FASTEN SEAT BELT WHILE SEATED

Baggage Fees

Just saw a report in USA Today stating that the US Airline industry collected $183 million in excess baggage fees in Q2 '08.  This is a 50% boost in fees over Q1 '08 ($122 million).  Now that the airlines are making some extra cash maybe they can stop charging for those little luxuries like pillows on some flights! 

jetBlue terminal at JFK evacuated yesterday

So, I'm driving to the train station this morning getting my sports fix from WFAN and they mention a crazy news story.  The jetBlue terminal at JFK was evacuated because of a "suspicious device" that a passenger sent through the medal detector on his way out of town.  Turns out the "suspicious device" was a paperweight.  Just so happens the paperweight was a replica WW II grenade!  What was this guy thinking?  He should have to pay a fine to all the passengers who had to evacuate the terminal and had to endure long delays because of this little mix up. 

Internet Access on American Airlines - Go GoGo!

I'm posting this entry on AA flight 179 from SFO to JFK.  This means I have internet access on a plane.  It's called GoGo - www.gogoinflight.com - and the charge is $12.95 for the entire flight.  It was quick and easy to get online and there was even a GoGo rep ON THE PLANE!  Talk about great service.  The guy told me it's only available on cross-country American Flights.  I am totally impressed. 

Why a Travel Blog?

                                                              Ever since I was offered the new job I’ve been thinking about the right blog to launch. I’m thinking It’s gotta have a theme, it’s gotta be something I’m interested in (so I continually post) and it’s gotta be something that other people will be interested in (so more people look at this than my family members). I love to travel and you probably do, too. I’ve been to 44 or the 50 United States, been all over Europe and many islands in the Caribbean. Truth be told, my wife is in the travel business and we travel as much as we can. Unfortunately a lot of my travel is for business and I know that with my new job starting I’ll be racking up the miles. I’ll be flying more, renting more cars and staying in more hotels over the next 12 months than in the past few years. So I thought…hey, why not start a blog about travel. I’m sure I’ll write about some of my leisure trips, too.

Why Blog?

Full disclosure: I just started a new job at Six Apart, the leading provider of software and services to the blogging community. Ben and Mena Trott started the company in ’01 and have built it into a thriving global business employing north of 200 people. It’s a company full of bloggers serving the blogging community (or blogosphere as some like to call it). If I’m going to be good at my job (leading the media sales team) then I need to eat, breathe and live social media or web 2.0. I need to not just read blogs but create my own. I need to become the independent publisher/citizen marketer. Let’s get started!