Travel news: Inflight family seating, invasion of the “me tourist” and more

Family seating on Thomson Airways

Beware the pod people
Thomson Airways, the U.K.’s third largest carrier, is considering an unusual configuration for the new fleet of 47 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft it has on order. According to The Guardian, the airline is considering family style seating that will seat parents and children face-to-face around a table. Also under consideration are “couples pods” featuring a table for champagne and mood lighting. We wonder if leveraging your kids as an excuse to swap your middle seat for a window may no longer be an option.

Social butterflies
According to FOX news, social media is turning us all into “me” tourists. The article makes the shrewd point that travelers are missing out on new experiences because they’re so focused on checking in on Facebook and taking selfies in front of monuments. Maybe we should all take a cue from that tour bus of retirees and unplug a bit.

Haughty-toighty
In what might be the most important news story of the week, the results of Travel & Leisure‘s America’s Favorite Places survey are in and its rankings include the nation’s snobbiest cities. Topping the list, according to T&L readers, is New York City, Miami is #2, Los Angeles. came in third, Washington D.C. ranked #4 and rounding out the top five is Boston. Why do we get the feeling San Francisco is outraged over not making the top five?

Track record
The dream of a United States connected by high-speed rail might still be a ways off, but the romance of rail travel is alive and well. According to CNN, Amtrak has seen a 51% increase in ridership between 2001 and 2013 and between October 2012 and September 2013 the rail line experienced almost 31.6 million passengers—the largest number in its history.

Truth in advertising
According to the UK’s Daily Mail, nearly 700,000 people have viewed a weirdly awkward promotional video created by Thorne Travel, an agency based in Kilwinning, Scotland, that features a gaggle of travel agents strutting around town handing out travel gifts to locals and is meant to parody a similar video from Virgin Airlines. The agency says their bookings are up 110% as a result. We admit the film does make us want to travel—but the jury’s still out on Kilwinning, Scotland.

Tagged: Europe, Florida, New York