Travel

CDC makes no-sail recommendation for cruise ship

By CNN on March 15, 2010

(CNN) — The Centers for Disease Control is making a no-sail recommendation for at least four full days for the Celebrity Mercury cruise ship to investigate recurring outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness, a CDC spokesman said Monday.

"The CDC and the cruise line corporate staff have not yet determined why the controls that they were following have not been effective," said CDC spokesman Ricardo Beato.

Celebrity Cruises has been notified of the no-sail recommendation, Beato said.

Members of the CDCs Vessel Sanitation Program, which works with the cruise industry to prevent and control gastrointestinal illnesses, were on the ship Monday looking for causes of the latest wave of illness, which is the third outbreak on the ship since mid-February. Norovirus, which causes vomiting and diarrhea, was identified as the source of the first two outbreaks, according to Beato.

VSP personnel inspected the ship after the first outbreak in February, which sickened more than 20 percent of passengers, and made recommendations to prevent further outbreaks. The ships next sailing was delayed by a day for a full cleaning.

Despite those measures, about 10 percent of passengers on the next sailing became ill with norovirus. About 19 percent of passengers have become ill on the latest sailing, which has prompted Celebrity to cut the cruise short by a day, skipping a stop Monday in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, Celebrity Cruises said in a statement.

The Mercury will return to Charleston, South Carolina, on Thursday morning. Passengers have been compensated for the interrupted itinerary, said Celebrity Cruises spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez.

"Guests currently onboard Celebrity Mercury received an onboard credit in the amount of one day of the cruise fare paid for their sailing, as well as a future cruise certificate for 25 percent of the cruise fare paid," she said in an e-mail.

The latest outbreak is the ninth incidence of gastrointestinal illness reported to the VSP this year affecting more than 2 percent of passengers on a cruise ship.

A high incidence of norovirus in many parts of the world this year is likely to translate to cruise ships, according to Capt. Jaret Ames, branch chief of the VSP.

Pilots who overflew airport drop attempt to keep licenses

By CNN on March 15, 2010

Washington (CNN) — The Northwest Airlines pilots who lost their licenses after overflying their Minneapolis destination last year have dropped their appeal, the Federal Aviation Administration said Monday.

Under a settlement with the FAA, the pilots will not contest their license revocation but can reapply for their licenses in 10 months instead of 12, the agency said.

The FAA declined to say why it settled, but the settlement pre-empts the need for an appeals hearing next month before the National Transportation Safety Board that could have resulted in protracted litigation.

The FAA said it reached the settlement Monday.

If the pilots reapply for their licenses, they would need to take tests required of new pilots and would need simulator training to get certificates allowing them to pilot commercial planes, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said.

Although acquaintances of the pilots have launched defenses on the Internet, Capt. Timothy Cheney and First Officer Richard Cole were at least initially apologetic for their actions in the days following the mistake.

"Theres no good excuse," Cheney told NTSB investigators four days after the event. "I let my guard down. I wish I could explain why."

Cheney and Cole told investigators that they had not fallen asleep, as originally had been suspected, but had become distracted by an airline scheduling system on their laptop computers and "got deeper and deeper into it."

When a flight attendant called the cockpit to ask when they would land, the pilots realized that not only were they a half-hour late for the scheduled prelanding deceleration, they were about 150 miles beyond the Minneapolis, Minnesota, airport where they were supposed to land.

Cheney, who has about 20,000 hours of flying time, told investigators he was "blown away" that he had been distracted for so long, saying that in 24 years of flying, "Ive never, ever, been in this situation."

He acknowledged putting his 144 passengers "at risk" and said he was embarrassed, the safety board report said. "Youll never know how sorry I am," it quoted him as saying.

The crew of Northwest Flight 188 was out of radio contact with radio controllers for 77 minutes during the October 21 flight from San Diego, California, according to the FAA.

Hemingway\’s home gets literary honor

By CNN on March 15, 2010

(CNN) — The Key West, Florida, home where Ernest Hemingway lived and wrote for nearly a decade was designated a Literary Landmark on Sunday.

