Robyn's Wanderings

Where are you flying?

“Miss! Miss!”

I had only asked for water. Why was she running after me? Was I not supposed to take the glass? I turned around.

“You forgot your snack.”

Phew, I wasn’t some rampant water thief that had to be run-down the aisle of the enormous, double-decker Japan Airlines’ plane.

I was a backpacker and I wasn’t used to this five-star treatment.

“Sorry Miss you were asleep when we came by before.”

Ahhh if there was ever a time when nine hours on a plane was worth it, this was it.

This? One of my segments in my around-the-world ticket, which placed me on one of the highest rated airlines in the world. I was starting to understand some of the benefits of these tickets.

Was buying the around-the-world ticket worth it? Yes and…..no. Thanks Robyn, that clarifies everything!

Tough crowd. Ok, I will try to explain. For my first tip I will tell you how much mine cost (just over $5,000), and where I got it from (I purchased my ticket from the One World Alliance, which consists of American Airlines, British Airways, etc… visit www.oneworld.com for more details). But you can also buy tickets from Star Alliance (www.staralliance.com) or if you’re young enough (i.e. 26 or younger) some companies such as STA Travel (www.statravel.com) might help. Be careful, however, because many agencies (other than from Star or One World) do not have flights that start from Bermuda. Sure you could start from New York or Toronto, but then you still need to buy a ticket to these cities and be sure you know when you’re returning home (otherwise one-way tickets can be expensive!)

But with the cost, and this is a big tip two: figure out how much of a ticket you need. Huh? Ok I’ll explain. The ticket I bought was one of the most extensive and expensive (at the time) and it wasn’t necessary. I had sixteen segments. What’s a segment? Well when we talk about segments in around-the-world tickets we don’t mean flights. Nope.

Segments are a mixture of both overland and above-land travels. Example? I landed in Prague via British Airways. My next flight would be from Istanbul, Turkey, which meant I had to get myself from Prague to Istanbul. I could do it however I wanted to, but One World was not going to be involved.

Which leads me to tip three and more on segments. If I were to do the trip again (and I would love to) I would buy the basic level ticket. On OneWorld Alliance, now, that would mean my ticket could cost as little as $3,699 for three continents. What does that look like? Well a sample they give is: Los Angeles-Tokyo-Hong Kong-Moscow-St Petersburg-Madrid-Miami-Los Angeles (obviously ours would start from Bermuda).

And tip four is I would choose the basic ticket because once you land in Hong Kong or Madrid (or basically any continent) there are cheap flights and buses that make travel very easy once you’re on the continent. In Asia there is AirAsia or even Air Malaysia to give you $20 flights from Hanoi, Vietnam to Bangkok, Thailand. That’s got to be cheaper than paying for a four continent ticket, which starts at $5,299.

Riding a Thai Bus

An added bonus and tip five for why buy a basic around-the-world ticket is: their dates are not carved into any stones. Dates can change as often as you like (though the ticket overall is only valid for 12 months from the first date of travel). Believe me that’s helpful when you never know what you’re going to do or who you’re going to meet.

Which means that while on the road tip six is Skype will become your best friend. Well Skype and the OneWorld Alliance or Star Alliance helper at the other end of the line. Sheila (aka my adopted mother) is going to get a Christmas Card.

What is not negotiable? Destinations. Tip seven is to know where you want to go before you call. Maybe that should be number one? Before you book your ticket sit down (or stand-up it’s your preference) and write-down where you want to go. Decide on the cities that you would like to visit (i.e. are you going to go to Australia or give it a miss? Would Thailand be a better visit?) It will make life easier when you try to find the around-the-world ticket that will not have to be altered and cost you more money.

And that brings me to tip eight (which got lost last week!) is changing the destinations on your around-the-world  ticket costs money (about $125) and is almost impossible to do with the structure around segments. Any flight or overland portion will be counted as a segment so if you’ve booked all of the segments in your three or four-continent trip then changing a destination could be tricky unless it mirrors exactly what you had booked. Make sense? Another rule? Tip nine is: you can only go one way around the world. Mine? Bermuda to Europe to Asia to South America to home. I could have gone the other way, but I could not have gone to Europe and then to America (it’s backtracking if you start from an isolated island).

