Why Can't an Airline Be More Like a Bus Line?

Washington Post compares eight Washington-New York bus lines. Wow!

I was living back East in the last century when Eastern Airlines launched its then-revolutionary Shuttle between New York's LaGuardia and Boston to the northeast and Washington-National to south. Low fares. Hourly flights in both directions. No strings. No TSA screening. Except in the heart of the rush hour, quick cab ride to close-in airports. Business travelers embraced it. And it soared. In those pre-Amtrak days, rail travel on antiquated trains (the New Haven Railroad to Boston, the Pennsylvania Railroad to D.C.) seemed tedious, and buses, for business travelers, seemed déclassé.

Fast forward to this century, and buses seem to be a fantastic way to travel between these two cities. Washington Post reporters rode 10 different buses operated by 10 different bus companies, and all I can say is: with the arguable exception of Southwest, the worst bus line sounds preferable to the best airline these days.

The Post's motorcoach comparison shopping, assembled into a chart called "Rolling With It," reveals low fares (the lowest reported as $1*, the highest one-way fare is $30), convenient center-city stops, online booking with no or modest change fee, walk-up service with no or modest surcharge (but usually cash only) and often amenities that airline passengers can only dream about. Depending on the bus line, these can include free WiFi, electrical outlets, leather seats, free bottled water and free movies that in one case passengers vote on. Most have some kind of frequent-rider deal, with a free trip after as few as four paid trips. Amazing!

*There must be strings to a dollar fare, but I don't know what they are.

The most stinging criticism the Post had was for two lines. MVP was described as, "Our non-MVP bus was pretty dismal. Hindsight lesson: MVP runs its own vehicles Monday-Thursday but uses others on weekends. No WiFi, broken reading lights and the restroom was like an indoor outhouse, unclean and lacking toilet paper and hand sanitizer." Of New Century Travel, the paper commented, "The boarding was unclear — we were instructed to board the Philly-bound bus, but then what? — and the ride was harrowing from start to finish. We want our 20 bucks back!"

I suppose that those Continental Express passengers stranded overnight on the tarmac in Minneapolis last month would have been ecstatic if such had been the worst of their experiences. Click here if you've forgotten that awful true story.

If you are traveling that NYC-WAS route, check the Post's chart with prices, policies, phone numbers, websites and ratings from four buses to a half-bus. If I were still traveling the Northeast corridor, that's what I would do.

Bruising Add-On's Tarnish the Cruising Experience

Royal Caribbean taken to task for charging extra for cupcakes

I can't pretend to be an authority on cruise ships, having taken all of one full trip and one out-and-back trip to nowhere on a "naming cruise" with mainstream cruise lines in my life. Even with my limited experience, I was shocked at all the extras that are not included in the price of the voyage. In fact, I wrote a feature called "Keeping the Bargain in Bargain Cruises" after I found out how many add-ons there are and how much they cost.

Now Anne Campbell's post, "Royal Caribbean the First to Charge for Cupcakes," on her Ship Critic blog shines an authoritative spotlight on these extras. She wrote, "Aboard Royal Caribbean’s 'Oasis of the Seas' you’ll pay extra — the cruise line says prices aren’t available yet — for a cupcake at The Cupcake Cupboard, an on-board shop."

While she praises the beauty and such innovative diversions on RCCL's ship(s) as the “flow rider” surfing simulator, rock climbing, ice skating, roller blading on deck and central Promenade of stores, restaurants and bars, she takes the line to task for charging extra for room service and a surcharge or a la carte pricing (a record in the cruise industry) at nine of 24 restaurants aboard.

"But no one wants to feel nickeled and dimed aboard a cruise," she notes.

TSA Screeners Get New Uniforms and Badges

Transportation Security Agency screeners -- 48,000 strong -- will be dressing more like law-enforcement officers

If a royal blue shirt and badge communicates "police" to you, screeners at the nation's airport checkpoints who are going to start wearing police-style badges are projecting an intentionally misleading image. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is outfitting its screeners with 3-inch-by-2-inch, silver, copper and zinc badges to be worn on "police blue" shirts after just two days of procedural training, including how to communicate with the flying public in a non-confrontational manner.

The TSA's idea is to convey an image of authority to passengers, who, understandably, are weary of arbitrary and inconsistent screening procedure. The TSA blames the public for harassing and being disrespectful of screeners, occasionally even pushing or punching, according to reports. The TSA probably prefers to believe that their screeners treat passengers even-handedly and politely, but anyone who flies more than occasionally has had less than pleasant experiences. And some airport police are not thrilled that the screeners might be, to put a snarky spin on it, impersonating officers.

Extending this, the Transportation Security Agency has had a high employee turnover rate since it was created as part of the post-9/11 Department of Homeland Security. According to the TSA's own Employee Retention Report released in July 2007, the agency "had an attrition rate of 17.6 percent in 2005 and 14.6 percent in 2006, according to the report. TSA says that decrease is evidence of an attrition rate that continues to fall. The administration said its turnover rate is 16.5 percent, higher than 2006, but still a 13.6 percent reduction since 2005." Even if it were falling comparably to, say, 10 percent, that's still somewhere around 4,800 former TSA screeners every year. Given the efficiency of other Department of Homeland Security agencys (FEMA comes to mind), who knows what happens to all those very official looking badges. Will the agency require and track their return?

Airport police officers are armed and have the power to arrest, which screeners do not. Some are concerned about confusion that can cause unforeseen problems. Other agencies,including some stationed at airports, also give badges to their employees.

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.