Airports stress people out - poll

Here’s something that we already suspected but now has been confirmed – people hate airports.

According to a survey conducted by UK-based holidayextras.com, 30 per cent of travelers they polled said airports make them feel stressed and another 19 per cent say they feel tired and dirty while at an airport.

And women, according to the poll, dislike airports more than men.

But 3 per cent of UK travelers actually feel airports have a calming effect on them, according to the survey.

Disney to build Shanghai theme park

How does a city follow up hosting the best ever world’s fair?

Well, why not build the best new Disneyland on the planet?

That’s what Shanghai, which hosted the biggest and most successful ever World Expo in 2010, has decided to do. Disney and Shanghai city officials broke ground today on a $3.5 billion U.S. theme park that is sure to deal a blow to Disney’s Hong Kong Disneyland, which has been kept afloat by an influx of mainland travelers – mostly from Shanghai – these past few years.

Disney has been hard at work for almost 10 years trying to get Shanghai city officials to come in on this joint venture and now the first shovel has been put into the ground on this almost 4 square kilometer park that will include resort hotels and lots of fun rides.

Sadly, at the same time Disney was announcing its expansion into mainland China, it also announced it was temporally closing all its Tokyo stores as a result of recent tragic events in Japan. More than 2,000 employees will be laid off by Disney. It could be a long time before they are recalled, thus adding to the misery now being felt by the Japanese people.

Expedia to spin off TripAdvisor

I’m happy to see that Expedia, the world’s largest online travel company, has approved a plan to spin off its TripAdvisor brand, accoriding to London-based breakingtravelnews.com.

Now, if they would only turn it off.

I’ve often questioned the accuracy of the “advice” posted on TripAdvisor since most of the good postings about hotels have been supplied by the hotels themselves.

Bad reviews are usually posted by disgruntled guests who don’t get a smile from the main desk clerk when they check in.

I have countless stories of people telling me they decided not to go to very good hotels I have stayed at and recommended – and my standards are very high folks - because someone on TripAdvisor posted a complaint.

The accuracy of TripAdvisor postings has been a problem for Expedia ever since they bought the company and it’s good to see they’re now starting to distance themselves from TripAdvisor.

Here’s my advice about TripAdvisor – don’t trust TripAdvisor!

Anniversary Titanic cruise to set sail

Being the Titanic buff I am, I was really intrigued to read about the anniversary cruise being planned out of New York to mark the 100th anniversary of the great ship’s sinking on its maiden voyage in the North Atlantic.

Starting today, you can book passage on the Azamara Journey which will sail out of New York harbour on April 10, 2012 with 694 passengers and head to the very spot where the Titanic sank in 1912.

The Azamara Journey will then meet up with another Titanic Memorial cruise ship, the 1,309 passenger Balmoral at the spot of the sinking for a memorial service.

Aboard both ships will be Titanic historians who will give lectures on the infamous ship that was billed as being “unsinakable.”

The Balmoral, which will sail from Southampton, England, sold out last October on a similar voyage and already has an extensive waiting list for the 2012 cruise.

Azamara Journey will call at Halifax, N.S., which has one of the most intimate connections with the Titanic disaster, becoming the final resting place of many of her unclaimed victims. I’ve toured the cemetery in downtown Halifax where the Titanic victims – the ones they found – were laid to rest and it is one of the most moving experiences of my many travels.

The journey’s not cheap. Prices aboard the luxury Azamara Journey start at $4,725 U.S. per person, double occupancy, while suites, which start at $6,750 per person, offer additional luxury amenities such as English butler service and a private portrait sitting – just like the aristocrats aboard the Titanic enjoyed before it sank.

Rats - in the air and on the streets

Here’s some travel news items I came across today:

DATELINE ARIZONA - Southwest Airlines apparently has found cracks in five of the 79 planes it grounded after one of their Boeing 737s ripped open in the air last week. No one was injured in that incident thankfully. The question I have is how many other airlines are flying defected 737s? Boeing is concerned as well and has directed Southwest and other airlines flying certain versions of the workhorse 737 to conduct electromagnetic inspections of a portion of the roof once the planes have made a certain number of trips.
Low-cost Southwest has built its operation around the 737.

DATELINE NEW YORK — One city official in the Big Apple is demanding $1.5 million be restored to the budget to be help control what he called Manhattan's horrific rat problem. Seeing vermin running amok on city streets and in subway tunnels is a turn-off for tourists, said Manhattan Borough president Scott Stringer. Stringer said the cuts forced the layoff of 57 Pest Control workers. The result has been a 1.5 per cent rise in complaints over last year and damage to New York's appeal as a tourist destination, he said.

DATELINE LONDON – Troubled British Airways, which is facing lots of labour unrest within its ranks, is about to upset passengers with yet another fuel surcharge increase. BA said today it’s raising its fuel surcharges for a second time in two months due to continuing rises in the cost of oil. Surcharges on long-haul travel will be hit from this Friday. However, there will be no impact on domestic or short-haul routes, BA confirmed. Long-haul non-premium tickets will experience an increase of about $15 U.S. per sector.

Southwest forced to ground planes

Southwest Airlines, one of the few American airline success stories, has pulled 79 of its workhorse Boeing 737 aircraft out of service after one of those planes made an emergency landing with a gaping hole in the fuselage.

Passengers on Southwest’s Friday Flight 812 from Phoenix (the airline’s hub) and Sacramento said they heard a loud noise and then a hole suddenly appeared above their heads.

The pilot quickly got the plane under control and landed at a nearby military base in Yuma, Arizona.
The disruption in service will cost Southwest millions of dollars and if the planes are out of service for any length of time while stress tests are done, the airline – one of the few profitable U.S. carriers – could be in trouble.

Facts about the Royal Wedding

London is gearing up for the hordes of tourists expected to show up for the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton on April 29.

Don't have a hotel room booked for the big event? Then don't bother showing up. Just about every hotel in the British capital is booked the weekend of the wedding.

VisitBritain, the British tourist authority, is estimating hundreds of thousands of foreigners will book passage and line the wedding route for the biggest event in London since the wedding of William’s father Prince Charles to the late Princess Diana.

Visitors are expected to give the sluggish British economy a $1 billion jolt thanks to Will & Kate Inc.

And over a billion people worldwide will watch the wedding on TV and London police are expecting upwards of 1 million people to line the wedding route.

Others facts and news I dug up about the Royal Wedding:

*When Kate walks down the aisle she will be the oldest Royal bride to get married;

*At the Royal Couple’s press conference Kate indicated that she would like to be called by her given name ‘Catherine’, rather than Kate;

*Prince William’s nickname in college was “P-Willy”;

*If Prince William had chosen to marry before his 25th birthday he would have required the consent of his grandmother, the Queen;

*The Royal Crown Derby porcelain factory, which was on the verge of closing thanks to slow sales and a change in casual dining habits, is back in business thanks to the Royal Wedding. The company, the official maker of Will and Kate memorabilia that has the blessing of Buckingham Palace, has ramped up production of such things as commemorative plates and taken on 150 new workers to keep up with global demand.

*Westminster Abbey, where the couple will take their vows, was not where Prince Charles married Princess Diana in 1981 – that honour went to St. Paul's Cathedral down the street. However, Westminster Abbey was the venue for the funeral service of Diana in September 1997 just days after she was killed in a car crash in Paris.

*Someone wondered if, when he becomes king, Prince William will be called William the Conqueror after one of his ancient predecessors. When he ties the knot with Kate, I think he should be called “William the Conquered.”