Archive for November, 2004

An Open Letter To The Airlines

Dear Gerard, Gerald, Glenn, Gordon, Douglas, and Bruce, As we approach the holiday season, I want to wish you all a wonderful holiday and extend my most sincere wishes for your survival. I realize that the past several years have stressed you out in the ivory towers and I am afraid that you may have lost sight of the big picture. So as a favor – call this an early Christmas present – I’ll help you put the big picture into perspective. You fly planes. You are not in the…

One Fine Mess

Fine print is all around us and the travel industry leads the pack. While the terms and conditions are always available somewhere, they rarely are clear and concise. More often than not, they are so onerous and restrictive that the consumer does not have a fighting chance. Once again, when it comes to the tiny print (or that terms and conditions button) the best advice seems to be – buyers beware. Take a recent ad for Northwest Airlines’ holiday fares, for example. Lansing to Washington: $59. But the small print…

Don’t Get Screwed

Your travel agent just bolted with your money. Your cruise line sold your cabin to someone else. Your tour operator went belly up, and there’s no chance for a refund. Over the past six months there have been dozens of news stories highlighting the “shady” travel industry. No one can dispute the fact that some travel agents did abscond with some money, Carnival did oversell several sailings, and several tour operators simply ceased operations with little more than a padlocked front door. But how can you protect yourself? To steal…