A Crabby Manifesto
Remember The Crabby Traveler? If you were online back in 1997 you probably do. Crabby was ABCNews.com’s number-two rated column (behind its sex-advice feature) for four years running.
SEO status
The search engine optimization efforts continue, and there’s more encouraging news. To recap: several weeks ago, I embarked on a campaign to boost this site’s visibility. (What good is good content when no one knows it’s there?)
Is that a thaw I feel?
Let me just get this out of the way, first of all. I love travel agents. Always have, always will. But for the better part of the last decade, travel agents haven’t always loved me back.
Even the attendants were baffled
What happened to Ted flight 1462 from Reno, Nev., to Denver on July 23rd? Here’s what went down according to one passenger on the flight. Ted 1462 was supposed to leave at 5 p.m. but was delayed until 7:30 because of “weather,” according to a reservations agent.
Thanks for the new car
Avis and Budget have apparently figured out how to pay for their fleet upgrades. They’re going to send you the bill. On Aug. 1, the car rental companies (both owned by the same parent company) are updating their terms and conditions for frequent renters. Most of the changes are routine, but at least one paragraph has jumped out at several customers.
If the price is broke …
So why isn’t the airline price-fixing scandal involving fuel surcharges resonating with passengers? Maybe it’s because most air travelers just care about getting the lowest price on an airline ticket, even if it means being stuck in a middle seat next to two hyperactive infants (an experience I’m all too familiar with).
A no-show nightmare
Dante Viggiano makes an emergency visit to his sick mother in Panama, thanks to a creative reticketing maneuver by his travel agent. But when he tries to fly home, he’s in for a surprise: The return ticket is no good. How did that happen, and is there any chance he can get his money back?
A performance that bombed
When you travel as much as I do, you have to have a sense of humor. No one else does. There’s a number in our show called “Pack the Knife.” It’s about a nun trying to get through a security line at the airport. A Transportation Security Administration agent is frisking, manhandling and harassing her.
Evil airlines
For those of us who suspected that the airlines — or at the very least, the airframe manufacturers — were evil, now there is proof. Or something close to it. The Bishop of London has declared that air travel is “a sin” against the planet, and likened it to murder, adultery and stealing.
More SEO magic!
My search engine optimization makeover continues, and the results speak for themselves. I’m firing on all pistons when it comes to some all-important keywords. Although there are a few significant hurdles to overcome, I’m very optimistic.
How not to get dinged
If you’ve ever put a dent or ding on a rental car, you know the drill. The paperwork. The insurance claims. And the often outrageous repair bills. Sometimes, customers even end up with a nasty form letter from a company threatening to report them to a collection agency if they don’t pay up, pronto.
Fired travel bloggers unite
This has been the week of the dooce — blogosphere-speak for being fired for keeping a blog. First, “La Petite Anglaise,” a secretary for an accounting firm in Paris, got a pink slip for her humorous — and anonymous — blog.
Sick Alaska cruises
This time of year is normally smooth sailing, as far as ship-borne viruses are concerned. But not if you’re cruising to Alaska on one of Celebrity’s ships. For the second time this summer, a wave of illness thought to be from norovirus has hit a Celebrity ship along the Alaska coastal route, according to reports.
What took them so long?
Marriott’s move to take its hotels smoke free is a breath of fresh air to those of us who resent being issued the keys to a foul-smelling room. It isn’t the first hotel chain to go nonsmoking, but with more than 2,300 hotels, it is the largest.
The hunt for a valid ticket
His friends call him Hunt. But his passport calls him Huntley. And when Hunt types the wrong name into the computer when he buys a ticket through Travelocity, he’s in trouble. The solution: buy a new ticket and ask for a refund on the old one. Question is, will Travelocity go along? Or will he pay for two tickets?