Alyssa Milano Unloads on London Heathrow

Apr 09 2015

Alyssa Milano went through a drama at London’s Heathrow airport worthy of Melrose Place that neither a Charmed witch nor Tony Danza could help her fix.

Milano, who has a 7 month old baby, sought to carry on 10 ounces of breast milk and brought it through security. But she wasn’t actually traveling with her baby.

London Heathrow’s airport security confiscated her breast milk. But she showed them — she pumped more once she got through!

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Inside the Godzilla Hotel, Aviation Safety, and Hotel Hacks

Apr 09 2015

Great posts on other blogs worth being aware of, and news stories worth seeing, others are doing a great job covering something so I don’t need to. I just point you to what I’ve found interesting that others have written.

Today we’ve got a bunch on aviation safety – a Delta accident, private pilots who never follow procedure, and how to extend the range of an Airbus A320 to fly to Hawaii. We’ve also got tips and tricks for hotels, and a video inside the new Godzilla hotel in Tokyo. I almost want to stay there. Almost…

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Helping a View from the Wing Reader Get Married

Apr 09 2015

This week Steve Belkin who runs Competitours offered to help me cover the $3850 trip for one teammate (team partner responsible for their trip fee). So in the latest Amazing Race for regular folks giveaway the winners are: Scott who wrote, My girlfriend wants to get married, I’m dragging my feet. Sounds like the perfect test for future compatibility! Steve advises that there was a marriage proposal on the 2011 Competitours trip, so be very afraid that it could happen to you and your better half! Shane who wrote, When I was 10 years old, my cousin and I bought a greyhound bus ticket intended for San Diego (from Des Moines). We apparently were too young since we got confused at our stop and ended up in Seattle… At age 14, we did our first…

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US Airlines Have Received More Subsidies than Middle East Ones

Apr 08 2015

There’s an ongoing spat between United, Delta, and American Airlines on the one hand and Etihad, Emirates, and Qatar on the other. The former US airlines don’t believe they should have to compete against the large aggressive Gulf carriers which they claim are substantially subsidized by their governments. They don’t think consumers should reap the connectivity advantages, service advantages, or low prices that their prices bring. They released a report purporting to do the math on subsidies to the big Gulf carriers. I was not impressed. And I believe that the US airlines can and should compete successfully without government protectionism. A pretty big piece of research dropped that ought to play a signficant role in the debate – detailing just how subsidized the US airlines have been. While they’re throwing potshots at their competitors,…

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China Will Hunt Down Tourists Who Behave Badly While Abroad

Apr 08 2015

The Chinese government has announced a policy of tracking its tourists who behave badly in other countries. Just the thread of having one’s behavior monitors, and logged, while outside the country is expected to serve as a deterrent to tourists who fail to adhere to local customs in an egregious way while on vacation.

Though it responds to a worldwide perception, and results from the new wealth which has led to a tremendous migration from rural areas to cities and has allowed Chinese people to travel outside the country it is likely unnecessary. And it’s darned scary…

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The 10 ‘Most Garbage’ Airports in The World

Apr 08 2015

It struck me reading about ten of the ‘most garbage’ airports in the world that while many of these are bad, the worst are completely left off — especially the worst U.S. airports.

It’s simply unreasonable to consider Chicago O’Hare worse than New York LaGuardia and… Manila.

Paris and Frankfurt are awful. JFK is worse than LaGuardia. And where’s Miami on this list? Here are the worst airports, and the ones that deserve a reprieve. Although I’ve only ever seen roosters break out of a cage at baggage claim in Manila..

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US Airways No Longer Exists, the Government Now Considers All Flights to Be on American

Apr 08 2015

American Airlines and US Airways have been granted their ‘single operating certificate’ by the FAA. That means in the eyes of the government they’re now operating as one airline, even though consumers will continue to see the two brands until late in the year.

This change is a big deal on the back end, it makes the rest of the merger integration possible, but it doesn’t mean anything is different today for consumers. Still, it truly is the end of an era. All US Airways flights are now referred to as “American [Flight #]” by air traffic control.

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United’s New Digital Operations Center to Combat Mistake Fares and Delta Avoids a Flight Attendants Union

Often there are great posts on other blogs worth being aware of. Folks are writing up deals that I may not have much to add to, so I share what you need to know that’s being discussed elsewhere and link to some interesting or unique news articles about travel, miles, and points.

Today we’ve got details of United’s new operations center dedicated to combating mistake fares,, a man who commits suicide over losing unlimited buffet benefits, and the other three most interesting items I saw this morning.

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