• What's elliott?
• About elliott
• Contact us

t o p i c s

• Business
• Commentary
• Destinations
• Help
• Leisure
• Technology
• Vault

Copyright Elliott Publishing. All rights reserved. For more information, call (305) 453-4781 or send e-mail to us.

ELLIOTT'S E-MAIL
The Last Honest Travel Newsletter
http://www.elliott.org

December 24, 2001

> Inside

* Happy Holidays
* Thank You!
* Surprise Savings?
* Spirit Sale to Florida
* Beware of Solicited Spam
* Wrong Hotel!
* Lighten Your Tech Burden
* Nationalize Travel?
* Emasculated Again
* Salvaging BWI
* Out of Business

> This Week in Travel

** Happy Holidays
The cast and crew at Ticked.com and Elliott's E-Mail wish you and your family a very happy holiday. If you're on the road, we hope you'll travel safely. If you're staying home, we hope you'll enjoy your time spent with friends and family. We'll be back next week with more commentary from the week in travel.

> By the Way

** Thank You!
Our shortened holiday pledge drive has been an unqualified success, thanks to people like you who care about real consumer advocacy journalism on the Web. In this, our final week, we're offering autographed copies of A. Frank Steward's "The Air Traveler's Survival Guide" to donors of $30 or more. Steward's book is a clever, insightful, often funny, look at air travel from a flight attendant's perspective. Click on http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/pay/TPAI2PPMO7FZN to get your copy, but remember that the Amazon honor system is anonymous, so you'll have to e-mail your transaction number and address to us at premium@elliott.org

** Surprise Savings?
Since this fall, where have you been able to save the most money in travel? Has any of it come as a surprise? For example, did you anticipate that airfares would drop, but then ended up saving lots of money on a car rental or a cruise? Let us know. And please be sure to specify how much you saved. Send us an e-mail and please don't forget to include your full name, city, and what you do for a living. Your answer may appear in a future column.

> Elliott's Cheap Travel Tip

** Spirit Sale to Florida
Spirit Airlines is throwing a winter vacation sale for travel during January and February, with one-way fares starting at $59. Flights between New York's LaGuardia, Detroit, Chicago O'Hare and Florida have all been discounted. Fares are for travel between Jan. 7 and Feb. 13 and must be purchased by December 26, 2001. Click on http://www.spiritair.com for more information. Got a moneysaving tip? Send it to tip@elliott.org

> Our Sponsor

** Family Travel Forum
Want your family vacations to be cheaper, safer and more fun? Turn to the web's most comprehensive, independent resource for travel with kids. Join FTF's global network to access first-hand, honest research, tips, and the editors' pick of the top family travel deals, free festivals, learning vacations, and seasonal travel events. Click on http://www.familytravelforum.com/e-news.html for your FREE sample now.

> Elliott's Commentary

** Beware of Solicited Spam
They come after dark, without warning. They offer incredible bargains. They scare me. Last night there was one from Expedia saying, "Dear Christopher, the holidays are coming...and no, it's not too late to find great travel deals." What kind of deals? How about round-trip flights starting at $92, or 15 percent off on all ATA flights, or (I'm not making this up) one last chance to "ski for free"? In The Travel Tightwad at http://www.elliott.org/tightwad/2001/spam.htm

** Wrong Hotel!
She bid for a Las Vegas resort hotel online - but wait a second, that's not the one she picked. Now a reader wants her money back. But is this traveler asking for too much? Find out what Travel Troubleshooter Chris Elliott discovers when he investigates the claim of a faux hotel booking. Read the details in The Travel Troubleshooter at http://www.elliott.org/ask/2001/crnothotel.htm

** Lighten Your Tech Burden
Even though Marjory Hawkins travels with a Sony Vaio laptop computer, one of the lightest and most dependable PCs on the market today, she'd rather leave the hardware at home. "I am tired of hauling it around, especially now that you have to turn it on every time you go through the airport," says the Orinda, Calif., communications consultant. "It takes extra time to get through security-and if your battery is dead, you are in trouble when they ask you to turn it on." Check out The Travel Technologist at http://www.elliott.org/technology/2001/light.htm

** Nationalize Travel?
Remember all those efforts to re-regulate the airline industry earlier this year - bills like the "Fair Treatment of Airline Passengers Act" and the "Aviation Consumer Right To Know Act" that would have compelled carriers to offer passengers the lowest airfare or inform them of air traffic delays? Turns out that was just the warm-up act. The re-regulators have quietly ditched their narrow goal in favor of a broader agenda for 2002: nationalizing the travel industry. Read more in Opinion at http://www.elliott.org/vault/oped/2001/national.htm

>> There's much more irreverent news and commentary about travel. Click on http://www.elliott.org now for details. <<

