New Nonstop Flights

By Brad Tuttle
November 10, 2006
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Newhouse Design
Forget connecting flights and long layovers: Mainstream and low-fare airlines alike have introduced dozens of new nonstops--like these tempting routes.

1. Air Greenland BWI (Baltimore/Washington)-Greenland, $1,094*

2. ATA Ontario, Calif.-Honolulu, $262

3. ATA Oakland-Hilo, $262

4. Continental Newark-Cologne, Germany, $390

5. Delta Atlanta-Venice, $702

6. Delta JFK-Mumbai, $1,230

7. Emirates JFK-Hamburg, $346

8. Etihad Airways JFK-Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, $956

9. EuroFly JFK-Bologna, Italy, $429

10. Flyglobespan Boston-Glasgow, $509 w/taxes*

11. Flyglobespan Orlando/Sanford-Belfast, $535 w/taxes

12. Flyglobespan Orlando/Sanford-Glasgow, $498 w/taxes

13. Frontier Denver-Guadalajara, $198

14. JetBlue JFK-Aruba, $258

15. JetBlue JFK-Bermuda, $198

16. Jetstar Honolulu-Sydney, $620

17. MAXjet Las Vegas-London, $1,398 (in business class)

18. North American Airlines JFK-Accra, Ghana, $986

19. North American Airlines JFK-Lagos, Nigeria, $960

20. Oasis Hong Kong Airlines London-Hong Kong, $278

21. South African Airways Washington/Dulles-Johannesburg, $1,050

22. Spirit Fort Lauderdale-Grand Cayman, $138

23. TAM Airlines Miami-Manaus, Brazil, $978 w/taxes

24. Zoom Toronto-Cardiff, Wales, $317*

25. Zoom Vancouver-Glasgow, $441

All flight prices are based on round trip and, unless noted, don't include taxes and surcharges. The fares listed are the lowest we've seen--but as always with airlines, rates change depending on availability and season. While most of the new routes have daily departures, some fly only a few times a week.

*Flight beginning Spring 2007

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Blissing Out in Ojai

Every town chooses something to be proud of, and in Ojai, it's the sunsets. Pride is an understatement; sunsets are such a ceremony that locals have a name--"The Pink Moment"--to describe when the tips of the Topa Topa mountains take on the shade of cotton candy. There's even a preferred perch from which to watch: Meditation Mount, a new age center devoted to the power of meditation, on the eastern side of town. Ojai (oh-high), which means "moon" in the language of the Native American Chumash tribe, is in a valley that would be carpeted in subdivisions if it were anywhere else in southern California. But the 7,800 residents take its preservation very seriously, and save for a Carrows restaurant, you'll be hard-pressed to find a chain business. Even the fast food is local. Past Meditation Mount, out toward the town of Santa Paula, is The Summit, an old-fashioned roadside stand. Thin hamburgers come doused in a Thousand-Islandy sauce, and cherry milkshakes are made with fresh, juicy fruit. The biggest shop on Ojai Avenue, the main drag, is a family-owned department store called Rains. It has been around for 130 years--eons by southern California standards--and for the last 90, it's been in the hands of three generations of the Rains family. At the checkout, a salesperson points to Alan Rains himself, who is fluffing a display of oven mitts. Ojai has long attracted artists, with the most famous being deceased potter Beatrice Wood, and hotels and restaurants make a point showing local artists' work. The dozen rooms at the mission-style Blue Iguana Inn are like mini-galleries, with works for sale on the walls. Azu, a tapas bar and gelateria, decorates its back room with photos you can purchase; Movino Wine Bar & Gallery sells artwork and a nice selection of area Viogniers by the glass. This is a spa town, and The Oaks at Ojai offers treatments and fitness classes to day visitors, in addition to hosting overnight guests. (Rooms start at $175 a night per person.) When asked to focus on a single area and go deeper, a massage therapist is likely to breathe in, nod knowingly, and say something like, "That's cool--it simply requires some flexibility on our part, which is always a good thing." Perhaps because the surrounding Los Padres National Forest serves as a constant reminder, locals clearly believe that nature is to be respected. At Bart's Books, a new and used bookstore, thousands of rare books are shielded only by corrugated plastic. The branches of an enormous grapefruit tree peek through the makeshift roof, their fruit just out of reach. By the register, browsers are invited to help themselves to complimentary coffee, and then use free Wi-Fi at one of the picnic tables. On any given day, people pass the hours at Ojai Coffee Roasting Co., chatting about Reiki and poring over books like The Experience of Nothingness. A few nights a week, they're enveloped by the warm aroma of the roaster as it begins work on a fresh batch of beans. But it's not all new age nirvana. At one table, several locals excitedly compare notes on how much their real estate values have risen in the last few years. Lodging Blue Iguana Inn 11794 N. Ventura Ave., 805/646-5277, blueiguanainn.com, from $99 Food The Summit 12689 Santa Paula-Ojai Rd., 805/933-9898, burger $3.50 Azu 457 E. Ojai Ave., 805/640-7987, tapas from $5 Movino 308 E. Ojai Ave., 805/646-1555 Ojai Coffee Roasting Co. 337 E. Ojai Ave., 805/646-4478 Activities Meditation Mount 10340 Reeves Rd., 805/646-5508 The Oaks at Ojai 122 E. Ojai Ave., 800/753-6257, oaksspa.com, massage $75 Los Padres National Forest 17017 Maricopa Hwy., 805/640-9060 Shopping Rains 218 E. Ojai Ave., 805/646-1441 Bart's Books 302 W. Matilija St., 805/646-3755