Which direction are you going?

Still lost? Still not convinced? Well that makes ten easier to give you: convenience, comfort and (another c?) security. Having an outline of your trip via flights provides much needed structure for the trip, while the beauty of booking with the “big-name” airlines does provide comfort (especially when you’re fed gluten-free good on Japan Airlines) that, especially backpackers won’t get on the discount airline, Air Asia between Thailand and Australia. And Security? Well let’s just say that money gets tight, you already have your ticket home. No calling the relatives asking for help.

Which brings us to next week and what are you going to bring home. Everyone has their travel quirks and their collections. What do you bring home? Visit here for your daily travel tips and your Rock Fever Column next week.

Au Revoir!

Boston (while running along the Charles River)

“Mrs Skinner do you have a credit card?”

I felt smug. Usually I wouldn’t. I mean who would when you’re being asked to hand over a piece of plastic used for large charges. Especially after they messed-up my name (I’m still a Miss)!

Why was I smug? Because I had already paid for the hotel in Boston (it was part of my trip over New Years) on the online site www.hotwire.com.

You don’t know hotwire? Well Hotwire.com has one gimmick and only one gimmick. What is it? Good question. Essentially they claim to offer reduced prices for hotels and airline tickets.

“Sounds like everywhere else Robyn.”

Yes, I know, which is why reduced prices is not the gimmick, just the substance.

Hotwire.com is about gambling. While this reservation site will offer you explanations about the hotel rooms or cars you want to rent, i.e. the room is in a three star hotel, the site will not name the hotel.

So for Boston I selected a three and half star hotel in the Back Bay area (i.e. central Boston). Sounds like it could be expensive? I actually found it on hotwire.com for just $93 a night before taxes – it came to a total of $359 for three nights.

A little over my $100 budget on my recent trips from London (so Dover, Berlin, Stockholm, Brighton, to name a few), but it was a holiday. Plus I was splitting the price so technically it was still under $100 a day.

Which hotel did I book? After I gave hotwire.com my credit card they told me it was the Sheraton in the

View from my hotwire.com booked room

Prudential Centre (i.e. above a mall). I felt pleased with my gamble.

“But the room is already paid-for, right?” I said to the receptionist.

“Oh yes, this is just for incidentals.”

My piece of plastic was much more for the Sheraton. The hotel then decided to also charge me for the three-night stay.

But that’s not the worst part. Nope. Neither is the hassle I went through to deny this charge. The disappointing part was that the hotel was only going to charge me $288!! I might have saved more than $70 if I had booked directly through the hotel!

Which led me to this column: how to use these online travel agencies such as hotwire.com, expedia.com and orbitz.com (to name a few of the most popular). Who am I to write this after my Boston fiasco?

Well that brings me to tip one: don’t be lazy or too busy. I know, I know you can’t always make a lot of time to book your hotels and flights, but make half an hour to do a little research,(which is what I normally do and what I didn’t do for this trip) and you could save yourself close to $100.

Which is why, to be fair to tip two and to hotwire.com, I have to concede they were providing a service to me, which was pulling together a bunch of hotels in Boston, providing me with their descriptions and, according to the online agency, the best price on that day….allegedly.

Taking me to tip three be careful about these sites, which also compound the search engines. I discovered this as I gave myself half an hour to try and find flights than I could find on hotwire.com (why not try another portion of the site?). Instead of hotwire.com searching, however, I was directed to two of its partners (i.e. to search through expedia.com, kayak.com, etc…) to find flights. Hotwire.com was not even going to do the work!

This discovery led to tip four and my result, which was prices above and beyond what the actual airline was quoting. In the experiment I chose Boston again (on hotwire’s partner sites), just to keep it in the family, and both expedia and kayak were above the price quoted by the airline.

