{"id":710,"date":"2012-12-22T19:27:48","date_gmt":"2012-12-22T19:27:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ididgo.com\/blog\/?p=710"},"modified":"2013-01-10T19:14:04","modified_gmt":"2013-01-10T19:14:04","slug":"worlds-12-best-airline-magazines-for-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ididgo.com\/?p=710","title":{"rendered":"World’s 12 best airline magazines for 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exert from CNN Travel<\/strong> – If you fly, you know them. Maybe you even love them.<\/p>\n

In-flight magazines can be notorious for stodgy stories, bad puns and breathless travel fluff, never mind the sudoku that’s been half filled in already.<\/p>\n

These days, though, at least a few of these print-media warhorses are trying to raise their game.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, we pored over issues of as many airline mags as we could get our hands on to build the ultimate airborne reading list. Our top dozen for 2012:<\/p>\n

12. Ryanair Magazine\u00a0<\/strong>(Ireland)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"RyanAirWell, we just met, Ryanair seductress, but if you insist.<\/p>\n

Basics:\u00a0<\/strong>From delightfully cheesy covers (that girl in the pink dress\u00a0really<\/em>\u00a0wants you to drink that wine) to antic \u201ctwo-minute\u201d city guides, the Irish cheap-flight empire knows its audience of travel-mad hedonists.<\/p>\n

Perfect reader:\u00a0<\/strong>A maturing lager lad with a decade-old soccer tattoo. He\u2019s graduated to pricey cocktails and museums, but still channels his Viking ancestors come stag time in Tallinn.<\/p>\n

Words:\u00a0<\/strong>Words? Oh, right. No pseudo-literary features here. Ryanair speaks in the voice of a wised-up pal with a pint in hand.<\/p>\n

Look:\u00a0<\/strong>Meet Ornella, a Ryanair cabin crew member featured on a two-page spread, in her skivvies. She\u2019s got her right thumb strategically hooked in her underpants, in fact. It\u2019s for charity.<\/p>\n

Gold star:\u00a0<\/strong>Need to know the best hotel in Kaunas? Ryanair has your back.<\/p>\n

Black mark:\u00a0<\/strong>Journalism? Eh, don\u2019t bother.<\/p>\n

Verdict:\u00a0<\/strong>A little dumb, a little demented, but lots of fun.<\/p>\n

11. Go<\/strong>\u00a0(AirTran, United States)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"GoThe joys of travel … and Photoshop.<\/p>\n

Basics:\u00a0<\/strong>In-flight magazine of the Orlando\/Atlanta-based budget carrier operated by Southwest Airlines, Go keeps going with its well-designed, not-much-nonsense approach.<\/p>\n

Perfect reader:\u00a0<\/strong>A road warrior from Marietta, Georgia, on his way to a B-tier convention in Kansas City. He wishes he were headed for an eco-spa in Tulum.<\/p>\n

Words:\u00a0<\/strong>Go serves up smart travel info, with a little typical in-flight hype. That spa in Tulum provides the \u201cultimate decadence,\u201d of course. But a recent issue also includes a witty guide to Vegas on US$25 a day and lots of precise tips.<\/p>\n

Look:\u00a0<\/strong>Graphic mini-stories in the magazine\u2019s opening section dissect a staggering number of destinations, products and events.<\/p>\n

Gold star:\u00a0<\/strong>Every mag does \u201cby the numbers\u201d stories, but\u00a0Go<\/em>\u2019s city stats pages make eye-catching intros to AirTran destinations. It\u2019s\u00a0never<\/em>been colder than 5 C in Key West? Weird. Cool. Book the ticket.<\/p>\n

Black mark:\u00a0<\/strong>Chunky \u201cbusiness\u201d features are forehead-to-tabletop obvious. Cloud computing. Heard of it?<\/p>\n

Verdict:\u00a0<\/strong>At its best, Go makes flying cheap seem quite fun.<\/p>\n

10\/9. Tie: Holland Herald\u00a0<\/strong>(KLM, Netherlands)\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Lufthansa Magazin<\/strong>(Germany)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"HollandThis duo is too sensible to fight over rankings in random Internet listicles. Call it a draw.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Basics:\u00a0<\/strong>These northern European titles are deadlocked at good but not great.<\/p>\n

Perfect reader:\u00a0<\/strong>A smart EU bureaucrat who just took her Ambien (Holland Herald); the love child of Angela Merkel and David Hasselhoff (Magazin).<\/p>\n

Words:\u00a0<\/strong>Herald stands out with some highbrow moves, like the recent \u201cWork\u201d issue\u2019s interview with pop philosopher Alain de Botton, but often settles for travel clich\u00e9. Chengdu\u2019s food scene is both \u201cdazzling\u201d and \u201cidyllic\u201d; Vienna, \u201cfit for an emperor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Magazin\u2019ssubject mix is agreeably goofy and somehow very German — the nation\u2019s best table tennis player; a middle-aged hotel kingpin displaying his hirsute chest; big, nerdy sections on aircraft.<\/p>\n

Look:\u00a0<\/strong>Great photos in the Herald, while Magazin aims for hip retro-minimalism (someone\u2019s been reading Monocle).<\/p>\n

Gold star:\u00a0<\/strong>Both offer solid service in bright, informative tones.<\/p>\n

Black mark:\u00a0<\/strong>Herald\u2019s layout is a hodgepodge, and Magazin mostly looks as bland as its name.<\/p>\n

Verdict:<\/strong>\u00a0Two magazines that get the job done without being too exciting.<\/p>\n

Like their home countries? We didn\u2019t say\u00a0that<\/em>.<\/p>\n

8. Qantas The Australian Way<\/strong>(Australia)<\/h2>\n

\"QantasYes, they really put salt on the cover. Don’t worry if you missed the joke — there are plenty more attempts inside.<\/p>\n

Basics:\u00a0<\/strong>Big, glossy, bold, brassy<\/p>\n

Perfect reader:<\/strong>\u00a0Every polite yet rambunctious Australian you\u2019ve ever met.<\/p>\n

Words:\u00a0<\/strong>The focus is almost exclusively on luxe travel, which the magazine delivers with hearty self-confidence, imparting both its smartest tips (how to find the hidden glories the Mexican state of Chihuahua) and dumbest jokes (that same story\u2019s sub-head: \u201cSmall dog, big destination\u201d).<\/p>\n

Look:\u00a0<\/strong>The overall design could use renovation, but sprawling photos of amazing Down Under landscapes are an unbeatable trump card.<\/p>\n

Gold star:\u00a0<\/strong>The voluminous travel content is packed with actionable info.<\/p>\n

Black mark:\u00a0<\/strong>Cheese. They can\u2019t resist a headline pun (golf feature: \u201cFairways to Heaven;\u201d coastal destination profile: \u201cLife\u2019s a Beach\u201d).<\/p>\n

Final verdict:\u00a0<\/strong>Like a chatty, informed seatmate who\u2019s had a cocktail or two.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To read more visit CNN Travel<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Exert from CNN Travel – If you fly, you know them. Maybe you even love them. In-flight magazines can be notorious for stodgy stories, bad puns and breathless travel fluff, never mind the sudoku that’s been half filled in already. These days, though, at least a few of these print-media warhorses are trying to raise [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[216],"tags":[236],"class_list":["post-710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-magazine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ididgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ididgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ididgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ididgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ididgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=710"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.ididgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1343,"href":"https:\/\/www.ididgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710\/revisions\/1343"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ididgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ididgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ididgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ididgo.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}