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Travelers Give Thanks
Power Trip · November 23, 2003

People who spend a lot of time on the road often spend a lot of time complaining about it.

They gripe about intrusive security screenings, hostile hotel employees and bad restaurants. Most of all, they criticize each other for everything from bad hygiene to bad cell-phone manners.

Complaining, as I observed in a previous column, is part of the culture of frequent travelers. We wouldn't be called "road warriors" if we couldn't let off a little steam. OK, a lot of steam. In a recent American Express survey, almost a third of business travelers fussed about dwindling airline service, 12% groused about security, and 8% vented about their hotel accommodations.

But it's not always that way. People on the go have much to be thankful for, too. Enough to set aside their Mad Max personas for a few moments and give thanks.

For example:

High-speed heaven. The jet set takes high-speed connectivity, especially wireless high-speed hookups, for granted in the United States. It shouldn't. Connecting at dial-up speeds is still the best you can hope for in much of the rest of the world. I recently visited Europe, where my cell phone failed to find a signal (the nice folks at T-Mobile promised me my tri-band phone would work overseas, but it didn't). The fastest connection I could make was about half the speed my dial-up modem was capable of. You can say what you like about America's airports, but at least most of them have lounges where you can make a high-speed Internet connection. Wi-Fi also is available at coffee shops and fast-food restaurants. What a country!

Tip: For a listing of free Wi-Fi hotspots in the U.S., check out WiFiFreespot.com. If you're heading to a less-wired country, be sure to do your homework before taking off. Call your hotel in advance to find out if you can get online.

The friendly skies. The domestic airlines know better than to use the word "friendly" in association with anything they do these days. I'm hard-pressed to come up with a single overwhelmingly positive experience on a plane the past few years, except for the rare times I was able to talk myself into an upgrade. In an age of airline bankruptcies, reorganizations and low employee morale, a vast majority of our stories are anything but pleasant.

So when Northwest Airlines — often called "North-worst" by its critics — went out of its way to make passenger Paul Olson happy, he was shocked. The computer sales executive flew into Madison, Wis., recently and discovered that his checked-in bag was missing one of its roller wheels. "The whole lower side of the bag was ripped away and some of my clothes hanging out," he recalls. He showed an employee at the ticket counter the damage. After he filled out a claim form, the ticket agent asked him, "Will this do?" "I looked up to see him holding a brand new bag, identical to my roller bag," Olson recalls. North-worst? Try North-best.

Tip: Is your airline to blame for your damaged luggage? Since the Transportation Security Administration began inspecting checked baggage, it's also assumed responsibility for any damage resulting from inspections. Check out its Web site for details on how to file a form SF95.

Caring hotels. The devolution of the domestic airlines has affected every part of the travel industry, including hotels. Indeed, since 1995, when the American Customer Satisfaction Index on hotels started, until 2003, the overall barometer of guest satisfaction has slid by nearly 3%. Friendly, efficient service has often been replaced by antagonistic snarls at the front desk. Road warriors have noticed. But it also makes the standouts — those hotels who continue to offer the very best product — really stand out.

On a recent visit to London's 51 Buckingham Gate, the staff seemed to anticipate my every need, including furnishing our room with a crib for my 1-year-old son, Aren, and stocking the kitchen with provisions for a midnight snack, which I certainly needed in my jet-lagged state. And I didn't have to ask for it. Dennis Jones, a pharmaceutical sales representative from Long Beach, Calif., is thankful for the hotel employees who still understand that theirs is a service business. "A friendly smile, a 'nice to see you,' a good tip on a place to dine — it's immensely helpful," he says.

Tip: If you feel like your chain hotel is taking you for granted, try a small inn or bed and breakfast. A good resource to find a B&B near you is the American Bed and Breakfast Association's Web site or Innplace, which is published by the Professional Association of Innkeepers International.

Cool innovations. It's the little things that have improved the life of travelers. Often, they're so inconspicuous that we hardly notice them. Take the EasyTravelAir, a transparent pouch worn around your neck that holds your drivers license, airline ticket and itinerary. I use it on almost every trip, and can't imagine going through a TSA checkpoint, a passport control or customs without it. It's just one of the small solutions that work so well, I often don't pay much attention to it. Same thing goes for the little luggage seals sold by the likes of Tamperseal or Prestoseal. They let me know if someone's been rifling through my checked-in luggage, which is very handy in these days of passenger-bag matching. And the good news is that there are lots of other little devices like that under development, meant to make our lives on the road a lot easier.

Tip: Tired of passengers leaning back into your personal space when you're sitting in economy class? Well, it turns out there's something that can stop these unwanted incursions. The Knee Defender is a tiny plastic clamp that prevents the passenger in front of you from reclining. One tester I spoke with says it works like a charm. "The seat wouldn't budge," he says. So far, none of the airlines have weighed in on the legality of the Knee Defender, but either way, it's got my vote for most innovative travel gadget of the year.

As the guy who used to write a weekly column called "The Crabby Traveler" — yes, that's no joke — I'd be the first person to admit that there's a lot to be unhappy with when comes to being on the road. Perhaps, now more than ever.

But there's also a lot to be grateful for. Take a little break from complaining and you'll see what I mean.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator based in Key Largo, Fla. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion.

Get a look behind the scenes at Power Trip. Check out Elliott's Travel Notes blog.