Mmmmm. Hotel Room Coffeemakers

I just ran across a great post on the Budget Travel Blog, with hilarious diagram, about getting the best coffee out of a drip coffeemaker in a hotel room. Very informative.

No coffeemaker? There’s my low-tech solution.

Carnival’s Secret Afternoon Tea

So the husband and I were on the Carnival Spirit for a week before we stumbled on the afternoon tea. There were all these British passengers in one of the lounges, drinking tea at 4 in the afternoon.

Big deal, right? We’re coffee-drinking Americans. But they had the best cookies. Chocolate merengue, little sugar doughnuts. I haven’t seen anything like that at the buffet …

Why were we Americans not notified?

Oh, wait, I get it …

Airline Meals? Meh.

Joe Brancatelli lays out the state of in-flight dining in his Portfolio.com column. To summarize: It’s better in first (and business) class. But that doesn’t necessarily make it good.

Visiting Atwater Market In Montreal

The husband and I drove up to Montreal this summer to celebrate our anniversary, and we stopped at the Atwater Market. We always do:

United Airlines Angers Business Fliers

Most of the reaction to United Airlines’ decision to yank meals out of domestic business class runs a narrow gamut from disgust to fury.

The changes were described in an internal memo that was leaked a few days ago and written up in the San Francisco Chronicle. In a press release issued today, United described the changes as a “trial during the fourth quarter” that will be reevaluated at the end of the year.

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US Airways’ Fee Too Far

It’s simply wrong to charge for drinking water on a commercial aircraft. It’s also stupid. And that’s why US Airways should stop it.

It’s hard to understand why the laws that require free potable water in such public places as movie theaters and amusement parks don’t seem to apply to airlines. But then, it shouldn’t have to be a law. It should just be a matter of common decency.

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Curry Causes Emergency Landing

A leaking canister of curry spices in the cargo hold of a British Airways jet emitted such an odor that the passengers and crew suspected a chemical attack, the Daily Telegraph reports. The jet returned to Belgrade for an emergency evacuation.

Bringing Pungent Food On Airplanes

I confess that on return flights from New Orleans, I have the habit of bringing a sandwich and pasta salad from Angeli on Decatur on board for my personal sustenance.

And I have noticed, on occasion, nearby passengers turning their heads in what I assume to be gastric envy because the pasta salad has a tangy, garlicky scent. What I must now consider is whether this is an offensive act on my part.

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A Shuttle To Hamburger Heaven

I just ran across an entry on the Gadling blog that rocked my world. It describes a strategy to cop a shuttle ride to the In-N-Out Burger just outside LAX. This makes me long for a three-hour layover in one of the world’s most hectic airports.

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Airline Food Rated

The Diet Detective site has posted a very thorough and useful study of the nutritional value of airline food, from the free snack packs to the boxed meals that passengers pay for. USA Today has a story about it.

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