Watching your weight
Travel essayist Christopher Elliott questions the logic behind the National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendation that airlines start weighing passengers before allowing them to fly.
Flattery and other ways to bend the rules
As far as Wendy Shear is concerned, airline rules are meant to be bent, if not broken.
Surviving a trip with the boss
Leo Bringer remembers his flight with the know-it-all boss. It was mercifully short.
He and another co-worker were sitting in economy class - three across with their boss in a nearby seat - waiting to take off. “He knew everything you could think of,” remembers Bringer, an Elmhurst, Ill., human resources manager. “He was telling us [...]
Escape from the Garden Gate
Q: We had a room reservation at the Garden Gate Bed & Breakfast in West Maui, Hawaii, in August. The inn offered to book us a rental car through, as part of its package. So we called the hotel and inquired about a car. The proprietor, Ms. Mosley, offered to make the reservation for us [...]
Are web meetings passe?
Business travel is back, with an improving economy and spending on the rise. But is it time to let your Web conferencing schedule go slack?
Not for businesses who have seen how reducing extended time on the road can increase their employees’ productivity.
The use of “virtual meeting” technologies surged after 9/11, as Web and videoconferencing usage [...]
Missing the Pointe-a-Pitre
Q: My girlfriend and I were flying from Newark to Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe, via San Juan on American Airlines in December. But our flight out of Newark was late and we missed our connection in San Juan. We were told that the next flight, which left the following day, was full but that we should wait [...]
It’s all about the bed
Westin was the first chain to upgrade its bedding, back in 1999. Since then, other upscale hotels have jumped on the bedwagon. Now midscale joints are joining in. Last month, Hampton Inn announced it was spending $80 million to replace mattresses, pillows, and such. Four Points by Sheraton will roll out a “Four Comfort” bed this summer.
Car rental companies talk of total pricing
Nothing makes business travelers’ blood boil quite like the unexpected fees and surcharges that car-rental companies tack onto their bills, from airport taxes to a $6-a-gallon charge for filling up the gas tank when the vehicle is returned.
A recent study by Travelocity, the online travel agency, found that the car-rental customer paid an average of [...]
Why travelers are jerks
It’s about time I let the other shoe drop. I’ve written a series of stories taking hotels, airlines and car rental companies to task for failing to meet their customer-service obligations to travelers.
But travelers themselves aren’t exactly known for their politeness either these days.
A new poll by the nonpartisan opinion organization Public Agenda suggests a [...]
Cheap tickets, long wait
Q: Last summer I booked a flight from Denver to Portland, Ore., on Cheaptickets.com for October. Our carrier, Frontier Airlines, cancelled our flight and we were rebooked on a new flight that was unacceptable.
I read Frontier’s contract of carriage and found out that I was entitled to a refund. So I called Cheaptickets.com to ask [...]
How to spot a tech-friendly hotel
I’ve just checked into Shutters on the Beach, an understated luxury hotel in Santa Monica, Calif., that offers high-speed wireless Internet access to all guests. At least that’s what it claims.
Just as many hotels made special arrangements for pets and kids in the late 1990s - and saw their businesses thrive as a result - [...]
Roaches: We’re ‘reluctant activists’
When US Airways senior vice president B. Ben Baldanza questioned the loyalty of frequent fliers who booked cheap tickets in a recent newspaper interview, he inadvertently spawned a grassroots organization called the Cockroaches. But this secretive group of frequent travelers did more than retaliate by criticizing the carrier in public forums; eventually, the vociferous bugs became so influential that US Airways turned to them for advice. Robert Johnson, the Mystic Island, NJ, corporate sales trainer who leads the Roaches, explained the spread of the organization from just a few fliers being on the receiving end of what he calls “bug spray” to a swarm, several hundred strong, which now has the ear of the airline’s management.
A Hotwire bait-and-switch
Q: I recently booked roundtrip tickets from Anchorage to Phoenix on Hotwire. But I made a mistake when I bought the tickets - I was actually leaving from Phoenix.
I called Hotwire and asked if I could just change the ticket. I was told it would cost me another $198 per ticket. I used my [...]
Cruising the virtual seas
The conventional wisdom used to be that booking cruises was too complex for the Web. The many cabin classes and shore excursions–plus the fact that a cruise often represents a major purchase–were thought to make it unsuitable for online buyers. Travel agents also touted the “personal touch,” since they’re often cruise vets.