January 2006

CNN reports on the [legend of the DC3](http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/01/17/dakota.anniversary/index.html?section=cnn_travel), a plane that has been flying since 1935. Reminds me of the time we flew [Kenmore Air](http://www.kenmoreair.com/sub_content.php?content_type=29) to Canada in a deHavilland Beaver and Pam can tell stories of Alaska’s bush planes [documented in a great book](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=as2&path=ASIN/0882405861&tag=texturadesign-20&camp=1789&creative=9325).

[Cloudtravel posts](http://cloudtravel.typepad.com/cloudtravel/2006/01/secret_saturday.html) about unadvertised fares that airlines post on Saturdays and price goofs attributed to “fat fingers” and the Search for them. [Gridskipper posted](http://www.gridskipper.com/travel/flights/fat-fingers-cheap-fares-117172.php) about finding these fares, including the legendary JFK to Reykyavik for $61.00.

Yaro Starak who posts about his journeys as an entrepreneur reports on how he uses a [remote desktop](http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/369/remote-desktop/) to log into his network at home using the Windows XP utility. For more on connecting to your network remotely, see the [Wikipedia VNC](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VNC) entry.

Originally, the plan was to have all U.S. citizens carry their passport when crossing the border to Canada or Mexico (effective 12/31/07). Now, the Department of Homeland Security has announced plans for a ‘border-crossing card’ that could be used in leu of a passport. There is even talk of incorporating biometric information such as fingerprints or retinal scans into electronic chip imbedded in the card.

Sounds suspiciously like a National I.D. card to me……the only advantage appears to be that the proposed price for the card is $50, compared to the current $97 for a passport.

It’s come to our attention that the blog Online Travel Help just isn’t as awesome as InflightHQ. I’ve listed a number of reasons below:

• They’re not sponsored by Connexion.
• They’re big ugly copycats with nothing better to do than pirate original content from someone else’s blog and then add their own advertising.
• Gridskipper is way cooler because they blog about what others are blogging about without copying their posts.
• Their mother was a hamster and their father smells of elderberries.

But seriously folks, internet piracy of the kind that Online Travel Help is committing is just plain wrong. It’s one thing to use RSS aggregation software to aggregate news from lots of sites onto your blog, but it’s quite another to blatantly steal content from one other blog and then add your own advertising.

Fortunately, Byron found them and now we’re calling them out. This post will appear on their blog and I will take a screenshot and post it back here so the whole world can see how lame they are.

Take that, detractor!

The NYTimes story on business travel bloggers has been blogged by (to date)

• Blog Business Summit

(a site in our network)

• Bloggers Blog
• Share My Office
• enrevanche
• The Daily Traveler
• The Blogging Journalist
• Hyku
• View from the Wing
• bSpirit

The buzz about business travel blogs demonstrates how the mainstream media listens to blogs, and how blogs listen to the mainstream media. This makes both mediums incredibly powerful ways to reach potential customers. And when it comes to reaching the media, blogging beats press releases any day of the week. This is part of the reason that blogging is turning traditional public relations on its ear. Like Shel Israel says in a recent podcast that we are now all influencers.

Christopher Elliott reports on several blogs, including inFlightHQ, that cover the business travel beat and claims that their influence is growing. We agree with Christopher and appreciate the mention! The article also mentions the Blog Business Summit, our business blog, and

* [Pat and Meg](http://www.patandmeg.com/)
* [Alex Halavais](http://www.alex.halavais.net/)
* [Jenidallas day-to-day](http://www.jenidallas.typepad.com/)
* [FlyerTalk](http://www.flyertalk.com/)
* [Professor Trammell](http://www.kaye.trammell.com/blog)
* [View from the Wing](http://blogs.flyertalk.com/blogs/viewwing)
* [Road Warrior Tips](http://www.roadwarriortips.com/)

Fly Girl is a flight attendant and anonymous blogger - she’s also an inflightHQ reader. In our inaugural podcast, she shares her experiences in the airline industry, tips for ingratiating yourself to the flight crew, and some comforting words of wisdom for nervous fliers.

Click here to listen to the file, or click here to listen to the file and subscribe to the feed.

