Talk isn’t always cheap
Talk is cheap - unless you’re at 36,000 feet. Then it can be very costly. I just spent 4 ½ hours on a flight between Los Angeles and Baltimore staring at the graphic display on my seatback phone. With nothing better to do than add up the rates being flashed by at regular intervals, I soon reached the same troubling conclusion that many other travelers have: this phone is a rip-off. Start with a $2.99 connection fee. Then add a $3.28 per-minute airtime charge (these rates are for market-leading Airfone which are installed on US Airways, United, Continental and TWA aircraft, among others) and a five-minute domestic call from the friendly skies can set you back $19.39.
Continental offers relief for XL fliers
Travelers of all sizes, take heart: Continental Airlines is considering a policy change that could affect everyone, whether they’re overweight or just the hapless passengers stuck between two plus-sized tourists. According to sources at the airline, the carrier’s reservationists would be directed to block off available seats next to extra-large travelers at no additional cost. If an unused seat isn’t available, the airline would let them take the next flight without incurring a penalty. Portly passengers could also expect some price breaks from Continental if they couldn’t take a standby flight and needed to book a new ticket.
Freeing us from our pulp prison
Paper is dead. Long live paper. It’s one of the curious contradictions of the 21st Century and one on which EncrypTix is capitalizing. The El Segundo, CA, startup bankrolled by Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen promises to put heavy-duty encryption technology in the hands of travelers, letting them print airline tickets, car rental vouchers and even boarding passes before they leave home. If the thought of not having to stand in line while a ticket agent hunts-and-pecks her way through your itinerary sounds appealing, then here’s some good news: Your wait is nearly over.
VCR scam
Q: I am flying to Honolulu and staying at the Hilton Turtle Bay Resort in Kahuku to get away for a few days in early September. However, my company informed me just the other day that I will need to study up for an upcoming project.
I asked the hotel if I could rent a videocassette [...]
Transfer trouble
Q: Is it possible to change the name of the passenger on a nonrefundable ticket? My friend and I were going on a trip and and he is unable to go. I found someone else to take his place, but airline says that they can’t change the name on the ticket.
– William Oliver
A: It all [...]
Wireless companies take cue from airlines
Looks as if airlines aren’t the only carriers whose business practices leave something to be desired. Now it seems they’ve got competition from cellular phone companies. I reached this conclusion after a series of columns about the wireless woes of travelers. Each story drew an increasingly hostile response from readers - aimed mostly at the telecommunications providers. At first the volume and vehemence of the reactions stunned me. The only other time I’d seen that kind of rage was when I wrote about the airline industry.
Stop! Underwear thief!
Q: I checked into the Royal National Hotel as part of the Arts Boston tour group on Aug. 2. The following day, I asked to change rooms because of the street noise. Later that day I realized my nightshirt was missing. The hotel gave me the key to my old room, but it was already [...]
Searching for ‘hidden cities’
When the airlines talk about “hidden cities,” they’re not referring Shangri-La, El Dorado, Atlantis or some other far-off, mythical place. No, hidden cities may be places like Philadelphia, Denver or Charlotte, North Carolina. And carriers view them with the same fondness they reserve for unruly passengers and carry-ons the size of St. Bernards. Scheduling a hidden city is sort of like booking a back-to-back itinerary that circumvents a Saturday night stayover: It’s a bit of subterfuge that costs the flier less money and angers the carriers.
EncrypTix points to paper future
EncrypTix, the El Segundo, CA, venture founded by SunAmerica veteran Jim Rowan and bankrolled by Microsoft’s Paul Allen to the tune of $36 million, is one of the contrarian success stories of the year. How else do you explain partnerships with American Express, Sabre and GetThere.com to work with what is essentially a 1,900-year-old technology - paper? EncrypTix is developing technology to deliver tickets, vouchers, certificates and other forms of value-bearing instruments to printers, smart cards, Personal Digital Assistants and wireless devices.
Dropped calls irk wireless users
A moment of silence, please, for the victims of dropped wireless calls. They are travelers like John Edward Hasse of Alexandria, Va., who can’t seem to ever finish a conversation on their cell phone. “I’ve had my calls dropped on the 14th Street Bridge, at the National Mall area around the Smithsonian, and in parts of Alexandria, including around the 4000 block of Duke Street, the city’s major east-west corridor,” he complains. Hasse, whose cellular provider is Sprint PCS, says the company knows he’s getting cut off.
Whew! Time for a vacation
Now that summer’s almost over, it’s time to start thinking about a vacation. I mean a real vacation. Not one of those prepackaged, all-inclusive getaways that have to be endured instead of enjoyed. Not to one of those places where a gazillion other tourists are clamoring to see the same sights or standing in line at the same overpriced restaurants every evening. In short, a perfect vacation.
Continental sucks
Q: Do you know of a site dedicated to complaints about Continental Airlines only? I know there is one for United (”Untied.com”) and I think Continental needs a similar one. Continental really sucks.
– D. Kyle
A: There are probably plenty of other passengers who would agree with you. Although Continental has rebounded recently from bankruptcy and [...]
Cell phone madness
Further proof that the cellular telecommunications industry is out of its mind arrived this week by e-mail. A reader sent me a note concerning the recent brouhaha about drivers who talk on their cell phones. She isn’t a business traveler. She isn’t a travel analyst or an industry executive. But she can see the future of wireless communications, and it’s not a pretty one. How’s that? Well, my informant is in many respects an average American. She lives in a suburb of Indianapolis, is a full-time teacher and a part-time antiques dealer. Indeed, what makes her so unique is that she’s so…average.
Why puppies still rule the plane
Q: I recently flew from Newark to San Francisco on United Airlines. About three hours into the flight my eyes became puffy and my nose started running. I was seated in the third row of first class. I asked the flight attendant if there were any animals on board. She checked the manifest and, lo [...]
Hey taxi driver! Get me there in one piece
Cab stories are like fish stories. Almost everyone’s got one to tell. Here’s Nora Daly’s: She hailed a taxi in Chicago recently and was taken on a circuitous ride through town. “When we finally arrived, the meter read $30,” recalls the Belmont, California, legal analyst. “But the driver demanded $45. When my companion paid him $35, he responded by grabbing her briefcase and throwing her to the ground. She struck the back of her head on the curb and was hospitalized for several days.” Daly called the police and had the cabbie arrested.