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Wales on rails

Wales, UK, is a place near and dear to our hearts, here at Matouring.  Often forgotten or misunderstood when compared to larger-than-life London, Manchester, Liverpool and Brighton as destinations, Wales offers a quieter side to the UK.  Green, lush with mountains and valleys that are second to none, if you haven't been to Wales, put…

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Hi. Checking or check-in?

All companies, including airlines, just love to make money whenever and wherever they can.  They're creative, and look for any tie-ins that they can to squeeze that little extra out. The video, below, is a really good discussion of airlines selling miles to banks, generating most of their profit from frequent flyer programs rather than…

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It’s 1984 again . . and again

We here at Matouring.com are of an age when we've seen (and even experienced first-hand) some of the half-baked ideas and horrific outcomes on the world stage and in world politics.  It feels like we're there yet again, but, unlike before, we have the power to collectively act and make a difference. George Orwell (with his books…

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You couldn’t afford it

Concorde was the world’s most iconic airliner and one of the most technically ambitious projects in aviation history. Billions were spent on its development over a span of more than a decade. When the Concorde program was launched, it was to be the next giant leap forward in air travel. Many believed that mass supersonic…

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Science!

During the Airlines Confidential podcast, former Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza told an interesting story about trying to figure out whether a new route would be profitable. In normal times airlines have great data – required and reported by the federal government.  But, some looked at telephone data and remittance data to get a sense…

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Jane, stop this crazy thing!

Plastics.  Carbon fibre. Airloys. Atomic layer deposition. Nano putty. Aerogel. Memory foam.  Metalized polyethylene terephthalate. Your travel future relies on the space-age materials listed above.  They play their part in making planes, trains and automobiles better, lighter, stronger and faster. Why  does this matter to you?  Both American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic recently signed deals…

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Geek alert! All about the Airbus A220

We will keep this post short and sweet. It's a video from Airbus describing their new look, specifically for the Airbus A220.  As you may or may not know, the A220 is a plane actually manufactured by Bombardier in Quebec, Canada. However, Bombardier fell into financial distress and now Airbus and the government of Québec have…

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The little train that couldn’t

We here at Matouring have often written about the wonders and the practicalities of rail travel.  Much of the world uses it as the default mode of travel.  But the United States has still not caught on to this global way-of-life.  Like it or not, the United States has a big transportation problem. According to…

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Aussie hotel floats to North Korea

Hope springs eternal, and this idea almost made it.  But the winds of change, and the tides – literally – sealed its fate.  It’s a long and winding tale. The Hotel Haegumgang is a floating hotel that began operations in Queensland, Australia, was moved to Vietnam, and is currently docked at Mount Kumgang on the east coast of North Korea. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, it…

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Lots of cheap flights, but why, oh why, now?

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a lot of changes to the air travel industry. Some of the better changes—like the removal of most change fees—are ones we hope will stick around after the pandemic. One change we expect to be more temporary, however, is the increased availability of cheap last-minute flights. Before the pandemic,…

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