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

January 16, 2001

> Inside

* This Week in Travel
* Merger Mania Poll
* Coming Soon: Elliott.org Redesign
* Satellite Discovery
* Saying Sayonara
* Down on Delta
* Brancatelli: No. No. No. No. No.
* Kirby: FAA Forecast
* Perkins: Murphy's Law of Travel

> This Week in Travel

Nobody likes a loser in the travel industry. Whether it's Jay Walker at Priceline.com, who presided over the company's rise and fall before getting his walking papers a few weeks ago, or William Compton, the TWA chief who now seems set to oversee the legendary carrier's demise, we are simultaneously fascinated and horrified by the scope of their failures. But the first corporate casualties of 2001 won't have to wait long before they have company. As travel critic Chris McGinnis points out in the latest issue of his newsletter, Leo Mullin's watch at Delta Air Lines has been marred by controversy of equally grand proportions. The carrier is hobbled by a dispute with its pilots and the possibility of a strike looms, he points out. "It is canceling profitable flights throughout its network, inconveniencing thousands of customers. And a Coca-Cola style racial bias suit is brewing," McGinnis adds. But let's not forget the other losers in this rapidly consolidating world: the passengers who will get shortchanged by a less competitive travel industry, whether it's online or an airline. Nobody likes a loser, least of all when it's us. - CE

> By The Way

** Merger Mania Poll
Which of the airline mergers would you least like to see approved? Here's your chance to sound off about the two pending mega-mergers in the airline industry. In this week's Ticked.com/Elliott.org survey, vote on the carrier combination you'd most like to see go down in flames. Click on http://www.coolboard.com/msgshow.cfm/msgboard=27322810606077&msg=66131 088768832&page=1&idDispSub=74538246005586 (Note: Your browser might truncate this URL. If it does, simply cut and paste it into your address field on your browser.) Or go to http://www.ticked.com and access the Sound Off! icon.

** Coming Soon: Elliott.org Redesign
Call it a virtual spring-cleaning: Elliott.org, the companion site to this newsletter, is getting a facelift during the first quarter of 2001. Any suggestions for how to make the site more intuitive, navigable, or just plain fun, would be appreciated. Send your comments to feedback@e... or call (410) 626-9618.

> Our Sponsor

This issue of Elliott's E-Mail is underwritten by igougo. Before your next trip, find out what real people are saying about the places you want to go. At IgoUgo, you'll get connected with like-minded travelers and explore the world through their journals and photos. Share your own experiences and earn GO Points redeemable for frequent flier miles, travel merchandise, even free trips. Register now at http://www.igougo.com.

> Elliott's Commentary

** Satellite Discovery
Six newspaper internships didn't do it. Neither could a graduate degree in journalism, an academic fellowship, or jobs writing for marquee media outlets - including, of course, this one. It took something considerably smaller to make me feel like a real reporter: a phone. Not just any phone, but Qualcomm's latest satellite phone, the GSP 1600, which uses the ubiquitous Globalstar Communications System. In this week's The Travel Technologist at http://www.elliott.org/technology/2001/satphone.htm

** Saying Sayonara
It seems as if the growing number of terminally ill online travel ventures have taken a page out of Al Gore's campaign strategy book: They concede defeat reluctantly and in a way that serves no one. Consider TravelBids.com, the innovative ticketing site that quietly went under at the end of last year. There was no announcement about the company's demise - only a terse e-mail from its founder that "TravelBids is not operational" and a notice on its site that "a date has not been set for resumption of service." Get details in this week's installment of Inside Interactive Travel at http://www.elliott.org/interactive/2001/sayonara.htm

** Down on Delta
Does answer guy Chris Elliott have an ax to grind with Delta Air Lines? After one reader's question about a recent Delta flight - and following a slew of columns berating the Atlanta carrier - our columnist finally answers the question. He also tells his reader if the airline shortchanged her on her flight and suggests how it could have handled her case more effectively. Find out more. In ChrisCrossings at http://www.elliott.org/ask/2001/crdelta.htm

> Other Voices

** Brancatelli: No. No. No. No. No.
We have learned something this week as American and United attempted to frighten and bamboozle us into handing them absolute control of about half of the nation's skies, says Biztravel.com's Joe Brancatelli. We have learned that the more complex they make the deals, the more convoluted they make the terms, the more money they throw around, the more absurd power-sharing scenarios they spin, the more they bluff with talk of airline shutdowns and straw-men start- ups, the easier it is for us to just say no. Read the entire jihad at http://misc.biztravel.com/content/news_and_views/branc/01/011101branc. htm

** Kirby: FAA Forecast
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration sees quite a few changes in the traveler's world over the next 25 years - though a skimming of the agency's report wouldn't reveal the government's conclusions. Ticked.com travel expert David Kirby digs just a little deeper to find a future for homegrown airlines and little advice for potential travelers. See what he's found. Click on http://ticked.com/kirbyskorner/2000/kkfaarpt.htm

** Perkins: Murphy's Law of Travel
The general form of Murphy's Law - anything that can go wrong will go wrong - has widespread applications in travel. Here are four common specific cases; let them help you through the thicket of misrepresentations and hype you can expect in the travel marketplace this year, writes SmarterLiving.com's Ed Perkins. At http://www.smarterliving.com/columns/ed/Murphy20010111.1.html

> 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@e... 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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