If you’re in the market for a new computer, there are things you need to know. Things your PC manufacturer or retailer won’t necessarily share with you.
And with the frenzied days of buying just ahead, now is the time to inform yourself. Otherwise you could end up overpaying — I mean really overpaying — for your next laptop or desktop.
What do you really want when you check into a hotel?
The lodging industry thinks it knows. The pollsters do, but too often they ask the wrong questions. One recent survey suggested guests crave more technology. (It was sponsored by Oracle.) Another claimed guests desire free Wi-Fi, breakfast and parking. Well, duh.
“I’m weary of those entitled passengers who are continuously whining and complaining,” says Lisa Thomas, a veteran flight attendant based in Denver. “I feel like telling them, ‘Take some responsibility for your choices.’ ”
Thomas’s comments, made to me after a recent column about the rise of fees in the travel industry, triggered a fascinating debate. Many travelers say that they think fees are out of control, particularly in the airline business. The top 10 airlines collected more than $28 billion in revenue from extra fees and services last year, up from about $2 billion a decade ago, according to a recent study by the consulting firm IdeaWorks.
At the same time, many in the industry say that they think people are getting exactly what they paid for: a quality product at a ridiculously low price. Industry employees like Thomas suggest that travelers have become spoiled.
The circus hasn’t come to Savannah, but it sort of looks like it. That kid you saw dodging tourists and on a unicycle recently in Georgia’s oldest city was my 12-year-old son, Iden. The guy chasing after him — well, that was me.
United Airlines. When Susan Chibnall and her husband cancel their tickets to Switzerland, United Airlines promises them they can use their credit for a year. So why have their tickets expired?
After a lightning strike zaps Brittany Burns’ vacation, she tries to secure a refund for her airline ticket. But is she entitled to it?
It’s time to disrupt the tipping economy. The travel industry is a great place to start.
Pamela O’Meara narrowly escaped the pre-existing conditions trap.
Oh, you know the trap. It’s the one where your insurance company tells you the policy is no good because your medical condition existed before you bought the policy. Yeah, that one.
In Arizona’s Sonoran desert, things aren’t always what they seem. Like those pigs scurrying around the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, a botanical garden a few miles outside of Tucson.
TAR Airlines offers Michael Fried a refund or a generous credit after it cancels his friend’s flight. Why won’t it do what it promised?
