Ever wonder what your flight attendants do on their days off?

So do other flight attendants. Fortunately, there's a social network to remove all the speculation.

Bibafly is a private social network that helps aviation crews to socialize on layovers. Basically it's like an exclusive Facebook for pilots and flight attendants to secretly plan their weekend-long toga parties in Rome. Based on their Facebook promo cartoon (below), Bibafly thinks it's a Wingman Superhero.

Pilots and attendants can download Bibafly for free to their iPhone, iPad, or Android. In their iTunes writeup, Bibafly claims it "provides you with all the information you need to make your layover and the day-to-day much more easy & fun."

The app's blue-and-white colour scheme is similar to [let's say 'inspired by'] Facebook and you collect friends just like Mark Zuckerberg's site.  But on their website, Bibafly describes how their app is much more than just a Facebook for randy flyboys to poke cute stewardesses.

Your passport's about to turn into a 007 gadget. Whether you want it to or not.

Passport Canada's slick new digital ePassport looks just like a normal passport. Except it contains an embedded, electronic 'biometric chip' with personal details like your full name, gender, date of birth, where you were born, and a digital picture of your unsmiling, superspy face.

Oh, and this is Canada we're talking about, so your ePassport pages will feature images of an Inukshuk holding a giant feather, Niagara Falls, Samuel de Champlain (The Father of New France), Sir John A. Macdonald looking sober and profound, The Last Spike, a sailboat about to crash into Newfoundland, a train passing oil derricks in a bleak and humanless land (you're welcome, Prairies), and children playing hockey and football instead of studying math and sciences like kids in other countries that are totally kicking our economic butt.

If you're wondering 'Why design a new passport when my last one works perfectly fine?', then Passport Canada's FAQ has your answer: "The addition of the electronic chip to the Canadian passport will increase security, provide greater protection against tampering and reduce the risk of fraud."

Passport Canada promises that their ePassport will not contain a GPS tracking device (so you'll have to escape from Blofeld's volcano fortress all by yourself), and will not contain "biometric information such as an iris scan or fingerprints" which of course means they're totally planning to add your iris scans and fingerprints once they figure out how to add your iris scans and fingerprints without sparking a slew of riots.

Sir Richard Branson wants to be your wingman at 35,000 feet.

This week his Virgin America airline unveiled an unusual in-flight service that lets you send free drinks and meals to passengers you think are cute.

Here's a picture of Branson holding a woman he found on one of his planes:

Sir Richard Branson, billionaire playboy       Photo: Rex Features

Branson's freshly-unleashed service is part of Virgin America's Red entertainment system. It's sort of like a boozier version of KLM airline's Meet and Seat option where you use Facebook to harass -- I mean 'select' -- a stranger to sit beside.

To promote his drink-delivery scheme, Virgin's founder and CEO stars in a promo video entitled 'Sir Richard Branson's Guide to Getting Lucky'. And yes, he refers to himself as 'Sir' in the video.

I need you to visit a New York hotel, grab my glasses, and bring them to me. Can you help? I swear this is legit and totally not human trafficking.

Last September, I flew to JFK in New York for an interview with Ira Glass for NPR's This American Life. He'd read my MSN story on Knee Defender (the seat lock that prevents the passenger in front of you from tilting his seat back and hitting your knees), so Ira wanted me to test this devilish device in person.

The show flew me to a hotel near JFK for a night. Then Ira interviewed me on a plane bound for Minneapolis. I was so nervous in the airport hotel (Knee Defender is so annoying, there was a real possibility that I'd get punched in the face), I barely slept. I woke up so groggy that I left my glasses in the airport hotel room.

They look a little like the glasses she's wearing (right) except my glasses are 33% more attractive and my mouth is 12% weirder.

Wish you could use your iPad during takeoffs? You'll like this rumour:

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is planning to change their electronic devices policy that currently prevents you from using tablets and eReaders -- like iPads and Kindles -- during takeoffs and landings. Instead of turning them off, you'll soon be asked to switch them to Airplane Mode.