> Ticked.com Talk

** Emasculated Again
Like a dog with a bone, Cheap Charlie doesn't want to give up on airport and airline security. At the risk of sounding unpatriotic, he's emboldened by the burgeoning ranks of rank-and-file journalists who now are starting to complain about the treatment passengers are getting at the hands of airport security personnel. Read more of Charlie Leocha's column at http://www.ticked.com/cheapcharlie/2001/chemasculated.htm

** Salvaging BWI
Every day at 5:30 a.m., Beverley Swaim-Staley's pager buzzes with a message from her staff about how many people are standing in lines at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. It will buzz again at 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. and then hourly during the busy afternoon travel period, telling her where the problems are. Swaim-Staley, Maryland's deputy transportation secretary, said she asked for the updates in October to monitor the seemingly endless lines that often filled the BWI terminal after Sept. 11. Read more in Katherine Shaver's story at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A57179-2001Dec17.html

** Out of Business
Formerly a long-odds problem, supplier default has suddenly moved to the front rank of travel risks, reports Ed Perkins of SmarterLiving.com. The travel industry double whammy - a weak economy and the September 11 tragedy - has already taken its toll on three cruise lines, four airlines, two car-rental companies, and a handful of tour operators. Until the economy turns around, additional failures are likely. Read more in Ed Perkins' column at http://www.smarterliving.com/columns/ed/Beware20011220.1.html

>> For links to other engaging travel opinions, visit http://www.ticked.com today. And don't forget to bookmark the site! <<

> Other Sponsors

** Radoff's Travel Letter
If you've got a travel-related dispute that you haven't been able to resolve, why not try a lawyer's letter - a customized message from an attorney showing that you mean business? Franklin Radoff, a lawyer with more than three decades of experience in litigation and transactional matters, has offered his lawyer's letter service to readers of Elliott's E-Mail at a special discount. Pay $39.95 (the normal fee is $49.95) for a lawyer's letter through Jan. 1. (You must mention discount code ELL10K for the discount.) For details, click on http://www.legaladvicehotline.com/lawyersletter.htm or call (800) 595-2948.

** Net-roamer
If you are a serious road e-warrior and need internet access, Net-roamer offers the iPass Network of more than 14,000 local call access numbers in 150 countries. Your first half-hour is FREE. Your email address will not change and you keep your regular Internet Service Provider. User-friendly software for Laptops and most PDA's including Macs. With Net-roamer you surf, send and receive email exactly as you would when at home or office. Click on http://www.net-roamer.com

** PS Inform by PositiveSpace
A travel agent needs to do more than book a flight to gain a client's loyalty these days - he or she needs to know enough to be an expert travel advisor. PS Inform can help. Short, daily email messages alert you to breaking travel stories, advisories and tips that make you a hero to your clients. And it's FREE! Subscribe today at http://www.positivespace.com/v2/redirect?loc_id=26

** FrugalFun.com
Home of Shel Horowitz's free Monthly Frugal Fun Tips (4-1/2 years of archives covering bargain travel, entertainment, dining, and much more). By the author of "The Penny-Pinching Hedonist: How to Live Like Royalty with a Peasant's Pocketbook," the book that will save you $500 to $2000 every year on fun every year. Also on the site: Global Travel Review: destinations, elucidations (how-to articles), meditations (adventure narratives), and alimentations (food) from around the world) - and lots of info for entrepreneurs and marketers. Click on http://www.frugalfun.com

> Charter Underwriters

* AirJet Airline News - News updated hourly at http://www.airlinebiz.com

* Applied Psychology - Security tips online at http://www.appliedpsychology.com

* Bonjour Paris - This site's French connection at http://www.bonjourparis.com

> Your Opinion Matters

Read something you disagree with? Got a story idea or a gripe? Your opinion can make a difference. E-mail editor@elliott.org or call (305) 453-4781 with any comments, feedback or suggestions about anything in this newsletter. Your participation won't just make it a better service, but it could also improve travel.

> Be an Underwriter

This site relies on support from travelers like you. If you care about journalism that's uncompromising, cutting-edge and consumer-focused, then you're invited to become a member of elliott.org. Your contribution will help keep the Last Honest Travel Site operating. For more information, go to http://www.amazon.com/paypage/P34Z3D2F0Z734N

> Please Forward Elliott's E-Mail

Did you know the average reader forwards Elliott's E-Mail to two other people every week? We don't mind at all, but you could always save yourself the trouble by inviting them to subscribe. It's easy and it's free: just click on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/elliottslist

> Credits and Subscription Information

Elliott's E-Mail is published 50 times a year by http://www.elliott.org. (c) 2001 The Last Honest Travel Site. To unsubscribe, please go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/elliottslist and follow the directions or send an e-mail to elliottslist-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com