The return of the Eclipse

REMEMBER the Eclipse 500, the super-cheap "very light jet" made with NASA technology, that was going to do for air travel what the Ford Model T did for motoring? By now the skies were supposed to be buzzing with Eclipses, both privately owned ones and fleets of affordable "air taxis", bringing private aviation to the masses. Based on an earlier craft designed by the legendary Burt Rutan, the Eclipse was bankrolled by Bill Gates and the company that made it was run by a former Microsoft executive, Vern Raburn. 

When we first reported on the plane, in 2006, we noted the scepticism of some pundits about its makers' hugely optimistic plans. The doubters were proven right: early production versions of the plane failed to live up to the advertised spec, angering buyers. Eclipse ceased operation in 2008, as did DayJet, a pioneering air-taxi operator, which had ordered hundreds of the small planes.

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Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/11/air-taxis?fsrc=rss

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In Rio de Janeiro, Juice Bars That Are More Than Juice

The big cities in Brazil have become expensive, but Seth Kugel finds a way to eat cheaply and healthily in Rio, without setting foot outside of the upscale beachfront haven of Ipanema.

Source: http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/in-rio-de-janeiro-juice-bars-that-are-more-than-juice/

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An alternative to ARC?

THIRTEEN months ago Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, cancelled the Access to the Region's Core project?a $9.8 billion plan for a new train tunnel between New York and New Jersey. Now New Jersey, the federal government and Amtrak, America's government-run passenger rail service, are starting again. On Thursday, Congress approved $15m for Amtrak to launch initial engineering studies for a proposed alternative, called the Gateway tunnel. 

$15m, of course, is a lot less than the billions of federal dollars New Jersey had been promised for the ARC project. It's also less than the $50m Amtrak was hoping to get for its initial design work on the replacement project. Costs will almost certainly rise as the scale and challenges of the new tunnel become clear. Whether the "Son of ARC" will ultimately prove more expensive than its forebear remains to be seen. Mr Christie claimed that cost overruns would make the ARC project significantly more expensive than the $9.8 billion planned. But initial estimates of the price tag for Gateway are in the $13.5 billion range. As I argued last year, New Jersey is going to need more train capacity under the Hudson eventually?and waiting seems to only increase the cost.

The Gateway tunnel project, like its predecessor, aims to allow more Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains to access New York's Penn Station. If the project succeeds, an additional 13 New Jersey Transit trains and eight Amtrak trains per hour would be able to reach New York during peak travel times. The real question is who will ultimately pay for the project? Mr Christie, who has said he thinks the Gateway project is "fascinating," will be looking to the federal government to fund the tunnel. If the feds do foot the whole bill, that would at least partially vindicate Mr Christie's decision to scrap the earlier project. But given the budget-cutting mood in Washington, it's hard to imagine Congress will be eager to pony up billions for a project that mostly benefits the people of a single state?especially when the state's governor seems so unwilling to share the burden.

Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/11/gateway-hudson-tunnel?fsrc=rss

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Wanna Avail the Cheapest Flights from Kolkata to Bangalore? Lets Go!

Source: http://catitravel.blogspot.com/2011/07/wanna-avail-cheapest-flights-from.html

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Some Lesser Mediterranean Lights

The Frugal Traveler's summer Mediterranean trip wasn't all glorious beaches and fortuitous encounters. Here are some of the minor irritations.

Source: http://frugaltraveler.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/17/some-lesser-mediterranean-lights/

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Here's What To Do If You Get Sick On Vacation

When you're traveling, the last thing you want to do is get sick.

But new climates, new cuisines, and stale airplane air can bring you down, to say nothing of skiing mishaps and ankles twisted on cobblestones.

As for pre-planning for medical care, who does that? We usually think of doctors and hospitals when it's too late.

We asked Dr. Mark Melrose, co-founder of Urgent Care Manhattan (and frequent surf traveler), for the medical 411 (and 911).

When do I go to an emergency room?

A health emergency exists when there is a sudden and unanticipated change in your usual state of health due to illness or injury that may cause harm to life or limb if not evaluated and stabilized promptly. Use your best judgment; it is always better to be safe than sorry.

You just may need to wait if the staff at the emergency facility don't agree with your urgency. (Bring a book or electronic devices for a pleasant diversion.)

For minor emergencies and other immediate health-care needs (I forgot my medication, Do I have strep?, I might have a UTI), look for an urgent care or other walk-in, immediate-care medical practice.

Can I trust a hotel doctor?