This Just In!

We recently expressed our disappointment with low-cost carrier JetBlue for shifting its policy and joining the growing number of airlines who charge customers for heavy baggage. In a gesture of holiday cheer, JetBlue is temporarily waiving its fees for baggage weighing up to 60 pounds (normally there's a $20 charge for bags weighing 51-60 pounds). Now through Jan. 3, you can lug 10 more pounds aboard for free--perfect for bringing home all those presents! If you're thinking of buying an annual national parks pass, act fast--by Dec. 31--and you'll save $15-$30. The current system offers two passes: the $50 National Parks Pass and the $65 Golden Eagle Passport, which covers parks and federal lands. These passes will be honored through 2007, but will no longer be sold as of Jan. 1. With the new year comes one new congressionally mandated pass, America the Beautiful, which costs $80 for admission to national parks and federal lands. National Parks Pass (888/467-2757, nationalparks.org); Golden Eagle (877/465-2727, natlforests.org). The Institute of Contemporary Art has a new spiffy building on Boston's waterfront and four inaugural exhibitions, including works by James Turrell, and Julie Mehretu and a giant mural by Japanese artist Chiho Aoshima (icaboston.org, $12). The Pacific Aviation Museum, housed in a World War II-era hangar in Hawaii, opened on Dec. 7, the 65th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor (pacificaviationmuseum.org, $14). The National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Mo., officially opens December 2. The exhibit space was built below Liberty Memorial, dedicated in 1926 to the memory of those who served in the Great War (libertymemorialmuseum.org, $4). Skiers who book a four-day lodging package at Telluride, in Colorado, can now earn one Continental or Delta frequent-flier mile for every 100 vertical feet they ski. Guests are given GPS armbands to track their progress (tellurideskiresort.com) In February, all shops, museums, airports, and train stations in France will be smoke-free. The laws are slated to cover restaurants, bars, and hotels by January 2008 New York's Grand Central Terminal (right) is ringing in the holidays all December with a free, seven-minute light-and-music show in the main concourse; it occurs daily on the hour and half hour from 11 A.M. to 9 P.M. January is "Dine About Town" month in San Francisco. More than 100 restaurants will offer three-course meals to Visa cardholders for $21.95 at lunch and $31.95 at dinner (onlyinsanfrancisco.com) From November 24 to December 17, fans of The Polar Express can ride on the train used in the movie. The four-hour journey takes passengers from the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso, Mich., to the "North Pole" at the Saginaw County Fairgrounds, where there are rides and games (mstrp.com, $60, $30 kids) The Conran Group expanded to Copenhagen this fall with the opening of the Custom House, a collection of restaurants and bars housed in a renovated ferry terminal overlooking the harbor (customhouse.dk) Purchase a 6-, 8-, or 10-day Eurail Selectpass at railpass.com or raileurope.com by December 31 and you'll get one extra day free A new service from Hyatt allows Gold Passport members to have friends or family record personalized wake-up calls (hyattwakeup.com) AirTran has introduced a Bill Me Later option so that passengers can book flights and make no payments for 90 days, no credit card required An instant-messaging system is being tested by Orbitz: When there's an error message or trouble processing a credit card, a window pops up giving you the option of chatting with a customer-service rep Next summer, Carnival Cruise Lines will introduce an on-deck play area called Water Wars, in which participating passengers soak each other from "battle stations" equipped with waterballoon launchers Delta has ended its interline agreement with rival AirTran, meaning that neither will accept passengers the other carrier leaves stranded. And if you're connecting from one airline to the other, they won't check your bags through to your final destination; instead, you must pick luggage up in baggage claim and recheck it Italy is considering allowing towns to assess a $6.30 per-night tax on visitors, so long as the money is spent on tourism infrastructure. The new online concierge program from InterContinental Hotels includes interactive maps that display recommendations for a perfect day in the destination, as well as a section for guests to ask the concierge questions.