The designation was made by the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations, a division of the American Library Association, according to association spokeswoman Jennifer Petersen.

In a ceremony Sunday, a bronze plaque was presented and installed next to the homes front door, said Dave Gonzales, events director for the Hemingway Home and Museum.

The Literary Landmarks project is aimed at encouraging the dedication of historic literary sites, according to the ALTAFF Web site. Dedications have included the homes of famous writers such as Tennessee Williams and William Faulkner, libraries and museum collections, and literary scenes.

Even Grip the raven, the former pet of Charles Dickens and an inspiration to Edgar Allan Poe, has been dedicated and is exhibited, stuffed, at the Free Library of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The home at 907 Whitehead Street in Key West became Hemingways home in 1931, and he owned it at the time of his death in 1961.

During the time he lived in the home with his family, he worked on many of his best known manuscripts, including "To Have or Have Not." About 70 percent of Hemingways work was done while he lived in the home, according to Gonzales.

In Hemingways lifetime, he completed some 14 novels and about 50 short stories, Gonzales said.

The home became a museum in 1964 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968. Visitors can see furniture and items that belonged to Hemingway and his family on display, in addition to polydactyl (six-toed) cats roaming the grounds.

Continental cuts back on free food

By CNN on March 15, 2010

(CNN) — Continental Airlines will discontinue offering free food to economy-class passengers on the majority of its domestic flights in the United States and Canada and on flights to some leisure destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean, the airline announced Monday.

"Our traditional free-food model has served us well for many years, but we need to change to reflect todays market and customer preferences," Jim Compton, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, said in a statement.

The airline plans to offer "a variety of high quality, healthy food choices" for sale in economy class. Prices and menus have not yet been determined and will be announced before the new program begins in the fall.

In addition to most domestic flights in the U.S. and Canada, the food-for-purchase program will apply to leisure destinations such as Cancun and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and the Caribbean Islands, Continental spokeswoman Christen David said.

Complimentary food will still be offered on flights to business destinations such as Mexico City, Mexico.

The differentiation between offerings on leisure and business routes is driven by economics, David said via e-mail.

"Leisure markets dont produce the ticket revenue that can continue to support the complimentary food model," she said.

"Markets that have a distinct emphasis on business travel produce better ticket revenue that can support a more inclusive product offering including complimentary food. We also take into account competitive factors, such as what other airlines are offering in these respective markets."

Economy-class passengers on trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific flights, flights to South America, some additional international routes and domestic routes lasting more than six hours also will continue to receive free food.

Continental will continue to offer complimentary food to all first- and business-class passengers. Nonalcoholic beverages and snacks including pretzels still will be complimentary for passengers on all Continental flights.

Continental noted that its main U.S. competitors either already charge economy-class passengers for food, or do not offer food.

American Airlines replaced complimentary food offerings with a food-for-sale program last year on flights between the U.S. and Central American countries and the Dominican Republic.

Paperless boarding takes off at United

By CNN on March 15, 2010

(CNN) — More air travelers may soon be scanning their smartphones instead of paper slips at airport gates.

United has become the latest airline to offer mobile boarding passes for customers equipped with Web-enabled mobile phones or devices, such as iPhones or BlackBerrys.

United passengers traveling within the United States, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands can now log on to mobile.united.com to check in for their flights via their smartphones.

Those departing from eight U.S. airports, including Chicagos OHare International and Dallas-Fort Worth International in Texas, can also receive an e-mail with an encrypted two-dimensional barcode that stores their flight, seat assignment and gate information.

Once at the airport, passengers can scan the barcode, which is displayed on the screen of the mobile device, at security and during boarding.

(The Transportation Security Administration still requires them to show photo identification so officers can match the name on the boarding pass to the ID.)

Mobile boarding passes can also be refreshed to display new information if there is a seat or gate change.

The TSA likes them because of their improved security.