Hotels that have a recommended house physician have usually vetted their medics in the same way they would investigate any high-profile employee. Since hotels are not primarily in the health-care business, they are not interested in losing you as a client if the medical service/care is of questionable quality. In general, the quality of the doctor is a reflection of the quality of the hotel.

In-room consultations are usually pricey and most often require payment in cash or with a credit card at the time of service.

Are there simple measures I can take before I leave that can my life easier in the event of a medical issue?

Here are six steps to prevent medical problems when traveling:

1. Carry medications in their original bottles and a list of medications and dosages with you at all times. Bring extra, and keep them in two separate, safe places in case you lose your luggage or carry-on.

2. Carry a list of any medical conditions and surgeries and your doctors' telephone numbers.

3. Pack a simple first-aid kit:
- bandages in various sizes
- antiseptic
- antibiotic ointment
- tweezers for splinters
- ibuprofen (Advil) or acetaminophen (Tylenol) for pain or fever
- antihistamine for allergies
- motion-sickness tablets
- anti-diarrhea medicine
- A prescription from your primary care doctor for a broad-spectrum antibiotic to cover skin infections, UTIs, or upper respiratory infections, or traveler's diarrhea will be useful in a pinch.
- While not strictly medical, you'll be glad you packed condoms, sunscreen, and a spare pair of perscription glasses just in case.

4. Don't sit in one place for too long (train/bus/plane) to avoid deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in the legs).

5. Make sure your accommodations are user-friendly if you have disabilities or physical limitations.

6. Check the CDC website for travel health alerts and immunizations that might be required for countries on your itinerary.

Will my insurance work when I am overseas?

Check your policy, as well as premium credit card membership privileges, for overseas health coverage benefits before you go — and before you purchase duplicate coverage you may not need.

Should I buy travel insurance in case of medical emergencies?

This depends on your personal willingness to assume risk, your medical history, and the nature of your voyage. If you will be ice climbing in the Andes or scuba diving with great white sharks in Cape Town, or going to a remote location, then travel, health, and Medivac insurances are a fine idea. Ditto if you have a chronic medical condition that could confound local doctors.

Would you give the same advice to people who go on active vacations (say, ER doctors who love to surf in Mexico) as you would to people who go to Paris for a leisurely weekend to eat too much?

Find out the local resources before you travel. If you are on an outdoor adventure trip, the guides will often be trained in advanced first aid as EMTs or paramedics. Do your  homework before you travel, and stash local contact info for a hospital or a recommended doctor or two with your other important documents.

This post originally appeared at Fathom.

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See Also:

• Here's What You Need To Know About Travel Credit Cards
• White House Draws Closer To Occupy Wall Street, Says Obama Is Fighting For The Interests Of The 99%
• The Costliest Mistake In All Of Economics

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-what-to-do-if-you-get-sick-on-vacation-2011-10

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When customer service is a Twitter response

I READ this piece in Hotels magazine with interest. It?s an imagining of how a guest of the future might interact with his hotel during an overnight stay. Specifically it looks at how a modern hotel might utilise social media to improve the service it offers customers.

For example:

7 AM PST: You hop on a flight from LA to New York. Before take-off, you tweet, ?Headed to NYC. Looking 4ward to drink poolside @ThompsonLES.? When you land and turn your mobile on, you have a Twitter response from @ThompsonLES, which reads, ?We look forward to having you. Shall we reserve you a lounge chair??

And later on:

6 PM: When you arrive back in your room, you notice you have a message on your hotel iPad. You open it, and it takes you directly to the hotel's Facebook videos, and in particular, a video illustrating the hotel spa's offerings. Beneath the video is a ?click to reserve spa treatment? button. You do. And before setting the iPad down, you use the hotel's custom app to select and reserve a table at a recommended restaurant.

It?s all very clever technically, and doubtless responds to some guest needs, but I find this vision leaves me a bit cold. It?s a future where the acme of customer service comes in the shape of rapid response to guest tweets, and where as many interactions as possible between guest and hotel happen seamlessly in cyberspace. Heaven forfend that you should actually go and speak to the concierge, when you can see his recommendations on an iPad app.

If these digital offerings?which often amount to the hotel guessing your desires from the content of your tweets?are just extras provided on top of a regular, real-world suite of friendly customer services, then it's hard to object. But my fear is that a hotel that speaks to its guests by iPad, and encourages them to spend ever less time interacting in old-fashioned human ways, is a hotel that will lose its charm quite quickly. There's something of the love hotel about an establishment that works on the premise that guests want to avoid contact with staff wherever possible. And for stays of more than two hours, that's not right.

Source: http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/10/hotels-future?fsrc=rss

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