Uncategorized – Page 96 – The Travel Curmudgeon

The World’s Shortest International Flight?

September 24, 2016: People’s Viennaline, a small regional airline with one aircraft (gotta start somewhere right?) has begun regular flights between St. Gallen-Altenrhein Airport, Switzerland and Friedrichshafen, Germany — a full 13 miles! Granted the flight crosses a large lake, and the alternative drive between the cities is about an hour, but with airport parking, security, and waiting for people for get in and out of their seats, how much more convenient can it be?

Beware of your Hotel Safe?

September 23, 2016: It turns out many hotels don’t trust their guests to remember a simple password, and the backdoor into the box holding your most valuable belongings isn’t exactly cryptic — a backup code of “000000″ or “1234″!!! Test these backup codes out before trusting your safe, or else your stuff is just as secure as leaving it on the night stand!

World’s Busiest Airport (For Now) — Atlanta International

September 22, 2016: Most recent passenger count — over 101 million travelers yearly pass through — but, looks like Dubai is on schedule to surpass and become the world’s busiest airport this year!

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Oops — Where Was I To Turn Right?

September 21, 2016: A flight to Malaysia from Sydney accidentally flew in the opposite direction to Melbourne because its pilot entered the wrong coordinates, an Australian report says.

Menaggio, Italy: Dinner For 3,000 Please?

September 20, 2016: Yes, over 3,000 people (tourists and locals alike) attended a recent Saturday evening outdoor dinner here in Menaggio (located on beautiful Lake Como’s west side about an hour north of the City of Como) with all proceeds going to help Italy’s recent earthquake area residents. Homemade (at individual locations throughout town) pasta, salad and of course lots of good Italian vino made up the menu. It was s a “grand and beautiful” evening. Mangia!!!

Russian Super Yacht for Sale

September 19, 2016: Although it doesn’t have a for sale sign visible, this super high tech yacht (with bullet proof windows), parked on the River Thames in London, is “on the market” for a rumored 350 million dollars. Why you ask? The owner will be taking delivery of a newer more “high tech” model — with a sale price of over 500 million. In the background is one of London’s newest skyscrapers — The Shard.