Delta leaves Bermuda

On Delta’s site the round-trip flight from Bermuda to Boston and back, from January 26th until January 30 was $315. On Expedia.com? That would be $322! An extra charge of $7 just to use that service, apparently.

Ok so this column is not meant to pick on hotwire.com. Unfortunately they are in my crossfires this week because I have had to pick-up my bank account pieces thanks to them.

But tip five is watch the small print because the booking site provides plenty of clauses that release them from me actually being irate at the higher prices. i.e. “Savings based on lowest published rate we’ve found on leading retail travel sites in the last 24-48 hours for the same neighborhood, star rating, and stay dates. Availability is limited and rates are subject to change.”

But that doesn’t mean I will return in the future and in fact many of these online agencies, such as hotwire, orbitz and cheapoair.com are facing a lash back from people much bigger than me.

I’m not the only one, apparently, who is tired of being taxed, which leads to tip six. American Airlines led the way by pulling out of advertising their fares on Orbitz.com.  Other airlines, including Delta, have contacted sites such as Airfare.com, cheapoair.com and OneTravel.com to also remove their flights.

Which is seven: don’t get caught in a flight pricing war because now even the sites are fighting back. Expedia.com actually removed American Airlines from it’s flight selection, while Delta contacted them and told them to discontinue the flight listings.

Low-cost carriers, such as JetBlue and Virgin America, decided to be Switzerland and just always did their own thing by listing their seat deals directly from their sites.

So to book the best tickets, hotel prices, etc… my tip eight is to initially visit an expedia.com or a kayak.com

Get ready to ski in Vermont!

and figure out the days that are looking cheaper to travel.

Then (AND ONLY THEN) do I touch on tip nine, which is to then travel to the website of the lowest airline, car rental or hotel to see if they have better deals BEFORE booking. Sure the want to book immediately and spend less time is there. But that brings us back to tip one: don’t be lazy.

Which brings us finally to tip ten: sign-up with the travel agency online sites to received their discounts and best prices. These can direct you to good deals, but again DO NOT BOOK through them. Take these as guidelines to then research on the actual provider’s site.

You will be happy you do especially when you save a possible $70 and can put that towards skiing in Vermont, which will be next week’s Rock Fever. And as always visit Robyn’s Wanderings every day for more tips and tales!

Escape the cold on a cruise

Want to escape next year? Why don’t you head to the Caribbean? Worried about the cost? Well don’t worry. I know, I know it’s cold right now and you want somewhere warm.

But the Holiday shopping is eating into the vacation……well it can’t on the Princess Cruises offered by CTravel.

In the new year, the Cruise line is offering cruises to the Caribbean for just $349 for seven days of turquoise water, white sand and…..WARM!

Where can you go? Leave from Ft. Lauderdale, head to San Juan, St. Thomas and Dominica, Bonaire and Aruba! Well that’s just one of the Princess Cruise’s great deals for the New Year. Check with CTravel for your local representative with all the booking abilities!

Seven-day cruise

But maybe you’re still looking for a Christmas Gift that gives back? Are you struggling with that person in your life who has everything?

Well, you and I both know that at some point everyone needs to leave Bermuda. It’s Rock Fever and you know at some point next year the gift certificate you purchased from CTravel will be needed.

So what are you waiting for? Purchase the gift Certificate by December 18 (CTravel is open on Saturday the 18th) and you could also win.

That’s right purchase a Gift Certificate from CTravel and you will be entered into the draw to win two American Airlines tickets to anywhere in The United States.

American Airlines Gift Certificate!

You’ve got three more days to purchase a gift certificate so take the opportunity to take one more person off your list!

And while you’re visiting CTravel in their Queen Street offices why not ask about another deal….Save $1,000 off your trip to Egypt in the New Year if you book by December 31!

Passage through Egypt has been developed to reveal in depth all that Egypt travel has to offer — the celebrated sites along with the less-traveled.

