http://cache.jezebel.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/jezebel.com.png http://jezebel.com/tag/travel http://jezebel.com/tag/travel

There is nothing that makes you more desperate to escape the claustrophobic confines of an airplane than a screaming child. It can certainly feel like an emergency when one is in the vicinity, but one woman in Vietnam got a little carried away with the urgency of the situation. Her child was screaming and she wanted out, so she asked the man next to her to open the emergency exit door, and he did! Luckily, the plane was on the tarmac, not in mid-flight. Instead of making a sassy exit via the inflatable slide—a la that Jet Blue flight attendant a few years back—the mother and her child didn't leave the plane, either because she had second thoughts or because the cabin crew stopped them. It's not clear which. Either way, that must have been a very awkward scene, not to mention it probably took her far longer to deplane than it ever would have to start with. Now the guy who opened the door is the one getting fined $950, and it's going to cost $10,000 to refit the slide. It's true he should have known better, but she'd better chip in since she was the one that asked to make a quick escape in the first place. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5885905&view=rss&microfeed=true

Several women who flew through Dallas/Fort Worth's airport have filed complaints against the TSA claiming that officials asked them to walk through the body scanners multiple times. Why would female agents do such a thing? So the male agents viewing the scans could get a better look at their bodies. Ew. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5885420&view=rss&microfeed=true

Anyone who travels regularly wants to believe that federal air marshals are friendly heroes who are aboard every single flight. (C'mon, it's possible). But the reality, unfortunately, is not so sunny. According to a new government report, air marshals might be fine to share a three-hour flight with, but they don't sound like they'd be too great to work with, particularly if you're a woman. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5883269&view=rss&microfeed=true

As far as first world problems go, air travel is one of the worst. When you are on the plane, there is no leg room, you have to negotiate armrest real estate with your seat partner and flight attendants give you the side eye when you simply ask for the warm chocolate cookie that you were promised (never forgive, never forget, Midwest Airlines). The frustration doesn't end once you reach the layover airport that you will probably be stuck at for hours. It costs $14 for a sandwich, the toilet constantly flushed while you're on it and no one, not travelers nor airport employees, is in a good mood. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5883174&view=rss&microfeed=true

There's a new kind of dirty bomb we need to worry about while flying: poopy diapers. A Qantas plane was in mid-air between Darwin and Brisbane, Australia earlier this week when passengers began complaining that something smelled strange. Airline procedures dictate that the plane has to land ASAP when that happens, so they made an emergency stop in Mt. Isa. It was there that they determined the foul odor was coming from a dirty diaper that someone had thrown away in the bathroom nearest the cockpit. I shit you not. If making an emergency landing wasn't hassle enough, it then turned out that the Mt. Isa airport couldn't handle the large Boeing 767; so the passengers had to be removed from the plane using a forklift, which could only carry down five of them at a time. It took two hours to get everybody off the plane, and eventually a new plane took them to their destination. After that ordeal, the babies on that flight must have been getting some serious side eye. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5881878&view=rss&microfeed=true

Well, so much for our neighbors to the north being a paragon of politeness and acceptance. There's been a disturbing change made to Canadian airport security screening rules which means that now transgender people are not allowed to board airplanes in the country. That is obviously hugely problematic and insane for any number of reasons. Let's look at how things ended up in this sorry state. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5880738&view=rss&microfeed=true

For too long, women have been forced to endure the tyranny of hotel rooms that were not designed specifically to meet their needs. But good news: our collective suffering is over because there is a new trend of hotels creating rooms that are just for women. What, exactly does this mean? Well, at the Dukes London, it means "fresh flowers, women's magazines and size-appropriate slippers and robes and female staff members who are escorts at check-in." Vancouver's Georgian Court Hotel has the Orchid Floor, a special women's only floor where the rooms are equipped flat irons, yoga mats and beauty products. A hotel in Copenhagen also has a floor that's only accessible to female guests using a key card. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5880390&view=rss&microfeed=true

