Do you turn your cell phone off on planes?

These days, designer collaborations are about as common as airline fees and security-line controversies—and even hotels have started getting into the game. The Standard Hotel group was an early proponent of the synergistic approach—launching a line of Quiksilver swim trunks and bikinis in 2009, which were dispensed from vending machines at the hotel chain's four properties. The Standard's next addition: white leather headphones, created with fashion and lifestyle brand WeSC, coming soon. Another product hot off the workshop floor is the limited-edition Converse All-Star designed exclusively for the Ace Hotel. The military-inspired olive-and-brown high-tops launched early this month, and sell for $100 on the hotel's website. (NB: They appear to have already sold out of all but the smallest sizes, so those with petite feet should hop to it if they're interested and may already be out of luck.) Of course, no hotel so far has outdone Brussels' new Pantone Hotel (featured in our November 2010 "Best New Boutique Hotels Under $150" story), a seven-story monument to the namesake company's color-matching system. Its gift shop sells one of the largest ranges of Pantone product out there, from cufflinks to coffee mugs and even cruiser bikes, all themed around the company's ubiquitous color-standardization services. Personally, I'd be psyched to see something smaller and more collectible come onto the scene—a well-designed toothbrush, perhaps, or some really great earplugs. What about you? Would you ever spring for a souvenir from a high-profile (or simply high-style) hotel? [via Refinery29 and Luxist]

Over the last couple of decades, the number of passengers boarding short-haul flights has been on a steep, steady decline in the U.S. Now why might that be? The Dallas Morning-News reported that the number of passengers flying Southwest between Dallas and Houston has dropped by one-third in the last two decades. Nationwide, short-haul flights account for a much smaller percentage of passengers than they used to: In 1990, people flying on short-haul routes, 400 miles or less, made up nearly 34 percent of domestic passengers on U.S. airlines. In 2009, the last year for which full numbers are available, the percentage had dropped to 26.6 percent. The reasons for the decline seem pretty obvious: The costs of these shorter flights have increased, as have the hassles of flying pretty much anywhere. This will come as no surprise to the many readers who said they were absolutely less likely to fly in 2011. The kind of flight travelers are most likely to skip nowadays is the short-haul variety. Why is that? Because there are readily available alternatives with fewer headaches -- namely driving, or hopping a train or bus (especially a nice one like BoltBus). What with two-hour advance check-in requirements and long checkpoint waits (not to mention security procedures many travelers deem demeaning), flying no longer has the time-saving advantage it once boasted unless the traveler needs to go a long distance. This is why almost no one today is bothering to fly on once-popular short-haul routes such as Albany-LaGuardia or Boston-Bangor. Increasingly, when travelers feel like there's an alternative to flying, they're taking it. This goes even for short-haul flights between some of the country's biggest cities. Using government data, the Morning-News story shows that the number of passengers flying routes such as LAX-Phoenix, Boston-LaGuardia, and St. Louis-Kansas City have dropped by more than 40 percent since 1990. There's no reason to think that passenger numbers on such routes will increase anytime soon. It's getting to the point that we may have to redefine a "short-haul" flight as anything under 750 miles each way. And a flight that's under 250 miles? Well, that's almost unthinkable. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: Are you less likely to fly in 2011? More airports consider ditching TSA It's a new day for flier's rights: We're human beings, not just cargo!

As winter weather snarls more and more travel plans, passengers separate into a few camps: Those who proactively rebook before a flight is officially cancelled, those who rebook as soon as a flight is called off, and those who roll the dice, waiting for other cancellations to open up a short-notice seat. When my mom was stranded in New York during last month's blizzard, she opted for the latter strategy, which worked for her in that particular instance. Her original flight was for Tuesday morning, and when it was cancelled, the airline rep quoted a Thursday-night departure as her earliest rebooking option. With a strong college-football-playoff-related reason to hustle home, she rode the phones, hoping to get lucky, and scored a seat on a Wednesday afternoon flight. But things could have easily gone another way—and not everyone wants to spend hours on hold waiting for customer service to pick up. We want to know your tried-and-true snowy-travel strategies (or lessons learned the hard way)—post them in the comments below, and check out our guide to your rights to cancellation compensation.

I'm normally an enthusiastic advocate of smart phone technology as an aid to travelers, but a recent glitch in iPhone software is giving me pause. Countless iPhone alarm clocks failed to go off on Sunday and Monday mornings, thwarting travelers' plans, as reported in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. According to the Times: "Erick Piller, a student who uses his iPhone as a primary alarm, said in an e-mail that he missed a scheduled flight [Monday] morning after Apple assured the media that the alarm would begin work again on Monday morning. 'I set a nonrepeating alarm for 3:30 a.m. Monday, but when I woke up by chance at 4 a.m., it hadn't gone off," Mr. Piller said. "I ended up missing a flight by 15 minutes." I, myself was a victim of snoozefest2011, and almost missed an early morning flight out of Palm Springs on Sunday morning. My husband had diligently set two iPhone alarms for 4:30am (a 3G and a 3GS), neither of which went off. (We randomly woke up at 5am, thanks to our toddler, and just barely made our flight.) I rushed to blame my poor husband, but the blame lies with Apple, which experienced a similar problem with iPhone 4 during Daylight Savings Time. Apparently, Apple is on the case, but bloggers around the globe were quick to devise workarounds. One quick solution, shared via Twitter (check the hashtag #iphonealarm), was to set a recurring alarm, as opposed to a one-off, non-repeating alert. That fix seemed to work for many—and as of this morning, reports are showing that alarms are again ringing—but for this particular technophile, I'm leaning toward regressing to old-school technology from now on: a trusty, old-school, properly ringing clock. Blackberry vs. Iphone: Budget Travel puts two smart phones to the test Readers' favorite apps What worries you when you travel? Help us identify the coolest small town in America! Vote now!