Usually I keep this blog targeted towards frequent travelers, but even road warriors need to take vacations. This particular incident hits a bit closer to home as my wife searched the web for a weekend getaway and thought she found a good deal until Expedia.com decided to pull a bait and switch. She even spent an hour with customer service just to have the agent repeatedly lie to her face on the phone. Buyer beware.
Here’s the run-down:
“Hey look, no additional hotel-imposed fees!”
“Wait a minute…attempting to book the room warns you of a $20 per room hotel resort fee!”
If you try and call customer service, you should just write off an hour of your life as they lie directly to your face. My wife was so steamed she posted the following on several rating/review websites. Her comments do a good job of summarizing the experience:
Expedia.com is simply horrible! Not only does the website contain blatant misrepresentations, its customer service is totally incompetent. I just spent an hour with a representative that didn’t even understand English. The website had stated that the it was providing an "Expedia Extra" of "No additional hotel-imposed fees at check-in or check-out" if I booked a certain hotel for a certain range of days. However, when I tried to book it, it gave me a total based on the room rates and stated that there will be additional hotel fees of $20/day added on. So, I called customer service about it, and all they told me was that the hotel fees were mandatory. So, I asked what’s with this "Expedia Extra?" The customer service rep could not provide an answer. He simply repeated that the hotel fees are mandatory even though Expedia.com plainly states "Expedia Extra! - This hotel has no additional fees imposed at check-in or check-out." At one point the customer service rep tried to pretend he didn’t see that written on the website. When I called him out on in (I had the website open as I was talking to him), he backtracked and again repeated, "the hotel fees are mandatory." So finally, I asked to be transferred to someone more knowledgeable about what this "Expedia Extra" is supposed to mean, he hung up on me!! Even if Expedia.com had the lowest price on the website, I’ll never use it again. The people behind it seem to have no integrity and do not appear to treat their customers with even a hint of honesty or decency. Never again!!
Don’t fall for the Expedia.com bait and switch.
My fellow frequent fliers recently engaged in a long thread on the best ways to get compensated on United for non-weather-related delays and cancellations.
Here’s the summary:
- For United, their customer service phone lines appear to be better than any other channel for communicating problems; Delta appeared more responsive through their email channels
- Some folks have had better success with United Customer Care through the on-line channel since they have issues getting through on the phone even with status
- United typically provides 3 choices for compensation: A $200 e-certificate, 20% off a worldwide economy-class ticket, or 9,000 miles
- Certificates are arguably the best deal because they have no blackout dates and are transferable (good for gifts!); still limited to one per itinerary and only used on domestic flights including Puerto Rico & Virgin Islands
- Compliments don’t get you anything - only complaints (that’s sad…)
If you’re not happy with your service, United won’t know unless you let them know.
Google offers free wifi at select airports from now until January 15th, 2010. In addition, you can give back in appreciation of free wifi towards several non-profits and Google will match your donations! Very cool.
Spread the cheer!
Here are the participating airports:
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As a road warrior, I live by my EVDO card. Anytime access to the Internet is a godsend. If you haven’t jumped on the EVDO bandwagon you should seriously think about it. In the meantime, enjoy the free wifi - compliments of Google.
I am honestly surprised it took this long for toothpaste companies to come out with a 3 oz size, but I imagine the ridiculous margins on the “travel size” toothpaste to have something to do with it. To make a long story short, I randomly strolled into a Walmart because it happened to be the closest pharmacy near my hotel and after picking up some DayQuil/NyQuil I stopped by the travel section and found this:
I have not seen this size in any other supermarkets so perhaps its a Walmart only thing. Let’s see if it gets rolled out everywhere. If not, you know where to find it.
You know you’re a road warrior if this makes you happy. Never having to deal with ridiculous “travel size” toothpaste again is priceless.
Getting to the airport at 5am on Monday mornings should be the least of our worries considering how hectic a traveling week can be. I was reminded of this after receiving an angry rant from a co-worker paraphrased as follows:
"I am *bleeep* fed up with taxis failing to show up on time. This morning I had to get my wife to drive me to the airport at 5am and I still ended up missing my flight. How hard is it to get decent *bleeep* taxi service in this city? Does anyone have a good referral for a RELIABLE car service?"