Hey, everybody, have you heard the good news? If Newt Gingrich is elected president, we can all go live on the moon! Cool…wait, what? Yep, here's what the man said earlier today: More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5879444&view=rss&microfeed=true

Back in December, Transportation Security Administration officials caught some flack for forcing a couple of little old ladies at JFK airport to partially disrobe and show screeners their colostomy bags. Now, they'd like those two elderly grandmothers to know they're very sorry. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5877200&view=rss&microfeed=true

Passengers on a British Airway flight from Miami to Heathrow got the scare of their lives yesterday. It was about 3 a.m., and they were mid-air when an automated announcement started playing in error. It said there was an emergency, and the plane was about to make a water landing. As people began to freak out, the message played another time—just to make sure everyone would be at maximum panic level. One man on board described the scene: More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5877034&view=rss&microfeed=true

In a blog post today the TSA defended its actions in "cupcakegate," saying that the icing in a cupcake in a jar is considered a gel, and could be a cleverly disguised explosive. The post continued: More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5874636&view=rss&microfeed=true

It's time to stop worrying about dying in a plane crash! Sure, the inconvenience and unpleasantness of flying may sometimes make you wish you were dead, but, according to new statistics, air travel is becoming increasingly less likely to actually kill you. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5872037&view=rss&microfeed=true

Today in extreme and questionable geekery: a British company has almost sold out the 2,000 available tickets for two cruises that promise to recreate the Titanic's ill-fated maiden voyage on the 100th anniversary of the disaster next year. Floating piece of door and Leonardo DiCapriosicle not included. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871715&view=rss&microfeed=true

If you're planning to fly this week, don't even think about packing a dessert to make the trip less hellish. Rebecca Hains says that last week a TSA agent at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas seized her red velvet cupcake, which was baked inside an 8 ounce jar. "He explained to me that the frosting constitutes a gel-like substance and part of the way that he had arrived at this decision apparently was that it was in a container in which it conformed to the container's shape," Hains said. "I offered to take it out and put it in a zip-lock bag on the spot and he said 'no I can't let you touch it.' So once he had identified it as a security threat it was no longer mine and I couldn't have it back." Hains says she wasn't traumatized by the loss of her baked good, but the "encroachment on civil liberties" and inconsistency — earlier, a TSA agent at Boston's Logan International Airport let her go through security with two of the cupcakes. Plus, if the agency is now letting people fly with weed, it's just cruel to deprive them of their snack foods. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5871185&view=rss&microfeed=true

With massive hordes of people flying and bad weather predicted, there's a good chance you might find yourself stuck in an airport this holiday season. Whether you're there with an extra hour to kill or you're stuck for days on end because of a weather apocalypse, the airport is a tedious, crowded, and soul-deadening place. If you're lucky, you'll have access to some sort of special Ambassador's Club, but if you are forced to spend any time among the hoi polloi, here are some fun strategies to help you enjoy your trip and keep you from totally losing your mind. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5870494&view=rss&microfeed=true

TSA agents are aware that we all thinks they're jerks, so as part of their campaign to convince Americans that they can be our kind of cool big brother, they let a dude keep his rather large supply of weed. Rapper Freddie Gibbs Tweeted a photo of the drug in question along with a note of inspection that reads, "C'mon son." It's certainly possible that this is fake, but we prefer to think that the TSA's new policy involves simply guilting us into following the rules rather than acting like tweezers are a deadly weapon. You know the law, dude. Don't ask the TSA to give pot smoking the same endorsement it gave vibrator use. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5868659&view=rss&microfeed=true

In just the past few months, the TSA has come under fire for subjecting elderly women to humiliating (alleged) strip searches and complimenting passengers on their sex toys. Things have gotten so bad that even the TSA admits it needs to reform its policies, but instead of targeting how the agents conduct searches, Republicans are focusing on their clothing and job title. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5867106&view=rss&microfeed=true

