Lobby Bar – February 28: Elite Postal Workers, George Orwell, Stupidphones, and No Coffee, Eh
By Jeremy Del Nero on 28 February 2014
The Lobby Bar – A Weekly Summary of Frequent Business Traveler News and Views
We are the 25%. Jeremy Del Nero (greetings) discusses why the majority of frequent travelers are in favor of a congressional ban on in-flight mobile calls. He also speculates why the 75% seem to be hiding while the 25% are screaming from the rooftops.
15-minute flight. Jonathan Spira navigates the Austrian Autobahns with the new Google Maps. Although he ultimately decided to drive, Spira contemplated for more than a few minutes whether he could spare the 96 hours to walk to his destination in France.
No First-class, eh? Paul Riegler enjoys an intimate Wi-Fi-free Delta flight from New York to Montreal, eh. You know you’re on a small aircraft when the flight attendant asks you to move to the other side of the plane to balance the weight out. Eh.
Woodpeckers didn’t work either. It’s time to dispel any myths out there about aircraft de-icing. Contrary to popular belief, the term does not refer to a hired team of beavers that chips away at ice that forms on planes at high altitudes.
Some are more equal than others. What are the two things you should never talk about? Religion and politics. Airlines and hotels tackled both topics in their public opposition to Arizona and Georgia’s anti-LGBT legislation. We know Daylight Savings Time is coming up, but we’re pretty sure it isn’t 1945 any more.
Fire and ice. Taking a page out of the postman’s notebook, we piloted the 2014 Buick Regal GS AWD through rain, sleet, and snow. Want to know the smell of ice, rubber, 259 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque? Tune in after the break.
Dual prizes. Famed vanilla latte drinker Martin Hunt won our Pacific Northwest photo location contest. To you, dogsled pilot Hunt, we bequeath our most prized possession: a slot in the weekly Lobby Bar article. Oh, and a two-night stay at the Nines hotel in Portland.
Park and ride. While I struggle to find a 400-square-foot studio apartment in Manhattan, BMW just moved into a 140,000 square-foot plot of land in Munich. Rumor has it that BMW will use the space as a playground for BMW drivers, complete with racetracks, juice, and cheese and crackers at snack time.
Melting phones. Samsung unveiled its latest Galaxy S smartphone this week, which tries to anticipate your next thought and download apps it thinks you might like. Boeing also has plans for a smartphone that will self-destruct if touched by the wrong hands.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
