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August 29, 2004 >> Inside << * Warning: It�s a Fee-For-All * Question of the Week: Keep Those Stories Coming * This Week in Travel * More Fees, Please * TSA Introduces New Kids Lines * Someone to Lean On * Nude-Only Screening * Smooth Move, Northwest * Stranded in San Francisco * Flashback: Learning Experiences * Airline Bumping Addicts * Stupid Users? No, Stupid Technology * Surviving a Trip With the Boss NOTE: A Web version of this newsletter is available at http://www.elliott.org/vault/newsletter/2004/aug2904.htm >> First Off << ** Warning: It�s a Fee-For-All I remember when August used to be a slow month. Not this one. Northwest Airlines� shocking announcement that it will add new fees for tickets not booked through its Web site has the industry buzzing � and we�ve got it covered. From the latest issue of our blog, Travel Notes, to John Frenaye�s column about what the fees mean to you and your travel agent, to my essay on the �importance� of fees, it�s all in this issue. We also have James Wysong�s poignant story about a flight attendant on the verge of ending it all. And this week�s troubleshooter tackles the case of family stranded in San Francisco by their travel agent�s error. >> Underwritten By << ** Net-roamer.com Access the Internet anywhere in the World through a local call, keeping your own email address and home ISP at a reasonable cost per minute. User-friendly point and click software enables analog dial-up, ISDN, and broadband. Thousands of access points, many "all-cities" and "toll-free" with access throughout the country that you are visiting. No sign-up fees. No minimum usage or monthly quotas. Pay for usage only. Detailed usage reports. First half-hour free. Professional, personal service. > Visit http://www.net-roamer.com >> By The Way << ** Question of the Week: Keep Those Stories Coming We had such a tremendous response to last week�s question about the most interesting trip you�ve ever been on that we want more! So if you travel a lot, and if anything really interesting has ever happened to you while you�re away, then speak up. We�re looking for compelling stories from the road � brushes with celebrities, danger, romance, or just your tales of a favorite journey. You know, the kind that you always find yourself telling other people about (and it seems to get better with each telling). Send us an e-mail at [EMAIL PROTECTED] and include your full name, city, and what you do for a living. > Remember, your story could mean free luggage. See > http://www.elliott.org/about/travelpro.htm > Trying to e-mail me? Please read this first - http://elliott.org/about/email.htm >> This Week in Travel << News, opinion and analysis from Elliott's Travel Notes. > U.K. Airports Ban Heavy Luggage (8/27) � http://elliott.org/blog/2004/Aug/082704.htm > New Hawaii Cruise Isn't Ship-Shape (8/26) - > http://elliott.org/blog/2004/Aug/082604.htm > Northwest, United Add New Fees (8/25) - http://elliott.org/blog/2004/Aug/082504.htm > Thousands of BA Passengers Stuck (8/24) - http://elliott.org/blog/2004/Aug/082404.htm > Nervous Passengers Avoid US Airways (8/23) - > http://elliott.org/blog/2004/Aug/082304.htm > See archived blog postings at http://www.elliott.org/blog/archive.htm or catch up on > today's news at http://www.elliott.org/blog/index.htm > NEW! Sign up for Travel Notes by e-mail at http://elliott.org/blog/about/noted.htm >> 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: http://www.firstclassflyer.com/?refID=l0104 >> On Elliott.org << ** More Fees, Please True, its executives are incompetent. Its service is inadequate. But grant our failing airline business this: it certainly is inventive. I admit, I doubted America's worst-run industry had any creativity left in it. Despite generous government loans and subsidies, at least one major airline, Delta Air Lines, is on the brink of bankruptcy. Another, US Airways, is reportedly close to insolvency. But I was wrong, so very wrong. In the middle of our summer vacation, when it apparently thought no one was paying attention, Northwest Airlines announced new fees that stunned most industry observers. > In Opinion at http://www.elliott.org/vault/oped/2004/fee.htm ** TSA Introduces New Kids Lines It's expected to be the busiest summer for air travel in three years. And that puts a strain on passengers - especially parents with young kids. For them, a big source of anxiety is getting a toddler through a security checkpoint. But a new federal plan would create special lanes for children at airport security checkpoints. The lanes are designed to make the process less intimidating for families. > Details in NPR's Day to Day at http://www.npr.org/rundowns/segment.php?wfId=3865965 >> On Ticked.com << ** Someone to Lean On Most everyone in this world reaches a point in their lives where nothing will ever be the same again. It's the moment when all hope disappears and the future is suddenly frightening instead of encouraging. It's when everything you've worked for has lost all sense of value. Maybe it's the death of a loved one, a breakup in a relationship or a debilitating illness. Sarah recently reached that point, and I happened to be involved. A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from a female flight attendant. It read simply, "What do you do when all hope is lost?" > In A Frank Steward at http://www.ticked.com/frank/2004/lean.htm ** Nude-Only Screening As a part of a �nude week� package to Mexico, Castaways Travel is organizing �the first ever nude airline flight.