Subject:

airplane

I'm a big fan of design blogs and for travelers, they are often a great source for shopping advice. One of these stellar design bloggers is Holly Becker of Decor 8. She's lucky enough to have just set up a second home in Hannover, Germany and is documenting the experience of designing a home abroad at her new blog Haus Maus.

Not only does she offer loads of design inspiration and eye candy, but we found a great tidbit of travel advice.....how she beats jetlag.

I REALLY hate the ban on water when going through airport security. At this point, I'm convinced that it's totally a conspiracy by the airports to sell us overpriced bottles of water. When I fly, I like to have my own supply of water within reach at all times and have begrudgingly settled for overpriced bottles. That is until now....when I thought, why not take my Sigg bottle, empty, and then fill it up at a water fountain after I get through security? Why have I not thought of this until now? My fears of my $20 bottle getting confiscated were allayed when I passed through security without a single question asked by TSA. I just left it empty in my bag and didn't get questioned at all. So, yes people, you can take your SIGG on the plane.

Everyone has a secret about when to buy. Wait til 2am, Wednesday, buy early, buy late.

Productivity Portfolio breaks it all down for you, giving you the some of the best ideas to keep in mind, and a comparison of the top search engines. The one rule we follow most, buy from the airline directly. Usually the flight is cheaper and you'll get bonus miles for purchasing online.

Take off, Brit-style. It's been a long time in the making, but the US finally can buy tickets for flights on Virgin America. For now you can get into or out of New York, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

We'll admit it, we have a little crush on Richard Branson, he's a badass, in our opinion. He's probably done something really awful/terrible that someone hates him for, but we admire his enterprising spirit. And, he knows how to really pimp an airplane.

Features to look forward to on Virgin America flights include: mood lighting, over 3000 mp3s, and power plugs! No word on how affordable this is, but we're happy to finally welcome a little bit of Virgin Airlines over here on our shores.

Everyone loves finding a good travel deal, and it turns out there is some logic to the process. Our friends over at Lifehacker turned us on to a few good tips that could save you some hard earned dough on your next trip.

If you're in the market for a plane ticket, the best times to find great airfare deals are Tuesday nights & Wednesday mornings. Airlines initially release sales over the weekend, and get into pricing battles, which usually settle out mid-week. We can back this up, as we've found great deals to Europe in the middle of the night. Thanks insomnia!

If you happen to live in Seattle, or even the Pacific Northwest, and have a hankering for a trip to Mexico, Aeromexico's newest non-stop route might be of interest to you. Starting July 4th, travellers can take advantage of non-stop flights between Seattle and Mexico City, with an option to continue on to Guadalajara.
Mexico doesn't sound very appealing in the middle of the hot, hot summer, but come fall and winter, laying on the beach or checking out some ruins will seem much sweeter.

Right now, flights in December run around $425, but if you check tomorrow night or Wednesday, they may be cheaper.

See the 'roos without breaking your piggy bank.

If you've ever wanted to head down under, but haven't been able to stomach the typically massive airfare, Qantas has started a deal for you. If you take advantage of their Aussie Airpass, you can get roundtrip tickets, plus 3 flights within Australia starting at $1099 US. Compare that to $800+ for just the round trip to/from LAX and Sydney, and you've got yourself a bargain in the making.

We wish that they had more US departure cities, as these deals are only good leaving out of Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Honolulu, or New York. But, its likely that you can get to all of these cities without spending too much money.

For more details, check out Qantas' website here.

Finding a cheap plane ticket can be an ordeal. Many a traveller has been slayed by the airfare search dragon. One question frequently asked of the savvy traveller is "How did you find that flight deal?" It's not easy, it takes a lot of persistance, an addiction to airline pages, and frankly a little dumb luck. However, one great tool that has been invented is Kayak's Fare Buzz. Kayak is a great site that searches multiple airlines at once. Go ahead over and sign up for an account. First of all, that allows you to search their site with flexible travel dates, a key tactic to finding the cheapest fare. But more importantly, it allows you to get buzz fares emailed to you for whatever destinations you choose.