Jump!
Aren catches a little air before safely landing in his mother’s arms.
Curiosity
Pollux is mesmerized by the clicking camera. Here kitty, kitty. Be a tiger!
Shotgun!
Aren rides shotgun on the Disneyworld monorail. At this height there are no swarms of lovebugs — only the occasional dragonfly.
Why do planes fly with empty seats in business class?
Edwin Bittner is a platinum-level frequent flier on Continental Airlines, which gives him access to elite check-in lines, preferred seat assignments and special mileage bonuses. But the one thing he can’t seem to get these days is an upgrade to business class — even when there are available seats.
Delayed three days, Delta offers passenger ‘absurd’ compensation
Delta is one of only a few airlines that is trying to shed its image of a couldn’t-care-less legacy carrier. But from time to time, it reminds us of the old Delta, which couldn’t care less about its customers. This usually happens when it doesn’t bother to carefully review a passenger grievance. How else to explain its recent attempt to placate a passenger delayed three days at New York’s LaGuardia Airport with a $100 voucher?
Think Southwest’s new boarding policy sucks? Try Ryanair
Reaction to Southwest Airlines’ new boarding policy that goes into effect next week has been surprisingly positive. Sure, a few parents have grumbled that they won’t get priority boarding anymore, but most of them have taken a “wait-and-see” approach to the rule change. And so did I — until I got a note from Craig Puller, who recently flew from London to Stockholm on Ryanair with his wife and two young children. After hearing his story, I became convinced that Southwest’s new policy could spell disaster for families flying with young children.
What’s the deal with those silly multi-stop flights?
If you’ve ever spent time online looking for a cheap airfare, you might have stumbled across something that looks a lot like a bait-and-switch. It’s an inexpensive fare all right, but when you click on the itinerary, you find out that there are three stops and that it would be faster to drive. What a scam, you think. How could they even offer that kind of routing? I’ve wondered about it a time or two, and so has Joe Farrell, who wrote to me recently to suggest that these multi-stops made absolutely no sense.
Elliott’s E-Mail/September 25, 2007
Can air travel get any worse? Impossible, you say. If only. This week there’s plenty of evidence that it can, and is, deteriorating further – everything from disappearing flights and worthless vouchers to an airline that sells its passengers’ luggage. Meanwhile, Congress has been debating what regulations, if any, to place on the airline industry. Like that would help. My recommendation: Join me for a trip to Marco Island, Fla., and try to forget the whole thing. It’s all in this week’s issue of Elliott’s E-Mail.
A reservation, but no room
Expedia confirms a reservation for one night in a New York hotel. There’s just one problem: The booking doesn’t exist. That leaves one unhappy traveler homeless for the night — and Janice Japa, the person who made the reservation, is trying in vain to get her money back.
Sunrise
Erysse and Aren woke up early to see the sunrise on Marco Island, Fla. It was gorgeous.
On Marco Island all by your lonesome
It may be something of an exaggeration to say you can have Marco Island, Fla., all to yourself in September. But it wouldn’t be much of one. This is the lowest point of low season, when the summer visitors have left and the snowbirds have yet to arrive. The remaining would-be guests are staying away because of the weather (too warm, they think, or maybe there’ll be a hurricane) and as a result, large parts of Southwest Florida’s resort areas are virtual ghost towns.
Having a shell of a time
Aren and Iden go shelling on Marco Island, Fla. It was a perfect late summer day. They had the beach all to themselves.
British Airways turns the table, sells passenger’s luggage
When an airline loses your luggage, it can eventually find its way to a place like the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Ala. — but only after the carrier spends months trying to track down the rightful owner. At least that’s how it’s supposed to work. But sometimes airlines take shortcuts. British Airways did.
Why do online travel agencies restrict their sites?
If you’ve ever lived abroad for a while, you might have stumbled across a price discrepancy for which there seems to be no valid reason. Airline ticket prices on certain routes are lower than they are if they’re purchased here — but try to buy one, and you’re out of luck. Sharon Peterson wondered about that. Specifically, she questioned price differences on air fares between the US version of Expedia and its UK edition.
“I’m sorry, your flight no longer exists”
Airline schedules change from time to time, which is why it’s always a good idea to confirm your flight before leaving for the airport. But what happens when an air carrier confirms a flight that it knows has been canceled, leaving you grounded? That was the problem facing readers Janet and Larry Glenn, who were scheduled to fly on United Airlines Flight 19 from New York to San Francisco on a recent Saturday.