Top Stories
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Do Hailo and Uber taxi e-hail apps defy a NYC judge’s orders? Nobody knows
TransportNew York City’s much-anticipated e-hail app program was cut short by a temporary restraining order (TRO) just days after launch, but that hasn’t halted the operations of the two startups that were already approved for participation. Hailo and Uber‘s cab drivers continue to pick up passengers via the companies’ mobile e-hail apps every day. Why do they [...]
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New American Airlines won’t repeat Pan Am and TWA mistakes, official says
TransportPan Am and TWA, two iconic airlines that were grounded for good in 1991 and 2001, respectively, got “out-competed” domestically by rivals such as United, American, Delta, Continental and Northwest, and that contributed to the duo’s demise. To be sure, the reasons Pan Am and TWA went bust are complex, but US Airways president Scott [...]
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Thus proven: stop-motion travel video, so much more fun than timelapse
DestinationsTimelapse, that staple hipsteresque video format that rose to new heights with the rise of YouTube and later Vimeo, tends to overshadow another somewhat underappreciated format: stop-motion video. After a while all timelapses blend into each other, with a languid soundtrack laid over beach/sunset/clouds/buildings/cityscape/people/desert sky/Northern Light vistas. Stop-motion videos meanwhile, are just a lot more fun [...]
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New York’s Penn Station is still a mess, and it will likely stay that way
TransportThe busiest passenger train station in the United States is a 1960s-era, utilitarian labyrinth in the basement of a basketball arena. Pennsylvania Station, a gateway to the nation’s biggest city, was designed to accommodate about 200,000 riders a day. Now, it is packed with more than 600,000. At rush hours, it resembles a human demolition [...]
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TripIt reveals preferred seat tracker details for TripIt Pro subscribers
TransportTripIt made good on its pledge and released a Seat Tracker feature in its premium TripIt Pro product. Subscribers to the $49 per year TripIt Pro service can share their itineraries, identify their seat preferences (window or aisle, front or back of cabin, exit row or bulkhead), and then Seat Tracker alerts travelers when a [...]
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U.S. airlines trade group blasts customs agency on Abu Dhabi Airport program
TransportArlines for America, the U.S. airline trade group, lashed out at the way U.S. Customs and Border Protection allocates resources considering its goal of speeding the clearance of 90 million passengers who arrive on international flights annually. In the A4A’s crosshairs is the recent CBP agreement with Abu Dhabi Airport to establish a preclearance facility [...]
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TripAdvisor CEO bullish now but takes blame for slow move to Kayak-style search
DigitalTripAdvisor users long-complained about the pop-up windows that appeared when they searched for a hotel on its sites, but CEO Steve Kaufer long-resisted transitioning to the more-appealing Kayak-style hotel metasearch. Speaking to financial analysts the other day at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in Boston, Kaufer said he now “takes the lump” [...]
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The world’s most popular international meeting destinations
DestinationsThe number and frequency of meetings held by international associations, and the business travel they generate, is on the rise. The International Congress and Convention Association estimates that the number of conventions increased by more than a thousand to 11,150 meetings in 2012. Europe is the most popular destination for international meetings with 12 out [...]
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Europe’s days as the leader of global tourism are numbered
DestinationsDespite rising competition from tourism destinations in Asia and emerging economies, Europe welcomed more than half of all international tourist arrivals in 2012, or 535 million foreign visitors, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. Europe also earned the largest regional share of international tourism receipts, which reached an estimated total of $1075 billion [...]
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The new Google Maps products are the killer travel apps
DigitalThe most popular travel app on smartphones has always been Google Maps, but today’s announcements at the Google I/O developers conference makes life even more difficult for what few mapping, planning, and local information competitors the search giant has left. Google’s updated Maps products for smartphones, tablets, and desktop improve on what’s already the best [...]