UPDATE 8:26 am PST, 1/18/06 We have now corrected the audio. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

UPDATE 8:24 pm CST We’ve noticed that the audio occasionally distorts on this. It’s something that we currently attribute to the service we use to record the .mp3 call. I am currently awaiting my flight at Chicago-O’Hare. I will try to correct the audio as best I can on the plane and upload the new .mp3 when I am able.

[CNN reports](http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/01/12/exotic.diseases.ap/index.html?section=cnn_travel) on a new study of Third World diseases and what doctors have learned. The tip is to tell doctors where you’ve travelled, if you come back sick, and tell them about this study. The most prevalent diseases are [Legionnaires' disease](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legionnaires%27_disease), [dengue fever](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue), and infections from tick bites.

There is a great deal of talk about identifying individuals as “safe” or “unsafe” to fly aboard American planes. “Safe” individuals may bypass the security line without screening, while those labeled as “unsafe” may be prohibited from flying at all. The idea behind creating such distinctions is that we can single out potential terrorists long before they get to the airport while reducing the amount of inconvenience imposed on patriotic Americans.

This is dubious premise for many reasons, a number of which I have articulated in previous posts. But today, another reason was added to the list. This evening, at Chicago-O’Hare airport, I was given two distinct chances to board an airplane using another person’s identity.

The first opportunity came when - exhausted and frazzled from the hour long train trip from Hyde Park to O’Hare - I mistakenly turned up at the United ticket counter instead of the counter for American. I slid my credit card through the machine and an itinerary for a woman named Tanya Klein appeared on the screen.

Realizing my mistake, I canceled the itinerary and took the train over to the United terminal, where I once again slid my card through the self-service kiosk. This time, the name on the boarding pass that printed was “Thomas Klein.” I didn’t notice the name discrepancy until long after I had passed through airport security. The TSA employee who compared the name on my ID to that on my boarding pass certainly didn’t bat an eyelash at the name / gender goof.

Were I a terrorist in either of these situations, I could have slithered right through security. And if a “safe” list existed, and either Tanya or Thomas Klein’s names appeared on it, I could have done so with a bomb in hand, or shoe, or bag.

Much has been made of instances when someone with a name similar to that of a suspected terrorist has been prohibited from flying. But what about those times when computer and human errors at airports allow people to pass through security and board airplanes using other people’s names? It’s likely that terrorist organizations know about these weaknesses in our defenses.

Instances like this fully illustrate why it’s a terrible idea to create a screening process that relies on external distinctions to determine trustworthiness. But more importantly, it also demonstrates that we have a long way to go before we are truly prepared for another terrorist attack.

Skype, the Voice over IP (VoIP) calling and messaging software has announced upgrades for both the Mac and Windows versions. Under version 1.4 for Mac, new features include call forwarding to other Skype accounts (as well as a regular phone number), call auto-answer, auto pause and auto resume for iTunes as well as a Japanese language version.

The Windows version 2.0 client offers improved call quality, video support and grouping for contacts.

Accton Technology announced that it will introduce a line of Wi-Fi handsets that will finally cut the cord and allow users to not require a computer to make an internet phone call. Accton plans to sell them thru global vendors and will use the 802.11b/g Wi-Fi standards. Availability should be by the end of the first quarter.

Great for international calling…..but keep in mind a Wi-Fi handset will not work in hotspots such as McDonalds or Starbucks and if you move from one hotspot to another, your call can get dropped. It still beats paying those horrible roaming charges that seem to add up on my account every month.

At some regional airports, the Transportation Security Administration no longer runs the check-in lines. Instead, private contractors are taking over the job. Another transition of this kind is scheduled to take place February 5th at Sioux Falls Regional Airport, reports the Argus Leader.

The idea in using these programs is that the privatized agencies are more likely to provide service with a smile. And since the checkers are primarily former TSA employees, the level of security is not expected to go down.

Fodor’s tips on [Smoother Sailing through Airport Security](http://www.fodors.com/wire/archives/001399.cfm), [packing](http://www.fodors.com/wire/archives/001335.cfm), and [being more comfortable on the plane](http://www.fodors.com/wire/archives/001447.cfm).