� Come this spring, �taking-off� will have a whole �nother meaning for the 170 passengers on a Cancun-bound, chartered 727. Soon after lift-off from Miami International, these vacationers will not only be loosening their seat belts but just about everything else they have wrapped around them as well. According to the Woodlands, Texas travel agency this flight will become �a permanent part of nude history.� Right off the bat, I can think of a dozen things I�d rather be than a permanent part of nude history. But hey, that�s just me. > Read more in an archived Err Travel at http://www.ticked.com/errtravel/2003/errnude.htm >> On Travelcomment.com << ** Smooth Move, Northwest Last time you walked into a bank to deposit your paycheck, were you charged extra because you dealt with a person instead of an ATM? When you bought a magazine at the bookstore, were you slapped with a "service fee" because you purchased from an employee instead of its Web site? No, of course not. But that's not true if you're buying a ticket on Northwest Airlines. Starting next month, it's going to cost you an extra $5 if you call Northwest to buy an airline ticket. If you book through an agency, you'll pay a $7.50 surcharge, and if you go to the airport, the markup will be $10. > In John Frenaye�s column at http://www.travelcomment.com/frenaye/2004/nwa.htm >> On Triprights.com << ** Stranded in San Francisco What happens when you book an airline ticket through a travel agency, then make a change to your itinerary - only to find out when you show up to the airport that you don't have a ticket at all? That's the question one traveler has when he, his wife and infant daughter are stranded in San Francisco after their airline tickets have been mysteriously voided. Who is to blame for the missing tickets? And how can you prevent the same thing from happening to you? > In Fix My Trip at http://www.triprights.com/fix/2004/stranded.htm >> Also Underwritten By << ** 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 at http://www.cheapflights.com/ >> Flashback: Learning Experiences << Next week is the unofficial end of summer and the beginning of school. Here are a few of our favorite stories about what life on the road can teach us. Flashback is sponsored by Dream of Italy, the award-winning newsletter about Italy. For more information, go to http://www.dreamofitaly.com ** Airline Bumping Addicts On their return trip from a conference, Timothy Johnston, his wife and two students traveling with them tried to connect in St. Louis to their scheduled flight back to Paducah, Ky. They couldn't. "We were told there was only one seat left on the 16-passenger plane," the Murray State University professor recalled. It was the last flight of the day, and they were eager to get home. No problem, a gate agent said, and promptly issued each passenger $100 in cash compensation for the inconvenience. They ended up renting a car and driving home to Paducah. Later, Johnston's carrier even refunded $418 for the unused portion of their tickets. Good customer service? Yes. Good business practice? Maybe. > In Opinion at http://elliott.org/vault/oped/2003/bump.htm ** Stupid Users? No, Stupid Technology Ever heard the one about the traveler who kept getting paged by someone named Lucille? The despondent user phoned tech support for help. He wanted to call Lucille and ask her to stop beeping him, but she hadn't left a return number. After a few minutes of back and forth, the technician finally asked: "How does Lucille spell her name?" To which the customer replied: "L-O-W C-E-L-L." > In the Travel Technologist at http://elliott.org/technology/2001/stupid.htm ** Surviving a Trip With the Boss Leo Bringer remembers his flight with the know-it-all boss. It was mercifully short. He and another co-worker were sitting in economy class � three across with their boss in a nearby seat � waiting to take off. "He knew everything you could think of," remembers Bringer, an Elmhurst, Ill., human resources manager. "He was telling us how far it was to the airport from our hotel and what was there to do at our destination." So when a crew member asked for volunteers to take the next flight, guess who raised their hands at virtually the same time? Bringer and his colleague. > In Power Trip at http://elliott.org/vault/pt/2004/boss.htm >> Even More Underwriters << ** Win a Trip to London on edate.com The world's largest travel dating site is giving away a trip to London every month, courtesy of Virgin Vacations. Plus, if you sign up now for edate�s state-of-the-art features like private e-mail, public or private pictures, instant messaging, and mobile notification, your membership is completely free. > Register now at http://edate.com/ ** 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. Click on http://www.journeyware.com ** 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. Enter coupon code: ELLIOTT for a discount off your entire order. Click on http://www.protravelgear.com >> Who's Reading Elliott's E-Mail? << * Demographics - http://www.elliott.org/about/who.htm * Elliott�s E-Mail newsletter circulation � 27,246 * Travel Notes by E-Mail newsletter circulation � 1,501 * Last month's total unique visitors Elliott.org � 62,027 Ticked.com � 35,474 Triprights.com � 11,080 Not2far.com � 3,802 Travelcomment.com � 14,380 Total network visitors � 126,763 >> Talk To Us << Read something you disagree with? Got a story idea or a gripe? 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