Car Service 1
Taxi Service 0
The truth is cab service can be unreliable, but there are better ways to remedy the situation than resorting to car service. I have nothing against car services, but I’ve met both good and bad cab drivers so I like to help them out as much as possible especially since many are struggling to make ends meet with gas prices so high.
Truth be known, I take a taxi to the airport every morning and I’ve been doing it for the past 2 years. It’s bad enough being stood up, but being stood up by a cabbie only to end up missing your flight and pro-longing a Monday morning commute, trapped in a crowded airport – that’s an experience I don’t wish upon any road warrior (even one who puts his carry-on AND his laptop bag into the overhead bin).
What I’ve done is found a good cab driver and given him the opportunity to make a steady weekly fare. All he needs to do is be at my front door at 5am every Monday morning without fail. I pay him the same fare every week and he always has my change ready to go. I don’t have to specifically arrange a ride for the morning – it’s a given unless I give him a call. A cab driver will go out of his way to be reliable if he/she can depend on a consistent stream of income. Most cab drivers know you will probably never meet again so being reliable is not essential to making money (although it usually helps with tips).
So my advice is find a cab driver with the following:
- A clean cab
- Doesn’t talk too much (I’m not a morning person)
- Is considerate with air conditioning and heating
- Always on time
- <Insert your personal requirements here>
Then offer the driver a steady fare and never have to worry about your Monday morning commute again. Just make sure you call your driver if you aren’t flying for the week - that’s just common courtesy.
Support the little guy and build up some good karma. May you always have a SAFE and QUICK morning commute.
There has been chatter about TSA and laptop manufacturers working together to create TSA-approved laptop bags for speeding up security checks. The idea is travelers could avoid removing laptop from TSA-approved laptop bags. The driving requirement is allowing clear access to the laptop as if it were separated in its own security bin. You can expect bags which roll-out flat to separate the laptop from the other items in your bag which may prevent an unobstructed view of the laptop. Targus and a few other vendors have already announced TSA-approved models which should be available in the coming months.
I don’t believe this will save time in the short run as travelers and TSA personnel get accustomed to an updated security process incorporating the new laptop bags. I can see inexperienced travelers taking a cue from travelers with TSA-approved bags and sending in their unapproved laptop bags. Expect additional questions from TSA personnel if a travelers fails to remove their laptop into a separate bin. In the long run things should speed things up if there are enough travelers who purchase TSA-approved bags and we work through a few iterations.
I plan to keep my Tumi. I’ve my security process down to an art. Have a happy Monday morning.
The DOT has released some figures regarding air travel delays during the busy summer travel season.
- John F Kennedy International (JFK) in New York was worst among North America’s 40 busiest airports, with les than 55% of flights arriving on-time
- LaGuardia (LGA), also in New York, was the 2nd worst with 58% on-time arrival rate
- Rounding out the NY trio was Newark International (EWR) with a 60% on-time arrival rate
- For reference, the average at all other major airports was 74%
- JetBlue was the worst performing airline in July with less than 70% on-time arrival rate
- American Airlines was worst in June, with only 58% on-time arrivals
So, if you plan your travel around avoiding delays, then next year consider flying to Salt Lake City (on Southwest Airlines). SLC had nearly an 86% on-time performance, and as usual Southwest was the major carrier with the best on-time performance. Here is the full report
In yet another round of travel issues with American Airlines this year (you may recall the issues with their MD-80 fleet), the world’s largest airline had to delay and cancel flights at New York’s JFK Airport due to malfunctioning software that controls the baggage sorting conveyor belt.
About 30 flights — of the 69 scheduled to depart from the airport Wednesday — have been delayed as of mid-afternoon by an hour to 90 minutes. The airline’s employees are sorting bags by hand and delivering them to the gates.
The airline is informing passengers that they can choose to fly without their bags and that it will deliver the delayed luggage "once the issue is resolved."
