New Booking Site for Down Under
Originally published in The New York Times on 3/29/2010. Read the original here.
Need to get from Alyangula to Wagga Wagga? A new online travel site, Wotflight.com makes it easier to search for flights within Australia.
Started last month, Wotflight searches for flights among Australia’s 100 or so commercial airports, including domestic airlines like Aeropelican, Brindabella, Airnorth and Skywest that other booking sites might miss.
In some cases, it seems to find better deals. A recent search on Wotflight for a one-way ticket next month from Canberra to Newcastle found on Brindabella fare for 199 Australian dollars (about $180). Kayak’s lowest was a $232 flight on Virgin Blue.
“We have a real focus on regional Australia with one of the biggest ranges of Australian airlines available to book online,” Megan Magill, a Wotflight spokeswoman said in a statement.
But Kayak fared better in other cases. A search on Wotflight for a roundtrip ticket from Sydney to Melbourne in April found a Virgin Blue flight for 181 Australian dollars. Kayak found a cheaper ticket, 144 dollars, on Jetstar, an airline Wotflight does not currently search. Wotflight also adds a booking fee of 16.95 Australian dollars.
Posted on May 29, 2010 to New York Times
Tags: Travel
Zipcar Expands to London and Beyond
Originally published in The New York Times on 4/23/2010. Read the original here.
Zipcar members will soon be able to cross the Atlantic and unlock a fleet of cars parked throughout London and other cities in England.
Earlier this week, Zipcar, the car-sharing company based in Cambridge, Mass., that lets members reserve a car for one-hour slots, acquired Streetcar UK, a similar company based in London.
The acquisition will give Zipcar members access to the Streetcar’s 1,000 vehicles in Brighton, Southampton, Maidstone, Guildford, Cambridge, Oxford and London. Streetcar’s 80,000 members will also have access to Zipcar’s larger fleet in more than 50 North American cities and 100 campuses.
The transfer is expected to take months to complete. While the new vehicles are not yet bookable from Zipcar’s Web site, the company has set up another Web site, Zipcar UK, to answer questions.
The company says prices are not yet available, but Streetcar UK currently cost about £4.95 to £8.95 an hour, which is roughly in line with Zipcar’s rates, which cost about $7 to $15 an hour, depending on location, type of car and day of week.
Posted on May 29, 2010 to New York Times, Uncategorized
Tags: Travel
Delta Resumes Nonstop Service to Valencia, Spain
Originally published in The New York Times on 4/21/2010. Read the original here.
This spring, Delta Air Lines resumes seasonal service to Valencia, Spain, with four weekly nonstop flights from New York City. This is the third year Delta has offered this route.
Service begins May 28 and goes until Oct. 30. A recent search found a $978 round-trip fare for travel in early June.
Valencia is on the Mediterranean coast and is the third-largest city in Spain. It is home to the City of Arts and Sciences, a sprawling complex of museums, performing-arts venues and architectural attractions that opened in 1998, as well as an extensive public waterfront that was restored in 2007.
Departing flights are overnight on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Return trips are on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays and arrive the same day.
Posted on May 29, 2010 to New York Times, Uncategorized
Tags: Travel
Gay Cruise in Hawaii
Originally published in The New York Times on 4/5/2010. Read the original here.
RSVP Cruises, a gay-friendly cruise company, is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a new sailing expedition to Hawaii.
The eight-day cruise launches from Honolulu on Oct. 30, on the Pride of America operated by Norwegian Cruise Line. The ship has 10 restaurants, multiple piano bars, gym, spa, volleyball court, pools and cabaret lounges.
The cruise will stop at four islands in the Hawaiian archipelago — Maui, Oahu, Kauai and the Big Island — with overnight stays on Maui and Kauai. On-shore activities will include volcano-watching on the Big Island, surfing in Maui and helicopter rides across the Garden Island of Kauai.
Fares start at $899 for an inside stateroom with two beds, and go as high as $4,999 for the Grand Suite with butler service.
Posted on May 29, 2010 to New York Times, Uncategorized
Tags: LGBTQ, Travel
36 Hours in Vieques
Originally published in The New York Times on 2/21/10. Read the full text here.
THE mascot of Vieques seems to be the coquí, a tiny frog whose image adorns everything from T-shirts to hot sauce bottles. Yet, given the island’s rapid metamorphosis from Navy testing ground to upscale beach resort, perhaps a tropical butterfly would be better suited. Since the United States Navy ceased military operations in 2003, this small island just off the east coast of mainland Puerto Rico has seen a boom in restaurants, galleries and hotels, including a new W resort expected next month. It’s a testament to the island’s natural beauty, with its white-sand beaches, coral reefs and bioluminescent bay.
Posted on March 11, 2010 to New York Times
Tags: Travel
You Can Buy Gaydar at the Apple Store
Written with Brian Joseph Ferree and originally published in Details‘ March 2010 issue. Read it online here.
Jared had just locked himself out of his Brooklyn apartment. As he stood on the street waiting for his landlord, he launched a new app on his iPhone. Minutes later, the blond-haired, blue-eyed grad student was pants-down in a nearby courtyard with the proverbial Boy Next Door. Thanks to Grindr, a GPS-based mobile dating service, the savvy stud was back on his stoop in time to meet the landlord.
Posted on February 17, 2010 to Details
Tags: LGBTQ, Technology