"The paperless boarding pass will … prevent fraudulent paper boarding passes that could be created and printed from home," the agency wrote on its blog.

Meanwhile, American Airlines has announced that it is expanding its mobile boarding pass program to 19 more airports, bringing the total up to 27. The additions include Washington Dulles International, New York La Guardia and San Francisco International.

The carrier began offering mobile boarding passes in 2008, calling them a way to make travel as easy and convenient as possible.

"This is a great alternative for our customers on the go," said Andrew Watson, Americans vice president for customer technology, in a statement.

The program will be extended to even more U.S. airports in the coming months, American said.

Continental, Delta and Alaska Airlines also offer mobile boarding passes to their customers.

What hotels will do for a good review

By CNN on March 15, 2010

(Tribune Media Services) — Oh, the things hotels will do for a good review.

Its not enough to ask guests for a write-up on a popular site such as TripAdvisor or Yelp after theyve checked out. Lately, some innkeepers have been pressuring their customers to say positive things online — in extreme cases, even before theyve checked in.

Take what happened to Pam Stucky when she recently made a reservation at a small hotel in Scotland. Before she arrived, the owner sent her an e-mail soliciting a recommendation on TripAdvisor, even though shed never been to the hotel.

"Two or four guests staying together can send two to four independent reviews," the innkeeper wrote. "Different pseudonyms should be used."

Stucky, a Seattle-based writer, was uncomfortable with the come-on.

"He hounded me to give him a positive review," she said. When she arrived, the owner told her he was trying to get TripAdvisor to remove some of the less flattering write-ups about his property, while persuading guests — and future guests — to say nice things about his business. She says the hotel was "fine," although her quarters were somewhat cramped.

At a time when properties from the largest chain hotel to a two-room bed-and-breakfast are engaging in a practice known as reputation management, the latest tools of the trade are you, their guests.

Marc Karasu, the president of MeasuredUp.com, a reputation management company, says that hotels see the importance of encouraging happy customers to post their experiences online to enhance the hotels reputations and draw bookings. "But its easy to cross the line," he added.

Where is the line? It depends on whom you ask. TripAdvisor, the largest and arguably most credible of the online review sites, takes a dim view of resorts that try to spin their own ratings. The sites policy, which has been in effect since 2006, is clear:

"Property owners are welcome to encourage their guests to submit user reviews upon their return home, but they are not allowed to offer incentives, discounts, upgrades, or special treatment on current or future stays in exchange for reviews." In other words, the reviews have to be legitimate and not motivated by any special offers.

"Whenever a traveler reports that theyve been offered an incentive, we follow up with the property and, where appropriate, impose penalties," said April Robb, a TripAdvisor spokeswoman. Those can include dropping a property on the sites popularity index, excluding it from its Travelers Choice awards or posting a warning next to a listing that its reviews are "suspicious."

Chris Brusznicki, the president of GamedayHousing.com, a sports vacation rental Web site, says that online reviews are so important to his business that he personally calls guests to ask them for a review on Yelp and Facebook. "Reviews are a huge differentiator for properties and help future guests become more comfortable with a rental decision," he said.

But hotels that are on the up-and-up are reluctant to tell guests what to write online. Bill Chamberlain, who runs the Blue Heron Inn in Darien, Georgia, says he takes a hands-off approach to the ratings.

"We have never asked a guest to leave a positive review," he said. "We simply ask them to post a review on either TripAdvisor or Bedandbreakfast.com in a thank-you note that is e-mailed to every guest a day or two after departure." Although the propertys TripAdvisor reviews are mostly positive, one guest complained about lax housekeeping and security.

"There is no shortcut or marketing ploy that can do as much for you as good old-fashioned hard work and being truly passionate about providing genuine hospitality," said Adele Gutman, the vice president of sales and marketing for HKHotels, which owns several properties in New York that have received high marks online.

