Who is the Transportation Security Administration protecting us from? Crissy Tuning’s three-month-old son? Yes, specifically, his “dangerous” formula. It’s official: the liquid and gel ban has now been taken too far. And after you hear Tuning’s story, I think you’ll agree.
August 2007
Here’s a tip for anyone without hotel reservations: Never accept the first price you’re offered at the front desk. One reader refused to, and he saved $100 a night at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers. Yes, that’s $100 a night. How’d he do that? “Initially, I was quoted a rate of $239 a night,” [...]
Time to sound off about the summer of ’07. You have an opinion about the last three months, don’t you? Click on the poll and sound off in the comments, please.
There are plenty of frivolous complaints about airline service out there, and I’m the first to admit that the missive from James and Christine in Orlando probably would have fallen into that category. They were passengers on a recent Spirit Airlines flight to Atlanta which was delayed by a few hours, and its an event for which they probably weren’t entitled to any compensation under the airline’s contract of carriage. But then Ben Baldanza, Spirit’s chief executive, apparently pushed the wrong button on his computer — and now all hell is breaking loose in the blogosphere.
It’s a shuttle-themed newsletter this week, from archived stories about shuttles that never show up, to this week’s troubleshooter about a Gray Line ride to the airport that failed to arrive.
Joan Cole’s airport shuttle bus is a no-show. A customer service agent finally tells her to take a cab and promises to pay Cole’s fare. But now Gray Line, the company that was supposed to pick her up, is ignoring her request for a refund. What should she do?
You’ve probably heard of the controversial “no-fly” list kept by the government. Maybe you know some who’s on it. Maybe you’re on it. But that list, which has snared everyone from a Marine serving in Iraq to a four-year-old is a topic for another time. Today I’m talking about a different kind of “no-fly” list: yours.
The office chair doubles as a great race car. Aren likes to catch a little air over the bump between the living room and the hallway. Watch out for the Ming vase!
It probably goes without saying that when a ferocious hurricane like Dean is bearing down on you, it’s best to get the hell out of the way. But for those of us who were waiting for the government to tell us what to do, our own State Department has issued public advisories for the Eastern Caribbean and Mexico this morning. Their advice? Get the hell out of the way.
It isn’t your imagination. The service is getting worse. Almost every measure of performance, from the federal government’s numbers to independent surveys by the likes of the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index, suggests that when it comes to travel, customer service is circling the drain.
The shade of the faux Mayan ruins at Epcot are an ideal place to rest on a hot Saturday afternoon. Now if Dad would just get that camera out of my face. And what’s with the B&W, dude? That’s SO retro.
It’s Aren’s first day of kindergarten. He’s all grown up now. Well, almost. Dad had to fly to Phoenix for a meeting, but he took this snapshot on the way to the airport. He’s going to miss everyone.
In just a few weeks, the Florida Keys will disappear from the map. Not literally. But early fall is by far one of the slowest times of the year in the islands. It’s also the best time to plan a weekend getaway to one of my favorite destinations.
So who’s got the worst traffic? A few weeks ago, the Transportation Department named nine cities as finalists for a new federal initiative to fight traffic gridlock. The announcement touched off speculation in the blogosphere over which metropolitan area would be most deserving of the grants. But now our wait is over.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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