Same flight, different fare
Q: Both United Airlines and Air Canada offer a roundtrip coach fare from New Orleans to Toronto for $168. Both are Internet weekend specials. However, when you go to book the flights, the fare on United comes to $204.85 when taxes and fees are included, but the Air Canada price becomes $254.83.
In fact, traveling on [...]
Untrustworthy fliers
Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge’s proposal to create a “trusted flier” program that prescreens passengers is the most dangerous idea for improving airline safety since the government federalized airport security last year.
Fly or drive?
Fuel prices are on the rise again, but that doesn’t seem to be keeping us off the road. Travelers like Howard Paulman say it’s going to take a lot more than higher gas bills to force him back on a plane.
Stay between the sheets
Q: I have a question about Carnival’s housekeeping practices. In early December, as my husband and I were finishing a cruise aboard Carnival Victory, we watched the cabin steward come in and make the room ready for the next guests-clean sheets and pillow cases, but same blankets and bedspread. Is that common?
– Louise Yeakey
A: Not [...]
Phantom fare hikes
Will the latest efforts to raise airfares finally fly? Two major airlines have recently tried to hike prices by $20 for a round-trip leisure ticket in an apparent effort to jump-start their earnings, but they’ve quickly rescinded the raises when their competitors refused to follow them.
Spend miles, save money
Charles Hathorn wanted to cash in his hotel loyalty points for six nights at the Hilton Prague, but his HHonors account came up a few points short. No problem, said a Hilton sales agent. Why not transfer some of your United Airlines miles? The extra 10,000 points gave the Maine, NY, organization consultant six free nights at any Hilton property, including the one he wanted in the Czech Republic. Ordinarily, the hotel bill would have come to about $1,200, so redeeming his points and miles was a smart move. “I was pleased to get a great deal,” says Hathorn.
Southernmost symphony
It’s less than 48 hours before a performance of Leonard Bernstein’s “Serenade” and the piece just isn’t coming together. The conductor, Sebrina Maria Alfonso, drops her hands after a few measures. “Pay attention to pitch,” she says to no one in particular. She glances at her solo violist, Robert McDuffie, to see if he’s ready to continue. He nods. Alfonso raises her baton. “Again. And…”
Prepare, prepare, prepare
It’s a problem as old as technology itself: Your gadget won’t work without a plug, and nothing coming out of the device will fit the available socket.
The backside of your palm
Donna Hart is an unhappy Dell Computer customer. But she’s particularly peeved at the manufacturer of the personal digital assistant (PDA) she bought through Dell: a Palm m505.
No balcony at my hotel
Q: We made hotel reservations through a major airline’s online vacations area. The description clearly says, under “amenities” that the rooms at the hotel we selected come with balconies.
On calling the hotel directly to ask them something, I found out that their contract with the airline does not include balcony rooms, and we won’t be [...]
Pull the plug on Orbitz
These aren’t the best of times for highflying Orbitz, the low-fare travel site owned by the nation’s major airlines. The Justice Department is investigating the dot-com to determine whether its agreements with suppliers are anticompetitive. And a survey recently revealed that some of its airfares were up to $2,000 cheaper than those quoted by rival online travel agencies Expedia and Travelocity, suggesting that the government has every reason to be concerned.
Miles or money?
Marc-Albert Michaud needed to fly to Los Angeles for a spring weekend, but sky-high airfares threatened to ground him. “I couldn’t find anything for less than $500,” he says. So at the last minute, he parted with 25,000 frequent flier miles and landed a seat on a United Airlines flight. “The tickets were selling for $2000 at that point,” he says. “It was worth it.”
Wrecked in Key Largo
It looks as if the USS Spiegel Grove’s number is up. Finally. If all goes as planned, the retired 510-foot Navy transport vessel will leave its shipyard in Norfolk, Va., in late spring and get towed more than 1,000 miles south to Key Largo, Fla. Then a unit of Navy SEALS will blow cantaloupe-size holes in the ship’s hull as part of a training exercise, putting her down at a depth of about 130 feet. In a matter of minutes, they’ll create the world’s largest diveable artificial reef.
Tech luggage gets an upgrade
Is your luggage slowing you down? If you’re a technology user traveling in this post-Sept. 11 world, it probably is. Most major airlines have instituted a strict new “one-plus” carry-on luggage rule allowing you to bring a single regulation-size bag, plus a smaller pocketbook or laptop on to the plane.
Rescheduled on Delta
Q: I hope you can shed some light on a recent flight experience I had. I booked a non-stop flight to Tampa, Fla., on Delta Air Lines through Travelocity more than seven months in advance. A week before we were supposed to fly, I checked Delta’s Web site and found out that our flight, Delta [...]