Recorded in the beautiful home office of Chateau’ Relaxo
After spending most of the month of June away from Chateau’ Relaxo it’s time for a COVID update from the road warriors' or at least my point of view. Most COVID signs, COVID stickers, and COVID warnings have disappeared from hotels, restaurants, and gas stations.
Here’s a spoiler alert this will be the second month in a row with no mention of COVID mask or vax-related fights or altercations. Maybe they’ve become so commonplace that no one adds the word COVID to the news reports. Make your own judgment.
If you traveled over the July 4th holiday hopefully you faired well. But, according to FlightAware, more than 4,500 U.S. domestic and international flights were delayed Friday, July 1st alone.
By Saturday more than 1,000 flights had been canceled.
American Airlines led the pack with 208 cancellations, Delta bailed on 180 & United right around 104 flights
This is being recorded on Sunday, July 3rd and my prediction for Monday travel will be pure bedlam. So check the TSA app, FlightAware, and Waze before heading back home, and stay strong.
As we try to do here’s an update on two previous crazy travel roundup stories.
In April, I believe actually on 4/20 Melvin Townsend III, got a 30,000’ beatdown by none other than Mike Tyson. Make no mistake about it Melvin Townsend III was the instigator. Tyson was recently on Jimmy Kimmel’s show and summed up his experience in seven words, “I WAS HIGH, TIRED AND PISSED OFF”. No charges were filed against Tyson and Melvin Townsend III is to undergo a brain scan on the part of his brain responsible for making bad decisions.
A few months ago Adam Alexander Williams, 33, of Auburn, Washington Adam was flying to Charlotte, North Carolina from Seattle. For some reason, Adam shoved a flight attendant, and leaped over passengers, and onto a beverage cart, which "sent cups and drinks flying,". Adam then screamed an obscenity, and for the grand finale, tried to strip off his clothes. The plane had to make an emergency landing in Billings, Montana, where Adam was removed from the aircraft.
What sort of prize can Adam win for this performance? Adam faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison as well as a $25,000 fine and three years of supervised release.
Here’s a travel tip, don’t F-around with the FFA.
Now onto June's craziness.
Last month we reported about the - Virgin Atlantic pilot forced to turn back because he was still in trainingIn case you missed the episode here’s the cliff notes - 40 minutes into the Virgin Atlantic transatlantic journey the first officer informed the captain that he had yet to complete his last flying test.
This month it’s Pilots Fall Asleep On Transatlantic Flight. First I can fall asleep on a plane long before we push back from the gate, it’s a gift. I know I should listen to the safety announcement, but I’ve heard it several hundred times…. Humble brag.
This happened on ITA - Italia Trasporto Aereo, and here’s what happened -
There were two pilots, and one pilot was in a “controlled rest” during the flight, which means there was one pilot who was supposed to be awake at the controls…. OK, I guess.
The tower tried to make several calls to the pilots, which went unanswered. The tower then reached out to the airline, and they didn’t respond either. Next French military fighter jets were deployed to do a wellness check on the plane and look into the cockpit.
Finally later during the flight the pilots once again became responsive, and the situation ended.
Afterward, ITA Airways conducted an investigation into what happened. ITA suspected that the captain had fallen asleep, but the captain denied that he did. Rather he claimed that there were issues with the plane’s communication systems. However, there were allegedly inconsistencies in his stories, and some equipment from the plane was also inspected, but no issues were found.
What was the result?
This is where things get a bit sketchy, but allegedly both pilots got fired.
This was a New York to Rome flight, 9 hours at most, and here’s my take… my team truly works half days, it doesn’t matter what 12 hours we work…. And we don’t get naps.
BoingBoing posted this one - Gentleman caught rolling through airport security with 23 pounds of cocaine in his wheelchair
This took place at North Carolina's Charlotte Douglas International Airport. A gentleman attempted to roll, yes roll, through customs with 23 pounds of cocaine stuffed in the seat of his Rascal scooter. The suspect, Alexander Lopez-Morel, 22, had arrived at the airport from the Dominican Republic.
According to the US Customs and Border Patrol, the cocaine has or had a street value of $378,000. No word on whether Lopez-Morel actually needed the wheelchair or not. And there was no word on how anyone knew that Lopez-Morel was rolling with contraband.
And make no mistake about it it’s easy to leave many of these countries with drugs and animals and it’s our job here in America to catch them.
