I’ve downsized my Tumi carry-on just so I could fit it vertically in a 737 overhead luggage compartment. I will do whatever it takes to avoid checking in my luggage. If you fly as often as I do, you will go that extra mile to minimize the amount of time you spend waiting….for your luggage, the airplane, taxi, in line at the airport. Not having to check-in luggage is a HUGE time saver.
But the best reason NOT to check-in luggage is you never have to worry about the airline misplacing it. Hopefully you’ve never had to experience having your luggage lost and the airline representative telling you, “We’re not sure what where it is.”
I’m not certain, but I would guess the majority of flyers are reunited with their lost luggage (even if it’s after the vacation), but there are people that never find their luggage. Do you ever wonder what happens to the luggage that isn’t taken home?
Well, wonder no more because your long lost luggage could be on sale in a warehouse located in the sleepy town of Scottsboro, Alabama. That’s right - BBC News ran an interesting article on a company, Unclaimed Baggage Center (they didn’t win any awards for originality) that buys luggage from the airlines after 90 days and puts it up for sale.
Some interesting quotes:
“We had a 19th Century full suit of armour, an underwater camera from Nasa, Egyptian artefacts and props from movies,” says Brenda as she proudly stands next to a display case that holds a puppet from the Jim Henson film, Labyrinth.
One woman discovered $1,000 (£500) hidden in the lining of a case she bought for pocket change, while another found out that the glass vase she had bought as a trinket was actually worth a small fortune.
It’s enough to attract a million visitors a year.
If you lose your luggage or forget your book in the backseat of an airline, it’ll probably end up here. I guess you can always take a trip to Scottsboro if you never get your luggage back. Who knows - you may find something better.
BusinessWeek had an article covering airplane food served for the various airlines in both business and economy classes. The gist of the article foretells of a future upgrade to the food quality on the airlines (November 1st 2007). If you are planning to fly a long segment, you can probably expect some positive changes to airline meals.
The highlights for some airlines:
AMERICAN
FRONT OF PLANE: A trio of chefs designs international first-class menus that include entrées such as mojito shrimp with pineapple. Business class on Boeing 767s gets similarly enhanced fare.
MAIN CABIN: The buy-onboard service offers $2 to $4 snack options. “Fresh Light Meals” for $5, such as an Asian chicken wrap, are available on U.S., Caribbean, and Mexico flights of three hours or longer.
CONTINENTAL
FRONT OF PLANE: A “Congress of Chefs” highlights international flavors. For the Oct. 1 inaugural flight from New York to Mumbai, gosht pasanda (lamb chops in yogurt-cream sauce) will be served.
MAIN CABIN: It offers a rarity in 21st century domestic flying: complimentary coach meals. Sandwiches and salads are prepared by Continental’s own division, Chelsea Food Services.
DELTA
FRONT OF PLANE: Miami chef Michelle Bernstein’s menu items have been featured in international BusinessElite since August, 2006. She just moved into U.S. first class.
MAIN CABIN: Delta re-instituted a food-for-sale menu in September after offering only snacks since 2003. Todd English’s entrées will appear on Nov. 1 for $7 to $10 each.
JETBLUE
FRONT OF PLANE: Passengers get a choice of snacks, including cashews, biscotti, munchies mix, and the carrier’s signature Terra Blues potato chips. Wash it down with a cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee.
MAIN CABIN: This is a one-class airline, so everyone gets the same food.
LUFTHANSA
FRONT OF PLANE: “Connoisseurs on Board” appoints renowned chefs to design menus for first and business classes. In October, David Bouley is the featured culinary master for all long-haul flights.
MAIN CABIN: Economy cabin has full complimentary service, with the number of meals depending on the length of the flight.
MIDWEST
FRONT OF PLANE: Chef Shawn Monroe of Mader’s restaurant in Milwaukee helped develop the Best Care Cuisine program in 2005. October’s menu includes a hot pulled-pork panini lunch for $10.
MAIN CABIN: This is a one-class airline, so everyone gets the same food.