And yet for every HKHotels or Blue Heron Inn, there are thousands more that believe the Internet can be manipulated to their ends. They dont talk about their actions in public, but from time to time someone will post an anonymous comment on my travel blog, complaining about a tactic their competitors have used to boost their online ratings.

Those strategies usually include asking someone connected with the hotel to post a fake review or offering free rooms or discounts to guests who write something nice.

It was only a matter of time before the backlash. In January, Brett Birman, a salesman with a New York finance company, launched a site called AvoiditNYC.com. He did it "because I have had bad experiences in the past and felt that my negative reviews on other Web sites, like Yelp and Citysearch, are often overlooked," he told me.

So far, AvoiditNYC.com is home to only one hotel review — of a small property on West 29th Street, in which a guest complains about the "dark and sketchy" neighborhood.

So what does all this mean to you? Obviously, some hotel executives dont think twice about leveraging guests like you to improve their online reputations. But if its happening to you, its probably happening to tens of thousands of other hotel guests every day. How many of them are being asked to endorse a hotel theyve never stayed in, or have been offered a free night in exchange for a glowing write-up? And how many are doing it?

What does that say about the overall reliability of user-generated hotel reviews? Well, lets just say that it doesnt exactly enhance their reputation.

(Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. You can read more travel tips on his blog, elliott.org or e-mail him at celliott@ngs.org).

copyright 2010 CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

British Airways cabin crew to strike this month

By CNN on March 15, 2010

London, England (CNN) — Union members representing British Airways cabin crew announced Friday they will hold two separate strikes this month in a dispute over working conditions.

The first strike will last three days from March 20, and the next will last four days from March 27, said Len McCluskey, the assistant general secretary of the Unite union.

There will be no strikes over the Easter period, he said. Further strikes could be called if needed, he said.

Will a British Airways strike impact you?

"Regrettably, management turned down a remarkable offer," McCluskey said.

British Airways, which lost hundreds of million dollars last year, responded by saying it is "extremely disappointed" with the unions decision. "We are very sorry for the stress and disruption Unites decision will cause," the airline said in a statement.

"We are currently considering our response to this strike threat and what action we will need to take to minimize disruption."

The industrial action is over planned changes to cabin crew conditions, which BA says will save the carrier more than 60 million pounds ($91 million) a year.

FAA urges $787,500 in fines for American Airlines

By CNN on March 12, 2010

Washington (CNN) — The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday proposed $787,500 in fines against American Airlines for maintenance violations.

The airline said it would review the proposed penalties and meet with the FAA to discuss them.

"American Airlines is very proud of our safety record and our employees commitment to safety every day," the company said in a statement issued Friday. "Safety is fundamental to the American Airlines culture and to our success."

The fines encompass three incidents beginning in March 2008, when American Airlines failed to follow a directive on the inspection of rudder components on certain Boeing 757s, according to the FAA. Four of its 757s did not comply with airworthiness requirements as a result.

In April 2008, the airline allowed one of its jetliners to fly 10 passenger flights after mechanics diagnosed a problem with one of the planes central air data computers, according to the agency. During that time, the flight crew members were led to believe that both computers were working properly.

That violation resulted in the bulk of the penalties announced Friday at $625,000, the FAA said.

In the third case, mechanics at American Airlines returned a MD-82 jetliner to service in May, even though several steps of its maintenance schedule had not been checked off as completed, the agency said.

The aircraft was flown for two passenger flights with the logbook error, and an FAA inspection of the plane revealed several discrepancies in the tail sections, including loose screws and a missing nut plate.

American Airlines stood by its safety record Friday, saying in its statement, "AA is the only U.S. airline that continues to handle the majority of its heavy maintenance with in-house, FAA certificated mechanics that have met and passed all FAA experience requirements, written tests, and practical examinations."

Last month, the FAA proposed a $2.9 million fine against American Eagle Airlines — a sister company to American Airlines — for allegedly conducting more than 1,000 flights with planes whose main landing gear doors had not been repaired in a manner prescribed by the agency.

