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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

May 6, 2002

> Inside

* Become an Underwriter
* Flying Shotgun
* High-Pressure Sales Tactics
* Coding Nightmare
* Top 10 Travel Books Updated
* Fly or Drive?
* Same Flight, Different Fare
* Time to Throw it Away?
* Odd Inn the Keys
* Carrying On in the Luggage Wars
* Mugged by the Gang of Five
* You've Been Through a Lot
* Airline Quality: What's the Real Score?

> Become an Underwriter

Publishing a newsletter and Web site takes time and money, so twice a year - in May and October - we ask you to pitch in with your pledge of support. Bottom line: we need you. Our premium for underwriters is an autographed copy of Suzanne Schlosberg's "Fitness for Travelers: The Ultimate Workout Guide for the Road" - an excellent book that helps you stay in shape while you're in transit. Please check out our section with subscriber information for the details.

> This Week in Travel

** Flying Shotgun
Can a pistol-packing pilot stop the next terrorist hijacking with lethal force? Airline crewmembers, who believe they're the last line of defense against a repeat of Sept. 11, have been lobbying the government to let them carry firearms on board. But these misguided measures to improve airline security, like so many other well-meaning ideas that seemed to make sense in the post-9/11 frenzy, are certain to backfire.

> By the Way

** High-Pressure Sales Tactics
Have you ever been subjected to a high-pressure sales pitch for a travel-related product? A timeshare property? Maybe a package vacation? 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.

** Coding Nightmare
Last week's newsletter looked a little unusual, and we're sorry about that. Hopefully the error will be fixed in this transmission. Remember, we now offer an HTML version of Elliott's E-Mail online. (Here's another tip: the newsletter is sometimes published online a little early, so if you can't wait for Monday, surf by on the weekend to get an early look.)

** Top 10 Travel Books Updated
This week we've added three new titles to our Top 10 Travel Books. It's worth another visit. Please keep sending your recommendations for travel books we may have missed. By buying a book online through one of the links, you're not only casting a vote for your favorite tome, but you're also supporting this site.

> Our Sponsors

** You
You are the reason this newsletter happens every week - your e-mails, tips and phone calls. 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. To support this site, just click on this link.

> Elliott's Commentary

** Fly or Drive?
Fuel prices are on the rise again, but that doesn't seem to be keeping us off the road. Travelers like Howard Paulman say it's going to take a lot more than higher gas bills to force him back on a plane. "There was a time when the ability to book a flight on-line, check-in with an e-ticket, and travel with nothing more than a laptop and carry-on made flying very desirable for any trip over 100 miles," says the finance manager. "But those days are gone." Now he drives to any place within 250 miles of his home office, and often as far as 400 miles.

** Same Flight, Different Fare
Both United Airlines and Air Canada offer a roundtrip coach fare from New Orleans to Toronto for $168. Both are Internet weekend specials. But when you go to book the flights, the fare on United comes to $204.85 when taxes and fees are included, but the Air Canada price becomes $254.83. What's going on?

** Time to Throw it Away?
This week's topic is obsolescence. When something is past its prime, no longer useful, outdated, then you dispose of it. But when do you know if it's time to give something the old heave-ho? I've been thinking about that a lot lately. Not only is it an important subject for technology users - the National Safety Council estimates that there are more than 50 million obsolete PCs in the United States, compared with only 32 million in 2000 - but it's an issue significant to me.

** Odd Inn the Keys
Did you know that the Florida Keys, an eclectic island chain that swings westward from Miami, is home to the strangest hotels in the civilized world? Where else can you sleep in an abandoned federal prison? Or in a converted marine laboratory under 21 feet of water? How about a houseboat, or on a very remote tropical island?

** Carrying On in the Luggage Wars
If you think the airline carry-on luggage crisis is over, you should meet Jessimy McKown. The former Marine was flying from Detroit to Portland, Oregon, on Northwest Airlines when a duffel bag fell out of the overhead bin where a passenger was trying to stuff it. The bag's strap snagged McKown's 10-week-old daughter, Madeline, and pulled the infant to the floor. According to an emergency room CAT scan, the baby was unharmed. But three years after the incident, McKown says she remains concerned that the fall has had long-term effects on her daughter.

> Ticked.com Talk

** Mugged by the Gang of Five
If a mugging like this was happening on the streets of LA or in Harlem or on the south side of Chicago there would be police cars arriving with sirens screaming and lights flashing. News photographers would be on the scene and images of the brutal beating would be beamed across the country. But right before our eyes, the Gang of Five, the controlling airline cartel in the country, is beating up a weak former gang member who has dared to try to leave the gang.

** You've Been Through a Lot
You have been bumped off of flights, searched for contraband, and shuffled between hotels. You have faced rude clerks, forced to pay bribes, and made to sit with drunk, smelly, obese, snoring seatmates. You have had your clothes ruined by spilled drinks, had to borrow underwear from your grandmother (blaugh!), and been confined to your hotel room for days with tourista.

** Airline Quality: What's the Real Score?
With due press coverage, the professors at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Wichita State University just issued their annual Airline Quality Ratings for 2001. Overall scores for the industry improved a bit over those reported in 2000. Among individual airlines, the most recent winner was Alaska, with now-defunct TWA at the bottom of the list. The composite AQR scores provide a measure of how well airlines did - collectively and individually - in avoiding problems. But Ed Perkins would never base his choice of airline on those scores: They exaggerate small differences among problem areas, and they omit several vital elements of the total quality picture.

> Other 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. Click here for details.

** 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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> Be an Underwriter

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