January 2008

MSNBC yesterday wrote about a nudist holiday flight scheduled for July 5th:

German nudists will be able to start their holidays early by stripping off on the plane if they take up a new offer from an eastern German travel firm.

Travel agency OssiUrlaub.de said it would start taking bookings from Friday for a trial nudist day trip from the eastern German town of Erfurt to the popular Baltic Sea resort of Usedom, planned for July 5 and costing 499 euros ($735).

If you’re tired of being productive at 30,000 feet and thinking about being reproductive (oh, and you’re flying the right route), you might think about signing up for this flight.

Sure it’s a bit expensive, and you’re only allowed to be nude on the plane (not at the airports on either end of the trip), but how often do you get to fly in comfort like this?

Deep in the hidden corners of the internet you occasionally run across little gems like this August 2007 article from the Times Online talking about a spy device designed for tracking cars via GPS technology. It turns out that this little goodie is also an excellent tool for finding lost luggage in a jiffy:

Within moments, the gadget’s global-positioning system (GPS) has acquired three satellite signals, triangulated its exact position and transmitted it back to the PDA. A map pops up, and within 15 seconds – faster than a weary BA clerk can say “Your luggage isn’t lost, sir, it’s merely been mislaid” – a flashing red dot on the screen says your bag’s in Limassol.

The good news is that it apparently does work. The bad news is that the now re-named Potratrak device still costs three arms, your left toenail, and an eyelash.

The company that makes the device, Spycatcheronline, recently created an option to rent the Portatrak (warning: their site loads at geological speeds), but it’s not much of a deal - you have to buy it at full price, and they refund you the difference of the rental cost when you return it.

All in all, it’s a pretty snazzy device, and I’m sure it would be fun to see the poor baggage clerk’s face when you tell them where their handlers put your bag, but I’d guess it’s probably not worth the cash for most travelers. I know it’s not for me.

Have you heard about this?

There’s a company called Verified Identity Pass that operates a service called “Clear,” which, for a hundred dollars per year, gives travelers a “biometrically encoded identification card.” This card lets you use the adult equivalent of a Disneyland Fast-Pass lane.

The New York Times noted a few days ago that both Washington Dulles and Reagan National will have the system up and running in “a few weeks.”

What is Clear? Their web site describes the service and the premise behind it:

It’s basic risk management: someone who is pre-screened is less likely to be a threat than someone who isn’t. That’s the simple premise behind Clear. By participating in the government’s Registered Traveler Program at airports Clear Members will spend less time in security lines.

Essentially, the bet is that pre-screened people (who can prove they’re who they say they are) are less likely to pull anything while traveling. My guess is that they’re right.

It’s a little bothersome to me that it costs $100 per year (and a lot of privacy) for the ability to fly a little faster. But I guess the alternative is to have the government running a system like this…

What do you think? It is better to have that data in private hands or in the hands of the government? And are you going to sign up for Clear?

It seems like there are a few airlines who tend to “get it” more than others. For a while, I remember JetBlue being the savvy traveler’s airline of choice. There is also the highly-liked but not-as-often talked about Southwest Airlines.

And now there’s the newest contender: Virgin America. They recently gave out 80 free round-trip flights to geed gadget bloggers attending our CES It Won’t Stay in Vegas Blogger Party. I have no doubt that as bloggers start cashing in on those flights, we’ll be hearing about it on the internet.

While talking with the Virgin America people at our party, they were also excited about the fact that AirCell is going to equip their planes with wi-fi sometime in 2008. Couple that with their much-touted in-flight social consoles and it looks like we’re starting to see a plane company that’s trying to sell flights as an entertainment experience as well as a travel service.

Next order of business: make chairs that don’t make my neck cramp.