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

ELLIOTT'S E-MAIL
http://www.elliott.org

April 29, 2002

> Inside

* Untrustworthy Fliers
* Points or Perks?
* Goodbye, Paul
* Cheap Travel Tip
* Spend Miles, Save Money
* Stay Between the Sheets
* Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
* They Still Don't Get It
* Deals Can Wait
* Up in Arms About Legroom
* Air Travel Spending To Fall

> This Week in Travel

** Untrustworthy Fliers
Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge's proposal to create a "trusted flier" program that prescreens passengers is the most dangerous idea for improving airline safety since the government federalized airport security last year.

> By the Way

** Points or Perks?
Attention, frequent flier mileage junkies. Why do you collect points? Is it the free flights and hotel rooms - or the preferred treatment? Send us an e-mail, and please don't forget to include your full name, what you do for a living, and contact information. Your response might appear in a future story.

** Goodbye, Paul
We're deeply saddened this week by the passing of Paul Grimes, who died on Tuesday, April 23, after complications from surgery. Even after he retired last summer, Paul continued to inspire other travel writers to continue meeting the high standards he set for travel journalism as a columnist for The New York Times and Conde Nast Traveler. He often sent short notes of encouragement to other writers when he saw a story or column he liked, urging them to "keep it up!" Paul was the best in the business. We will miss him.

** Cheap Travel Tip
Hilton HHonors is giving away 732 vacation days as part of the Trip A Day Giveaway. Between June 1 and September, one HHonors member each day will receive a six-day/five-night trip for two to any of the more than 2,300 HHonors hotels worldwide. Roundtrip coach airfare for two also is included, and winners will have until December 2003 to choose their destination and take their trips. For details, click on the HHonors site.

** New: Top 10 Travel Books
This week we introduce our list of Top 10 travel books - and we invite you to buy one of these bestsellers online. Why purchase from us? Because we picked 'em (and we like 'em) and because a portion of the proceeds will help support this newsletter. In corporate-speak, that's called a "win-win" proposition. But most of all, we hope you like the titles we've selected. Here's this week's Top 10 Travel Books.

> Our Sponsors

** M-Travel
The stock markets are down. The luster is off the dot-coms. But the application of mobile technology in the travel industry is alive and well. Although still in its infancy, mobile travel sales and services will be the biggest thing in wireless commerce. Visit the only Web site devoted exclusively to mobile communications and travel technology. Free weekly e-mail newsletter.

** You
You are the reason this newsletter happens every week - your e-mails, tips and phone calls. Twice a year, in May and October, we also ask you to renew your financial support by becoming an underwriter. It costs money to publish a weekly travel newsletter. Your help is critical to the survival of the cutting-edge commentary and news that this Web site produces. Without your pledge, it just won't happen. There are three membership levels:

- Associate ($20)
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We also offer a special Charter Underwriter designation for businesses and organizations. All donations are anonymous unless you specify otherwise. We won't offend you by offering cheap premiums (I mean, don't you have enough to travel with already?) but if you send a quick e-mail with your transaction number, we'll recognize you in a future newsletter. To make a donation, just follow this link.

> Elliott's Commentary

** Spend Miles, Save Money
Charles Hathorn wanted to cash in his hotel loyalty points for six nights at the Hilton Prague, but his HHonors account came up a few points short. No problem, said a Hilton sales agent. Why not transfer some of your United Airlines miles? The extra 10,000 points gave the Maine, NY, organization consultant six free nights at any Hilton property, including the one he wanted in the Czech Republic. Ordinarily, the hotel bill would have come to about $1,200, so redeeming his points and miles was a smart move. "I was pleased to get a great deal," says Hathorn.

** Stay Between the Sheets
How often does a cruse line change the bedspreads? Not often enough for most guests, according to a reader who watched a cabin crew change her room while she waited to disembark. Find out the truth about sheets, bedspreads and pillows - and where to sleep on your next cruise or hotel stay.

** Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
It's a problem as old as technology itself: Your gadget won't work without a plug, and nothing coming out of the device will fit the available socket. Whether it's the difference between 110 Volts and 220, RJ-11 versus RJ-45, or even Firewire versus USB, you know that this is one of the most vexing, frustrating, and irritating problems that tech users face on the road. Here's how to avoid it.

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

> Ticked.com Talk

** They Still Don't Get It
It is time for one of Cheap Charlie's regular columns about the miserable financial state of the big airlines. Again, major airline CEOs and other executives have proven what incompetent managers they are. He just doesn't understand why their shareholders don't throw the dim rascals out.

** Deals Can Wait
"All things come round to him who will but wait," poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow told us. Or so many of us believe as we delay booking vacations, hoping to snag a last-minute opportunity. Customers who used to arrange leisure trips two or three months before departing now book about a month ahead, says Steve Loucks, spokesman for Carlson Wagonlit Travel, a Minneapolis-based network of more than 1,000 travel agency offices. Their plea, he says: "Help me. Get me a deal."

** Up in Arms About Legroom
Few columns have sparked the volume of responses as last week's subject: reclining seats and legroom. Of the 146 e-mails received by the Washington Post, more than 68 percent said airlines should either ban or limit areas where passengers can recline their seats. Many echoed the sentiments of Gail Hernberg of Victoria, B.C., who said she didn't like having someone's "head ending up in my lap or meal."

** Air Travel Spending
To Fall How business travelers buy airline tickets and how much they pay for them has undergone a significant, and probably long-lasting, shift since Sept. 11. As most major airlines raised their unrestricted fares during the 1990s, many business travelers began to play games with the system. One involves buying two low-cost round-trip tickets - the kind that require a Saturday night stay - then using only half of each ticket and avoiding the stayover.

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

> Other Sponsors

** Family Travel Forum
Summer's coming and you need the best resource for travel with kids? Join the FTF community for first-hand accounts, great vacation ideas and the editors' pick of real deals, free festivals, and regional events. Click here for your FREE sample now.

** Single Parent Travel
Are you a single parent? Like to travel? Then sign up for our free monthly newsletter that's designed specifically for the traveling single parent. It offers informative advice about proper travel documentation, tips on how to handle the kiddies on those long trips, and a place to meet other single parents and be heard. Click here.

** Net-roamer
Need serious worldwide Internet access? Net-roamer offers the iPass Network, an industrial-strength network of more than 14,000 local-call access numbers in 150 countries. Your first half-hour is free. Your email address won't change and you get to keep your regular Internet Service Provider. Find out more.

** The FrequentFlier Crier
Want to travel faster, safer, smarter, cheaper, better... and earn more frequent flier miles in the process? Every week, The FrequentFlier Crier delivers travel news you can use: frequent flyer program updates, special fares, industry news and trends. Sign up free here.

> Charter Underwriters

* AirJet Airline News - Airline news updated hourly.

* Applied Psychology - Security tips and more online.

* Bonjour Paris - This site's French connection.

* Journeywoman - The premier travel resource for women on the Internet.

> Your Opinion Matters

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