I find it’s better to be safe than sorry (and eat before boarding) if you’re not sure the airline food will complement your palette. I also find there’s an inverse relationship between hunger and finickiness so you may enjoy the meals better if you don’t eat beforehand. :-)
For those of you who fly Southwest – GOOD NEWS!:
Starting in early November, customers of Southwest Airlines Co. will be assigned a letter-number combination on their boarding passes, which will reserve their spot in their boarding group. According to a Southwest statement, when a gate agent calls a boarding group, passengers will take their place in their numerical order.
There are several good reasons to do this.
- No more waiting in long random lines
- No more saving spaces with luggage
- No more special “stalls” for Southwest gates (which saves Southwest some $$)
Happy travels!
UPDATE: Find more information here directly from Southwest!
First of all, let’s agreed we spend more than enough time sitting in traffic. Thankfully, as a road warrior, I probably spend less time commuting (but more time in a hotel) than someone who may drive to work everyday. Still…
USAToday.com says:
Business travelers who rent autos often waste an average of 1½ hours per trip stuck in traffic, getting lost and waiting to pay tolls, according to the survey, which Avis (CAR) is releasing this week at the National Business Travel Association’s annual convention in Boston.
More than 80% of 6,300 Avis customers who responded to the survey say they spend an average of 44 minutes stuck in traffic during a three-day business trip. At least half of those who responded say another half an hour is wasted getting lost, and 12 minutes go down the drain while in line to pay tolls.
You can follow some common sense guidelines to minimize traffic delays such as working well past rush hour or booking hotels as close as possible to your client destination.
If you happen to work in NYC, avoiding traffic might be a little difficult especially when traveling to / from Newark or JFK airport, but Travel Zoo now offers you another alternative…HELICOPTER transfers to and from the airports in just 8 minutes.
If you have the cash to spare here are the routes:
- $99 – Downtown Manhattan Heliport (JRB) to/from JFK
- $99 – Downtown Manhattan Heliport (JRB) to/from Newark
- $99 – East 34th Street/Midtown Heliport (TSS) to/from JFK
- $99 – East 34th Street/Midtown Heliport (TSS) to/from Newark
Go ahead, be a celebrity, but make sure you can expense it first!
I’ve said this once before and I’ll say it again. Miles are the new fool’s gold. With the numerous restrictions and now expiration dates, it’s no wonder I no longer have loyalty towards a single airlines. In fact, I flew my last flight of the year with United – just enough to make Premier status. I will be flying Southwest here on out for the rest of the year. Hopefully I get enough flights for a companion pass so my wife can travel for free whenever I book a flight on Southwest…without restrictions.
Do you wonder why there are expiration dates? This Chicago Tribute article gives you the details.
Just a few highlights:
The airlines are making a bid to get excess miles off their balance sheets. United, for example, had approximately 508.8 billion outstanding unused miles at the end of 2006. It estimates that 70.5 billion of those (about 14 percent) will go unused and probably expire under the new policy.
That’s enough expiring miles at 25,000 miles per ticket for nearly 3 million free domestic flight awards. Or if each mile is worth 2 cents (using a common measure of the value of miles), about $1.4 billion dollars worth of miles. Just at United.
That’s right – when you let miles expire, you lose big-time and the airlines save themselves a cargo-load of greenbacks. You have to keep your account(s) active by flying on the respective airline in order to extend the expiration date. This is not really an issue for frequent flyers, but the restrictions are still ridiculous.
A couple of tips for avoiding the expiration of miles:
Take a paid flight on the airline or an alliance partner (for example, a United frequent flier who takes a Lufthansa flight would qualify).
Redeem miles for a flight, upgrade or even a magazine subscription.
Use a credit card that awards frequent-flier miles. You can “buy a pack of gum for $1” and keep your account active, says United’s Urbanski.
Stay at a hotel that offers miles in the carrier’s program. If you usually receive frequent-guest points in the hotel’s program, you will have to forfeit them at least for one stay.
Rent a car and ask to have miles credited to your program (though some car rental agencies will charge an added fee).
Cash is always better than miles, so don’t fool yourself into thinking you should save those miles for a last minute flight that would otherwise cost you $500. My bet is on the restrictions that keep you from redeeming those miles. Try to plan well ahead and spend those miles as soon as you can. Read the fine print - there are usually cash penalties for booking too close to the departure date when using miles.
Good luck. Don’t let those hard-earned miles go to waste. You earned ‘em, so don’t forget to use them.