Maybe the person paying off the Dominican Republic authorities should’ve sent a few bills in the direction of Charlotte, North Carolina.
This next one is sort of a she-said, he-said, and it unfolded on TMZ, not once, but twice.
We open with the she-said part.
Mary Magdalene a Canadian model, took to social media, to let the whole world know that she was kicked off a recent flight from Canada to Dallas for looking "too explicit.".
Mary Magdalene, I’m guessing that's not her given name, said she was kicked off the plane because her boobs were too big for her top. Typically I would think one might say that the top was too small for the boobs. That was until I saw a picture of Mary Mary and yes her boobs were too big for the top.
Don’t feel bad for Mary as she went on to post, that she finally made it to America on a later flight, but she's still got beef with the airline and society ... saying discrimination against "enhanced bodies" is very common.
Yes, Mary is enhanced, and probably more than one or two enhancements. It’s hard to tell if she’s built for pleasure or built for speed, but either way, the claim is that Mary rolls with 22lbs of boobs..
Here’s the he-said portion coming from American Airlines. They say flight attendants noticed Mary sitting in several different seats before takeoff ... seats that weren't her ticketed seat.
It was also reported that airline employees believed Mary to be intoxicated and she seemed unstable. Flight attendants and the captain asked her to leave -- Mary left without incident, and cops did not have to get involved.
I encourage you to check Mary’s picture posted in the show notes.
From the criminals are stupid department we have this, Allegheny County man uses fake $100 bill to buy drinks at airport before boarding plane
WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. — An Allegheny County man, Stephen Peterson, is facing felony charges, accused of passing off a fake $100 bill before he boarded a plane at the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport early in June. Two things I bet you didn’t know about the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, first they provide airport parking for free, and second Spirit is the only airline that flies in and out of the Arnold Palmer Regional Airport.
Peterson said, that the pants he was wearing were not his, and he found the $100 bill in the pocket, so he decided to just use it,”
So here’s Peterson’s stupid part. The cashier at the snack bar inside the airport noticed the bill that said “for motion picture use only,” and tipped off officers at the airport.
The police got a warrant for Peterson, and when he flew back into the airport they picked him up and served the warrant,”
Here’s the tip-in, state troopers are also looking into a suspect who was wanted for passing fake $100 bills at two Dollar General stores in Derry Township within 10 minutes of each other last month.
Like I said criminals are stupid.
And remember airport drinking, plane drinking whatever you want to call it rarely ends well. That is unless you’re George Clooney from Up in the air.
If you think you’ve found the person of your dreams, your ride or die there’s a handful of things you can do with that person to see if you’ve made that right choice.
* See what their behavior is when the internet suddenly cuts out. A solid indicator of what’s ahead.
* Travel with them. Canceled or delayed flights, bad weather, sunburn, food poisoning …. Anything can occur while traveling. Even after 12 years of marriage traveling together the CEO and I still have our moments.
From Live and Let’s Fly we have - Angry Man Shoves Girlfriend Aside As He Lunges At Airport Staff
Let's set the stage for this couple, and I’ll call her Tiffany and him Chad. Tiffany and Chad were flying on EasyJet from somewhere in the, UK to somewhere in Spain.
While waiting to board, the airport staff confronted Tiffany and Chad believing that they might be intoxicated, and what transpired next just might back up that belief.
There’s a video, there’s always a video.
Once confronted, Tiffany channeled her inner Karate Kid by raising her arms to shoulder height, and before she could raise her leg to enter the crane pose Chad pushed Tiffany to the floor. Both hands on Tiffany’s waist a hearty push and Tiffany went immediately to the ground. Chad quickly advanced putting two of the airport staff on the ground before retreating…. And if that wasn’t enough Tiffanny makes it back on her feet and managed to get between Chad pushing an airport staff member away and protecting her beloved Chad.
So yes, a perfect test…. These two are meant for each other.
Here’s my take on this, it appears that Tiffany led Chad down the runways of violence as she was the one taunting the airport staff.
This reminds me of a travel story from August or September of 2007. We were in Tampa for business and my travel partner at the time was a New York transplant and a huge Yankee fan. We finished up for the day and decided to head to the stadium and find tickets for this playoff game. And the tickets we found were in the Yankee section and my buddy couldn’t have been happier as he was going to watch the game with “his people”...... New York transplants.