Leading Egyptologists join you as we see the great Pyramids, the impressive monuments and inspiring paintings and statues – built with techniques still not fully understood by modern engineers.

Your trip will include three days in Cairo before explore all of this aboard the Salacia, and along the Nile for seven days and then on land for another seven. Luxor will be fully enjoyed with some of the less known temples.

And all of this could be booked for less than $1,000 if you book by December 31! So call or visit CTravel to ask about your trip to Egypt next year!

Through London's Eye

“Here’s your bill. No rush, though.”

My friend rushed, certain that the total for four eating and drinking would exorbitant.

“How is it 60 pounds? Aren’t we in London?”

“Are you sure they got everything?”

There on the waiter’s income paper was: six beers, a bottle of wine, four appetizers, four entrees, two coffees and the total.

Yes, yes the waiter had recorded everything and still our dinner only cost 60 British Pounds and yes, me and my friends are in London. But we were not eating from a street stall or even on the outskirts of England’s capital.

Instead we, well I, had planned ahead. I was determined to go out for a nice dinner, but not spend more than $100.

Why? Because I am on a mission to try and find ten trips from, and in, London for under $100 for my Rock Fever Column in The Royal Gazette newspaper. So far I have been to Stockholm and Sigtuna in Sweden; Sachsenhausen and Berlin in Germany; Hampstead, Dover, Brighton and Bath in England and now I am in London.

London's Parks

My first trip to London for under $100? That was the flight I bought with my frequent flier miles on American Airlines, transferred them to British Airways and flew to London for $65 one-way.

But now it was time to try and discover this capital city for less than $100. My first attempt was to eat-out in a nice restaurant for less than $100. Not to be done, you say, in London. Especially if there is alcohol involved?

Well you would be wrong. The four of us managed it in a restaurant near Convent Gardens (i.e. central, central London). How did we do it?

Well that is the trick of a handy website: toptable.com

Earlier that day I visited the website, chose a type of food I wanted (Mexican), picked a location convenient for everyone and the website then found an offer for 50 percent-off the food at Navajo Joe’s! Perfect.

Even better? The website made the reservation for me. I was hooked! I used their service over and over again in London to find better and better deals. Their customer service is incredible too! When a place I had reserved cancelled at the last minute they emailed me multiple times and even called me to offer to book another restaurant for me.

And toptable.com does not just book in London. Going to Glasgow? Edinburgh? Birmingham, Manchester, New York or Paris? This cheap-eats at gourmet restaurants website is there for you!

But London is not all about eating (though that’s a very large part!). I also wanted to go and see places, people and things, right? Well I could have taken a taxi. One ride, however, would probably destroy my $100 budget.

Instead, what I needed was an Oyster.

“But Robyn, you said it wasn’t about eating.”

It’s not. Oyster, for some reason, is the name of a card that I use for the London Underground. It’s refillable providing convenience, but it gives me discounts on my journey. Using the Oyster ensures that I never pay more than the Day Travel card price for any trips I took in London! The card was £3 pounds to purchase, but I could get that money back when I left London. I held on to it. The card and any of my money on it does not expire. Where do you hear that anymore?

I always, however, prefer to walk around London if I can. After escaping Bermuda where sidewalks are almost non-existent, walking through a chaotic city can inspire. Plus it’s also great exercise! Besides sidewalks there are plenty of parks to enjoy the fall/winter/spring in. So I like to check-out another website: www.walkit.com for advice. The site can give me the most direct route, distances and even walking tips.

There are, however, very few places that I enjoy walking-into more than a coffee shop. One of my favourite (sadly, perhaps) things to do is sit in Starbucks reading or writing while I am abroad. Ok, perhaps they do not have the best coffee in the world, but they do have an endless time-limit on their tables!

For £2.50 pounds I could sit all afternoon with a book! And that’s exactly what I did. Well until I had to write a column for The Royal Gazette. Then I needed the internet. Good thing Starbucks has that too for….FREE! Yes, free. All I had to do was sign-up for a Starbucks card (which is FREE) at the store and register it. Once registered I could use the internet at any Starbucks in the UK (that has it of course).

