Let us turn our attention away from the troubled skies for just one minute. The Transportation Department has just reported the lowest highway fatality rate ever recorded in 2006 and the largest drop in total deaths in 15 years.
July 2007
Linda Cohn’s room at the Embassy Suites Deerfield Beach Resort is waterlogged in the wake of a hurricane. She checks into another hotel with the understanding that she’ll get back the loyalty points that she used to pay for her visit. Nine months later, the loyalty points are still missing. What gives?
You don’t have to set foot in an airport terminal to know how challenging air travel has become this summer. Just turn on your radio, TV, or click on your favorite blog. Describing the hardships of flying is easy. Solving them is difficult, if not impossible. But one company has come up with a clever solution that deserves attention.
Aren and his friend Ella pretend it’s fall so that Aunt Kaia can get a few good shots of her new clothing line. Of course, fall in Florida looks like this too …
Erysse dons a life vest for a boat ride through the canals of Winter Park, Fla. She spent the day with Oma and her brothers. The shopping was pretty good …
I’m getting a little weary of all the stories about how flying is so unbearable this summer, about how maybe we should just stay at home and lock the door. The numbers tell a different — and slightly more complicated — story.
One of the most common complaints I get from airline customers is, “I had to talk to India” — meaning that when they phoned a carrier, they were connected to an outsourced call center in a place like India or the Philippines. But Virgin America, which began selling tickets this morning and is expected to take off next month, is promising a break from the past. All of its phone agents will all be “home grown,” according to a representative.
Virgin America is the newest, and perhaps the most promising, airline startup in years. Its fares are low (for now, at least) and in-flight entertainment offerings are impressive, from onboard instant messaging to first-class seats that deliver massages.
A few days ago I complained about hotels and airports that charge extra for a wireless connection. But it seems at least one hotel chain is listening to its customers. Next week, five Marriott brands — Courtyard, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites and SpringHill Suites — are expected to eliminate Wi-Fi charges for guests in lobbies and other public areas.
Get ready for another summer of packed flights, soaring airfares and record delays. How many times have you read that lead — or one just like it — in the recent past? Well, don’t believe everything you read.
ELLIOTT’S E-MAIL First aid for travel July 18, 2007 Oh where, oh where has my luggage gone? Oh where, oh where can it be? If you’re a British Airways passenger, keep singin’. In this week’s issue of Elliott’s E-Mail, I profile one traveler whose lost luggage claim is lost, and I document the carrier’s apparent [...]
What happens when you start charging a fee for everything that isn’t bolted down on a plane? Madness, that’s what you get. At least that’s what Ron Di Costanzo got when he flew from Barcelona to London on discount carrier easyJet.
British Airways loses three bags belonging to Izlen Umut Egeli’s family. Under the Montreal Convention, the airline must compensate the travelers for their luggage, but Egeli is trapped in a maze of claim forms, phone representatives who can’t help, and fax machines that won’t. Is there a way out?
Just when I thought I had thoroughly explored Florida’s coastline and discovered its best vacation destinations, I stumbled upon a place like Anna Maria Island, a quiet resort area near Bradenton, right across the bridge from Longboat Key.
For the last two years I’ve maintained an unofficial database of executives responsible for customer service at major travel companies. Each entry lists the company’s preferred method of contact and includes phone numbers and e-mail addresses of company officials. (All of the information was available online, and not the result of any privileged correspondence I may have had with the companies.)
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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