Elliott’s E-Mail/April 30, 2008
It’s the final week of our fundraiser, and your last opportunity to cast a protest vote against the way travelers are being treated. The travel industry wishes you wouldn’t, but with four airlines in the throes of a merger that will hurt air travelers and with new fees popping up everywhere you turn, I’ve gotta ask: why wouldn’t you?
Life in the Fast Lane: Transportation Department goes blogging
Is there a federal agency out there that doesn’t have a blog? The U.S. Transportation jumped into the blogosphere today with a site called Fast Lane that promises postings from none other than Secretary Mary Peters and other senior officials.
It’s ALIVE! Race to create world’s worst airline heats up
Just when air travelers thought things couldn’t get any worse, they have. The competition to create the world’s worst airline is heating up, and the losers have already been decided. We are the losers.
Four secrets for finding the right travel pro
Who needs a travel agent anymore? Fewer of us do, apparently. But that doesn’t mean agents are obsolete. Far from it. Here are four secrets to finding the right one.
Oh no they didn’t! Hotel charges guest $37 for incoming phone calls
Here’s a clever twist on one of the most enduring hotel scams. Instead of charging an outrageous markup on outgoing phone calls made from a room — a practice that’s generating less and less money because guests are simply switching to cheaper cell phones — one property has figured out a way to reverse the equation. It’s evidently charging guests for incoming calls.
That’s some cleaning bill!
Bart Everson’s bill at an Alabama resort includes a big surprise: a $166 “cleaning fee.” No, Everson didn’t trash the room; in fact, the charge hits his credit card before he even checks in. The fine print in his reservation does mention a cleaning fee, but doesn’t say how much he’ll be charged. Does he still have to pay?
The problem with paperless boarding passes? Batteries aren’t included
We have word today that the Transportation Security Administration and Continental Airlines are expanding their rollout of the Paperless Boarding Pass pilot program to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Newark International Airport and Logan International Airport in Boston. I have a problem with that.
New emissions calculator reveals true cost of your flight
Forget high airfares. You don’t know the real cost of your next airline trip until you figure out how much of the environment you’ve destroyed. At least that’s the idea behind a new calculator by Stanford researchers that puts a pollution pricetag on air travel.
Bumping games: how American redefined ‘denied boarding’
It was bound to happen, given that airlines are now required to double their compensation for passenger who are involuntarily denied boarding. If you can’t change the rule, just change the definition of “denied boarding.”
Elliott’s E-Mail/April 23, 2008
At a time when travelers are disenfranchised like never before, becoming an underwriter of Elliott’s E-Mail is a powerful statement — an act of civil disobedience, if you will.
A “walking” scam: how hotels profit from overbooking
Are high hotel occupancy rates offering hotels yet another opportunity to secretly profit from you? Consider the practice of “walking” — transferring a guest to another property when the inn is full. Most reputable resorts “walk” their customers to a comparable hotel. But what if the second place costs less than the first, and the property simply pockets the rate difference?
The top 8 travel blogs — and why you should care
Who’s got the biggest travel blog? It’s hard to tell — really hard, given the vagaries and imperfections of the blog ranking tools. But with a little research, you can generate a somewhat reliable list.
Travel trend: adding yourself to the ‘no fly’ list
Give up air travel altogether? You’ve probably heard whispers about it in the aftermath of cancellation-gate. And following United Airlines’ announcement yesterday that it would bump its change fee to $150 from $100 and add Saturday-night stay requirements to many of its flights, who can blame travelers for wanting to ground themselves?
Getting into trouble
Erysse opens a bathroom drawer, looking for whatever she can toss into the toilet. It’s her favorite game — trying to flush stuff away. This week she managed to put Daddy’s phone in the toilet.
Aren and Iden visit Disney’s Toy Story ride
The Elliott boys tried to visit the Toy Story ride at Disney Studios today. Here’s what happened.
Here’s the high-resolution version.