December 2006

I screwed up royally today. I was supposed to be on a 1:20 flight from Salt Lake City back to Seattle, but instead of 1:20, I wrote down 2:20 on my calendar. By the time I realized my mistake, it was too late to make the plane.

So I called Delta’s customer service line and spoke to a very nice woman named Ginger in Huntsville, Alabama. Ginger not only understood my predicament, she changed my flight free of charge, and she had a smile on her face while she did it. Delta may be fighting a hostile takeover attempt, but their customer service is anything but.

As recent events have shown, Seattle can be a very windy place. But then again, an unexpected gust can catch you off guard in any number of cities. And if there happens to be rain pouring down, the last thing you want is an inside-out umbrella.

Enter the GustBuster, which packs down tight, carries easily and may even stand up to small hurricane, although I’m not making any guarantees. I’ve yet to get my hands on one of these babies.

Has anyone out there tried one? Does it really bust gusts?

If you glance your eyes up towards the nav bar, you’ll notice that we’ve added a new link entitled “store.”

If you click on “store,” a new window will open. Within that window is a veritable treasure trove of travel accessories and gadgets. We’ll be adding more products to the store in the coming weeks, so be sure to stay tuned for that.

Anytime we recommend a product here, we’ll list it in the store so you can purchase it easily. And if you purchase stuff from our store, we get money back from our friends at Amazon, so it’s a great way to support your favorite biz travel blog.

Our co-conspirator Jason Preston has a pretty harrowing holiday travel story that raised some interesting issues about holiday travel. Apparently, he and his parents arrived 2.5 hours early to the airport, only to learn that their flight had already checked in full.

Jason observed that the purpose of check-in is to see who is actually at the airport, because airlines consistently overbook their flights. When people can check in online, it means that other travelers who show up at the airport on time may have to fly standby with tickets they purchased months ago.

It’s a prospect worth keeping in mind as commercial air travel gets ever more harried in the new year.

I’d like to draw your attention to a new service that I just learned about - but haven’t used yet. The first I’d heard of them was when they agree to sponsor our blogger reception in Las Vegas at CES.

That said, Broadclip looks pretty cool. Basically, the service allows you to record live television directly onto your iPod without the need for a TiVo or downloading from iTunes. This has its own potential drawbacks, of course. I really love storing my television shows and music on my computer as well as on my iPod. But I’m intrigued to try out the ins and outs of the service and see how well it works.

I hope I’ll get the chance to play with it when I meet them at CES. Maybe they’ll even let me record the season premiere of The L Word for my flight home.

We were quoted in the Jan/Feb 2007 issue of National Geographic Traveler article “Blogs: The Caveat.” Overall, it’s a well considered piece with some good advice. In a nutshell, the article focuses on the need for readers to remember that bloggers may be getting compensated for the posts they write and to gather information from multiple sources.

I had a debate just the other day with a relative who said “I don’t trust blogs” and I said. “No, you don’t trust BLOG.” Kill that “s” on the end. As the article says, you have to read more than one to truly know if a hotel or resort is really good or bad. The NGT piece should have been titled: “Blog: The Caveat.”

All in all, I think the whole “don’t trust the blogosphere” mantra in the popular press to be overdone. Here’s why:

1) The vast majority of bloggers aren’t shills. The risk of being “gamed” by a blogger is very low. I don’t brand sushi as evil because you have to be careful when eating it.

2) No rational person reads just one blogger’s thoughts and then packs their bags to go to a recommended destination.

3) I’ve worked with a lot of journalists and print publications over the years, and don’t feel the integrity level of traditional press necessarily eclipses that of bloggers. To the contrary, I find the biases of traditional press to be pervasive, and far more slickly shrouded.

One tip: Try sites like Opinmind.com to test for multiple bloggers assessments (good and bad) on popular places and products.

A cost-saving move leads more legroom in the front of JetBlue’s planes. Good thing to keep in mind if you’re flying JB anytime soon.

Every year at Christmas from when I was three until nineteen, my Grandmother would fly out to visit us. When she showed up at my house, my sister and I would bound up the stairs to greet her. She would hug us, then reach into her suitcase, and pullout two gifts for us to unwrap. I’m sure many of you have had a similar experience in your lives, and enjoy showing up at a loved ones home with a beautifully wrapped gift.

Don’t try it this year.

The TSA has reported that ALL wrapped gifts are subject to be unwrapped at the security check-in. The TSA recommends bringing wrapping paper with you, or purchasing some upon arrival. Bringing wrapped gifts will not only cause you frustration as they are unwrapped, but also slow down already long lines.

