Travel Makes You More Attractive

A recent survey of Aussie singles reveals that travel makes you more attractive, while 96 percent of respondents say they are looking for someone who likes to travel.

The Intrepid travel poll of over 880 singles on RSVP found that 55 percent of respondents believed having ‘travel’ on a potential mate’s profile makes them more desirable.

Intrepid Travel spokesperson Jo Stewart said the survey shows that travel increases your sex appeal.

“Travellers are generally considered curious about the world, open minded and adventurous, all of which are attractive qualities,” Ms Stewart said.

Daring travellers appear to be the more sort after, with 23 percent nominating ‘adventure seekers’ as the most attractive, followed by the ‘off the beaten track’ traveller at 22 percent and then the ‘cultured connoisseur’ at 16 percent.

RSVP spokesperson Melanie Dudgeon said the results show that shared interests and lifestyle goals are very important when looking for a mate.

“Many singles hope to travel and explore the world with a partner and this is why a common interest in travel is important to such a large majority,” Ms Dudgeon said.

Furthermore the survey found that 49 percent of respondents said they have had a holiday romance and 72 percent said they think of meeting a mate whilst on holidays.

Snake Horror As Passenger Stuffs 247 Animals In Suitcase

Shocked airport police in Argentina pave seized a Czech man trying to board a transatlantic flight with a bulging suitcase stuffed with 247 live poisonous snakes, endangered reptiles and other animals.

 Karel Abelovsky, 51, was reportedly caught at Ezeiza Airport in  Buenos Aires while trying to board an Iberia flight for Madrid. Baggage scanner technicians were astounded when they X-rayed the bag and saw it was filled with squirming “organic substances”. Inside they found more than 200 reptiles and molluscs.

Abelovsky had taken the trouble of using clear plastic containers to package nine species of poisonous snakes, including South American venomous vipers and juvenile boa constrictors. The packaging wouldn’t have saved the reptiles from dying if placed in the place’s cargo hold, which is where they were headed.

Abelovsky has been charged with attempted smuggling and faces the prospect of up to 10 years in an Argentine prison.

The case has been compared to “Snakes on a Plane” a 2006 American horror-action-thriller film starring Samuel L. Jackson. The movie plot, perhaps just a little far-fetched, involves mobsters releasing hundreds of snakes on a passenger plane in an attempt to kill a trial witness. More than 450 snakes were used during the filming, with one scene showing a crate opening halfway through the flight to release venomous serpents that slither into one of the plane’s toilets and kill a couple having sex.

Trains, Buses, Automobiles But Not Planes This Season: Survey

Two out of five air travelers would rather take another form of transport over this holiday season, the U.S. Travel Association has said, and according to Airlines for America, U.S. air travel will drop by an average of 20,000 people a day between 15 December 2011 and 4 January 2012 compared to the same period last year.

The U.S. Travel Association cites the frustrations of air travel in a period when over half of surveyed air travelers are flying with gifts.

The association has thus again called for airlines to “remedy the carry-on chaos...clogging U.S. airports” by changing luggage policies “to include in the price of a ticket the costs associated with checking one piece of luggage”.

The TSA is also being called upon to expand its PreCheck trusted traveler program to more travelers.

"Our research shows that reducing hassle without compromising security will encourage more Americans to fly — as many as two to three additional trips a year — leading to an additional $85 billion in spending that would support 900,000 American jobs," U.S. Travel Association president and CEO Roger Dow said.

43.3 million air travelers are expected to fly on U.S. carriers over the 21day period, Airlines for America has said, a one percent drop over last year.

However, flights will still be full, particularly between 21-23 December, 26-30 December 26-30 and 2-3 January. 

So, I guess the question is, if Santa Claus had to pay for excess baggage would he avoid flying too?

Mobile Phones, Just Plane Annoying

A recent survey has revealed that 86 percent of people are against their fellow passengers being permitted to use their mobile phones whilst in flight.

The survey, conducted by Skyscanner has found that the majority of people felt it was ‘annoying to have to listen to other people’s conversations’.

This finding comes just as Virgin Atlantic announced it will permit mobile phone calls on its New York to London route, becoming one of the first international airlines to allow the usage of mobiles in-flight.

Despite the majority of people welcoming advancements in internet connectivity it appears that the majority of people would prefer to not have the constant chatter of other people’s conversations when in confined spaces.

The  survey also revealed that if the service was available 48 percent of people would send texts, 35 percent said they would surf the net, ten percent said they would send e-mails and only six percent said they would actually make and take a call.

Additionally only one percent of those interviewed said they would pay more to fly with a carrier that offered mobile calls.

