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About Mia McMahon

I’m constantly trying to learn more in everything from branding to social media to user experience to SEO. I live-tweet a lot. I’m studying communications/marketing/internet entrepreneurship and you can follow my journey at meetmia.com.

How To Never Miss a Flight

Missed Flight

Don’t let this be you.

Show of hands from seasoned travelers…you may think you’re pretty savvy because you know your way around an airport, but can you say that you’ve never missed a flight? Dave Hamamura, professional wanderer and airport pro, lays claim to this feat. (We want proof, Dave.) Lucky for us, he’s shelled out his best tips for speeding through airports on his travel blog Dave Wanders. And yes, sometimes you just have to sprint to your connecting flight in another terminal, dignity be damned. (Just pray to the good lord that it’s not at Charles De Gaulle, or you better start cardio training ASAP.) Continue reading

Travelers Rejoice! New Backpack Design Keeps Valuables Safe

The RiutBag, courtesy of their Kickstarter page.

The RiutBag.

If you’re well-traveled, chances are you’ve either been the victim of pickpocketing or heard one too many horror stories of people losing valuables like laptops, cash, phones, and cameras with priceless pictures on them – memories impossible to recover.

Thankfully, one brilliant Kickstarter campaign is looking to change all of that – by redesigning one of the key features of a backpack. The RiutBag (pronounced “riot bag”) was designed specifically with travelers in mind, with all zippers strategically placed facing the wearer’s back, rendering them inaccessible to pickpockets. Continue reading

Air Canada Pilot Saves Dog By Diverting Flight

French Bulldog Simba & Owner

French Bulldog Simba is held by his owner after the diverted flight.

If you’re a traveler who’s had to take your pet along on flights…this will hit especially close to home. An Air Canada flight, slated originally from Tel Aviv to Toronto, had an unexpected change of course when the pilot decided to take emergency action and land the plane in Frankfurt, Germany. The reason? He noticed a heating system malfunction in the cargo area just as the plane was about to head over the Atlantic Ocean, which would have caused cargo temperatures to drop significantly – bad news for the pooch stowed there. Continue reading

Lost stuffed animal goes on airport adventures at TIA

Hobbes at TIA

Hobbes surveys his view at the Tampa International Airport (TIA), where he went on a few grand adventures.

SWOONING over this sweet travel story, courtesy of some nice folk at the Tampa International Airport (TIA)!  6-year-old Owen Lake was flying with his mother from Florida to Texas when he lost his stuffed tiger, who was appropriately named Hobbes after the beloved comic strip character. Though the airport was able to find Hobbes, Owen and his mother had already left for their trip to Texas…and when they returned back to TIA, they found out that Hobbes had been on quite the adventure.  Continue reading

Does Spirit Airline’s $69 Promotion Suck?

Spirit Airlines is making headlines for its, um, unconventional advertising. The most recent of their shenanigans? Their $69 roundtrip promotion. The deal is…for $69, you get to go both ways. (wink.) Things take an even more juvenile downturn when they capitalize on the word cockpit and claim that they’re in an “even better position to get you where you’re going.” In my opinion, they could have just spelled out synonyms of “SEX” all over the ad for a similarly heavy–handed (–tongued?) approach.
Continue reading

This Is Not a Drill: Expedia Swallows Orbitz Too

Sarcasm Warning Sign

HAPPY HUMP DAY EVERYONE! Great news from the travel industry. Remember when we talked about Expedia buying out Travelocity, effectively reducing the entire US online travel industry to three companies? (And why that was such a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea?) In case you heard that and were like, “Why, three companies? For all of the good ol’ US of A? That’s simply too many!”, then YOU’RE IN LUCK! Because… (drum roll please…) Continue reading