Lynn Jones, a baggage handler at Reno-Tahoe International Airport, was fired from her job after she refused to load a severely abused dog onto a plane. Jones says the hunting dog was covered with sores and TSA agents couldn't get it to stand up to be X-rayed. "Everyone who saw it, the TSA people, the Airport Police officers, the girls at the ticket counter, was concerned," says Jones. "The dog was so weak and torn up. It didn't look like it could survive the flight." More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5865429&view=rss&microfeed=true

Over the weekend, Lenore Zimmerman reported that on a recent flight from Florida back to her home in New York, TSA agents forced her to pull down her pants and underwear. Apparently, airport officials singled out the Florida to New York route for some special holiday harassment this year, because now two more women with medical issues say they were manhandled by TSA agents while returning home after Thanksgiving weekend. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5865365&view=rss&microfeed=true

TSA screening is never fun for anyone, but one 84-year-old grandmother claims she had an especially bad experience. Lenore Zimmerman, of Long Island, was flying to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when she says she was strip searched by TSA agents at JFK Airport. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5864871&view=rss&microfeed=true

We've heard of women delivering their babies in all sorts of strange places, but a Maryland woman may have found one of the most awful ways to usher a new life into the world: In an airport, on the bathroom floor, during one of the busiest travel days of the year. The woman had just stepped off a flight at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, so she was actually lucky that she didn't have to give birth in the aisle of an airplane. The mom isn't releasing any personal details, but she and her son are healthy. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5863631&view=rss&microfeed=true

Due to a combination of circumstances, I have taken over twenty plane flights this year. I do not recommend this and will try not to replicate it in the future. I have, however, learned a few things about life during my Year of Flying Constantly. And now I'm sharing them with you. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5862630&view=rss&microfeed=true

AirTran Airways may take home this year's award for most innovative method of traumatizing travelers. Harry Marsh and his fiancee, Kaitlin Rush, are suing the airline because they say cockroaches scuttled out of air vents and carry-on compartments shortly after their flight from Charlotte to Houston took off. Rush says she felt nauseous on the flight and later they were forced to throw out some of their belongings because they were worried that they'd been infested with cockroaches. They claim that a flight attendant just raised her finger to her lips as if to shush them when they pointed the bugs out. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5859175&view=rss&microfeed=true

Your uncontrollable fits of rage toward the TSA haven't gone unnoticed. TSA chief John Pistole recently told a Congressional panel that he plans to implement strategies that are effective, yet allow passengers to travel without the feeling that TSA agents think they've killed someone and are determined to find incriminating evidence in their luggage, shoes, or hair. In fact, some of these policies have already been put into place, but since the TSA has a knack for angering the public, it's mainly big spenders who are being let through security with their jackets and dignity intact. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5857352&view=rss&microfeed=true

Much unlike many a magazine editor who recommends you buy all sorts of crap that they most likely got for free, your Jezebel staff doesn't get jack shit (other than books, unsolicited). And that's how it should be. But on our own time, in our personal lives, we still buy stuff. So this is Worth It, our daily recommendation of random things that we've actually spent our own money on. These are the things we buy regularly or really like, things we'd actually tell our friends about. And now we're telling you. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5849945&view=rss&microfeed=true

These are the 11 suitcases and two Louis Vuitton travel bags that Rachel Zoe brought to Paris. It's fashion week. [The Zoe Report via Fashionista] More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5844733&view=rss&microfeed=true

A young cousin of mine was fairly sheltered as a small child. His parents didn't let him watch violent movies or play with gunlike toys, and aggressive behavior wasn't tolerated. To work around this, when he became very upset, he'd mimic a gesture he'd learned from Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story wherein he'd bend his wrist downward, point his forearm at whoever or whatever had offended him, and firmly press his opposite index finger to a patch of flesh about 6 inches past his hand, as though he were shooting a wrist laser. Once his mother realized what the gesture meant, she told him that trying to shoot people to death with imaginary lasers was not a nice thing to do. It was his little toddler Fuck You. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5841519&view=rss&microfeed=true

