travelwriter

The Sea-to-Sky Highway, the only direct link from Vancouver to Whistler, British Columbia (BC), Canada,  is closed due a massive landslide yesterday.

Boulders the size of trucks are strewn about the highway near Porteau Cove which has forced closure of the highway from the Furry Creek Bridge to Horseshoe Bay.  Blasting and stabilization of the area is expected to take a few days with the road scheduled to re-open in five days.

Luckily the accident happened after the first annual Pemberton Festival, 20 minutes north of Whistler, when 40,000 people travelled this highway this past weekend.  No injuries have been reported at this time.

The Sea-to-Sky highway literally takes you from the sea, Pacific Ocean, to the sky, Whistler Mountain.  For years concerned residents of BC have been complaining about the dangers of the highway, even nicknaming it the ‘killer highway.’  Winding curves, two lane sections, narrow shoulders and falling rock have all contributed to over 800 accidents and 19 fatalities in the last five years.

The population along the highway continues to grow and many studies have been done to make the highway safer.  Currently the Ministry of Transportation is undergoing a Sea-to-Sky highway improvement project to be finished in time for the Vancouver 2010 winter Olympics.  Whistler will be home to skiing and sliding events.    

In February 2007, a much smaller slide blocked a portion of the highway for a single day while major slide in 1991 closed the Sea-to-sky highway for 12 days.  Check out many of the scenic highway webcams here.

As jet fuel prices skyrocket upwards of 75% over last year, Delta Airlines has announced a new checked baggage fee policy for tickets purchased on or after effective July 31, 2008 for travel on or after August 5, 2008 to help offset these costs.  The cost of fuel for running my car has gone up also but you don’t see me charging my family.  Then again, maybe I should.Delta announced that the amount to check a second bag is rising from $25 to $50 and from $80 to $125 for a third bag.  In other words, buy clothes when you get there, ditch them when you leave.

Delta goes on to clarify that “you’ll be charged an excess baggage fee eachtime you go over any one of the free allowances.  For examples, if you have an extra piece of baggages that goes over the weight limit and the size limit, then you’ll be charged 3 times: once for the extra bag, once for going over the size limit and once for going over the weight limit.”  

Delta also goes on to remind us that “fees are for each additional bag, each way.”  

Talk about excessive!  There is still no charge for the first domestic bag checked although speculation leads us to think there will be and soon.  For international flights, the first and second bag continue to be free.  For now.  And it’s interesting how anything over one bag is now “excessive”.

Hey, here’s a thought – maybe Delta CEO Richard Anderson who received a salary of $1.5M for 2007 might want to offer a rebate of his own.  He reportedly gets another $15M in incentives based on a three year period. 

Delta Air Lines and it’s connector flights offers service to 327 destinations in 62 countries worldwide. 

     Hey Mr. Spaceman - I was hesitant when my former editor suggested this assignment.  Write about space travel? Are you kidding?  Visions of Captain Kirk and Darth Vader ran through my head.   And I guess that’s why he never published this article. 

     Who would want to fly into orbit?  Certainly not me because I get motion sickness just driving to the mall.  Reportedly, Virgin Galactic (yes, of the Virgin Atlantic Richard Branson fame) has collected $13 million dollars and signed up 178 people for their regular space flights set to begin in 2009.  Their goal is to launch a total of 30,000 passengers into space by the year 2015.                                                              

     For a mere $200,000 US and one weeks training, yes, you too can soar off on a suborbital flight onboard Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShip2 and enjoy 5 minutes of weightlessness and the blackness of space.  But I guess that’s a bargain compared to the cool $20 million US that Dennis Tito paid the Russian space program in 2001 to be the first private space tourist.  Although, his orbital flight got him a complete 10 day excursion including a visit to the International Space Station over 400 kilometers from Earth.    

When Charles Lindbergh made his historic non-stop flight from
New York to
Paris in May of 1927, his incentive was the Raymond Orteig prize of $25,000.  The latest rush to space was prompted by the privately funded X-PRIZE foundation.  Their $10 million dollar prize was awarded to Mojave Aerospace in October 2004 when they flew the world’s first private spacecraft to over 100 km above the Earth’s surface twice in two weeks.  Talk about incentive. 

     But it’s all not just for the money and adventure.  According to the X-PRIZE foundation, “A tiny fraction of the abundant solar energy that flows past the Earth could provide all of our planet’s power needs without greenhouse gasses or nuclear residue-forever.”  Now that’s an interesting thought.     

According to my former editor, “These ideas are what stir imagination…that you’ll fly into sub orbit, see the curvature of the Earth , the blackness of space and the weightlessness, and land on the other side of the Earth to your business or vacation destination …”  For more information on these truly exciting ideas (yes, I must admit I have been converted to the excitement), check out www.spacedadventures.com and www.virgingalactic.com.  Oh, and for those of us who don’t quite have the disposable income, you can go on a virtual space trip to Mars and beyond at www.spacewander.com

After an overwhelming 91% vote to walk off the job earlier this morning, Lufthansa passengers should be expecting delays and cancellations when the strike begins at midnight tonight.

