West Coast Hotties

Kicked off Southwest Airlines? Bare it all in Playboy with Kyla Ebbert.

Southwest Airlines took a ton of publicity after Kyla Ebbert was kicked off the airline for what some day was "rude behavior" and what Kyla said was being "too pretty". 

After checking out her Playboy photos (lingerie & much less) - she shouldn't be kicked off any plane - private or public.   Her interview on the Today show did not do her the justice that Hef did.  Kyle is AMAZING.

Here are Kyla Ebbert's Playboy photos - she was just too damn hot to fly. 

Pwn Disneyland and Beat the Crowds

Just got back with the family from a full 10 hour day at Disneyland and spent most of the day finding the best ways to beat the Disneyland system.  Disneyland is an awesome place - a mecca for some - but can be a bit overwhelming to enjoy your day.  We came up with our top recommendations to beat the Disneyland system and pwn the park.

1. Get there early.  The park opened at 10am, and lines were long to get in by 9:30am.  The earlier you get there - the more rides you can enjoy.  Upon entering the park - use the Disneyland train or a brisk walk to ride the most popular rides such as Splash Mountain and Nemo's Submarine Adventure.  You'll also get a sweet parking space outside the parking structure.  Parking currently costs $11 everywhere.
2. Use your FastPass.  What is a FastPass?  A FastPass allows you to "reserve" a time for a popular ride.  It gives you a window of time that you can use a fast line (no standing usually) to almost walk on the ride.  There are currently a very limited set of rides that allow the FastPass.  Also note - the FastPass catch is that you can only get one -- at the actual ride.  Once you get the FastPass - there's a 1+ hour time until you can fast-board the ride by skipping the line.  FastPass current ride list at Disneyland:

• Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
• Haunted Mansion Holiday
• Indiana Jones Adventure
• Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
• Space Mountain
• Splash Mountain

3.)  Enjoy the shows.  The sun can be hot - especially in the summer.  Most of the shows are great for kids to relax and provide some much needed shade.  Many of the shows are now also interactive where kids can dance with the characters.
4.)  Use time to your advantage.  Think about when other people won't be on the best rides such as:

• When the park has first opened.
• During prime lunch (11am - 1pm)
• During the highly overrated Main Street parade.
• During dinner (5-7pm)

Target these times to ride the most popular rides (see Fastpass above as your guide).

5.)  If you want to eat in a nicer restaurant (there are several in the New Orleans area) - make reservations BY PHONE way in advance.  They accept reservations 60 days in advance for many restaurants.  A wide variety of web guides misquote these rules that you must be in the park to reserve.  The most popular (and upscale) is Blue Bayou next to Pirates of the Carribean.  Call 714-781-DINE (3463) for all Disney park restaurants.

6.)  If you've got kids - Family Switch rocks.  Let's say you have a 5 year old and a 3 year old.  You ride with the 5 year old, while your spouse holds the 3 year old at the entrance.  After you ride, your spouse takes the 5 year old to ride again (no line waiting!) and you hold the 3 year old.  Happy kids and double rides for your older child.  You need to specially ask the staff for this benefit. 

7.)  Bring food.  Granola bars, power bars, fruit, Clif bars, bottled water, etc.  Food costs a fortune at the park and is mediocre at best.  If all your food is at their mercy - hold onto your wallet. 

8.)  Bring sunblock.  It costs over $9 at the stores and you'll need it.

9.)  Bring a small digital camera.  Photos of kids (or you) with Disney characters can be awesome.  You can also buy photos for $13 each from the park staff if your Donald Trump or want to draw on your home equity loan.

10.)  Use a lanyard and sleeve to carry your ticket.  Every time you get a Fast Pass - you'll need that ticket's bar code.  Otherwise - no Fast Passes.  Buy a traveling lanyard (shoelace?) and sleeve for traveling (credit card size) prior to arriving.  It'll cost you $9 for a souvenir version at the park.

Have a great trip and go easy on the drinking.   You just pwn'd Disneyland.

Disneyland and all related terms used within this review are a registered trademark of Disney Corporation.

Southwest Airlines - No more standing in line....!!!

After years of standing - holding my suitcase in Southwest Airlines flight lines -- the world has changed.

Southwest Airlines will be now not just giving you a boarding pass with a "letter" -- the boarding pass will now have a number too.  The airline will call groups by sets of numbers  -- making it no longer necessary to stand in line endlessly.  Having watched movies on the floor  - from San Francisco's SFO Airport to Houston's Hobby -- this is a welcome change.

You heard it here - no more "letter" lines for Southwest.  The program is piloting in San Antonio, but will rollout nationwide within months.

World's Most Expensive Hotel Parking?

  San Francisco was featured in a study of the world's most expensive hotel parking.   With 60% of City hotels charging for parking -- the Westin Saint Francis stands above the rest with a whopping $63 per day for parking -- plus tips to the valet to make sure everything goes smoothly. 