In a landmark decision, the Australian government has agreed to let people with intersex conditions list their gender as ‘X' on passports. Transgender people will also be able to list the gender with which they identify. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5840571&view=rss&microfeed=true

The tenth anniversary of 9/11 was an unwise day for an in-flight romantic adventure, as a couple learned yesterday. After their frequent trips to the bathroom raised suspicions on a Frontier Airlines flight, the FBI was called to investigate suspicious behavior and two fighter jets took to the skies to monitor the plane. Law enforcement sources told ABC News that the actual reason for the bathroom visits was "making out." More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5839273&view=rss&microfeed=true

Finally, there's a bit of good news on the airport security front. Eventually we may be able to enjoy the luxury of keeping our shoes on while being screened. Yesterday Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told Politico: More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5837820&view=rss&microfeed=true

Spirit Airlines may be best-known around these parts for its asshat advertising campaigns, but it's gaining a rep for something more serious: A callous response to a sexual assault. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5834810&view=rss&microfeed=true

Today in people of note peeing in places they shouldn't: The popular French actor put on the drunken performance of a lifetime on Tuesday when he pulled down his trousers and peed on the floor of a delayed plane — in front of 127 awestruck/disgusted passengers. According to witnesses, Depardieu demanded access to the lavatory, which had just been locked for take off. Flight crew informed the him that he would just have to wait and that the toilets would be open in 15 minutes. Obviously that was just too damn long for France's greatest living actor, so he did his business right then and there. No word yet on whether legal action will be taken, but I'm sure the scorn he received from fellow travelers due to the extra 2-hour delay for cleaning was pretty bad. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5831788&view=rss&microfeed=true

Some black women with natural hair report receiving hair pat-downs from TSA employees — in some cases while white women with similar hair sailed through. Is this a case of racial profiling? More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5831246&view=rss&microfeed=true

Most people who say they love travel usually actually love "being in other places." Anyone who actually loves going to the airport, waiting in a series of increasingly frustrating lines, sitting on a plane and then reverse negotiating a strange place is either damaged or more relentlessly positive than SpongeBob Squarepants on ecstasy. The process of being in transit is not enjoyable and can present some unique barf baggy challenges that one can only hope to MacGuyver through. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5828698&view=rss&microfeed=true

Summer is the perfect time to take a trip. Sometimes, just knowing that you have booked a plane ticket can get you through a shitty work day. So why have researchers found that people who go on vacation don't feel any better than those who stay home? More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5824864&view=rss&microfeed=true

From the latest edition of Totally Inappropriate Air Travel Industry Practices Digest, a rough outline of the airline's best practices as witnessed during a recent incident at JFK: More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5823923&view=rss&microfeed=true

It's summer, which means packing! Also, it is a day that ends in y, which means talking about how dudes and ladies do something differently. Today, we discuss whether "men pack for Mars, women for Venus." More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5815214&view=rss&microfeed=true

A summer jaunt with your friends can be a source of beautiful memories — or an expensive deathmarch of awkwardness and acrimony. Here's how to make sure it's the former. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5812594&view=rss&microfeed=true

Despite your best efforts to fix problems on your own, sometimes you just have to call for help-whether you've got broken gadgets, downed service, or just need to fix a company's mistake. Calling customer service can be a miserable eexperience, but when it comes time to bite the bullet and give them a ring, follow these tips to make it go as smoothly as possible. [Lifehacker] More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5805449&view=rss&microfeed=true

Kenlie Tiggeman and her mother were flying home on Easter Sunday, which on all accounts should have been a pretty regular experience. But during their layover in Dallas, Texas the two women were singled out by an airline employee who told them they were "too fat to fly" — and the agent used those very words in front of over a hundred fellow passengers. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5803156&view=rss&microfeed=true