According to AAA, nearly 35 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more over the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. The auto club reveals that the number is slightly higher than a year ago, but less than the 35.3 million who hit the rails, skies and highways over Memorial Day in 2007 before the recession. AAA also reports that 30.9 million people will travel by car while nearly 3 million will take a commercial flight to their holiday weekend destination. If you are one of the millions planning to take to the air with your clan, you might think twice about … Continue reading →

Scottsboro, Alabama. Ever been? If you are looking for lost luggage you may want to book a trip, pronto. In a previous post I shared my lost bag story of woe. At the time I was wearing my aunt’s clothes while the carrier tried to find my electric blue suitcase, I never dreamed that my bag could end up in a 40,000-square-foot structure along a dusty country road in Alabama. But alas, Scottsboro is where many lost bags come to die… or find new owners courtesy of rock-bottom prices. The southern city is home to the Unclaimed Baggage Center, a … Continue reading →

I’m not ashamed to admit that I say a rosary each time I board a plane. Only I’m not praying for safe travels; rather, I am silently hoping against hope that I will be reunited with my bags upon landing at my final destination. I know; it sounds a bit materialistic. After all, if the plane crashes I certainly am not going to care if my Juicy Couture jeans and iPod get sent to Paducah, Kentucky, when they should have been with me on a flight to Honolulu. Still, I lived through the nightmare of having a commercial carrier misplace … Continue reading →

There’s been a lot of talk about the new government imposed changes to air traffic controllers’ schedules. I touched on the some of them in a previous post, but failed to go in-depth regarding the fact that controllers can no longer switch schedules “in order for the convenience of them if they are not well-rested.” That’s according to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. During his recent press conference LaHood also mentioned that he would not allow controllers to take naps on the job, despite ongoing input by sleep experts that doing so would benefit overnight workers. Experts from the FAA and … Continue reading →

Now that we’re under a Winter Storm Warning, I’m seriously rethinking our decision not to fly to Hawaii for Easter break. The reality of having to dig out from under 10 inches of snow in late April does that to a person. Still, after hearing about slumbering air traffic controllers, sky-high airfares and TSA employee-run robbery rings, I suppose we’re better off staying home this spring break. If you are planning to jet off to grandma’s house, the beach or Disney this week you might be wondering how you can spare yourself from experiencing a travel nightmare. Here are some … Continue reading →

Not for nothing, but human beings were not designed to work all night long. Of course, this doesn’t excuse the air traffic controllers who have been making headlines for sleeping on the job during their overnight shifts. One of my first jobs out of college required me to clock into work at midnight. I produced and anchored a morning show for a small CBS news affiliate in Wisconsin, and would typically end my workday at 9:30 a.m. To put it mildly; the hours sucked. I would sleep from noon until 6 or 7 p.m., eat dinner, take a shower and … Continue reading →

When I go through security checkpoints at the airport I am fully aware that I may not be reunited with my carry-on post pat down. Frankly, I am a bit surprised that I have fared as well as I have given that I am typically too busy trying to get my young child through the metal detectors and past wand-swinging TSA agents to keep an eye on our bags. Needless to say, my concern about losing my material possessions while flying only intensified after learning about the recent TSA employee-run robbery ring that was uncovered a few weeks ago. Am … Continue reading →

Last year I spent Super Bowl Sunday on a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Honolulu. The New Orleans Saints were pitted against the Indianapolis Colts and I didn’t see a minute of live coverage; however, the pilot spent the last portion of our nearly 10-hour flight giving us updates on the score and trying to find a frequency at which flying football fans could hear the game on the plane’s audio system. What a difference a year makes. This year when the Green Bay Packers issue a smackdown on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV, high flying fans … Continue reading →

I thought I experienced a horrific string of events on my May flight to Hawaii for my grandmother’s funeral. Turns out a California mom just catapulted herself to the head of the shafted-by-an-airline club. Melissa Bradley set off a media storm when she went head-to-head with United Airlines following the commercial carriers’ decision to give her and her infant daughter the boot from a recent flight. The California mother told news reporters that she bought a separate airline seat for her baby. However, when she boarded the Hawaii-bound flight from San Francisco she found the economy class seats were too … Continue reading →

Traveling’s tough for germaphobes. In addition to protecting themselves from bacteria found in airport bathrooms, the airplane’s tray tables and seat pockets, they have to contend with dirty luggage. Fortunately, studies show that checked bags that are exposed to grease, mud, and a host of other foreign slime won’t likely make you sick. Of course, there is always the possibility that E.coli might take up residence on the bottom of your bag, so it’s always a good idea to formulate a post-trip cleaning plan sooner rather than later, especially if you are a germaphobe. Health experts suggest that upon landing … Continue reading →