Without an internet connection of my own this was a godsend for keeping in touch, writing my blog (www.robynswanderings.com) and sending my column all for the cost of a cup (or vat) of coffee – £2.50!

With all the caffeine and some spare time, I also needed to do some shopping. Good thing London was filled

Visiting Camden Market

with markets to keep me busy and entertained on the cheap. Of course there is the Borough Market on the South side of the Thames near Tower Bridge. Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday it fills with cheeses and freshly pressed apple cider. Then there is also Camden Market (up north in Camden of course) with its cheap coats, scarves and all sorts of accessories I most definitely needed.

But perhaps the most mammoth and new of shopping experiences in London is, of course, the Westfield Mall in Shepherd’s Bush. Of course, I wouldn’t normally subscribe to this beast, but I couldn’t resist having a snoop. For £1.80 on my Oyster Card I was in this mall/small town.

Good thing free internet also fits-in this town! Yes, no Starbucks card is needed. Only online registration and I had free internet anywhere in the Westfield Mall. There is also an enormous Sainsbury Grocery Store attached where fresh sushi and all the gluten-free products I might have needed  could be found for a small price and a picnic.

I’m back on food. Fully stuffed, caffeinated and with a book filled with experiences for my ten columns on cheap trips from and in London it was time to depart England. For my last trip for less than $100 it was back to the flat (but check-out www.lastminute.com for good hotel deals) to pack and say adieu to friends before the trek to London Bridge train station.

Sure I could have taken the Gatwick Express train to, uh, Gatwick Airport of course, but that would be expensive. Instead From London Bridge my ticket was about £7.60. The express? £16!

Not only that, but my trip to the airport was fast. Only 20 minutes or so. The express? About the same. My final cheap train and it was time to board the plane. Back to Bermuda on my $65 flight and to green Bermuda. Well greener than London! But that’s all the hype! Stay tuned next week for Traveling Green and for all of your travel tips, tales and random stories daily visit here.

Fly to Bermuda for $99!

And no, you don’t have to flap your arms or kick with your feet! No! The airline running this special is none other than Air Canada and the person to book these tickets with is no other than CTravel!

That’s because while Air Canada runs the special on their site for $99 for another 14 hours, CTravel has until December 16th to book!

And even better? CTravel can offer your friends and family flights home from Toronto for $149! What a deal?! What are you waiting for? Visit their Quicktix website to book your flights or give the agents a call!

CTravel Deals!

So bring your family and friends back home for the holidays and buy your Christmas gifts at the same time!

That’s because CTravel is also offering the chance to win two free tickets on American Airlines to anywhere in the United States.

Yes, they ran a contest that ended on November 30 and here is the next installment! So don’t delay!

Make sure you get the traveler in your life the Christmas gift they want – a CTravel gift Certificate – and be entered for a two tickets to anywhere in the Continental United States.

I can’t think of a better way to spend your new year!

What are you waiting for? Visit their offices on the first floor of the Bermudiana Arcade in Hamilton or visit their website for more information.

And perhaps the traveler in your life can put it toward a trip of a lifetime – the Arctic. I mean it feels like the Arctic out there in Bermuda right now, so why not go and actually experience it!?

Book soon because these amazing trips that are organized by the Arctic Kingdom Polar Expeditions Inc. are

Visit the Arctic

the only land-based travel experiences in this part or the world.

Each of their trips is catered to your likes and their groups are small, between 4 and 12 adventurers.

Any Inuit guide will tell you that a larger group size compromises your ability to feel and see what the Arctic has to offer.

So from visiting the Polar Bears in the Arviat Polar Bear cabins set directly on the shores of Hudson Bay to chilling in the Arctic Igloo Domes in the rarely visited and spectacular Torngat mountains, they have everything.

Helicopters, polar bears, sizzling northern lights and sightings of rare caribou herds make this a world class unforgettable adventure.

