How Much Do You Want to Tip?
For a simple calculation that can be performed on a four-function calculator with buttons to spare, determining the right tip seems mystify a large portion of the traveling public. Searching Apple’s App Store for “tip calculator” returns almost 600 apps for the iPhone. The Hospitality Management Schools’ web site just published a comprehensive tipping...
American Airlines Reaches Out to Apologize… Again and Again
American Airlines has been a bit more forward over the past month in letting me know they care about me. A phone conversation, replies to my Tweets – I haven’t had this level of attention from AA in the prior 27 years and 2.4 million miles that I’ve flown them. However, I’m not sure this...
Best Hotel Amenity? Free Breakfast
Recent surveys by TripAdvisor and Hotels.com report that the most popular hotel amenity is free WiFi. If they both didn’t misplace a decimal point, then they surveyed the wrong travelers. Experienced travelers know that the most important amenity is the free hotel breakfast. Now I’m not denying that the growth of mobile devices — smartphones,...
Table for One: Eating Alone on the Road
Dinner time on my last visit to Philadelphia and I was sitting at the bar of Tinto, a Spanish restaurant in Philadelphia. My dinner was a couple of plates of tapas — one of grilled octopus, another of sautéed wild mushrooms and caramelized shallots. I put in the order for mushrooms and shallots immediately after the...
Video – One City, Five Hours: Frankfurt
I “sprint toured” Frankfurt using Hemispheres Magazine’s “One City, Five Hours: Frankfurt” article while on a 6-hour layover between Mumbai and Chicago. I shot this on my iPhone 4 and edited it in iMovie on my MacBook Air while flying from Frankfurt to Chicago. My iPhone video inexperience shows — I shot the entire thing in...
What’s in My Bag: Traveling Light But Prepared
One of my annual New Year’s travel resolutions is to “unpack and repack my briefcase.” Some people re-do their closets; I do my briefcase. I’m always amazed at the stuff that accumulates over the year. Why did I think I needed a half-dozen pens, two sets of earphones, $5 of loose change in three different...
Winter Travel Tips — Things to Remember When The Snow Starts Flying
Last week’s winter storms in the Northeast and the South resulted in 70 percent of the US being covered in snow — shutting down airports across the region, canceling thousands of flights and trains. So it seems like a good time to recap some of the travel tips we’ve covered in past episodes of TravelCommons....
Food and Drink Highlights from My Drive South
On my Drive South, I ate and drank my way down I-65 and back up I-55. I had excellent meals throughout my trip — something you expect in New Orleans, but might find a bit more surprising in Louisville or Nashville if you haven’t been paying attention. Every city I visited had neighborhoods with restaurants...