The agency had ordered the repairs in August 2006, and it said American Eagle flew the four Bombardier regional jets in February and May 2008.

American Eagle had responded in a statement that it was "disappointed" in the FAAs actions, saying the airline did not endanger the public and a fine was unwarranted.

That fine came just weeks after the agency proposed a $2.5 million fine against the airline for allegedly operating flights without adequately ensuring the weight of baggage was properly calculated.

The proposed fines this year are the latest in a string of multimillion-dollar fines the FAA has proposed against airlines for failing to follow repair orders. In October, the FAA proposed to fine US Airways $5.4 million and United $3.8 million for other maintenance violations.

In March 2009, Southwest Airlines agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a complaint that it flew unsafe planes.

What\’s new in Great Britain and Ireland

By CNN on March 12, 2010

(Tribune Media Services) — A key to experiencing Great Britain and Ireland smartly in 2010 is to embrace them not as "ye olde" destinations but as modern ones.

London is busily preparing for the 2012 Olympic Games, developing its Olympic Park site in the eastern part of the city. The con artists are getting warmed up for the big event, too — fake one-pound coins have been seen around town. Theyre easy to spot. Real coins have an inscription on their outside rims while the rims on the fakes resemble tree bark.

As is the case all over Europe, access to Londons public transit system has been automated. If you dont buy and use the local transit pass — the Oyster Card — the underground Tube will cost you far more than it should, particularly since the systems Three-Day Travelpass has been dropped.

Above ground, one of Londons many free attractions — the Victoria and Albert Museum — just opened its new Medieval and Renaissance collection, filling 10 rooms with fancy slice-of-English-life artifacts. The Tower of London will host historical re-enactments throughout the year, including scenes of prisoners trying to escape and monarchs preparing for war.

New for this year, Ive produced MP3 audio tours for the major sights of London: St. Pauls Cathedral, British Museum, British Library, and the Westminster and City neighborhoods (free and downloadable from www.ricksteves.com).

If you want afternoon tea and scones in London but feel faint at the steep price, try the modern Teapod, near the Tower Bridge, which advertises the "best-value afternoon tea in London" for $15.

In Oxford, the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology reopened last November after undergoing a $98 million renovation, and now hosts 39 new galleries and Oxfords first rooftop cafe. In Wales, train buffs can rejoice. The Welsh Highland Railways narrow-gauge steam trains now run from Caernarfon all the way to the port of Porthmadog.

Scotland is also seeing changes in 2010. St. Andrews will be swamped with about 100,000 visitors this summer when it hosts the British Open (July 15 to 18). Unless youre a golf pilgrim or a glutton for crowds, I recommend avoiding the town at this time. In Edinburgh, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery will be closed until 2011, and Princes Street, a major artery, continues to be a mess as the citys new tram line is built.

Across the Irish Sea, the "Celtic Tiger" enjoyed the hottest economy in the European Union until 2008. But Ireland was the first EU nation to go into recession. When the tiger faltered, Ireland had the farthest to fall. Unemployment reached almost 13 percent by the end of 2009.

The recession hit Waterford, in Irelands southwest, especially hard. Until recently, Waterford was home to the largest and most respected glassworks in the world. The factory was shuttered in 2009. The famed "Waterford Crystal" is being made by cheaper labor outside of Ireland, but you can still visit the Waterford Crystal Visitor Centre, a glorified gift shop with a film about glassmaking.

Busy Dublin still has traffic snarls on its M-50 ring road. To ease congestion, tollbooths have been replaced with an automated tolling system. Buy an E-flow pass to cover the tolls (easiest to buy at Dublin Airport, also sold online and at retail outlets). Even if you dont have a car, the bedroom communities of Howth and Dun Laoghaire provide quieter, cheaper lodging and are just a 25-minute light-rail ride from the city center.

In Northern Ireland, former IRA prisoners will take you on a new tour of Belfasts Falls Road area — a three-hour walk of the neighborhood from the perspective of Republicans (whod prefer that Northern Ireland become part of the Republic of Ireland). Belfasts historic City Hall reopened last October after an $18 million renovation and once again offers wonderful guided tours of the finest interior in town.