MId-game there was a commotion to our right and there was a female that for lack of a better term had been over-served and she was screaming at the top of her lungs at a gentleman that was a Rays fan. At some point, she screamed, “My husband is going to kick your ass”. Her husband was easy to pick out as he was the guy rolling his eyes and I guarantee you that this wasn’t the first time that his wife had dragged him into a situation that he wanted nothing to do with. All this guy wanted to do was watch the playoff game.
So yes, more than likely Tiffany dragged Chad into a situation that he wanted nothing to do with.
I’m not a fan of cruises, I’ve been on one and they are not for me. Yes there’s plenty to do if you like what they have planned, and there’s plenty of food if you like what they’ve fixed, but you’re still held captive for 3, 5, or 7 days.
Well here’s another nail in the cruise coffin for me. Carnival cruise brawl caught on camera
An all-out brawl broke out between dozens of passengers aboard the Carnival Magic cruise ship. The reason, was allegations of cheating while on the trip. First, Carnival cruise lines, in my opinion, are the Spirit Airlines of the ocean. Second, it has to take a tremendous amount of effort to find a willing rando on a cruise and then seal the deal as they say.
Theresa James, who said she is a travel agent, said that the fight started just before 2 a.m. on the ship’s fifth floor, where a dance club and casino are located. There’s no better place than there.
An alleged threesome between passengers had upset their significant others, why wouldn’t it, when they learned of the rendezvous.
This lasted about an hour and included broken beer bottles. This wasn’t physical the whole time, as yelling and shouting were involved, but an estimated 60 people may have participated.
The one unanswered question, was this a devil's threesome?
This month Creepy McCreeperton's story comes to us from Southwest airlines and involves Larry McCreeperton and the iPhone's AirDrop feature. Larry decided that it was a good idea to AirDrop pictures of his twig-n-berries to everyone on his flight.
A woman sitting across from Larry got an airdrop notification on her phone. She saw the man airdropping photos on his phone. She looked at the photo and asked if Larry meant to send it. Larry said “yes” and that’s when she brought it to the attention of the crew.
When a flight attendant asked him why he did it, he responded “it sounded like fun.”.
Long story short the FBI got involved and let Larry know that he’d be spending the weekend in airport jail…… insert some sort of a don’t drop the soap, Larry, here if you see fit.
We’ve talked about this before…. Women don’t want to see pictures of random dudes' junk, pen-is, member, twig or their berries. If they did they’d let you know.
Remember women are wired differently the men.
Here’s a question, what’s a plane ticket worth? The answer varies. In early January most of my team flew to San Antonio for a conference and ticket prices ranged from $400.00 to $1100.00.
Here’s a different question, what’s your plane ticket worth to you? Again, the answer varies, and for me, it would vary on a number of factors.
* Am I traveling alone or with family and coworkers
* Am I heading to a job site or heading home?
According to Eye of the Flyer Delta passengers who had already purchased tickets grew in value very quickly.
Are you ready for this? Delta Passengers Were Offered $10,000 EACH to Take a Later Flight?
Delta flight 3550 operated by SkyWest from Grand Rapids, Michigan (GRR) to Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) apparently was oversold. There were more confirmed passengers who showed up at the airport than there were available seats on the Embraer 175 aircraft. An Embraer 175 is a small plane, with less than 80 seats.
We’ve all heard about airlines looking for volunteers to give up their seats, and typically they’ll be rewarded with a travel voucher for $500.00 or $600.00 dollars. These were $10,000 Visa gift cards.
Why so generous? Well if enough passengers don’t volunteer to take later flights. The DOT states that passengers involuntarily denied boarding are entitled to “400% of one-way fare (airlines may limit the compensation to $1,550 if 400% of the one-way fare is higher than $1,550).”
Length of Delay
Compensation
0 to 1-hour arrival delay No compensation
1 to 4-hour arrival delay 200% of one-way fare (airlines may limit the compensation to $775 if 200% of the one-way fare is higher than $775)
Over 4-hour arrival delay 400% of one-way fare (airlines may limit the compensation to $1,550 if 400% of the one-way fare is higher than $1,550)
I’ll put a link in the show notes as to what the DOT states are your rights for bumps & oversales when you fly.
That’s it for the June Crazy Travel Roundup.
If you want detailed show notes, links and pictures head over to podpage.com/travel-stories/
Leave a message onAnchor, or shoot me an email atTravelFrick@gmail.com.
As I always say, travel safe, stay safe, and thanks for listening.
Thanks for listening.
