Merry Christmas! The FlyerTalk Secret Santa Returns in 2019!
Taking a break from hurricanes and the late summer heat in the northern hemisphere, the Secret Santa Extravaganza occurs yet again on FlyerTalk for the seventeenth consecutive year — and once again, your host, coordinator and organizer is none other than FlyerTalk member wharvey, who founded the concept on FlyerTalk and launched the first thread back in 2003.
The expected minimum on which you should plan to spend on your gift purchase is…
Bali is Closed For the Day. Right Now.
Thursday, March 7, 2018 is the third day of the six days that the Balinese New Year is celebrated; and the entire island of Bali is now as close to completely silent as possible for Nyepi.
“On the 3rd day the entire Island comes to a standstill, with no scheduled incoming or outgoing flights from Ngurah Rai airport in Denpasar (DPS)”, according to…
If Santa Claus Traveled By Commercial Airline For Christmas
Kris Kringle stood at the repair shop in disbelief after the mechanic told him that the catalytic converter in his sleigh had been recalled — and that the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals officially informed him that using reindeer for such hard labor as to transport the weight of him and the tons of presents to millions of homes around the world was considered cruelty to animals did not help matters.
What could Kris do?
The True Spirit and Meaning of Travel: What We Can Learn From Christmas 2018
The year is 2018; and here we go again: after almost two months of what seems to be non-stop advertisements for endless sales and a continuous onslaught of music in celebration of one of the holiest days for Christians around the world, there are people who believe that the true spirit and meaning of Christmas is lost in a vast sea of commercialism and profit — and I could not help but wonder if a similar sentiment can be analogous to the true spirit and meaning of travel.
Although the miles and points of frequent travel loyalty programs can indeed be potentially valuable to being able to better afford travel; and while elite level status in a frequent travel loyalty program can result in enjoying the opulence of luxurious benefits and amenities — such as fine foods and creature comforts at theoretically no extra cost — they are not…
The True Spirit and Meaning of Travel: What We Can Learn From Christmas 2017
After almost two months of what seems to be non-stop advertisements for endless sales and a continuous onslaught of music in celebration of one of the holiest days for Christians around the world, there are people who believe that the true spirit and meaning of Christmas is lost in a vast sea of commercialism and profit — and I could not help but wonder if a similar sentiment can be analogous to the true spirit and meaning of travel.
Although the miles and points of frequent travel loyalty programs can indeed be potentially valuable to being able to better afford travel; and while…
King Cake: a Tradition of Mardi Gras
Along with many of the traditions and customs associated with the celebration of Mardi Gras in the southern United States is what is known as the king cake — which is arguably more of a sweet bread or type of roll than a cake — typically shaped in the form of a ring; flavored with cinnamon; and topped with a sweet glazed icing and granules of sugar colored in green, gold and purple to represent the official colors of Mardi Gras and the respective ideas of faith, power and justice.
Hidden inside of a king cake is…
The True Spirit and Meaning of Travel: What We Can Learn From Christmas
After almost two months of what seems to be non-stop advertisements for endless sales and a continuous onslaught of music in celebration of one of the holiest days for Christians around the world, there are people who believe that the true spirit and meaning of Christmas is lost in a vast sea of commercialism and profit — and I could not help but wonder if a similar sentiment can be analogous to the true spirit and meaning of travel.
Although the miles and points of frequent travel loyalty programs can indeed be potentially valuable to being able to better afford travel; and while elite level status in a frequent travel loyalty program can result in enjoying the opulence of luxurious benefits and amenities — such as fine foods and creatures comforts at theoretically no extra cost — they are not the reasons why I travel…
…but…
Must-Watch Video: WestJet Honors Residents of Fire-Ravaged Fort MacMurray For Christmas
I was genuinely touched by this comment written by DavidB — who is a reader of The Gate — in response to this article I wrote pertaining to the plight of the residents of the town of Fort MacMurray, as everyone was forced to evacuate due to the raging wildfires which consumed portions of their community.
At the time that article was written on Friday, May 6, 2016 — five days after the wildfire started — an estimated 88,000 people had already fled the area in what is considered the largest evacuation in the history of the province of Alberta, which was part of the greater than 250,000 acres of land that had already been scorched.
When the wildfires were finally declared under control on Tuesday, July 5, 2016, approximately 1,500,000 acres of land in Alberta and Saskatchewan were burned — and 2,400 homes and buildings were destroyed — in the costliest disaster in the history of Canada. Please read the article for more details on just how dire was the situation.
Many people lost everything to those wildfires.
Usually at this time of year, WestJet releases one of its classic videos for Christmas — but this year was extra special…
Thank You — and Happy Thanksgiving 2016 to You
These days, realizing how fortunate we truly are can be taken for granted every day, as there is always something to challenge us and test our mettle. Will we be successful at resolving issues and incidents which have a negative impact upon us?
The answer is…
Will 2016 Be a Happy New Year For You?
This is the bittersweet time of year in which members of both FlyerTalk and InsideFlyer have mixed feelings: those who have achieved elite level status in frequent travel loyalty programs are thrilled or pleased that they have at least another year to enjoy that status; while others dread checking their frequent travel loyalty program accounts on January 1 to see that big “goose egg” which…
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