This week I was fortunate enough to be quoted in a number of news articles, none bigger than AP’s story:
Tips for booking air travel on a budget. In the story, I mentioned that one of my favorite sites for finding low-fare carriers is WhichBudget.com.
Although WhichBudget has information on 120 airlines in 151 countries that service 1,050 airports with 26,062 routes,
I still strictly use them for European information where I think is where they excel. Their new site beta.travel is a big transformation
from their old basic site, which I’ve grown to love. This one is slick and it gives me the impression they are pushing hotels
(where I’m sure they make most of their money). But I do like how you can change the currency quotes into 46 different conversions with
the quick click of a button.
You don’t see Southwest Airlines’ flight attendants being funny like they used to be so it was great to see this video of flight attendant David Holmes rapping the welcome announcement. Don’t just sit there and listen. Give the man a beat! Stomp your feet and clap your hands! Who cares if your colleagues think you’re a freak. You should see the passengers looking at me as I wait at the gate.
PRODUCT REVIEW: SOLO CASES Solo Cases
As I mentioned in this week’s story, I’ve been testing out a new carry-on bag. Various luggage makers have sent me an assortment of bags to try out for the last few years and this polyester, 17" rolling laptop portfolio by Solo is the closest thing to my baby (an Atlantic roller, 16 x 12). I have traveled with the Atlantic case for over 10 years. It’s the perfect bag for me not only because it fits under every seat and has all kinds of compartments and pockets to organize my goods, but my mom bought it for me as a present when we took our maiden trip to Europe together in 1998. She even sewed on the first JohnnyJet.com patch I ever had so it’s even more sentimental.
THE OLD
But traveling to 20+ plus countries a year and flying who knows how many hundreds of thousands of miles (over a million), it’s getting really ratty and I have had my old carry-on repaired five times. The repair guy advised me to just hang it up and Atlantic is supposedly out of business and/or they don’t make this model anymore. I wish I could find the same bag and just make a few tweaks to improve it, but that’s not possible.
TESTING
So I tried this Solo bag out and it worked fairly well. It has a lot of accordion-style file pockets and a good amount of space. Actually, it fits everything I had in my last bag but it’s taken me a while to get used to the new organization.
THE UGLY
What I don’t like about it: It’s a tad too wide for coach aisles so it keeps hitting the seats when I roll up and down, making me look like a rookie. Also, when I put my carry-on duffle bag on top of it -- securing it with my favorite invention of all time – the Lug Buddy – it tips over and that really bums me out especially when it happened for the first time on LAX’s dirty men’s bathroom floor. The other bummer is that it’s so low to the ground that when I’m not using my Lug Buddy, the cord drags on the floor and Lug Buddy’s bungee-like band is just ready to snag on something and sling shot my head off.
THE BETTER
So far it’s standing up to the test of me dragging it up and down stairs but I’m not sure if it will last. The padded laptop pocket holds my 17" Toshiba. Empty, the bag weighs 7.2 lbs (3.3 kg) and the in-line skate wheels are sturdy. I like the cushioned carry handles but I’m still not sure if it’s going to last. Only time will tell. MSRP: $109.99.
