• 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
http://www.elliott.org

September 30, 2002

> Inside

* "Fall" of Air Travel
* Favorite Airport, Favorite Alternate?
* You did it! - 11,000 subscribers, 47,000 visitors
* October is Pledge Month
* Got the World on a Keychain
* TSA Slow to Pay for Laptop Damage
* American Errlines
* Quirky Festivals of the Florida Keys
* Mile-High Madness
* Wireless Lies
* Victims Wanted
* Another Bailout? No, Nationalization

> This Week in Travel

** "Fall" of Air Travel
If Charles Dickens were around today, he would call it "the worst of times, the worst of times." In the last month, we've been introduced to the world of "no waivers, no favors", "use it or lose it" and "pay for paper." Sometimes an image captures our feelings better than any written commentary. So this week, we share cartoonist Jim Hunt's interpretation of the fall of air travel. (You can order your very own copy of the cartoon, suitable for framing, by clicking on the link.) >> See the cartoon.

> By the Way

** Favorite Airport, Favorite Alternate?
What's your favorite airport? What's your favorite alternate airport? This week we want your top five picks in both categories - and we want to know why, specifically, you picked them. 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.

** You did it! - 11,000 subscribers, 47,000 visitors
September was a record month at Elliott's E-Mail. Our number of newsletter subscribers shot past the 11,000 mark and the number of unique visitors reached 47,000 - a new record. We've set ambitious goals: 25,000 subscribers/100,000 unique monthly visitors by June 2003. With your help, we can do it!

** October is Pledge Month
It's time, again, for us to get down on our knees here at Elliott's E-Mail and beg you to support one of the last remaining independent voices in travel journalism. We don't like to do it, but we've got bills to pay. This time around, we've got a few pretty good premiums lined up. And of course we recognize all of our underwriters on the site, too. You can see the entire list of previous underwriters online.

> Our Sponsor

** Ticked.com Top Ten
What are travelers reading? Find out at Ticked.com's Top Ten list of bestselling travel titles. Compiled monthly, the list features the most-purchased travel books on the Internet, thanks to the Web site's affiliate relationship with Barnes & Noble. Whether you're looking for something to read on your next trip or wondering what to buy for the traveler in your life, the Ticked.com Top Ten can help.

> Elliott's Commentary

** Got the World on a Keychain
I've seen the future of travel technology and it's on a key chain. Just in time, too. With airline gate agents now holding a measuring tape to each suitcase, and government security screeners giving every carry-on a once over, smaller is better for the jet set. And cheaper. In an effort to collect more money from us, the major carriers are clamping down on our excess baggage, imposing hefty surcharges for heavy bags or extra luggage that we used to travel with. >> In Power Trip.

** TSA Slow to Pay for Laptop Damage
One minute, a security screener was pulling Jason Cumberland aside at Denver International Airport to "wand" him with a portable metal detector. The next, his laptop computer lay in pieces on the x-ray machine. A colleague traveling with Cumberland says he saw the screener drop the PC. But after filling out a claim form and following up with several dozen phone calls, he's received neither an apology nor compensation for the notebook computer, which he says was completely destroyed. >> In The Travel Technologist.

** American Errlines
"My six-year-old son and I recently tried to return to New York from San Jose, Calif., on American Airlines and because of mechanical failure, the first leg of our flight was canceled." writes a reader. "We spent the night in San Jose and left at 6:30 the next morning. When we arrived in Chicago at 1:00 p.m. we went through five separate airplanes and gate changes -- all of the airplanes were broken." Does American owe her anything for the trouble? >> Details in The Travel Troubleshooter.

** Quirky Festivals of the Florida Keys
A flotilla of powerboats hovers above a Technicolor reef, tied together like a fleet of mothballed warships. "We're almost ready," says Bill Becker, who is in command of the lead pontoon vessel. He turns his radio up a notch. "OK," he says. "Here we go." Becker signals to the scuba divers waiting at the stern. One by one they step off the side of the boat, plunging into the transparent Atlantic off Looe Key, Fla. >> In Destinations.

** Mile-High Madness
It took two off-duty pilots, a military policeman and a 5-foot-4, 98-pound flight attendant to subdue and hog-tie a menacing passenger on US Airways Flight 38. The passenger had dropped acid and then tried to force his way into the cockpit to "bless the pilot." During the struggle, he tossed the flight attendant, Renee Sheffer, across three rows of seats into the overhead luggage compartment like a ragdoll. Now, less than a month before he goes to trial in a Baltimore federal court, most of Sheffer's physical wounds have healed, but not her psychological ones. She says she suffers post-traumatic stress syndrome and is on indefinite leave from work. >> In The Travel Critic Archives.

> Ticked.com Talk

** Wireless Lies
I just came across an article that really irked me. The headline for this article (probably written by some local editor) read "Wireless access takes wing." But it was the sub-head that caught my attention: "Airlines hoping to calm travelers with Net hookups." I could not believe it. The last time I think this solution to a problem played was when Nero fiddled while Rome burned. I think the local Roman papers noted, "Nero hopes music soothes inferno victims." >> In Cheap Charlie.

** Victims Wanted
Here's the key to safe travel: victims. For you and I to travel safely, we need victims. We need victims? "Wait a minute, Riley," you may be saying to yourself. "Maybe you need victims so that you can peddle your books and workshops, but why in the world would I need victims?" Well, you're right about the books and workshops. Half of my business is generated by people who have been victimized or have had close calls while traveling. (There's nothing like a gun barrel pressed into one's ribs to provide motivation.) >> Read more in Terry Riley's column.

** Another Bailout? No, Nationalization
Consider the following: Last year, just weeks after 9/11, Congress voted the nation's airlines a taxpayer-funded grant of $4.5 billion. On Tuesday, Delta chief executive Leo Mullin, speaking for the nation's largest carriers, went to Congress and begged for about $4 billion more. Today, when the markets closed, the total market capitalization of the nation's Big Six airlines was less than $3.4 billion. >> In Joe Brancatelli's column.

> Other Sponsors

** AnitaVacation.com
Do you need a vacation? Do you need fresh ideas, news, and information to be inspired? Look no further than AnitaVacation.com. Editor Anita Dunham-Potter gives you timely insider tips on consumer travel issues, in-depth vacation features, and the best deals to favorite destinations, air travel, cruises, and much more. Sign up today for our free weekly newsletter with even more advice, viewpoints, and deals that show you how to have better travel experiences ~ because everyone needs a vacation.

** Carlson Wagonlit Travel
Experience history when you travel. Seek out the major and not-so major museums and learn more than a book will ever teach you. We can hook you up with a historical tour that takes you off the beaten path.

** ThriftyTraveling.com
A newsletter filled with travel tips and resources as well as late-breaking destination-oriented news and bargains you can use. Each issue is packed with a wide variety of useful information that will help you save money and travel safely without stress. It also has special Over-50, Solo Travel, and Net News sections.

> Talk to Us!

Read something you disagree with? Got a story idea or a gripe? Here's how to reach Elliott.

Phone: (305) 453-4781
E-mail
AOL screen name: elliottdotorg
MSN Messenger: msn@elliott.org

> 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 subscriber of elliott.org. Your contribution will help keep us operating.

> 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 here.

> Credits and Subscription Information

Elliott's E-Mail is published 50 times a year by http://www.elliott.org. (c) 2002 Elliott Publishing. To unsubscribe, please go to our unsubscribe page and follow the directions or send an e-mail to our general unsubscribe mailbox.