Spinning next door is the Belfast Wheel, a tall, "temporary" Ferris wheel with spectacular views. The excellent Ulster Museum — fun for the British bias it injects into its Irish history exhibits — reopened last October.

The city of Derry has added a political mural honoring its Nobel Prize-winning local hero, John Hume — along with Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa. Another sign of better times: The walls of a former British army base in Derry now border a parking lot. Its a delight to stroll the streets of Northern Ireland and not need to shout above the drone of British military helicopters.

With the recent collapse of their booming economy, my Irish friends see a silver lining in the cloud. Now they can stop racing after big profits and savor the blessings of just being Irish. Thats good news for travelers, too.

(Rick Steves (www.ricksteves.com) writes European travel guidebooks and hosts travel shows on public television and public radio. E-mail him at rick@ricksteves.com, or write to him c/o P.O. Box 2009, Edmonds, Wash. 98020.)

copyright 2010 RICK STEVES DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

Good airline fees? Some are worth it

By CNN on March 12, 2010

(Tribune Media Services) — Its no secret the airline industry wants you to pay extra for everything.

And I really mean everything.

A fee to pay? Allegiant Air and Spirit Airlines already charge a "convenience" fee to use your credit card.

A water fee? Its hard to find a discount carrier that doesnt make you pay for soft drinks, including bottled water.

A fee to pee? Yeah, Ryanairs working on pay toilets, if reports are to be believed.

But this isnt another story about airlines and their misguided fees. Its about the surcharges that are worth paying — and why you should consider saying, "yes" to them. Thats right, I said "worth it." While many fees are outrageous, some arent entirely out of line.

If nothing else, fees are unbelievably profitable. The domestic airlines collected roughly $1 billion in ticket change fees and more than $1.2 billion in baggage fees during the first half of 2009, according to the government. American Airlines took in the most baggage fees — it raked in $226 million — while Delta Air Lines won in the change-fee category, collecting a cool $392 million.

Good fee requirements

Most passengers I know dont mind paying fees, as long as they do all of the following:

Theyre optional. And it must be a real choice. Everyone uses a credit card, so a "convenience" fee to pay with plastic isnt a true choice. Neither is a fee for the first bag, because at a time when the TSA has banned toothpaste and hair gel in reasonable sizes from all carry-ons, almost everyone checks a bag.

They dont charge for something that used to be free. The best fees add something instead of taking away. For example, after 9/11 many airlines upgraded their in-flight menus and then began charging for food. Almost no one complained, because airlines had already done away with in-flight meals on most domestic flights. Taking a bag of pretzels that used to be free and charging for it would have been the wrong move.

They add value. JetBlue does this well. Whether its pillows or movies, the airline seems to know that adding to the product is the best way to do fees — not by removing amenities and services. Giving passengers more for their money has made the airline profitable.

Theyre reasonable. Charging a $150 change fee on a $49 ticket is completely unreasonable. A change fee should be a percentage of the ticket. Or better yet, there shouldnt be one at all. I mean, how much does it really cost to change the date on a ticket?

So why have so many bad fees prevailed? Probably because weve let them, says airline analyst Michael Miller. "For example, the bag fees were done because fares were depressed and airlines were looking for other revenue sources to stay afloat," he says. "They had no idea passengers would pay so much, so its permanent."

Or so it seems.

The good fees

The trend toward bad fees is reversible if passengers would only pay the surcharges they believed in. I asked travelers to help me identify those "good" fees. Heres what they said:

In-flight wireless: This is yet another example of adding value. As long as the costs stay reasonable and the service is reliable, in-flight Wi-Fi is a winner, according to passengers like Peter DeForest, a San Rafael, California-based risk management consultant. "I had Gogo on both Virgin America and AirTran, and both services were good, and worth it," he says. With a coupon, he paid just $4.95 for six hours of connection time. "I was even able to use video instant-messaging services in flight, and it was stable and reasonably fast."