Additionally, the TSA does not recommend bringing any drinks on the plane, and checking in advance to see which foods are acceptable. While I know its a holiday tradition to bring that special dish or drink to a loved one, this year it would be a good idea to ship it, or not bring it at all. Otherwise, you may find it in the garbage, with the 100 year-old bottle of scotch one man was recently forced to throw away.

So am I. So, apparently, is everyone else, as this holiday season is projected to see a record 9 million people flying between the 23rd of December and the 2nd of January.

United Airlines offers a few tips to get you to your destination faster. The most important: check in ahead of time. If you are reading this you have an internet connection, so check into your flights online before you head to the airport. It will not only save you time, but also save those old paper ticket using anachronisms time as well.

The holiday season is upon us, and that means buying a bunch of cool stuff. For those of you who have a heavy traveler in your life, or feel like getting yourself some cool Christmas presents, here is a list of the Top Ten Gifts for travelers.

Starting next month, US citizens will be required to have passports to get into Canada, Mexico, and the Bahamas. To help educate the expected 15 million people who will be issued passports next year, TIA has created a new informative website. I recommend checking it out if you have any passport questions or concerns.

Beginning next year, the Department of Homeland Security has announced that US citizens traveling by air within the Western Hemisphere will need to carry their passports with them.

I tend to carry my passport with me whenever I fly, regardless of whether I’ll be leaving the country or not–so I won’t really have to change my behavior. But it’s a good thing to keep in mind for those of you who don’t already automatically snag the passport when you leave on a business trip.

On Monday, a woman started lighting matches on a plane in order to cover up her flatulence.

Passengers reported the odor of burnt matches, and the embarassed woman tried to pretend as though she hadn’t done anything. As a result, the plane took an emergency landing, all the passengers were removed and searched, all the luggage was searched, and canine teams scoured the plane. The whole ordeal took over three hours.

The woman was not charged with anything, although I’m guessing the other passengers were not very happy with her.

I know this product has been on the market for some time, but I just got one and figured that I’d throw my two cents in the mix for those folks who are thinking about purchasing one.

Pros:

• Battery life is great
• Scroll wheel acts as both scrolling and clicking for additional functionality
• Works on my lap, the wall, a table, a bench, pavement, wherever.

Cons:

1. Right-click button is a little difficult to use.

There it is, in a nutshell…

Technorati Tags: mighty mouse, apple

Airbus’s jumbo A380 finally launched its maiden voyage, from Bangkok, Thailand, to Toulouse, France. The 555-passenger plane has received 166 orders from 15 airlines, so it is likely you may find yourself on one in the near future.

I posted a few days ago about Homeland Security’s terror scores. Apparently, if you sit in aisle seat and order an ethnic meal, your terror score will be higher than mine (I sit by the window and put mayo on everything).

Sen. Patrick Leahy, of Vermont, has raised a few concerns, pledging to launch a congressional oversight initiative. The data-mining program allegedly violates the Privacy Act of 1974. I’m don’t really have a problem with terror scores, but I hope Leahy gets the government to disclose the scores, as I am really curious to see whose terror score is highest: me, Teresa, or Steve.

P.S. I’m sure it’s Teresa.

For better or worse, I love my Samsung t509 phone. The “worse” part is that the people at Samsung don’t have the foggiest idea how to make it function as a modem for my MacBook. The “better” part is that megageek Tim Hatch does.

When I’m out of WiFi range, my phone connects my computer to the Web at blazing fast, near DSL speeds. I know that EDGE is old news, but it makes me one happy camper.

I’ve been eagerly reading all the exciting new iPhone rumors, thanks to Andrew Smith of Speakeasy.

But nobody answers the most important question I have on my list: will the iPhone work as a modem? The answer to this single question will determine whether I–and probably a number of biz travellers–will be investing the rumored $250-$450 for one of these puppies. The aforementioned Andrew speculates that Apple probably isn’t going after the business community with their glamorous phones. I tend to agree, but I hope and pray that they’ll give at least a cursory glance to our needs. After all, connectivity is an increasingly important issue.

Technorati Tags: iPhone, EDGE, connectivity

Apparently, Homeland Security has been assigning “terror scores” to citizens and foreigns when crossing the US border over the past four years.

The terror scores are computer generated calculations of the risk that the travelers are terrorists or criminals. The scores are then put on file for the next fourty years, and citizens are not allowed to check or challenge their scores.

Homeland Security has said that they “would be critically impaired without access to this data.” However, civil liberties lawyer David Sobel has called the program “probably the most invasive system the government has yet deployed.”

The data-mining program has been used for travel watch lists and caused passengers to be temporarily restricted from flying. However, it has yet to be put to any of the tests for accuracy and privacy protection requested two years ago by Congress.