What People Don't Like About Hotels

Advice for avoiding hotel billing hassles

In yesterday's post, "What People Like About Hotels," I speculated that "travelers seem overwhelmingly disappointed with air travel, but hotels seemingly are still viewed favorably," and gave the results of a survey about hotel positives. Today, travel consumer advocate Christopher Elliott wrote about an increasingly common problem with hotel stays. He called it "folio failure." Most, he noted, are "erroneous charges that . . . are innocent mistakes — a wrong room number, sloppy handwriting or a computer glitch." His advice is to check your bill before you leave so that the error can be corrected on the spot. Here's his advice (with my added comments in italics):

1. Have an alibi - Elliott gave an example of a restaurant/bar bill that had mistakenly been charged to his room. He wasn't in the hotel at the time of the charge and could prove it, so the charge was removed.

2. Say ‘no’ to the minibar key - "Accepting a minibar key, even if you don’t intend to use it, can lead to billing problems later on," he wrote. Further advice, when doing so, ask the front desk agent to note in the record that the key has been declined. He pointed out that "some minibars register a 'sale' any time an item is moved, meaning that if you touch it, you buy it." Many of us touch the mini-bar contents when storing a doggie bag in the little refrigerator. When I remember, I do refuse the minibar key. Now that I've written this, I'll bet I remember more often.

3. Keep your receipts - Retain receipts from meals, taxis and other services outside of the hotel. If you get charged for a room service or hotel restaurant dinner but can prove that you weren't in the hotel at the time, such erroneous charges can be removed more easily (see tip #1). Of course, is you are someone's guest, say, at dinner, you won't have a receipt for that meal, but make a habit to keep receipts when you can to increase your odds of avoiding wrongful charges.

4. Ask first - He pointed out that "so-called 'full service' hotels like to charge you for every little thing." In addition to hotels that charge guests for receiving guests' packages, not uncommon for travelers attending trade shows or conferences, annoying add-ons include telephone fees, Internet connections (WiFi or Ethernet), one bottle of water free upon checkin that is replaced by others that cost, access to on-site gym or swimming pool and parking. In many respects, mid-range motor inns provide the best value. Parking, recreational facilities and Internet access are generally free. I also like hotels like the Kimpton properties and some suite hotels that put on a complimentary wine and cheese in the afternoon. Others offer complimentary quality coffee and tea in the morning. "The solution," Elliott counseled, "is to never assume any service, no matter how small, will be free, and to always ask if there will be a charge."

5. Don’t wait to dispute a charge - "If you see an incorrect charge on your bill, notify a hotel employee immediately," Elliott wrote. With the popularity of so-called "convenient" online checkout, many travelers are in a hurry and push buttons to accept charges without really looking to see what they are. Conversely, when checking out in person and there's a line piling up, many people are reluctant to take the time to look over their bill. Moral of the "folio failure" story is to take an extra moment -- regardless.

"Air Contrarian" Chooses Growth in Difficult Economic Times

While other airlines are cutting back, low-fare AirAsia intends to keep on growing

The travel news is full of service cuts here, airline bankruptcies there, airlines folding completely elsewhere, and surcharges and extra fees all over the map. So it came as a surprise (to me anyway) to read a piece called "Strong Expansion is the Best Way to Cope with High Fuel Prices, AirAsia Exeuctive Says" on a travel trade site called eTurboNews. Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia, described as Asia's largest low-cost airline with a 60-city route network that includes Southeast Asia, China and Australia, spoke to eTurboNews Stephan Hanot:

Q: How fuel is affecting your strategy?
A: Fuel is becoming a massive problem as it went up from US$36 in 2003 to
over US$170 for jet fuel today. And they are only two ways to deal with this
burden to cut costs. The first, chosen by many airlines, is to reduce the
network and adapt capacities. It works but it will also affect considerably
travel patterns and could lead to a cycle of further route network’s adjustment…
The other way is still to grow up. This is the way AirAsia choose. We have to
fill up aircraft as more passengers are the best way to compensate for the
burden of high fuel prices. We will also continue to look at ways to reduce our
costs.

Q.This means: no cut in your network, including domestic routes?
A. That is correct. More revenues can make up for the deficit we could
record because of the fuel crisis. In fact, I speed up the opening of new
routes. We will out of Malaysia open between June and July up to four new lines
[routes]...

Q. Does it then mean that AirAsia low cost model turn its back from
traditional point-to-point markets?
A. We have seen indeed an increasing number of passengers in transit at our
main bases...I anticipate a further development of our transfer activity in the
future.

Q. Will you increase fuel surcharges?
A. We try not to pass the burden to consumers with additional fuel
surcharges. We rather look at other ways such as paying a minimal fee to use our
various services. We recently introduced fees for check-in luggage for
example...