With $63 buying a whole hotel room - with parking - in many outlying areas of the United States, I think we'll save our money for a limousine. 

AlaNO Rent-A-Car: Dude, Where's my Car?

Renting a car with Alamo can be an adventure.   But it's supposed to lead to family fun and summer vacation adventures -- not  a bad taste in your mouth.  Recently, our editorial team tried a car rental at Alamo's Seattle (SeaTac) airport rental office. 

Everything was going fine, until we went to go get the car from the rental lot.  Ok, mostly fine - except for being asked to initial 25 times to decline insurance.  I've signed less times to get a home mortgage.

1. Walk to rental car lot - look for car in designated space.  No car in designated space.
2. Ask for help from rental car parking lot staff - they speak no English.  Referred to the English speaking worker.
3. English-speaking worker asks for license plate number - he will search for the rental car (we've already tried this).  He gives up 10 minutes later.   The only winner in this story - he calls the manager to help so we don't have to round-trip walk again with our luggage back to the rental car desk.
4. We wait another 10 minutes (elapsed time 20+ minutes thus far) - no manager arrives.
5. We walk back to the surly Alamo rental car teens - who grudglingly provide us a replacement (worse) car.
6. We return to the rental car parking lot - where the manager has finally shown up.  His English is broken- but he admits there have been a number of "lost car" incidents today. 

Beyond the hassle and inconvenience of dealing with this ridiculous fiasco -- we wonder:

Does Alamo know where there cars are?  Based on this experience - we really can't recommend Alamo any longer unless you are really desperate for a cheap price.

Totally Free San Francisco Refrigerator Magnet

We want to thank our loyal readers with a (very) small gift.  If you would like one of our logo magnets for SFTravel and San Francisco Underground Travel -- you can get one totally free by just sending a (must be) stamped envelope to us. Check it out here:

San Francisco's Most Expensive Hotel - Why?

The Four Seasons hotel is San Francisco's most expensive hotel.  Is it the most luxurious?  Do you really get what you pay for at the San Francisco Four Seasons?

As you walk into the hotel's lobby (if you can make it past security) - you realize this is no Holiday Inn.  The beautiful art and luxurious furniture says - this is the place.  The building is new, gleaming, and beautiful - and also houses $$$ private condos. 

You can expect to pay a median price in May 2007 of around $600 before tax per night.  Visitors comment on "fantastic service" and "gorgeous" rooms.  Everything is not included for your $600 however.  Expect to pay extra for internet service and other add-on items like any hotel.  Restaurant and room service is also excellent and the room style is renowned.  Fitness club privileges are great, but the fitness center is outside the hotel and may not have the same world-class service.

In general - if you've got the cash - visitors are very impressed with the Four Seasons in San Francisco.  It's hard to imagine spend $600 on one night at a hotel - but customers do leave satisfied. 

In our next post - we'll check out one of San Francisco's CHEAPEST hotels - and see how it compares. 

Deals on San Francisco Hotel Reservations

Our readers are always seeking the best deals in hotel reservations for San Francisco.  With our research into the subject, we've been asked to review HotelReservations.com (this is a sponsored review of the site).  That said - we're always ready to provide a little "helpful criticism" of almost any site.

HotelReservations is a fairly typical discount engine for searching hotels and booking discounted rates.  Not surprisingly, it also lets you book car rentals and airline tickets - just like big sites such as Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity (our partner), and many others.  The site drives readers to the Hotels.com engine, which is one of the larger and more popular booking engines for hotels.  The website's interface is relatively clean and delivers search results quickly.

In the end - these type of sites provide functionality - but without unique content.  By linking into large booking engines as affiliates to drive in traffic - they organize info that you can find elsewhere.  We generally prefer sites that provide unique content and web 2.0 community features for submitting reviews. 

If you want a clean interface and an easy-to-remember name - it's a good site to book a cheap hotel quickly.  Many of the discounted reservations on the site are prepaid with cancellation fees as is becoming sadly increasingly common in the industry. 

If you've got to rent a car - do it right.

Although we're known for controversial stances on NOT renting a car when visiting San Francisco - we've compiled a ton of tips to make it cheaper and easier to rent a car if you've got reason to do so.  Parking in San Francisco is a huge pain in the ass, but you need a car to get to some of the cool places like the wine country.  Personally, we prefer pimping out in a limo, but that's only for our special events. 

Check out - Tips, Tricks and Lessons to Rent a Car in San Francisco...

San Francisco Public Transit Tips - Travel Like a Local...

  Our guest writer Yuri, gives some humorous tips on how to travel in San Francisco as a visitor, local, or to act like a local.  Check out our new & improved guide to San Francisco public transit with links to all of the primary public transit systems around the Bay Area.

From wildly crowded buses to BART trains to the 'burbs -- Yuri mixes humor and key facts to make your trip go a little smoother.  Check it out and let us know what you think...