Viewing by month: October 2008
Visit Iceland for half price.
If last week's financial news has you reeling, be thankful that you're not an Icelander. When Iceland's three leading banks were unable to refinance their existing debt, the government had to step in and take them over. As a result, the local currency has lost nearly half its value, and the life savings of many Icelanders is in jeopardy.
The Swedes have pitched in $702 million, and the government of Iceland has asked Russia for a €4 billion loan to help stabilize the economy. Although a full recovery is likely years away.
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Armchair travels for trying times.
There are bear markets and then there are polar-bears-are-so-desperate-they're-resorting-to-cannibalism markets. And writing a travel blog during one of the latter is a challenge.
At this time, it's unclear whether anyone can really afford to go anywhere. And chances are, those who can aren't turning to a blog, for advice.
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Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) $19.28 promo bombs.
LHW learned the hard way today that if the spirit is willing, the technology better not be weak.
As we said in our post on Sunday, LHW was offering a limited number of rooms on a first-come, first-served basis for just $19.28. Those who wanted to participate were instructed to pre-register at an LHW microsite and then revisit the web site on October 1 at 8AM ET.
It didn't take a rocket scientist to predict that the huge amount of traffic pouring in simultaneously would crash their server - which it did.
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