Q. How about your environmental credential? AirAsia seems to be far behind other airlines in terms of initiatives such as carbon footprint compensation.
A. Asia is generally behind developed nations in Europe, America or
the Pacific...Our fleet is one of the youngest in the world and is extremely fuel-efficient as we put more seat per aircraft than most or our competitors. We also try to accelerate the replacement of our ageing Boeing 737-300 by more fuel-efficient Airbus A320. However, we are looking now to introduce a scheme for carbon dioxide (CO²) footprint compensation. We look at ways to see how this CO² credit would be at best used. I expect that we could come up with some program by early
2009....

Can AirAsia keep it up? I don't know, but it operates on an aggressive model. Founded only in 2001 as a no-frills, low-fare, fequent-flight carrier that currently flies to 60 destinations, it was named named 2007 CAPA Airline of the Year. AirAsia managed an on-time record of 89 percent in May, and even in challenging times, seems to be continuing various promotions and fare sales to fill seats.

Contrast this to a front page story in today's Denver Post called "Fares Adding Fuel to the Flier," which reported that base fares for domestic flights from Denver are up 7.5 percent since June 2007 -- plus the add-on fees that did not exist a year ago. Competition does put the reins on increases a bit, with the greatest fare increases on routes with the least service. The phrase," The airlines have those passengers over a barrel" comes to mine -- a barrel of oil, perhaps.

AirAsia's slogan: "Now everyone can fly." What a contrast to many US carriers -- Southwest seemingly being an exception -- that seem to being instituting the slogan, "Now no one can fly anymore."

Low Cabin Pressure Forced Plane Back to Denver

Oxygen masks did not deploy, and six United passengers seem to have decided to go to the hospital

Tonight's 10:00 o'clock news included a report about a plane that returned to Denver late this afternoon due to low cabin pressure. According to "Pressurization Issue Forces Plane Back To Denver" from Channel 7, United flight 591 took off from Denver International Airport for Seattle shortly before 4:00 p.m. but soon returned to Denver because of what was described as "a pressurization problem." The Boeing 737 landed shortly after 5:00. Of the 121 passengers aboard, six went to the hospital -- they "opted to go to the hospital," according to the report. There were also three flight attendants and two pilots on board.

What makes this all seem to weird is that despite "the pressurization issue," the oxygen masks did not deploy. According to Channel 7, United Airlines spokeswoman Megan McCarthy, said "the situation was not one that would warrant the masks to drop."

Am I missing something when I wonder about the purpose of oxygen masks if not to deploy when cabin pressure drops? Or is United's latest revenue source going to be pay-to-use masks, perhaps like an oxygen bar? Of course, the aircraft was taken out of service until mechanics could inspect it fully. I can't wait for a followup to this story explaining what happened to cause pressure to drop in the first place and then why the oxygen masks not to drop. When the former drops, I would have assumed that the latter is supposed to drop as well.

What People Like About Hotels

These days, travelers seem overwhelmingly disappointed with air travel, but hotels seemingly are still viewed favorably. Richard P. Carpenter Travel & Trivia recently posted the results of a survey commissioned by hotels.com on what people like about staying in hotels. I went to the hotels.com site to try to find out the breadth, depth and randomness (or not) of those surveyed, but I couldn't find it on their site. Therefore, here are the results from Carpenter's blog:

What people said they looked forward to when spending a night in a hotel:
* 66 percent (tie) -- simply peace and quiet.
* 66 percent (tie) -- having no responsibilities.
* 58 percent -- not having to make the bed or clean up.
* 43 percent -- room service.
* 41 percent -- a full night's sleep.
* 18 percent -- control of the TV and remote.

What people said they would gladly leave behind when heading for a hotel:
* 75 percent -- chores and housework.
* 47 percent -- their jobs.
* 11 percent -- their children.
* 8 percent -- their spouses or significant others.

Backroad to Los Alamos

Jemez Road is a quiet byway for shunpiking Interstate 25

When we drive to and from Albuquerque, we almost always take Interstate 25, and since many of central New Mexico's most interesting events, museums and restaurants are in Santa Fe, we find ourselves on the Albuquerque-Santa Fe stretch of the highway over and over. Someday, I'm going to take the Rail Runner Express train (below, heading south out of Santa Fe), but it didn't happen this trip.

On our most recent trip, we wanted to make a day trip to Los Alamos on a gray, sometimes- rainy Tuesday, so instead to reprising I-25, we followed New Mexico Highway 4, the Jemez Road. Much of it travels through tribal land, where photography is generally discouraged -- if not downright prohibited. Exterior shots of the Jemez Pueblo's Walatowa Visitor Center (below) are permitted, but the small tribal museum is also off-limits for photography.

The small, artsy Anglo community of Jemez Springs with a handful of galleries, shops, restaurants, accommodations, the Jemez State Monument and several hot springs, makes for a fine quiet getaway from Albuquerque, Santa Fe or Los Alamos, but the monument (ruins of an ancient pueblo) was closed the day we passed through, so we just stopped at the Highway 4 Cafe for coffee and pastry -- both of which were very, very good.

