Jetsettersblog

The Hertz Corporation and Navigation Solutions, developer of Hertz NeverLost, have introduced Explore and Special Events features that provide real-time content on places to go, things to do and where to eat. The Explore and Special Events upgrades to NeverLost allow travelers to choose things to do, places to see, and trendy restaurants to enjoy, all specifically chosen and delivered wirelessly to NeverLost in the top 20 urban markets across America.

The Explore city feature, which will be available in 20 select markets by year end, appears on the opening screen of Hertz NeverLost. Content for each Explore city is automatically delivered wirelessly to NeverLost and remains accessible on the device throughout the traveler’s trip. They offer must-see destinations, what’s outside the city, new and trendy restaurants, national parks and local events.

For sports enthusiasts and convention attendees, Navigation Solutions delivers event-specific content, which is transmitted wirelessly, to the NeverLost Special Events. For more information, visit www.hertz.com

JetBlue Airways has begun four weekly nonstop flights to Liberia, in Costa Rica’s rich Guanacaste region, from New York’s JFK Airport. To celebrate, the airline is also offering an inaugural fare of $119 if booked by Dec. 1 for travel through Feb. 15. This week, the airline also began service to La Romana, Dominican Republic, and launched Westchester County, New York’s only international flight to Nassau, Bahamas. For more information, visit www.jetblue.com

American Eagle Airlines is reinstating nonstop service from San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU) to Bridgetown, Barbados (BGI). Flights have started operating with departures on Friday and Sunday. The return of American Eagle’s nonstop flight from San Juan also opens up several new gateways including Chicago O’Hare, Boston Logan, Baltimore Washington International, Denver International and Hartford, allowing for more direct connection times. Additionally, the existing American Airlines nonstop flight from New York’s JFK to Bridgetown will operate seven days a week just in time for the island’s high season. For more information, visit www.aa.com

The Loden Hotel in Vancouver, B.C. is offering shopping-and-stay packages featuring a shopping extravaganza in Vancouver’s Gastown shopping district. Packages start at $199 and included a visitors savings pass offering discounts and exclusive VIP treatment in selected Gastown boutiques, a map of the shops’ locations, a $25 food and beverage credit for Tableau Bar Bistro, drop-off in the Loden’s private cab, valet parking, complimentary Wi-Fi, and a keepsake shopping bag. The package is valid through Dec. 30, 2011. For more information, visit www.theloden.com

United Continental Holdings, Inc. announced that the first Continental Airlines aircraft with Economy Plus will enter service Nov. 19, offering Continental customers four inches of extra legroom in the forward rows of the Economy cabin.

The aircraft, a Boeing 767-400, will also feature new flat-bed seats in BusinessFirst and new touchscreen seat-back monitors in Economy. In addition, the aircraft will be the first in the Continental fleet to feature the popular Channel 9 air traffic control communications. Customers in both cabins also will have advanced audio/video on demand and in-seat power outlets. United introduced Economy Plus in 1999. Today, the airline offers the extra-legroom seating on all mainline aircraft and more than 150 larger United Express regional jets. For more information, visit www.continental.com

Alaska Airlines has launched its second Hawaii market from San Diego with a new daily nonstop flight to Honolulu, on the island of Oahu. The service complements the airline’s existing daily nonstop flight between San Diego and Kahului, Maui, which started in October 2010. For more information, visit www.alaskaair.com

Finnair is now offering low roundtrip fares to some holiday hot spots in Europe from JFK International Airport. Finnair’s Winter Fares start at $579, from New York to Moscow, and are valid for travel from Jan. 1 to Feb. 28, 2012. Finnair flies the shorter northern route via Helsinki, offering passengers comfortable flights, convenient schedules, excellent service, and an extensive European route network. For more information, visit www.finnair.com

SkyTeam has accepted Xiamen Airlines into the alliance. Based in Xiamen, a coastal city in East China’s Fujian province, Xiamen Airlines operates a network of domestic and regional services throughout China and Asia, predominantly from the hub airports of Xiamen, Fuzhou and Hangzhou. Fujian is one of the more prosperous provinces in China with diverse industries such as clothing, tea production and electronics. Tourism has seen very strong growth and is one of the highlights in the region’s economy. Xiamen is China’s sixth-largest airline. For more information, visit www.skyteam.com or www.xiamenair.com.cn (currently Chinese only).