Skyscanner marketing development manager for Australia Dave Boyte said flying was the only time we were allowed to truly switch off.

“Now with Virgin’s move into on-board mobile and the introduction of Wi-Fi on flights in Australia it is only a matter of time before we are always on call,” Mr Boyte said.

(Source: etravelblackboard.com)

Ryanair's Calendar Girls cause Spanish outrage

Ryanair has outraged Spanish housewives who claim the airline's 2012 charity calendar, which features scantily-clad members of its cabin crew, is exploiting female workers.

The Provincial Association of Housewives and Consumers of Valencia (TYRIUS) has issued a formal complaint to the airline and reported it to the Non-Sexist Advertising Observatory of Valencia as it "uses the female body" in the form of advertising.

Even though the calendar will raise money to send 50 British families with children who suffer from a fragile skin condition on holiday to Spain, TYRIUS said had called for it to be taken off sale.

The housewives say that the airline is profiting by using the publicity whipped up by the calendar to sell its low-cost flights.

TRRIUS says the airline, which has published its Cabin Crew charity calendar every year since 2008, is preying on the dignity of women workers and its cabin crew.

Ryanair has already sold 9,000 of the 10,000 2012 calendars, raising €100,000 for the charity, DEBRA. It said men in other professions, including firemen, also posed semi-naked to raise money for good causes.

(Source: Travelmole.com)

Which is the World's Safest Airline?

Every other day we seem to hear reports of commercial airline failures — planes diverted to make emergency landings after in-flight dramas, aircraft grounded due to shonky equipment, near collisions and crew strikes over safety standards — and these are just to name a few from this week.

With all the uncertainty in the sky, which is the safest airline to trust with your travel arrangements?

AirSafe.com is an independent fact-gathering website run by a former airline safety analyst in the USA, and it gives consumers an idea of an airline's relative safety by analysing historical performance. But one can't exactly compile a top-ten list of the world's safest airlines — a number of factors come in to play when ranking a carrier's safety ranking.

What makes an airline safe anyway?

This particular safety register calculates an airline's 'fatal events' since 1970, based on the number of passengers who lose their lives relative to the total number of onboard passengers. This estimate is then weighted against the number of flights a particular airline operates — for example, if a carrier has only operated one flight since the 70s, and all aboard met their maker, that company would have a much higher score than an airline operating a hundred flights a day and has lost a handful of passengers over the last four decades.

So who's the safest down under?

Based on fatality rates alone (not including your in-flight bumps, bruises and busted doors), here is a list of popular carriers that fly in and out of Australasia. Remember — the lower an airline's ranking, the safer its track record:

· China Airlines — 7.16

· Air India — 4.89

· Thai Airways — 1.60

· Singapore Airlines — 1.50

· Cathay Pacific — 1.45

· Air New Zealand — 0.74

· United — 0.31
and, still the safest airline with a total of zero fatalities ...

· Qantas — 0.00

So despite the bad press of late, the kangaroo in the sky is your best bet on arriving alive. But according to the Australian and International Pilots Association's recent government address, carriers across the globe are 'forcing airlines to adopt less safe practices' due to financial pressures.

Are we better off grounded?

In short, no. According to Wikipedia, approximately 744 people were killed globally by commercial airline accidents in 2007. That is roughly equivalent to the number of people who died after being struck by lightning the very same year. So your chances of touching down in one piece are incredibly good, considering the fact that over ten million commercial flights took off last year alone. By comparison, roughly 3,000 people are killed globally every DAY in automobile accidents. So bear down, brave it, but be sure to buckle up.

(Source: travel.ninemsn.com.au)

New York draws more than 50 million visitors in 2011

New York City will welcome 50.2 million visitors by the end of 2011, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday.

Bloomberg noted that five-and-a-half years ago, the city set a goal to reach 50 million visitors by 2015; in 2008, the goal was moved up to 2012. The city has now achieved that goal one year ahead of schedule. The announcement was made in Times Square as video screens flashed the words “50 million.”

NYC & Company, the city’s tourism-marketing organization, forecasts that New York will welcome 10.1 million international visitors by the end of 2011, a 4% increase over 2010.

The top international source market is the U.K., with more than 1 million visitors expected by the end of 2011, a 2% increase over 2010.

Some 40.1 million domestic visitors, a 2% increase over last year, are also expected by year’s end.

New York visitors are expected to spend $32 billion this year.

The city, home to more than 90,000 hotel rooms, is on track to sell 27 million hotel room nights in 2011, 4.5% more than in 2010.
(Source: Travelweekly.com)

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