This time in Pottstown, PA. In this case, the travel agent involved used a business client’s account to subsidize deeply discounted tickets for friends and family members. The travel agent has pleaded guilty.

This isn’t an uncommon occurrence. Less than a week ago, we posted about an unscrupulous agency in Texas.

The moral of all these stories: don’t blindly trust your travel agent. Have someone from your company audit travel expenses to look for discrepancies.

You may have heard about the Transportation Security Administration allowing items that have been restricted since 9-11 to again be allowed on aircraft. The primary changes have to do with tools and scissors. Metal scissors with pointed tips and a cutting edge four inches or less as well as screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers and other tools (7 inches or less) will be permitted effective December 22, 2005.

Of course the Association of Flight Attendants and other groups consider this move a big step backwards in Aviation Security and are supporting S. 2083 and HR 4452, the so called ‘Leave All Blades Behind Act‘ that Reps. Markey and Crowley have introduced into Congress. If you would like to know the specifics on exactly what you can and cannot carry on board aircraft, look at this updated TSA document.

I’m one of those people for whom Paul English created his interactive voice recognition (IVR) cheat sheet. I usually start to scream at an IVR phone system within about 20 seconds of beginning to use it. My fiancé is quite accustomed to walking into rooms only to find me screaming “OPERATOR! O-PER-A-TOR!” into the phone at high volume. So when I tell you that American Airline’s IVR robot is the easiest and friendliest little machine I’ve ever had the pleasure to talk to - I really mean it.

I called their 1-800 number, expecting to speak to a real person once I asked to reconfirm my reservation. But instead, I got the computer. Exasperated, I started to talk to it. I figured that as soon as it screwed up, it would connect me to a live human being. But it didn’t screw up. It just kept on doing its little robot thing, answering my questions and quickly reserving my seats without once asking me to repeat myself. When I hung up the phone, I felt as though I’d actually had a conversation with a real person.

Maybe IVR isn’t so bad after all.

Jeff Jarvis conqueror of brands everywhere threw some love Connexion’s way, commenting that he didn’t think Connexion’s new price structure was a bargain, “but what the hell?”

I agree with Jarvis, $26 bucks isn’t all that much when you’re talking about 24 hours of Internet access from the cabin of an airplane. It’s less than dinner and a movie, and really worth the cost during those cramped-up flights. Just the novelty alone would be worth it for me.

UPDATE: 1/13/06 8:30 I was reminded by a reader that when I throw Connexion some love of my own, I should mention that this blog is sponsored by Connexion. That does not mean, however that my love for them is any less genuine. I cannot wait to be on a flight with Internet access.

According to Scotsman.com, a group of European airlines has lost its legal bid to reverse a European Union law requiring airlines to compensate passengers for delayed or canceled flights.

The regulation as it stands requires that:

• Passengers whose flights are delayed from two to four hours must be given snacks or full meals.
• Delays of five or more hours entitle passengers to a hotel or a refund as is applicable.
• Any delay that results in a passenger missing the reason for his or her flight, such as a business meeting or a wedding will prompt a full refund of the return ticket.

This comes at a time when fuel prices are soaring and competition among airlines is stiff. Many European discount carriers fear that the law will severely hinder their ability to do business, as the compensations wind up costing more than they made on the original tickets themselves, and often penalize them for circumstances beyond their control.

The EU really ought to let competition accomplish the same goal. If they simply left it up to the airlines to fight for passengers with lower ticket prices or better customer service - they might accomplish more good in the long run. After all, we Americans know firsthand the consequences for customer service and ticket prices when airlines feel financially squeezed.

[CNN reports on the TSA's new puffer machines](http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/01/10/airport.security.ap/index.html?section=cnn_travel) that “puff air onto a person to dislodge tiny particles from skin and clothing and then analyzes the particles for traces of explosives.” That’s cool and creepy at the same time. I mean, is the puff like those at theme park, where air blows to simulate an arrow shooting by your head? Does it mess up your hair? Blow up your skirt, like Marilyn Monroe standing on a vent? What if you have dandruff, does it look like a snowstorm when you get puffed?