds of political drama going on in Britain about Heathrow, an airport recently described by the Times of London as “unlovely and unloved,” which is surely an understatement.

The Labor government would like to add a third runway to Heathrow, which has somehow been managing to be the world’s third busiest airport with only two. But there’s lots of opposition, including some within the Labor party and plenty more from environmentalists.

Also, London Mayor Boris Johnson would like to close Heathrow and build a new airport on a man-made island in the Thames estuary. (Wired’s Autopia blog has more on that.)

I haven’t been there in 20 years, so I decided to find out what the British public thinks. In perusing online commentary, I found disagreement on how — and whether — to proceed with airport development. But I discovered a near unanimity of opinion regarding Heathrow in its current state.

“Nightmare” and “embarrassment” are the favored terms, but I also turned up “squalid and unfriendly,” “a sprawling monstrosity,” “hell on earth,” “truly diabolical” and “a right hovel.”

I like that. A right hovel.

Cheetah Gets Loose In Cargo Hold

Yes. Really.

Travel Deals Emerge In Buyer’s Market

Arthur Frommer has a roundup of bad news for the travel industry in his blog. And, ever the consumer advocate, he points out the good news in this for the budget traveler:

“… in these times of economic recession only a chump pays full price for any travel purchase. The suppliers of travel are hurting so badly that all of them are open to negotiation.”

Indeed. Gene Sloan at USA Today’s Cruise Log blog points out that Royal Caribbean is discounting cruises.

And it turns out that air travel bargains are not dead. Several airlines are lowering holiday fares. And I’ve seen other deals, including fares from the East Coast to Hawaii for less than $500. (See airfarewatchdog.com or TravelZoo for details.)

Luxury hotel are offering bargain packages. For example, the luxurious Venetian in Las Vegas is listing rooms from $119 a night. And on and on …