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http://www.elliott.org

July 18, 2004

>> Inside <<

* Summer Reruns
* Question of the Week: Favorite Airports For Wireless Access?
* NEW! Get Today's Travel News First
* This Week in Travel
* Poof! There Goes Your Vacation
* Island Birds Behaving Badly
* Flying On My Terms
* Old Tricks Won't Work
* First Class Babies
* Kicked Out of My Hotel
* Flashback: Our Favorite Reruns
* Bothered & Badgered at B&Bs
* End of Common Sense Among Travelers?
* Flying The Funny Skies
* Getting Stoned in Marathon

>> First Off <<

** Summer Reruns
OK, before you click away let me just say one thing: At least two items in this week's newsletter are not recycled. Travel Notes, which just underwent a major facelift and which has been expanded, is completely new. And so is this week's troubleshooter column, which is an amazing story of how one family was kicked out of their hotel. The rest is … almost new. Hey, what can I say, it's summer. We have great encore columns from Terry Riley, Charles Leocha, James Wysong and yours truly (John Frenaye and Joel Widzer haven't been with us long enough to go into reruns, but you can find all of their columns at Travelcomment.)

>> Underwritten By <<

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>> By The Way <<

** Question of the Week: Favorite Airports For Wireless Access? Which U.S. airport offers the very best Wi-Fi access? You know what I'm talking about - powerful signals, few dead spots, easy network login, and reasonable prices (or better yet, it's free). Here's your chance to sound off. Please let us know why, specifically, you like the Wi-Fi at the airport. (Better yet, tell us about the last time you were there.) Send us an e-mail and include your full name, city, and what you do for a living. Remember, your story could mean free luggage. It did for Robert Johnson, our May winner.

> Trying to e-mail me? Please read this first.

** ** NEW! Get Today's Travel News First
Want to keep up to date on the latest travel news? Now you can get Elliott's Travel Notes, the blog USA Today said delivers a "varied, succinct combination of news and analysis" (believe it or not, this was after the paper pulled the plug on my column) delivered to your "in" box every morning. Travel Notes won't waste your time; it offers quick links to the top stories every weekday morning. No ads, no hidden agenda, and no cost to you. That's right, it's completely free. > Sign up now.

>> This Week in Travel <<

News, opinion and analysis from Elliott's Travel Notes is underwritten by Travel Hunters - the bargain travel community.

> Government Jettisons CAPPS II (7/16)

> Beware of Summer Airline Delays (7/15)

> Hotels Are Hot - Wanna Buy One? (7/14)

> Beleaguered Agents Take It Home (7/13)

> It's Official: The Skies Are Crowded (7/12)

> See archived blog postings or catch up on today's news.

> NEW! Sign up for Travel Notes by e-mail. Find out more.

>> Also Underwritten By <<

** FirstClassFlyer.com
Fly first class for less than what others pay for coach? Looking for free and purchased upgrades, 2-for-1s, advanced ticketing techniques, and a fast-track to elite status strategies? Look no further ... these hot deals and more are available at First Class Flyer's Web site.

>> On Elliott.org <<

** Poof! There Goes Your Vacation
The great American vacation is vanishing. Every year, the average length of a leisure trip shrinks by a few more hours, to the point that travelers like Craig Puller have a hard time thinking of it as a vacation at all. Consider the trip Puller took to the Florida Keys. Reluctant to take a lot of time off from his job, the Princeton, N.J., data analyst flew to Miami over a long weekend and spent three nights in three different hotels before jetting back just in time for work Monday morning. ''It was such a whirlwind tour,'' he remembers, ''that my wife joked we needed a vacation from the vacation.'' That's no joke, actually. > In an archived Opinion.

** Island Birds Behaving Badly
Key Largo is for the birds. Roseate spoonbills stand like statues in the shallow saltwater flats. Broad-winged hawks cut circles in a cloudless tropical sky. And yellow-crowned night heron perch on the sulfur-scented mangroves at low tide. But this being the Florida Keys, the eclectic island chain that stretches more than 100 miles from here to Key West, the bird encounters can also be a little ... odd. Like the brown pelicans that act like puppies, nipping at your heels. Or the flocks of emerald-green, obscenity-spouting Amazon parrots that darken the skies by the hundreds. Or the peacocks - screaming, brilliantly-colorful peacocks. The strange birds are everywhere on this island. > Details in an archived Destinations.

>> On Ticked.com <<

** Flying On My Terms
As in many businesses, over the years the airlines have developed unique meanings for many commonly used terms. This often leads to bewilderment of passengers simply wanting to get from one point to another without having to learn a whole new set of definitions. So as an Err Travel service to those of you who may have some confusion about air travel terms, I offer the following definitions. > Read more in an archived Err Travel column.

** Old Tricks Won't Work
The machinations of the major airlines as they find themselves facing escalating competition from Southwest, JetBlue, AirTran and Frontier on their bread and butter routes is disheartening. Once again, the majors are continuing to offer below cost airfares, mileage goodies and free flights to entice passengers to stick with the old-line carriers. Triple-mile deals here and a buy-two-fly-free here used to work, but not any more. In the old days, upstarts were easy to swat down. They didn't have the staying power to compete with majors on their home turf - their fortress hubs. Today, the upstarts are the only companies making a consistent profit. > Read more in Charles Leocha's archived column.