Most of the roadside pullouts on public land north and east of the pueblo provide fishing access, but one is a bona fide scenic and geologic attractions. The Soda Dam, one of the area hot springs, is right off the road, so of course, we stopped.

So did other travelers, and many of them were wandering around the travertine formation.

The highlight is a waterfall that emerges out of the tangled rock layers.

Valles Caldera National Preserve was created in 2000 to preserve and protect the 89,000-acre Baca Ranch in a volcanic crater in the Jemez Mountains. The preserve also represents a unique experiment in public land management, combining historic ranch operations with programs and facilities for visitors.

Leaving Valles Caldera, the route passes through the section of Bandelier National Monument burned during the Cerro Grande Fire of May 2000. It started as a prescribed burn that went out of control and ultimately burned about 48,000 acres, destroyed 235 homes and other structures, threatened the towns of Los Alamos and White Rock from which more than 18,000 residents were evacuated and threatened the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Natural revegetation has occurred in the nearly nine-and-a-half years since then, but the Cerro Grande fire remains searned into the consciousness of all who were impacted.

On a previous visit to Los Alamos, we visited the Bradbury Science Museum and the Los Alamos Ranch School, where the Manattan Project was hatched. My husband loves surplus stores, and this trip had the goal of visiting the Black Hole Sales Company, a legendary surplus store established by the late "Atomic Ed" Grothus. I took a few snapshots (below), but if this interests you, I urge you to click here for photos and text by Dave Bullock, a California programmer, photographer and blogger who is for more competent at conveying the spirit of the place than I am.

I couldn't begin to identify most of the objects in this 19,000-square-foot boneyard for surplus from the nuclear labs.

If you needed some cords to connect this to that, you might just be able to find it here. My husband, a connoisseur of surplus stores, praised the Black Hole for its organization.

I got a kick out of such whimsies as a barrel labeled "Empty" but clearly full of pipe couplings.

My husband remarked that I was "lucky" that the Black Hole was not in Denver, and I suppose I am. His eyes lit up at many of the objects that I couldn't identify, but if it were closer, I suppose I might be living with some of them. The Black Hole is at 4015 Arkansas, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544; 505-662-5053. It is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Tuesday through Saturdays (except major holidays).

Weak Dollar, Strong Euro Change Travel Patterns

Europeans, Brits and Canadians find US a bargain; Americans pinched overseas

When my husband and I visited Britain six weeks ago, we were shocked by how little the dollar buys there. A bus ride between two London railroad stations was $5. The least expensive three-star hotel we stayed at was $100 a night. Every amount in pounds on the right side of the menu had to be multiplied by two to convert it into dollars. We tried to be frugal, but it was difficult, and I don't know how students will fare overseas this year -- especially since the British pound is weaker than the euro.

Earlier this week, one of our former German exchange students and his wife came through on part of their 16-day road trip through the American west, starting in Denver, ending up in Seattle and including several national parks. This was a good year to visit, they said, because gas is "only" $4 a gallon, Hertz was charging "only" $195 to drop their rented-in-Denver SUV off in Seattle and the American artwork they hoped to buy would be a real bargain, even including shipping it back to Germany.

At this point. about €0.65 buys US$1.00. In late 2000, US$1.00 bought about €0.90. The US dollar used to be worth considerably more than both the Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc. Now they are about at par. What a flip during the first decade of the 21st century -- a flip that benefits international travelers coming here.

Canadians are coming south. Europeans and Brits are flying west. They travel, the eat, they shop. And Americans, increasingly, are staying home -- wondering what went wrong.

Senator Edward Kennedy's Final Journey

As I write this, the coffin of Senator Edward M. Kennedy is on its final journey to Arlington National Cemetery for interment beside his bothers, John and Robert. A year and a few days ago, he made a short journey half-way around the Pepsi Center to the podium from which he would give a rousing speech in support of candidate Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention. He rode in a golf cart, smiling and blowing kisses to admirers, who knew that the end of an era was coming. Kennedy had already been diagnosed with brain cancer, and few had expected him to appear at the convention, let alone speak -- and do so with fervor and eloquence. As they say in show business, the Senator brought down the house. Today, a rainy day in Boston, under the vaulted ceiling of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica, a Mass of Resurrection was said for the Senator, the wealthy scion of a Boston political dynasty who fought for social justice and equality for all.

President Obama, who was the last to speak, concluded his eulogy to his former colleague with allusions to this last journey. The Senator, said the President, is gone, "leaving those of us who grieve his passing with the memories he gave, the good he did, the dream he kept alive, and a single, enduring image — the image of a man on a boat; white mane tousled; smiling broadly as he sails into the wind, ready for what storms may come, carrying on toward some new and wondrous place just beyond the horizon. May God Bless Ted Kennedy, and may he rest in eternal peace."