The Luggage Blog

Jackson Hole, WY

Area Profile
Teton Village, Wyo., and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort rise from a great “hole” or basin 12 miles northwest of the town of Jackson. Skiers and riders do their things on 2,500 acres of in-bound terrain and taunt the mountain’s 4,139-foot vertical (the greatest continuous rise in the U.S.) There are two mountains: Apres Vous and Rendezvous. and an open backcountry gate system giving skiers and free-heelers access to more than 3,000 additional acres of high-country magic. There are 111 named trails and many other unnamed routes known to skiers who have skied here for years. Twelve lift systems serve the mountains and snowboarding is allowed on 100 percent of their terrain.

Lodging Profile
The Jackson Hole Valley has over 10,000 units available for guest accomodations - everything from backcountry yurts to luxury hotels. The Four Seasons Resort in Jackson Hole is a favorite, boasting 125 rooms, 40 unit Residence Club, and 17 slope-side penthouse suites. The Crystal Springs Lodge is also new and has 18 condos available. Ski in/ski out lodges and condo units are available at the base of the ski area: luxury properties to a backpacker hostel. Full range of accomodations in Teton Village. Additional accomodations available the town of Jackson located ten miles away.

Services Profile
Restaurants, lounges within walking distance, many of both in Jackson. Ski shop, boutique, specialty, drug, liquor, cleaners and post office at area. Clinic at area, St. John’s Hospital, 12 miles. Kids Ranch for ages 2 months-5 years. Ski and snowboard school for ages 6 and over. Ski and cross country rental and repair available at slope and in Jackson. Ski classes offered for racing, cross country, powder, Junior and children, steep camps, women’s camps and snowboard camps. New this year: the new Bridger Restaurant atop the Bridger Gondola (Elevation 9,095’), will open Christmas 2006. It will have incredible valley views of Jackson Hole and the famed on-mountain Corbet’s Couloir to the south.

Area Recreation Profile
Climbing, mountaineering, biking, kayaking, rafting, paragliding, fishing, sightseeing, tram rides, hiking, horseback riding, and concert with various musical genres.

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Today is Blog Action Day when thousands of blogs post recommendations of ideas and steps individuals or companies can take to help make a stand and lend a helping hand to those in need.  Blog Action Day will help raise awareness, start a global discussion and add momentum to an important cause.  As we all know poverty exists all over the world and every little step than you can take is a step towards change!

Here at The Luggage Blog we recommend a couple of great things that one can do to help out.  We suggest that you donate your unused frequent flier miles or even your lightly used luggage and travel accessories to a charity of your choice.

Many travelers rack up tons of frequent flier miles over time and never even use them! So basically, they are just going to waste!… Well if you didn’t know this already, you can actually donate your unused frequent flier miles to charity, which will definitely help out those in need!  Here’s a list of some airlines that participate in donating unused frequent flier miles:

• American Airlines
• Continental Airlines
• Delta Airlines
• Northwest Airlines
• United Airlines
• US Airways

Not only could you donate your unused frequent flier miles, you could also donate your lightly used luggage to a charity of your choice.  I’m sure that there are many charities around the world that would be glad to accept these types of donations.  However, you always want to check with each charity to determine their acceptance guidelines.

Robinson Luggage, a leading luggage retailer in the Philadelphia area, recently held an in-store event doing just that.  For two weeks customers were able to bring in their old luggage and get 25% off a new bag.  The event ended on September 30th and Robinson Luggage gathered around 80 bags that will be donated to Career Wardrobe of Philadelphia, a non-profit organization that helps assist women in transition back into the workforce.

I’m sure there are many other ways and ideas to give back to your community but we wanted to share these two that we thought were a great way to help out others’ in need!

Photo by Mr. Kris

Message In a Carry-On - TSA Communication Plates [Evolution of Security]

Image by Evan Roth

Images by fotopusch and dragonroy

As if we need another reason to love Southwest Airlines, Forbes just named Southwest America’s Most Reliable Airline.  Forbes points out that one would usually assume that the cheapest fare come with a price… but Southwest proves that low fares don’t have to mean poor service.  So not only are they the only airline that’s not charging you to breathe, they’ve risen to the top when it comes to quality service.  Forbes measured each airline based on delays, arrivals and of course, mishandled luggage complaints.  Over the last 5 years Southwest rose to the top with on-time flights more than 80% of the time and a low cancellation rate of 0.65%.  Congrats Southwest and keep it up!

Picture by GirlieErin

Well it seems as though Tumi is always doing their best to come up with new and exciting collections.  Believe it or not, luggage can be pretty exciting and I think Tumi has done just that with their introduction of the new T-Tech Adventure Collection.

One of Tumi’s newest is the T-Tech Adventure Collection.  T-Tech Adventure is full of bright colors and the name says it all with the adventurous styles and designs that went into this collection.  The entire collection is made from Tumi’s exclusive X-Tech fabric, which is extremely durable, abrasion resistant and soft to the touch! Oooohhh you might just have to get one of these new bags!

Tumi has even created a new informational website, designated to the T-Tech label only.  This website explains all of the collections under the T-Tech label.  The new outdoorsy yet urban look of T-Tech separates itself from the oh so modern classic iconic style of Tumi.  Judge for yourselves!

View the T-Tech Adventure Collection on Luggage Online.

The liquid ban got some attention recently when Virgin Airways called for a review of the carry-on limits, particularly concerning liquids.   At the time the Department of Transportation said it had no intentions of changing the restrictions stating “…a generic capability exists to create liquid bombs from domestic items.”

Not even a month later the TSA sings a different tune.  They’ve announced that they foresee the liquid restrictions to be more relaxed.  ” TSA Chief Kip Hawley says,

“I think realistically in one year we, the TSA and foreign colleagues, will be a position to relax liquids restrictions. We are within a year of having the ability to differentiate threat liquids through the screening process.”

The reason for the change of heart? A new X-ray machine that can detect explosives.  The machines are already in use, but the software that detects the bombs is still being tested.  With the new technology liquids will most likely still have to be removed first, but the limits on quantity may be relaxed in ‘09.  In the meantime? Get out your 1 qt baggies and 3oz bottles.

TSA Likely to Relax Liquid Ban in 2009 [MSN Travel]

Photo by msmail