http://www.placesandtrips.com Because the world is still big! Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:24:16 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en On Saturday, an airline crew and two passengers had to use duck tape to keep Maria Castillo, a woman from NY, on her seat during a United Airline flight from Puerto Rico to Chicago . According to the police report, Ms. Castillo began fighting with the flight crew and other ... http://www.placesandtrips.com/2008/11/unruly-airline-passenger-duct-taped-to-her-seat/ A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article about how easy it would be for a hacker to steal the information embedded in the computer chip inside your passport. Friday the State Department warned 400 passport applicants of a security breach in its records system that may have left them ... http://www.placesandtrips.com/2008/11/security-breach-in-passport-application-leads-to-identity-theft/ In the different travel forums I visit, I find a lot of people asking questions about what to do or where to go the day before leaving for a cruise that departures from either Fort Lauderdale or Miami. I believe that being stuck in a hotel for hours watching bad ... http://www.placesandtrips.com/2008/10/fun-before-your-cruise/ In a very creative way, Carnival Cruise Line got itself a lot of free press and advertisment when it built the world's biggest beach ball and released it on the streets of Dallas (maybe it is true what they say about everything being bigger in Texas) Anyway, CCL broke the previous records ... http://www.placesandtrips.com/2008/10/carnival-breaks-record-with-the-worlds-biggest-beach-ball/ Spirit Airlines seems to forget that they exist thanks to their customer, and they have also forgotten the most basic strategy for the survival of any company not matter who big or small: good customer service. But then again when not even its CEO cares about the customer, what can ... http://www.placesandtrips.com/2008/10/spirit-air-the-worse-customer-service-ever/ In my old blog, I had describe some of the security risks associated with the new RFID tags that are being embeded into the new passports that the US and other countries are issuing. In that post I wrote how easy would be for someone to steal your identity without even ... http://www.placesandtrips.com/2008/10/new-passports-have-serious-security-flaw/ Disney just announced that their famous party corner, Pleasure Island will be closing its door for good this Saturday. All 6 night clubs will be closed forever, however the rest of Downtown Disney will remain open as usual. Pleasure Island opened in 1989 and since then had attracted million of tourists ... http://www.placesandtrips.com/2008/09/disneys-pleasure-island-closing/ If you ever thought that being a flight attendant is the coolest job in the world, I invite you to read this great article of Michelle Higgins, a travel columnist for the New York Times. Michele spent two days as a flight attendant with American Airlines to write her article titled ... http://www.placesandtrips.com/2008/09/not-the-dream-job/ If you are getting old and looking for a good reason to celebrate your birthday, here is a couple of good ones: free food, free cruise and free entrance to a Disney Park.  Free Disney Park Ticket  Disney just announced a new marketing plan to give free park tickets to any person ... http://www.placesandtrips.com/2008/09/free-food-cruises-and-more-for-your-birthday/ [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="304" caption="Bald Head ad"][/caption] Bald people now have a reason to celebrate their lack of cranial hair. New Zealand's national airline is looking for 50 bald people to use them as walking billboards by temporarily tattooing an ad on their head advertising a new speedy check in service ... http://www.placesandtrips.com/2008/09/bald-headed-make-some-money/