Don’t wait long though! These vacations are filling-up so make sure you contact the representative at CTravel for your Arctic Vacations and stay warm on Bermuda’s roads!

toooooo…………..

To do what? To be entered into a draw for TWO FREE American Airlines’ tickets to anywhere in the United States. Go to Vegas! Visit Chicago! Enjoy the streets of Boston! And do it for FREE!!!

But how do you enter? Well that’s easy. Visit CTravel either online or in their Queen Street store and purchase that gift certificate you need for the traveler in your life.

That’s right. Buy a gift certificate, or two, finish that Christmas shopping and be entered for a trip to the United States!!! I can’t think of a better deal.

Or maybe you’re looking for a cruise that departs from New York and encapsulates all the glamour of the old sailing ships?

Well Cunard through CTravel are offering the amazing deal of a 15-day cruise that leaves from New York on December 19 and takes you to: Grand Turk, Tortola, St. Maarten, Curacao, Grenada, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Thomas and back to New York.

The list of destinations are so long, writing them took ten minutes. Luckily booking the amazing trip will only take so long with the help of the professionals at CTravel and will cost you just about the same.

For all of this it will cost you $1,499! What are you waiting for? Book your Christmas cruise today!

Queen Mary II will take you from New York to New York

Fancy heading to the Azores for Christmas? Well Cunard is offering a 16-day cruise on its sister ship the Queen Victoria for rates starting at just $4,395.00.

Cruise the Canary Islands. Sail the waters of the Atlantic before approaching the island of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with spectacularly lush vegetation, abundant clear waters and floral wealth. On Tenerife, gaze at El Teide, the highest mountain in Spain and experience the rich diversity of its landscape and sunny climate.

How can you resist? Well don’t! Spend your Christmas in another beautiful tropical environment!

Visit Ctravel online or in the Queen Street store to book your trip today!

Happy Thursday and visit tomorrow to learn about the visas you will need!

Get your Gift Certificate by November 30th and win two tickets!

I know we don’t celebrate it in Bermuda. Well, we don’t celebrate this meal on the fourth Thursday of November since 1863 unless you are American or have the American heritage.

But why do Americans celebrate it? Well apparently way back when, Americans were not quite as hardy and they barely made it through their first winter in a new land.

They put together a meal of venison, calms, fruit, pumpkin, etc… and sat down for three days! Yes, three days. They managed to consume enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Native Americans.

Not a bad job. Now that food feeds a family of five. Just kidding.

But why am I bringing this up? Good question. Fancy celebrating Thanksgiving in the country that founded it? For free? Why not, right? I do!

Want to finish a bit of Christmas shopping too?!? I know. I know. You’re thinking: “This is boring, Robyn. Just tell us.”

Ok well if you go into CTravel by November 30th and buy a gift certificate for someone on your Christmas gift list (or even yourself) you’ll be entered to win two tickets to anywhere in the United States!

No I’m not kidding! So what are you waiting for?

More suggestions? We that’s good because CTravel has also launched a new website for those looking for more travel ideas.

What’s it called? CTravel Society. It has all of your travel advisories, currency converter, FAA tips, etc.! So check it out and find-out about their latest ventures.

And finally…..what are you doing tonight? Need an excuse to shop?

Well perfect then.

The Phoenix Centre is opening its doors to the lucky shoppers who make it to the store between 6.30 and 9.00 p.m. tonight!

Sip, shop, sample and save!!!

Need I say more? Well how about if you get your Christmas gifts sorted now you can fly to Jamaica directly from Bermuda for the holidays!

Don’t bother having to connect through America or swing through London.

For Christmas CTravel can connect you directly to Jamaica for the low price of $1,200 per person.

That runs from December 18th to January 8th and the price includes all of your accommodations!

Optional visits to Cuba, Panama, Santo Domingo and other islands can also be arranged.

For more information or to make a reservation please contact: Pam Maybury at: 294-6908 or email: pamm@ctravel.bm

Or visit their website for more trips!

Flying over the Glaciers of Patagonia, Chile.