** First Class Babies
You're fed up with the small seats, meager meals, and wine with screw-off tops in economy class. It's time for a little class in your life, you say to yourself. It takes a couple of months to rationalize the first class fare, which is three times the price of an economy-class ticket. But your sanity is worth it, you think. You make your way to the first class lounge, grab a paper and have a steaming hot cup of coffee until the boarding of your flight is announced. You get to your seat on the plane. The door is ready to close when you see a mother and a crying infant step onto the airplane. > In A Frank Steward's archived column.

>> On Triprights.com <<

** Kicked Out of My Hotel
You're checking into a hotel for a long-overdue family vacation. But when you get to the front desk, a rude hotel clerk informs you your rate has gone up by $70 a night. The reason? You're traveling with two kids. When that happens to one traveler, she asks to see a manager. But instead of finding a resolution, the executive kicks her family out of the hotel, saying she doesn't want any "unhappy guests" staying at the property. To make matters worse, Priceline won't refund her money, either. What's a homeless hotel guest to do? > In Fix My Trip.

>> Also Underwritten By <<

** Journeyware.com
The new destination for exceptional luggage, business/tech cases and travel accessories from leading brands like Travelpro, Lewis N. Clark, RoadWired and more. Great prices, fast, free UPS ground shipping on orders of just $50 or more! All with a level of uncompromising, personal service that you might not be used to getting these days (especially if you are a frequent traveler). Enter coupon code ELLIOTT and click "update" at checkout for an additional 10% off any order.

>> Flashback: Potty Time <<
Every summer we do a few reruns. It's summer, after all. But which are my personal favorites? Well, here they are. Flashback is sponsored by Dream of Italy, the award-winning newsletter about Italy.

** Bothered & Badgered at B&Bs
Cynthia Barry became part of the bed-and-breakfast backlash when the proprietor of the inn she was visiting during a trip to England tried to break down the door to her room one morning. "He ranted and raved because we did not take our showers until after breakfast," she recalls. "He said that there were rules for staying in a bed and breakfast and that we should know them." During his door-front tirade, she says, the innkeeper accused the Clearwater, Florida, traveler of "slumming" - visiting a run-down neighborhood for amusement - and threatened her with bodily harm. > In an archived Travel Critic.

** End of Common Sense Among Travelers?
This column frequently zeroes in on the lack of common sense among software developers, wireless carriers and computer manufacturers, to name just a few of its most recent targets. And deservedly so. There's a deficit of good judgment among many of our leading technology corporations, and business travelers are often the victims of it. But consider, also, the flip side - road warriors who leave their brains at home. > In an archived Travel Technologist.

** Flying The Funny Skies
The airline industry's current malaise is no laughing matter. Or is it? Yeah, things are bad. The nation's carriers could lose more than $8 billion this year. They're hitting up Congress for billions in aid, and they're cutting flights and adding onerous new fees to their tickets. At a time like this, the whole industry should feel dejected. So what's with all the jokes? "We're loading some air freight on the plane," a pilot explained over the intercom on Robin Archey's delayed flight from Baltimore to Albany. "We've gotta make money somehow. Because we sure didn't charge you people much." > In an archived Opinion.

** Getting Stoned in Marathon
To understand what makes Florida's stone crab so irresistible, you have to skip the gruesome parts. Like where you drop a severed pig's foot into an underwater cage to attract the creatures. Or when you forcefully pry the claw off a living crab and then toss the writhing crustacean overboard. Instead, have a seat on one of the outdoor picnic benches at Keys Fisheries in Marathon, Fla., a resort town about halfway between Key Largo and Key West. That's where, after an afternoon aboard a commercial stone crabbing vessel in the Gulf of Mexico, your steamed catch is served with a side of either melted butter or mustard sauce. > In an archived Destinations.

>> Even More Underwriters <<

** Travelhunters.com
If you like to find great travel bargains, you've got to check out TravelHunters.com - the bargain travel community. The site was created by two brothers from Minnesota who love to help people find the best travel bargains. You'll find numerous hot deals for vacations and cruises, bargain travel articles, travel resources, and a comprehensive travel message board. Be sure to sign up for the free monthly newsletter - the Travel Hunters News - dedicated to helping people find amazing deals. > Need more information? Here it is.

** ProTravelGear.com
The new SearchAlert re-settable combination padlock from Outside The Box offers unique innovations in luggage security. SearchAlert may be opened with an override device controlled by Transportation Security Administration agents. No SearchAlert lock should be cut off by TSA agents. In fact, we offer a free replacement if it's ever cut off. SearchAlert features a Security Window which changes color from Green to Red when any override device is used. $9.99 each or two for $17.98 Available exclusively online. Enter coupon code: ELLIOTT for a discount. Click here to order.

>> Who's Reading Elliott's E-Mail? <<

* Demographics
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Not2far.com - 2,834
Travelcomment.com - 10,491
Total network visitors - 106,493

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