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

February 19, 2001

> Inside

* Anna On My Mind
* Split Decision!
* Ticked.com Talk
* Archives: The Travel Critic
* Laptop Poetry
* Delta's DVT Debacle
* Parasites and Pepsi Challenges
* Avoid DVT
* How to Buy a Laptop
* Leocha: DOT Collusion
* McGinnis: Delta's Alternatives
* Brancatelli: Nobody Asked Me ...

> This Week in Travel

** Anna On My Mind
I've been thinking of Anna Kournikova a lot lately. I'm not really a tennis fan, nor do I have a pinup of the starlet in my office. But I've lost count of how many e-mails with the text "Hi: Check This!" landed in my mailbox last week - harbingers of the dreaded Anna virus. Maybe it's a coincidence that another kind of "virus" associated with the popular fare search application SideStep was discovered at almost the same time (see story in commentary). Whether this one is harmless or dangerous is for you to decide. Several irate readers already have dismissed it as something that's in a league with Anna and ILOVEYOU. And, while it may be the first travel- specific "virus" I'm fairly certain it won't be the last. - CE

> By the Way

** Split Decision!
Do you trust a reservation made from an airline Web site? In last week's Ticked.com/elliott.org poll, a third of you said a Web site booking was "as good as a plane ticket" while another third thought it was "almost" as good and another third said it was "meaningless." Let's call that one a draw.

** Ticked.com Talk
There's still time to sign up for Ticked.com's irreverent weekly newsletter, Ticked.com Talk. Earlier this year a virus (not Anna) annihilated Ticked.com's e-mail newsletter list, effectively wiping out the site's entire subscriber database. So if you were on the list and want to get back on, please re-subscribe. The newsletter is free, it's fun and it's informative. Just click on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tickedtalk

** Archives: The Travel Critic
The first four years of The Travel Critic are now online. You may think of The Travel Critic as a minute-long audio feature, but before that it was a weekly text column called The Crabby Traveler. Remember? Here are the highlights:

Last year's controversial story about why business travelers don't like bed and breakfasts at http://www.elliott.org/vault/critic/2000/bb.htm

The highly inflammatory story about getting rid of babies on board at http://www.elliott.org/vault/critic/1999/babies.htm

A modest proposal on how to end in-flight violence at http://www.elliott.org/vault/critic/1998/booze.htm

And, of course, the column that almost ended Elliott's career as a travel writer at http://www.elliott.org/vault/critic/1998/writers.htm

The entire index is at http://www.elliott.org/vault/critic/index.html

> Our Sponsors

** Tell Only The Women
This issue of Elliott's E-Mail is underwritten by Tell Only The Women, a free e-mail newsletter for women who travel. Sign up for the newsletter at http://www.women-traveling.com/WTT/newsletter_sign_up.htm or check out past topics at http://www.women-traveling.com/WTT/archiveTOC.htm

** Bonjour Paris
Bonjour Paris is a virtual trip to France for lovers of all things Parisian and French. Visitors to http://www.bonjourparis.com will find travel information, food, wine and hotel tips, as well as lively cultural information.

> Elliott's Commentary

** Laptop Poetry
This was supposed to be an ode to Gateway Computer. Nine hundred words of praise for its Solo 3350 CS laptop, composed in all but iambic pentameter. I owe Gateway big time. For starters, it's one of the only computer manufacturers with the chutzpah to let this critic test its portable computers. In my book, that's less of a reflection on the critic and more of a statement about this column's readers. Gateway obviously believes its products are good enough to accompany any business traveler on the road anytime. Read this week's Travel Technologist at http://www.elliott.org/technology/2001/gateway.htm

** Delta's DVT Debacle
Is the US airline industry turning a blind eye to "economy class syndrome"? After one reader gets a case of deep venous thrombosis on a Delta flight, answer guy Chris Elliott investigates. You can only imagine what he finds in this week's column. But you probably didn't realize the extent to which our carriers - and Delta in particular - are ignoring the DVT epidemic. In this week's ChrisCrossings at http://www.elliott.org/ask/2001/crdvt.htm

** Parasites and Pepsi Challenges
Can an online business give itself an unfair competitive advantage with clever programming? That's a question SideStep's rivals are asking themselves after a subroutine called "The Pepsi Challenge" was discovered earlier this week. SideStep is a travel search application that downloads to a Windows PC using Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4 and above. The program integrates into the browser and launches after an icon on the browser's menu bar is pushed, searching close to 100 travel suppliers for low airfares, rental car prices and hotel room rates. Problem is, that's not the only time it turns itself on. Get details in this week's installment of Inside Interactive Travel at http://www.elliott.org/interactive/2001/sidestep.htm

> Audio Commentaries

** Avoid DVT
Don't become a victim of deep venous thrombosis, better known as "economy class syndrome." Here are a few tips on staying healthy when you're airborne. You don't want to miss this special audio commentary. Listen to more in The Travel Critic at http://www.elliott.org/audio/critic/2001/dvt.mp3

** How to Buy a Laptop
What are the most important things to look for in a laptop computer? Picking out a new PC doesn't have to be difficult. Start by clicking on this week's audio commentary. Hear the whole thing in Outtakes from the Travel Technologist at http://www.elliott.org/audio/outtakes/2001/buylaptop.mp3

(Note: You need an MP3 player on your computer to listen to the audio commentaries.)

> Other Voices

** Leocha: DOT Collusion
Only in America can we find the government stretching to discover monopoly activity in the emerging world of software, computers and the Internet, while ignoring the blatant and fully documented monopoly activities of the airlines, reports Ticked.com's Cheap Charlie. United Airlines and American Airlines are - in the full view of the public, Congress and the media - formulating an oligopoly with control of about 50 percent of the air traffic in the United States, and no one seems to be raising an eyebrow. Read more at http://www.ticked.com/cheapcharlie/2001/chdot.htm

** McGinnis: Delta's Alternatives
By now, most frequent Delta travelers have probably heard the latest twist in the airline merger-mania story: Last weekend, The Washington Post reported that Delta Air Lines could be acquired by the smaller Continental Airlines, and not vice versa, as many a pundit had pondered. The Atlanta Business Chronicle's Chris McGinnis examines the issue. Get the details at http://travelskills.com/column/02.12.01deltaalternatives.htm

** Brancatelli: Nobody Asked Me ...
Uh-oh, Joe Brancatelli is at it again. In this week's column on Biztravel.com, he's doing another "Nobody Asked Me ..." Bill Clinton may have shamed us all by pardoning fugitive financiers and drug kingpins, he writes, but at least he didn't pardon any airline executives. A lot more thoughts along these lines, and some outrageous comments by airline CEOs about each other and the business, make up this week's rip-off of Jimmy Cannon. Read more at http://misc.biztravel.com/content/news_and_views/branc/01/021501branc. htm

> Your Opinion Matters

Read something you disagree with? Got a story idea or a gripe? Your opinion can make a difference. E-mail us at editor@elliott.org or call (410) 626-9618 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.

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