Departure Lounge
Travel Editor Winston Aldworth is not a fan of People who stand in front of the line at the luggage conveyor belt. “It’s not that hard to figure out,” he wails.
What a carry-on
If you’re travelling around Australia, be aware Qantas is cracking down on carry-on baggage on domestic routes. Travel Wires has seen gate staff eye up bigger bags at boarding and send them to the hold. Qantas says enforcing allowances will “help reduce delays during the boarding process and ensure an on-time departure” and “cabin bins that are too full or bags that are too heavy can cause a safety risk for both customers and crew”. Virgin warns customers at booking and check-in about limits; Jetstar allows customers to buy an extra 3kg of carry-on. You can read between the lines there.
Going public
Englishman Adam Leyton has set a record for the most countries visited in 24 hours using public transport. Leyton began in Germany at 7.01am. Using planes, trains and buses, he passed through Luxembourg, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria. He reached the Hungarian border at 6.38am, leaving him 23 minutes to sprint to a park where Austria meets Hungary and Slovakia. How many New Zealand cities you could visit in 24 hours using only public transport?
While you were sleeping
Toronto inventor Steve Lee has won hospitality’s Radical Innovation Award for crossing a hotel room with a self-driving vehicle. The Autonomous Travel Suite is designed to carry travellers on journeys between six and 10 hours. It has a sleeping space, workspace, tiny kitchen, toilet, sitting shower and “entertainment zone” for watching movies and gaming. Travellers will select the start and end points of their journeys using an app and can add stopping off points such as gyms and restaurants. Hitch: highways won’t be ready for autonomous vehicles until 2030. Meantime, get a Kiwi campervan.
Window on the world
Not for nervous cruise passengers: the new Celebrity Edge has done away with balcony cabins. Instead, a full wall of glass slides open from the ceiling at the touch of a button. The glass descends to the level of a traditional balcony railing. “It took a lot of re-engineering and a lot of different thinking,” Celebrity CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo says. “It took a lot of people telling us, I don’t think we can do that,” although river cruise lines have been doing it for some years. The extra interior space allows for kingsized beds and bathrooms about 10 per cent larger. The cabins also feature technology that lets passengers control lighting, shades, temperature and televisions from an app on their phone.