According to anonymous sources in the New York Times, "the agency hopes to announce by the end of this year that it will relax the rules for reading devices during takeoff and landing. The change would not include cellphones."

The Times points out that travellers are currently told to shut off our iPads and Kindles for takeoff, "yet there is no proof that these devices affect a plane’s avionics. To add to the confusion, the F.A.A. permits passengers to use electric razors and audio recorders during all phases of flight, even though those give off more electronic emissions than reading tablets."

 A new California-based startup, FlightCar, is offering free airport parking. Plus when you get back from your holiday, your car will be spotless and you'll get a $10 gas card.

The only catch? While you were sipping margaritas on a beach, a stranger was driving your fire red 1971 Cadillac Eldorado convertible.

Yep. I'm not making this up. FlightCar gets you to hand your car keys to a stranger, who hands them to another stranger who then drives your "sweet ride" away.

On the lookout for huge bats in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Basically it's a matchmaker service for someone flying out of an airport who doesn't want to pay $30/day for parking, and someone flying into the same airport who's too lazy to steal a car.

Benefits for the car owner:

Free airport parking, free carwash, free valet, fully insured, and your vehicle is covered for mechanical damage caused by misuse and gonzo driving. Plus you get the satisfaction of knowing that your special bum cheek dents in the driver seat will stay filled while you're away.

Need a cheap hotel room for an afternoon hookup?

Dayguest.com is happy to be your wingman/woman. As their website says, they've begun offering "boutique and luxury hotels for a few hours, during the day" in two major Canadian airports and cities, in addition to their existing hotel discounts in the USA and Europe.

According to a Toronto Star report, DayGuest.com is now offering super-short hotel stays for 30-70% off the usual rate in Toronto and Montreal. It's hyped as a service for business travellers and day tourists who simply need a clean room to nap, splash water on their face, and prepare for a daytime meeting.

Heh heh, sure, whatevvvvver you say, DayGuest.com. I guess you can't openly promote yourselves as an online madame running a Japanese-style love hotel...not in this notoriously conservative country we call Canada.

TRAVELLER RULE #44:

"Avoid roaming fees, for they are the work of the devil/Mafia/Yakuza."

Ever felt that bitter rage when you discover a surprise roaming charge on your phone bill? These harsh charges are punitively expensive. And even worse, they don't appear until a month after your travel tan and happy holiday memories have faded away. That's cold.

But now there's a solution, thanks to an innovative travel accessory called the SIMPLcase. It's a minimalist iPhone case that's discreetly stashes up to 3 extra SIM cards.

Basically it's the iPhone case for globetrotting SIM switchers like 007, Dancing Matt, Waldo, and Lara Croft the Tomb Raider.

When you're on a plane, do you like to sit beside people who look and talk just like you, and share the exact same interests?

Then you'll love airBaltic's SeatBuddy service. Launched last year, it's the budget airline's free service that pairs passengers with similar moods, interests, culture, career, and disabilities.

It's like using eHarmony to find an identical stranger to fight over your armrest on your next flight out of Latvia, Lithuania, or Estonia on "one of most [sic] punctual airlines in Europe!"

Unposed photo of me and my SeatBuddy brother at Christmas

Need a hotel at the last second?

There's a great app called HotelTonight which'll save your bacon when you're hunted and desperate. A free download for iPhone, iPad, and Android, HotelTonight finds you last-minute lodging at discounted rates.

Here's how it works:

Let's say you're a CIA sniper on a top secret mission in a dangerous foreign city. It's 2:30 pm, and you've just successfully assassinated Some Very Bad Chaps. You've wiped down your weapon and tossed it in the muddy river. Now it's time for you to escape. No problem, right?

Wrong.

82% of snipers say HotelTonight is the best app for finding last-minute safe houses
Photo by Moviestore / Rex Features