"We have brought in internal engineers and technicians from the system developer to conduct diagnostics," the Fort Worth-based carrier said in a statement. "We regret the inconvenience and we appreciate our customers’ patience as we work through this issue. Though it is not our normal policy, we will be waiving first and second checked bag fees today."
This is what you’ll see today in American’s terminal at JFK:
American did say that it would waive the fees it charges to check a first and second bag on Wednesday. Perhaps now is time to consider saying goodbye to baggage claims and ship those bags direct to your destination.
For the 2nd time since the TSA implemented it’s "No-Fly" list, I found myself on the list of flyers prohibited from checking in because I present a potential threat to national security. True? Doubtful. Here are my travel credentials: 1K flier with United Mileage Plus, Gold Medallion status with Delta, Silver OnePass with Continental, Platinum with Marriott, etc. Have I painted a sufficient picture? Needless to say, the frequency of my travel should remove me from this list immediately.
The most interesting thing is that I was placed on the list within days of receiving clearance for the Fly Clear card. If you’re not familiar with this program, it requires a significant background check by the TSA, so you’d think it would be safe for me to get on an airplane. Needless to say, for about 2 months I was unable to check in online and had to be manually cleared for check-in before boarding every flight.
Want to avoid being on the list? Here are a few steps you can take
- Check Whether Your Name Appears on the OFAC Specially Designated Nationals List
- Check Your Credit Reports For OFAC Alerts
- Check Your Name for Terrorist Matches at S3 Matching Technologies’ TeraMatch
- Use the DHS TRIP Program to Resolve Appropriate Travel Related Issues
- Contact an Attorney, If You are Placed on a No Fly List in Error
- Get Up to Date Information
- Vote For Candidates Who Support Watchlist and Civil Rights Safeguards
My approach was to file a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security TRIP program (#4). This worked and now I’m free to check in online and fly the friendly(?) skies again.
Here are a few celebrities and unlikely terrorists that have also been detained: Nelson Mandela, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), US Rep. Don Young (D-AK), US Rep John Lewis (D-GA), singer Cat Stevens.
You can find the full text of the article here
After United Airlines announced a $25 fee for a 2nd checked luggage, it was only a matter of time before other airlines followed suit with similar fee-generating programs. Take out the macro effects caused by rising oil prices such as less flights for unprofitable segments (American is losing 3.3 million a day!) and let’s focus on what this means to your week-to-week flying experience.
I assume as a road warrior, you are traveling pretty light and you do not check in any luggage. In some cases, airlines do not charge flyers who have status so you may think this won’t impact us too much. In most cases it won’t but there are a few cases where it just might.
If you’re late for a flight or somehow fail to board with the first group be prepare to check in your luggage. With the new luggage fees, you can bet the overhead bins will be packed to the rim. This means more time waiting at the baggage claim.
If you need to speak to a customer service representative, you can expect lines to be longer as people are figuring out how to pay for their check-in luggage. Kiosk lines will take a bit longer as people go through the additional step of paying with their credit card.
Let say the airlines lose luggage - you can expect to see more angry customers since they now PAID to have their luggage checked-in when before they did not. Again - expect longer customer service lines.
If you aren’t careful - this $15 fee will cost you more than $15 in time, waiting in lines or at baggage claims. For many of you, the following tips may be redundant, but make sure you’re keeping your travel process streamlined.
Tips to Keep Your Travel Process Efficient
- Print your boarding pass in advance. Buy a printer if you have to. You need to avoid checking in at the airport to avoid the unnecessary lines.
- Give yourself enough time to reach your gate and board with the 1st group - your status won’t save you if you’re boarding with the 2nd group.
- If your flight is delayed or canceled and you need to speak to a customer service representative - call the 1-800 number reserved for flyers with status or call your travel agency. Do not wait in a line or you may miss the seat for the next flight going out.
- Smile and be polite. You’ll stand out among the sea of unhappy flyers and that can make all the difference sometimes.
Flying goes with the territory so take control of the things in your power and keep more time for yourself.