I completely agree. I tested Gogo on a flight from Orlando to Chicago earlier this year, and it was problem-free. Definitely worth the $6 it costs to get connected.

Sections with more legroom: Janice Dottin likes the extra-legroom seats on JetBlue, because its affordable and you get a lot. "Its $20 and there is a significant difference in the amount of leg space," says Dottin, who works for an insurance company in Boston. "My husband is 6-foot, 5-inches tall and its well worth the investment for his comfort." Shes paid for "extra legroom" seats on American Airlines, too, but was unhappy because she was just offered a seat in the exit row.

Other travelers I spoke with said they liked United Airlines premium economy class, because they felt less wedged into their seats. We have to be careful with this one. A customer-focused airline wont reduce legroom in the back at the expense of those in the front — thats a fee no-no.

Elite treatment: A fee that allows you to get preferential treatment without having to spend half of your life on a plane is a pretty good deal.

Thats what readers like Jennifer Rigdon have told me. She recently tried Southwest Airlines new EarlyBird program, which lets you cut to the front of the boarding line for an extra $10 per flight. (Other airlines let you use their lounges or elite check-in and screening lines for a fee, too.) "Ill definitely do it again," she told me. "Its more reasonable than the upgrade to Business Select, and for $20 I think its worth it."

The bad fees

How about the bad ones?

Seat and reservation fees: Ive already touched on these ugly surcharges. Permit me to beat the horse until its dead: Schemes that defraud passengers of $15 to sit in a more desirable economy-class seat, or that force them to pay for a confirmed reservation, are utterly wrong.

Laura Wilcox, an event planner in Orlando, paid $15 for a window seat on a recent Delta Air Lines flight from Detroit to Orlando. "But when I got on the plane my seat was filled because another passenger was displaced — people go crazy to sit together as families on the Orlando flights," she says. The airline never returned her $15.

These seat fees arent right because youre paying for something twice: once for the ticket, once for the seat reservation. Arent they one and the same?

Convenience fees: Paying to pay is, as Ive mentioned earlier, outright immoral. And its not just Allegiant and Spirit playing this fools game. Most of the big airlines charge extra to book by phone, another form of "convenience" fee.

Henry Harteveldt, Forrester Researchs travel analyst, believes convenience fees for credit card payments are about to spread to other airlines. That would be bad news for air travelers.

Luggage fees and other nonsense surcharges: You know a silly fee when you see one. Unfortunately, most airlines dont.

Sharon Strelzer, a marketing manager from Fairfield, Connecticut, says the recent moves to start charging for the first checked bag are just impractical, given the TSAs liquid and gel limits. She also considers seat reservation fees to be out of line, and Ive spoken with others who would include charges for soft drinks, and especially for potable water. "The airlines should raise the rates $50 or so and be done with the nonsense fees," she says.

Actually, not a bad idea. But carriers know that nothing sells seats like a low fare, so theyre not going for it. Until they do, these absurd surcharges will probably keep popping up everywhere.

In a perfect world, if enough airline passengers paid the right fees and avoided the wrong ones, then market forces would compel airlines to do the right thing. But its not a perfect world. Some carriers have a near-monopoly in certain cities, making it difficult for markets to operate the way theyre supposed to.

Jim Goyjer, a Los Angeles-base marketing consultant and experienced air traveler, believes more drastic actions are needed. "Since deregulation of the airlines, service and quality have suffered," he told me.

On his preferred carrier, American Airlines, "almost all" of the seasoned cabin crew dont like the company anymore. They blame top executives for mismanagement and greed, he told me. "They hate nickel and diming the passengers," he added. "They feel more like vendors and waiters and waitresses than professionals."

"We need to re-regulate the airlines," he says.

Now theres an idea.

(Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. You can read more travel tips on his blog, elliott.org or e-mail him at celliott@ngs.org).

copyright 2010 CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

Next Page »