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

October 24, 2004

>> Inside <<

* None Of The Above
* Question of the Week: Fall Bargain Cruise?
* Rate Your TSA Experience
* This Week in Travel
* A Burning Question
* Stupid Slogans
* The Travel Agent From Hell
* Lost My Rental in a Hurricane
* Flashback: Vote Early, Vote Often
* Take Air Rage to the Polls
* Defusing a Travel Tax Bomb
* Send Them Packing
* Can TV Ads Cure Travel Fatigue?

>> First Off <<

** None Of The Above
If you're an American, you're probably pondering which presidential candidate to vote for the upcoming election. I've always tried to keep politics out of this newsletter - except when the politicians start making bad decisions that affect how we travel. I've pulled together a collection of columns from the last four years as a reminder, and perhaps, as a voter guide of sorts. (Point of disclosure: I've already cast my absentee ballot and I voted for none of the major-party candidates. Can't stand either of 'em.) If you're not an American, lucky you. You don't have to worry about the election. But don't feel left out. We still have great columns from John Frenaye, Terry Riley and James Wysong. Plus, there's an all new troubleshooter column.

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>> By The Way <<

** Question of the Week: Fall Cruise Bargain?
Have you found a great deal on a cruise this fall? They say the price of a floating vacation is on the rise, but word is that there are plenty of good deals left if you travel during the off-season and pick a destination that not a lot of people go to (like a river cruise or a cruise to Europe). I'm working on an article about fall cruise steals and I want your stories. Please e-mail us. As always, please include your full name, city, and what you do for a living.

> Be part of the debate and win Travelpro luggage. Anyone who e-mails us for any reason will qualify for a luggage giveaway (your comments don't have to be published). So if we have your e-mail address on file, you're automatically entered in the drawing.

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

** Rate Your TSA Experience
Our friends at Innovation Analysis Group are conducting an ongoing poll of travelers about their airport security experiences. OK, I know for a fact that all of you have opinions about the TSA. Well, here's your chance to sound off anonymously. The survey collects certain demographics but does not gather any respondent-traceable data. Results will be published soon. Your help is much appreciated and will make a big difference. > To take the survey, click here.

>> This Week in Travel <<

News, opinion and analysis from Elliott's Travel Notes.

> Concern Raised About 'Flu Ships' (10/22)

> Alaska Ponders New Cruise Taxes (10/21)

> New 'Secure Flight' Under Attack (10/20)

> Business Travel Expenses Will Rise (10/19)

> Agent Charged With Embezzlement (10/18)

> 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 <<

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>> On Ticked.com <<

** A Burning Question
Being awakened in a hotel in the middle of the night by the sound of a fire alarm is nothing new - certainly nothing new to me. Over the years, I've evacuated a dozen hotels in three countries in response to fire alarms. Sure, most of the alarms turned out to be false, but four - four! - were the real deal: Lights, sirens, fire trucks, firefighters, smoke and flames! There were no casualties in the fires I escaped, but people did die in other hotel fires during those years. According to the National Fire Protection Association, the number of what it calls "civilian" deaths from hotel fires has been dropping over the years, but there are still about two dozen people killed each year in hotel and motel fires in the U.S.> Read more in Terry Riley's column.

** Stupid Slogans
Travel industry advertising is a joke. Who is coming up with all of these stupid slogans, anyway? I'm stuck in an airplane at the end of the runway in Chicago for four hours when a flight attendant reads an announcement that concludes with, "It's time to fly." My blood begins to boil as I want to yell up to her, "Honey it was time to fly four freakin' hours ago." How about, "You are free to move about the country." Yeah, in a cattle car. I walk through the airports or watch commercials on TV and laugh at the ridiculous advertising that must be costing fortunes. > In A Frank Steward.

>> On Travelcomment.com <<

** The Travel Agent From Hell
You're stuck in Orlando as yet another hurricane takes aim at Florida. The airport is closed and the best advice you can get is to sit tight and hang with the locals because you can't extend your hotel reservation. Not that it matters. Your "garden view" room actually looks out on a concrete pad that holds the dumpsters. Congratulations. You may have the travel agent from hell. > In John Frenaye's column.

>> On Triprights.com <<

** Lost My Rental in a Hurricane
Opaque travel Web sites like Hotwire offer deep discounts on everything from airline tickets to rental cars. But there's a tradeoff: the purchases are completely nonrefundable. Or are they? When one traveler is held up by a hurricane, she finds her travel agent and airline bending backwards to accommodate her. Shouldn't Hotwire do the same? Find out if the site will reschedule her car rental or pocket the $105.19 she spent on the vehicle, even though she couldn't use it. > In Fix My Trip.

>> Also Underwritten By <<

** Net-roamer.com
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>> Flashback: Vote Early, Vote Often <<
I can count on one hand the number of times this newsletter has gotten political during the last four years. Here they are.

** Take Air Rage to the Polls
Here's an election-year issue that hasn't gotten anywhere near the attention it deserves: the sad, scandalous decline of air travel. The way we fly has changed more in the last four years than in the last four decades, and largely for the worse. Airlines have cut back on services and amenities, airports are guarded by a new federal agency, the humorless Transportation Security Administration, and passengers are rowdier and ruder than ever. Many once-robust mainline carriers are on the verge of bankruptcy or liquidation. The list of troubled airlines includes American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, which is already in bankruptcy. US Airways isn't expected to survive the year. Should we hold the current administration responsible? > Details in Opinion.

** Defusing a Travel Tax Bomb
By almost any measure, traveling should be a pleasure these days. Air fares, hotel room rates and cruises haven't been this affordable in years. Complaints against domestic air carriers are at an all-time low. And the travel industry, badly hurt by a double-whammy of a recession and war, is finally recovering. So what's with all the anger? Why are passengers hurtling insults at their cabin crew with greater frequency? Why are they driving their SUVs into airport ticket counters and setting them on fire, as one man recently did in Maui? Maybe it's because there's a lingering feeling that travelers are still being taken advantage of. > In Opinion.

** Send Them Packing
When President George Bush signed the aviation security bill into law last November, essentially turning 28,000 minimum-wage baggage screeners into federal employees with a stroke of his pen, he promised Americans "greater confidence when they fly." Four months later the president's promise rings hollow. The security screeners are incompetent and abusive, Americans remain reluctant to fly, and the government seems as powerless as ever to stop an act of terrorism from recurring on a commercial carrier. Maybe it's time to send some of these rent-a-cops packing and replace them with a common-sense security solution. > In Opinion.

** Can TV Ads Cure Travel Fatigue?
"Americans are asking: 'What is expected of us?'" President Bush says in a new TV ad sponsored by the Travel Industry Association of America. To which a chorus of hotel employees, airline crew members and cruise line staff answer: "We ask you to live your lives. Do your business around the country. Fly and enjoy America's great destinations." But the president and the travel industry may be asking too much of us. Americans aren't just wary of travel; they're sick of it. And it's going to take more than a couple of commercials to get them back. > In Opinion.

NOTE: A friendly reminder that although I enjoy getting feedback from my columns, it is my policy not to read or respond to flames. So if you want to disagree with anything in these articles, please be polite.

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** FirstClassFlyer.com
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** Cheapflights.com
Flights price comparison site. Compare sales, specials and cheap flights to New York, Las Vegas, Orlando, London, Cancun, San Jose and over 600 more destinations. Cheapflights.com provides a quick and independent picture of the market for cheap flights from airlines (including Southwest and JetBlue), travel agents and specialist discounters. > Find cheap flights now.

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

* Demographics
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Total network visitors - 105,296

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