Gettin’ Carried Away

Twitter has become the hottest marketing tool for companies all over the world. And one U.S. airline that is taking advantage of the “Twittersphere” is JetBlue.

JetBlue already had a Twitter account, but the company created a second profile called @jetbluecheeps in order to offer some sweet deals on airfare exclusively (sort of) to their followers on Twitter. I mean, in all reality, you could just e-mail the link to a friend. However, the general idea behind this marketing venture is pretty cool.

If you’re on Twitter, simply follow @jetbluecheeps and keep a look out for their “cheep” deals every Monday. One of their first deals included a $19 flight from New York’s JFK to Chicago O’Hare. But… there is a catch… or two or three:

• You can only purchase the flight that day (while supplies last) 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. EST.
• You must fly out on Saturday, one way only. It’s a last-minute “cheep” deal.
• There are only 25 - 50 seats available at the “cheep” price.

I have to say, this is a pretty neat idea. It got me to follow @jetbluecheeps, and I tuned in the last two Mondays to see the flights being offered. I’m hoping there’s a flight from Chicago soon… and I will have the time to just take off, on a whim. How about you?

After spending a delightful morning touring the city of Guadalajara, we headed to Tlaquepaque for lunch. Once we were seated, the server brought over what I called a “mini coatrack,” which was actually for ladies purses (there were three of us, after all). Baffled at this unique courtesy, I hung my bag on the rack and enjoyed a yummy lunch.

Fast forward to my last night in Mexico, dining at the lovely Cafe des Artistes in Puerto Vallarta. Again, once we were seated, a “mini coatrack” was placed near our table. Because I like to take photos of, well, everything, I just plopped my bag on the floor to keep my bulky Canon Rebel near to me (and off of the table). Carolina, our guide, told me I had to give her my purse because it’s back luck to leave it on the floor. Confused, I said, “Excuse me?” Carolina replied, “It’s bad luck. They say if you leave your purse on the floor, you’ll lose all your money.” Far be it for me to defy this superstition, especially since I’m always terrified of losing money, credit cards, my passport, etc…

Once I returned home, it was back to business. On my way to work, I listened to my favorite radio program, Drex In The Morning on 103.5 KISS FM. Drex’s witty sidekick Mel T brought up the topic of superstitions, saying that in her Mexican-American family, it was bad luck if you didn’t touch a child once you complimented him or her. For example, if you were to look at a baby and say, “Look at that gorgeous head of hair,” you would have to touch the child’s hair to show an absence of envy/jealousy. Because if the hair fell out, you’d be in big trouble.

This is very intriguing to me. Has anyone else come across cultural superstitions on your travels? I’d love to hear some more!

I’m so very sorry to keep you all waiting in the wings for another entry! You wouldn’t believe (or maybe you would) how busy I have been the past week or so. My schedule has been so hectic, I’ve been running from the first job to the second, and writing my butt off in between the day/night jobs for various travel publications.

I am sad to say that I have neglected my travel blog. I’m a little ashamed to admit that I lost sight of something very important to me… something that has allowed me to be a part of so much and to have such a crazy schedule in the first place. I am happy to say that I finally found time to get a haircut, as my last one was in November… egad!

Tomorrow, I leave for my first press trip. I won’t tell you where I’m going, as I promise to blog all about for the entire six days that I am gone. So stay tuned for a few posts about this mystery work trip. I promise you’ll be almost as excited as I am going to be!