You know that when you go on a trip, if you’re not a miniature business passenger or an incredibly resourceful vacationer, you are usually checking a bag.

In the good old days, i.e. about five years ago, this meant whatever you wanted. I remember when I moved myself from Rome to London on the discount airline Ryan Air. What did that mean?

It meant at least 50 kilos of clothes, books, and other “necessary” items. Now? Well now if I have over 10 kilos in a check-in I am turning into the marshmallow woman. Check-in bags? That will cost an extra $50 on top of my ticket.

And they’re not alone. Now Air Canada wants to charge you to check-in a second bag. American Airlines has.

And British Airways already did.

So you’d think with all these added fees someone might actually pay attention?

Well they didn’t at Heathrow’s Terminal One. Most Bermudians fly through Gatwick (our only way with British Airways), but here’s a warning if you transfer.

Just this week, not only did 240 people have to probably pay for these bags to go under the plane, they also had the added a free covering of raw sewage!!

Yes I wrote that. Raw Sewage!

“I’m sorry mam, why does my backpack smell like a toilet? Oh right because you dumped one on it!”

Now BAA, which runs Heathrow, is going to pay passengers $1,600 toward the bags – all of which could not be salvaged. The total bill? $384,000.

To be honest….not enough. Oh and sorry they did say they were sorry! That will save my favourite sweater. Sarcasm is free on this website.

But that won’t save the other bags that have been set on fire or simply lost!

Have you flown through Philadelphia lately? Have you still got your bags? You’re the lucky one. Four baggage handlers were arrested this week for ”multiple counts of criminal conspiracy, theft, unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, and attempted theft”.

These, hopefully former, employees of American Airlines will not be going to court! Check out the reports in Philadelphia.

Ok so I have to check a bag over a certain weight and now it’s just going to get stolen! Well for one thing I am definitely not leaving anything important in there again and neither should you!

This should give you heart for the weekend! Enjoy watching how your recently send Christmas packaged might be sent and give thanks that not everything has to go by plane!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRFcbWdn360]

I’m not a blackberry addict. Can’t afford to be one. But I do start to have the internet shakes if I’m away from the computer too long.

Must….check….email….facebook….twitter…

So you can imagine how pleased I was this weekend when leaving Bermuda I didn’t have to leave my internet.

Not the most recent technology on the plane anymore

Ok well for a good 20 minutes. From the time it took me to pry my fingers from the keys, board the car, drive to the airport, and check me in. Ahh security screening done, I walked into the cool atmosphere of the departure lounge.

Computer out. Internet accessed. I had already missed 30 status updates, 2 emails and a world of news updates. What was I going to do when I got on the plane? That’s two hours without access.

No fear. Delta is here. I thought I would get in trouble. I forgot to turn the internet access off. Gogo internet picked-up my computer and I was back on my web. Phew. I can finish that article I needed to email and finally tackle a post for this blog.

Who knew about this? Apparently some bloggers, but I had no idea that flights to Bermuda would be able to access this technology.

Here is a list of the planes that will have it:

B737-700 10 (Fleet complete)
B737-800 71 (Fleet complete…note that 2 additional 737-800s will be equipped with Wi-Fi prior to joining the fleet)
B757-200 103 of 132
B757-200 ETOPS 17 of 17 (fleet complete)
B757-300 1 of 16 (deactivated pending STC)
B767-300 10 (Fleet complete)
B767-300 ETOPS 0 of 4
A319 47 of 49
A320 44 of 69
DC9-50 1 of 33 (deactivated pending STC)
MD88 117 (Fleet complete)
MD90 16 (Fleet complete…note that 12 additional MD90s will be equipped with Wi-Fi prior to joining the fleet)

Sorry to all those trying to escape the boss. “Um yeah I was on the plane,” is just not going to cut it anymore.

Well unless you fly American Airlines. There wireless doesn’t extend more than 100 miles from the US.

Do other carriers have wifi on their planes to Bermuda? Have you used the internet in the sky?