Eat Like a Local: Barcelona

Caelum The confections sold at this candlelit café are baked by Spanish nuns. Many of their creations--flaky almond 'moons' and honey-soaked tuiles with sesame seeds--are on display in the corner picture window. c/de la Palla 8, Barri Gòtic, 011-34/93-302-6993, from $2 Tapioles 53 Australia native Sarah Stothart's almost-two-year-old labor of love is small (just six tables), secret (no sign), and exclusive (dinner only, one seating per night). Expect Stothart, the former personal chef of Rupert Murdoch, to describe each of the day's Mediterranean- and Asian-inspired dishes in great detail tableside. c/Tapioles 53, Poble Sec, 011-34/93-329-2238, closed Sun. and Mon., three courses from $36 Can Majó Catalans put their own spin on paella. Called fideuá, their variation is made with vermicelli noodles instead of rice. The place to get it is at this 40-year-old family-run beachfront restaurant. Order the "regular" with shrimp and mussels, or a fishier variety cooked in squid ink. c/Almirall Aixada 23, La Barceloneta, 011-34/93-221-5818, $18 Gresca The menú del día is a great way to sample Chef Rafael Peña's culinary genius, which he honed under the tutelage of Spain's culinary god, Ferran Adrià. The prix fixe lunch starts with a Parmesan-walnut crisp, best complemented by a glass of cava, Spain's sparkling wine. Menu items change weekly but could include house-marinated anchovies and tender beef cheeks braised in rioja wine. c/Provença 230, L'Eixample, 011-34/93-451-6193, $23 Inopia In just a few short months, the humble tapas bar opened by Albert Adrià (brother of the aforementioned Ferran Adrià) has become white-hot. It's standing room only, but you'll feel like part of the club, surrounded by hipsters sharing plates of patatas bravas (home fries in hot sauce and aioli) and garlic chicken wings. c/Tamarit 104, Sant Antoni, 011-34/93-424-5231, tapas from $2 Cuines Santa Caterina The soaring space has an open kitchen, chunky wood tables, and a tapas bar where specials are scrawled on chalkboards. Locals crowd in at lunchtime for tempura, curry, and terrific vegetarian dishes like grilled asparagus with a zippy romesco sauce. Mercado de Santa Caterina, Avinguda Francesc Cambó 17, La Ribera, 011-34/93-268-9918, entrées from $6 Tomo II Teresa Vázquez de la Cueva's ice-cream shop in El Born--the original location is in Gracia--is anchored by a circular high-tech freezer that keeps her ice creams and sorbets at an ideal -10 degrees Fahrenheit. She makes them by hand, so there's always a fresh batch. c/Argenteria 61, El Born, 011-34/93-319-7739 (and c/Vic 2, Gracia), from $1.30

A Lesson in Tequila Appreciation

Tequila may be a favorite of indiscriminating spring breakers, but its intricate, varied flavors rival those of wine or sake. In the Mexican state of Jalisco, tequila's home turf, the CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort grows its own blue agave to ferment its tequila. Now the resort has launched a three-night "Secretos de la Familia" program of tastings. The tequila sommelier pours samples of tequila blanco, tequila reposado, and tequila anejo, and explains the drink's legends as well as the latest processing technologies. Participants receive a bottle of tequila and can take a daylong tour of local distilleries for $120 per person. Near the colonial town of Puerto Vallarta, the CasaMagna is surrounded by the Sierra Madre mountains and Banderas Bay. Its 433 rooms each come with a private balcony, and the grounds include tennis courts, an oceanfront infinity pool, restaurants, and a health club. There are complimentary cigar-rolling demonstrations nightly. The package is available through December 16, starting at $222 per room per night, based on single or double occupancy, with daily buffet breakfast included. Hotel taxes are an additional 17 percent. The booking code is WITG; 888/727-2347, casamagnapuertovallarta.com. Related Stories:   Etiquette: Toasts and Drinking Styles around the World   Splurges: What Cocktails to Drink and Where   Cancun's post-Hurricane Wilma Face-Lift   The Easy, Breezy Riviera Maya   Discount Airlines in Mexico