Southwest Airlines said that production will begin this week on a new series giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at modern air travel, sharing the large-scale operations and personal customer and employee stories at Southwest Airlines. The series will air on TLC, and the network has ordered 13 half-hour episodes, which are being produced by ITV Studios America. A title and premiere date have not yet been set.

From ramp agents and customer service agents to flight attendants and pilots, to provisioning agents and mechanics, viewers will see aspects of Southwest that have never been profiled in the past.

Production begins this weekend at Baltimore/Washington International Airport and Denver International Airport. Creative Artists Agency (CAA), the world’s leading entertainment and sports agency, brokered the deal on behalf of Southwest Airlines. For more information, visit www.southwest.com.

During the damper autumn months when the ground is still warm from the long Italian summer, fungi and truffles are among the abundant harvests being cropped in Tuscany and Umbria.

Guests staying at Borgo San Biagio, a magnificent and lovingly renovated hamlet 55km from Perugia, are invited to take part in truffle hunting on a local estate, and witness truffle-hunting dogs search out these highly-prized tubers. A mornings truffle hunt in the wooded countryside can be rewarded with a truffle tasting lunch with local wines. Parties of 10, 16 or 20 can enjoy the hamlet’s extensive lawned grounds and communal reception areas, formed from the original chapel and outbuildings, from £217pp, based on 20 sharing. Borgo San Biagios individual private houses, set metres from each other, sleep from two to four guests and include a four storey medieval tower for two with a roof-top terrace and hot tub, each retaining the hamlet’s original rustic stone features.

A weeks rental costs £2530 for 10 guests, £3600 for 16 guests and £4340 for 20 guests.
CV Travel, 020 7401 1039, www.cvtravel.co.uk

Olive harvesting in Provence, £570pp

Join local harvesters raking ripe olives from gnarled olive trees on a 25 acre estate in southernProvence, France. Those staying at the majestic country house `Notre Dame du Val’ in late November will have the opportunity to join in the harvest at their leisure, rake olives from the trees into the nets around the base, join harvesters for soup and sandwiches and learn about how the olive oil is processed. The estate produces some of the highest quality olive oil in the region, with the coveted AOC Aix-en-Provence accreditation, and guests participating in the harvest will be given a five litre container of olive oil to take home.

Notre Dame du Val is set in 25 acres of formal gardens, orchards, olive groves and woodland and when not joining the harvesters, up to fourteen guests can relax in its expansive and grand, majestically furnished accommodation, with grounds that includes a heated private pool, tennis court and gym in the orangery.

Rental is currently reduced from £9785 / week (14 sharing) to £7985 / week (saving £1800), equivalent to £571 per person, and is available through CV Travel, 020 7401 1044, www.cvtravel.co.uk

Harvest at home, hunt, gather and forage

Herefordshire is brimming with food producers and guests staying at The Court, a stately htrome set in fifteen acres of formal gardens and natural meadows near Hereford, can take part in apple picking in local orchards, visit cheese making farms and take part in a wine-discovery tour of local award winning vineyards. A weekend house party `food forage’ can be arranged at the stunning house sleeping up to 20 people until late November, organised by renowned chef Matt Tebutt and his forager Raoul. Guests would join a walk through the estate and the countryside to find fungi and foliage, returning to The Court to learn about how to prepare and cook the naturally found produce. For a more manly take on a weekend in the country, The Court will also organise `hunter / gatherer weekends, which combine shooting, fishing, foraging and cooking.

A weekend stay at The Court costs £2785 for for a party of 12. A weeks stay for 12 costs £6000, or £6500 for up to 16 people or £7500 for up to 20 people. The food foraging and hunter / gatherer experience is on request and payable locally, and can be organised upon booking through CV Travel, 020 7401 1086, www.cvtravel.co.uk