KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is taking its slogan "journeys of inspiration" to new heights—literally.
The carrier has announced that on April 22, it will send a high-altitude balloon into space, and whoever predicts the height and distrance traveled by the balloon before it pops will receive a ticket to space.
Worth $95,000, the grand prize includes a KLM flight from anywhere in the world to Curacao, where the lucky guesser and a guest will stay at a luxury hotel. After a medical check-up, the two will embark on a 60-minute flight into space aboard the SXC Lynx. Flying sixty-four miles above the earth at 4 Gs of thrust, passengers will experience total weightlessness.
Details are scant, but a Wall Street Journal article last October revealed that Gilt Groupe was seeking $50 million for Jetsetter. Given the six months that have passed since then, business experts quoted by Upstart Business Journal’s Alex Dalenberg believe that TripAdvisor likely paid much less than that original asking price.
The deal brings two such members-based travel sites under TripAdvisor’s wing, as the reviews site also owns SniqueAway. The Next Web's Alex Wilhelm reports that there are no plans to merge the two sites, with Jetsetter’s operations remaining in New York City and SniqueAway's staying put at TripAdvisor's headquarters near Boston. As TripAdvisor CEO Steve Kaufer said in the release, "the Jetsetter team has built a great site with a loyal following that we value and plan to continue to let it operate independently."
Peter Schlesinger is an editorial intern at Travel + Leisure.
Qatar Airways, for example, plans to resume Dreamliner service between Doha and London on May 15th, while United Airlines hopes to use the troubled jet for some Houston-Denver flights by May 31, five days earlier than the company had previously announced. Spokespeople are quick to clarify that these schedule changes are tentative, and entirely dependent on the FAA’s clearing the Dreamliner to fly.
Still, the news that airlines are adding Dreamliners back into their schedules at all suggests restored confidence that Boeing’s fix to the lithium batteries will be enacted and approved soon.
Peter Schlesinger is an editorial intern at Travel + Leisure.
Better sit down and buckle your safety belt for this one: According to a new study cited by Reuters' Nina Chestney, turbulent flights may become the new normal in the coming decades. If you've flown over the Atlantic Ocean, you've probably experienced the occasional bumpy ride caused by atmospheric conditions like jet streams and weather fronts, but joint findings from Reading and East Anglia, two English universities, predict air turbulence will grow in both strength and frequency as carbon dioxide emissions increase. In other words: More CO2 in the air, the rougher we can expect our flights to be.
The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, posits that by 2050, chances of encountering significant turbulence in the North Atlantic flight corridor will jump by between 40 and 170 percent. On top of that, the average strength of the turbulence will increase by between 10 and 40 percent.
The aviation industry already spends an estimated $150 million annually to repair damage caused by turbulence. The increased risks will likely lead to route detours, which will in turn bump up fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and airport delays. Can't wait.
Peter Schlesinger is an editorial intern at Travel + Leisure.
Disclaimer: I'm an arachnophobe. When I plan my next vacation, the first thing I do is an online image search to see what the spiders are like there. (Example, brace yourself: Australia). I've known for a while that Sri Lanka, with its Huntsman spiders, was probably too scary for me. But with the news that there's another big spider on the island, you can definitely scratch the tropical paradise off my bucket list.
Scientists at the country's Biodiversity Education & Research organization have discovered a ginormous spider, dubbed the Poecilotheria rajaei. And by ginormous, I mean it has a leg-span of 8 inches – larger than the average human skull. Oh, and it’s super hairy too. And fast. And poisonous. And did I mention it’s ginormous?
Part of the genus Poecilotheria (lovingly called “Pokies” by those in-the-know), the rajaei has enough distinctive markings to constitute its own species, although no DNA samples have confirmed this. Specimens were found mostly in the island’s northern forests, although some were found in a hospital too. Extra creepy.
Peter Schlesinger is an editorial intern at Travel + Leisure.
Exactly 40 years ago on April 4, 1973, the original World Trade Center opened in New York City’s financial district. Now, with construction of One World Trade Center to be completed in 2014, the first views from its panoramic observation deck have been revealed.
The observatory, which will occupy floors 100 through 102 of the tower, will feature 360-degree views. Just one stroll around the deck offers sights of the entire island of Manhattan, Brooklyn, New York and New Jersey ports, and Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Not bad for the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.
As Randy Levine of Legends Hospitality, the company that will run the observatory, said, the tower will “fit the grandeur and the stature of what this [building] is about…[it] means moving forward without ever forgetting…the days of 9/11.”
The 1,776-ft. high observatory will be open to the public in 2015. While ticket prices are not set, discounts to local school and community groups will be available.
Maria Pedone is a digital editorial intern at Travel + Leisure.
This week brought more bad news for Carnival Cruises when Triumph, the cruise ship that found itself stranded off the coast of Mexico following an electrical fire in February, broke loose from a dock in Mobile, Alabama yesterday. Adrift for a few hours, the boat has now been secured.
According to NBC News' Tracy Connor, the Coast Guard is currently looking for one shipyard employee who disappeared following the boat's dislodgment. Another worker was rescued from the water after falling in.
Good news for those of you who travel light: British Airways is extending its "hand baggage only fares" to 32 routes (up from an initial five) out of London’s Gatwick Airport.
What does that mean? Travelers flying the carrier from Gatwick to any of the airline’s short haul destinations, including Barcelona, Marrakesh, and Venice, now automatically pay between $14 and $23 less per ticket if they choose to fly with carry-on luggage only.
And if you’ve never been one to fly without a massive rolling suitcase, fear not. As Peter Simpson, director of Gatwick for British Airways explains, "those who still want to check in a bag will simply pay the same price they do now."
Peter Schlesinger is an editorial intern at Travel + Leisure.
When you think of an internship, chances are you imagine a young collegiate making photocopies and going on coffee runs. But what about spending two weeks living large (while getting your hands dirty) at some of Costa Rica's best eco retreats, including Lapa Rios on the Osa Peninsula, the Fica Rosa Coffee Plantation & Inn, or the chic new Kura Design Villas (pictured) on the Costa Ballena?
Cayuga Collection, the company behind eight pioneering eco resorts in Costa Rica and Nicaragua (and 2010 Global Vision Award winner) is accepting applications for what it calls "The Best Internship in the World," open to anybody with extensive travel experience and interest in getting a behind-the-scenes look at how luxury and sustainability can be compatible. According to Cayuga cofounder Hans Pfister, the successful candidate will be "a well traveled person or couple who can put our blend of high end service and responsible tourism to the test." In other words: "age doesn’t matter, attitude does."
After weeks of speculation, BBC Worldwide, the for-profit division of the U.K. media organization, confirmed the sale of Lonely Planet to semi-reclusive tobacco billionaire Brad Kelley. As The New York Times' Eric Pfanner reported, Kelley's company, NC2 Media, will acquire the Australia-based guidebook publisher for $77.8 million, a little more than half of what BBC Worldwide paid for it. (Rumors of the deal was first broken by Skift.)
In an email interview with Skift's Jason Clampet, Lonely Planet's incoming C.O.O. Daniel Houghton affirmed the company's respect for its core asset, the print editions of its guides: "Lonely Planet will continue to be committed to its roots in publishing and providing quality information to travellers around the world. We are committed to all mediums, and print will continue to be a part of the mix."