In their first strike since 1994, the 5,000 ground and flight crew ver.di union members are asking for a 9.8% increase over one year while according to Lufthansa officials, the airline is offering 6.7% over 21 months plus a one-time undisclosed bonus payment.

Lufthansa has advised passengers to “please take note of your status” by checking the Information & Services ‘flight arrivals & departures’ section on their website prior to their schedule flight time.  Another option for passengers is to receive a text message on their mobile phone updating them about their departure time.

Lufthansa officials reported today that “There has been no cancellation of flights due to the strike so far.  Lufthansa is still counting on regular flight operations.”

 Based in Cologne, Germany, Lufthansa is one of Europe’s largest air-passenger and cargo airlines servicing over 200 destinations in 100 countries.  As part of the global Star Alliance, Lufthansa and their airline partners world-wide service over 400 destinations.

The Office of Fair Trade (OFT) in England has filed a complaint against Ryanair for apparently breaking the rules on price clarity.

According to the functionality of the Ryanair website, after a potential customer chooses a flight, a corresponding price is displayed.  This price, however, does not include taxes and surcharges as required by the OFT which states that all United Kingdom (UK) airlines must include fixed non-optional costs when displaying their fares. 

The Ryanair website clearly acknowledges the error by posting the following on their flight selection page “We regret, due to system performance issues, we have been unable to display the tax inclusive fare box on this page, since 25/06/2008.”  Stephen McNamara, Director of Communications for Ryanair, goes onto to say “This is a non-issue, there are no hidden costs here, this is just a systems error.”Ryanair operates low-cost flights on 730 routes in 26 European countries. 

July 25 -27, 2008 marks the inaugural event of the Pemberton Festival in British Columbia (BC), Canada.

For their first year, the festival is featuring an amazing line-up of artists including Nine Inch Nails, Serj Tankian (System of a Down), Wolfmother, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Tragically Hip, Jay-Z, Coldplay, Kathleen Edwards and the Sam Roberts Band.  And this only names a few of the 100+ bands and DJs that will perform throughout the three day event.

Located only 20 minutes north of Whistler, BC, Pemberton is nestled against majestic Mount Currie.  The entire area exudes natural beauty and is well known for organic farming. 

In true Pemberton style, the festival society wants to have as little impact on the local environment as possible.  The festival is going green with a farmer’s market, free parking to car poolers of 4 or more, and the main source of power for the festival is hydro electric energy.

There will be a traditional barn dance and a Kidzone for family fun.  Tickets for the three day event start at $260 CAD; shuttles will be available from Whistler Village.

WestJet announced today that it will disable its credit card check-in ability at 28 self-service kiosks Canada wide due to a possible security breach at Toronto’s Pearson airport.

According to a press release by WestJet, “Despite the fact that there does not appear to be any fraud committed, we’re not prepared to take any chances with our guests’ credit card information,” stated Ken McKenzie, WestJet Executive Vice-President of Operations.Even thought the credit card functionality has been disabled, WestJet reminds customers that the check-in kiosks can still be used by entering the flight confirmation number or a passport number.  Alternate check-ins are also available at the WestJet counter, website, or by using a mobile phone (who knew?!)WestJet maintains its number one rating as Canada’s top low-cost airline while offering flights to 49 cities in North America and the Caribbean.

After government owned low-cost FlyDubai was formed by the Dubai government in March of this year, its recent announcement of the purchase of 54 Boeing aircraft is unprecedented in the Middle East.

The newly formed carrier plans to commence flights in mid-2009 and will take delivery of the Next-Generation 737-800 aircraft until 2015. 

“FlyDubai’s operations will potentially cover an area of some two billion inhabitants. It will support Dubai’s commercial and tourism sectors by serving a new set of travellers, and providing them with affordable air links to popular, high-demand destinations.” Stated HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman of FlyDubai.FlyDubai is intended to provide consumer friendly travel options that will offer flexibility and competitive pricing.  In true Dubai style, the government intends on building the world’s largest airport, Jebel Ali Airport City.  Another huge project still under construction is the world’s largest entertainment complex, Dubailand.  Set to open in 2010, this extravagant theme park expects to attract 40,000 tourists per day.

Tropical storm Dolly was upgraded to category 1 hurricane status Tuesday afternoon according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC) having achieved maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.

A hurricane warning is in effect in Texas from Brownsville to Corpus Christi where Dolly is expected to make landfall Wednesday.  The warning also extends from Rio San Fernando, Mexico north to the Texas border.

Oil platforms throughout the Gulf of Mexico started evacuations on Sunday preparing for the worst although with its current path, Dolly is likely to miss these possible targets but coastal refineries along the Gulf may not fare as well.

In 1996, category 1 Hurricane Dolly hit Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico killing 15 people while destroying housing and local crops.

For the latest information on Dolly and hurricane preparedness, check out the NHC website here.