ELLIOTT’S E-MAIL
Travel tips, news and information
May 16, 2007
What are you doing this Saturday? Join me on May 19 at noon ET when my new show, What You Get For The Money: Vacations debuts on the Fine Living TV Network. You can find Fine Living on DirecTV channel 232, DISH Network channel 113, or check your local cable listings. Until then, I have lots of great travel tips and commentary to keep you going, including a story about cruise prices that mysteriously rise, a remarkable survey on airborne hackers, and lots of new pictures.
» Read this week’s newsletter online.
This issue of Elliott’s E-Mail is underwritten by Cheapflights.com, which lets you search and compare flights to find the lowest-priced airfare for your next trip. Get the details at Cheapflights.com.
FIRST | Random thoughts about the week in travel
Burning question … What do you get for your money? — While we’re on the subject of vacation value, here’s a question. On a recent trip, have you been surprised — positively or negatively — by what you’ve gotten for your vacation dollar? Business travelers, your thoughts are welcome, too. Send me a note or shoot me an IM (celliottlive on AIM).
Important feed alert! If you receive blog or e-mail newsletter updates by RSS feed, please note that there’s a new address for this site’s feed. Here’s where to sign up. Note: the old feeds no longer work. (Don’t know what a “feed” is? Read this.)
Comments addendum. I received several notes last week from readers who said their comments on the site were rejected. In order to eliminate junk comments (several thousand a day) my Web guru implemented a captcha feature that asks you to authenticate yourself by typing an alphanumeric code when you leave feedback. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but there was no other way to separate the legit comments from the rest.
SIGHTINGS | Noted Elliott appearances online and offline
A senior fare mixup — Beverly Darnell gets a mysterious message with her cruise tickets: Either prove that you’re a senior citizen, she’s told, or you’ll have to pay an extra $250. Not only is Darnell too young to qualify for a senior fare, but she never even asked for one. Now her online agent is giving her two options: pay up or cancel the cruise. What should she do? (From The Troubleshooter)
Where’s my vacation, Mr. Bernanke? — Worries about inflation are tugging at the U.S. economy again, as consumers pay more for everything from gas to groceries. But that’s not the only place where our purchasing power is declining. As millions of Americans begin planning their summer vacations, they’re discovering that their dollar isn’t taking them as far as it used to. Call it vacation inflation. (From CNN.com)
Elliott’s E-Mail is also underwritten by the Alaska Travelgram, which gives you the inside scoop on Alaska, with information on activities, accommodations, hot air fare deals and secret insider tips — from the folks who live there. Subscribe here. It’s free.
BLOGGED | New posts on Ellipses
Note: Effective today, the subdomain ellipses.elliott.org is being folded into the regular elliott.org domain. Ellipses can now be found here. Please adjust your links and bookmarks accordingly. Thanks!
Letters to Delta Air Lines — When you write to an airline’s customer service department, is someone actually reading your note? Or are the agents simply scanning the first few lines of your message and selecting one of several canned responses? That’s the question raised by a recent exchange between reader David Deehl and Delta Air Lines. (From Ellipses)
Hotels, airlines go from bad to worse — For those of you who said things couldn’t get any worse in the travel industry, I’m afraid I have some bad news. Actually, the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index has some bad news. Things have gotten worse. A lot worse. From Ellipses)
Overlooked: airborne hackers? — Look out, laptop users. Your computer could be a target for hackers at cruising altitude, according to a new survey by Harris Interactive on behalf of Symantec. The results suggest 83 percent of laptop users have their PCs configured for wireless access. (The actual number could be higher because three percent said they weren’t sure about their setup.) Of the total number of respondents, 12 percent said they used their laptops on planes. From Ellipses)
FLASHBACK | A retrospective from the Elliott archives
More customer service letters. Notes to the “service” department — and the disappointing replies.
Letters to Charlotte — Some airline rules make perfect sense. Others do not. When I received the following e-mail string from reader Kristina M. Reser-Jaynes, I wondered whether I should take it up with Northwest Airlines or include it in a story about airline rules. Instead, I decided to republish it (with her permission) on the site without commentary. I think the letters, and the responses from Northwest, speak for themselves. From Ellipses)
Bad American Express — Last week I asked for your charge card stories, and many of you were happy to oblige. My Internet service provider worked overtime to process the hundreds of reader responses. Most of the letters were about American Express. Virtually none of them were very flattering. (From The Travel Technologist)
POSTCARDS | The latest from Elliott’s personal photo blog
Note: Effective today (am I starting to repeat myself?) Postcards is back in in “beta” — which means my Webmaster, Chris Jernigan, is working on a redesign. We’re transitioning to new photoblogging software that makes it far easier to post photos. Plus, as you can see, we’ve upped the size of the pictures in order to expose the technical limits of my photographic skills. Thank goodness I’ve got good subjects — when they aren’t having a meltdown.
It’s all downhill from here — Aren takes on the water slide at Hawk’s Cay Resort on Duck Key, Fla.
Out to sea — Vacationing is such hard work. Iden hangs out on the pier at Pigeon Key.
Hey cutie — No, I’m not posing. Erysse gives her photographer the eye while on her fabulous Florida Keys holiday.
Shell game — Iden combs the beach at Hawk’s Cay Resort on Duck Key, Fla.
TALKBACK | How to sound off about this site
Read something you disagree with? Got a story idea or a gripe? Here’s how to be heard:
» Send me an e-mail.
» Call me. My direct phone number is (407) 699-9529.
» Send me an instant message on Gmail.
» Shoot me a note or chat by video on AIM.
» Reach me on Skype. My username is christopherjelliott.
» Find me on MySpace.
» Link to me on LinkedIn.
» Post a response below an article, in the “Comment on this article” field.
» Contact me with this handy feedback form.
Please note: Unless you specify otherwise, all e-mails, letters and phone conversations are considered “on the record.” That means your name could be used in a future article.
BECOME AN UNDERWRITER | How to support Elliott
This site relies on support from travelers like you. If you care about journalism that’s uncompromising, cutting-edge and consumer-focused, then please consider becoming an underwriter. Here are the details.
SUBSCRIPTIONS | Manage your e-mail delivery preferences
You can manage your newsletter subscription here. You can also sign up for this newsletter’s RSS feed. Having technical trouble? Please send a note describing your problem we’ll do our best to help.
Here’s how to unsubscribe from this newsletter. (Sorry to see you go!)
Elliott’s E-Mail is published 50 times a year by Christopher Elliott. (c) 2007 Christopher Elliott.
✓ Get the latest travel news, tips and commentary from Elliott’s E-Mail, the subversive newsletter from industry gadfly Christopher Elliott. You’ll travel like a pro. Sign up here. It’s free.
Sign up for my 
