Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Carnival Caves on Fees, Avoids Lawsuit?
Carnival Corporation caved on its plan to retroactively charge people for fuel surcharges today, according to USA Today. This move saves the company a lot of future trouble and allows them to back out gracefully of a bad faith $40 million windfall the company had basically extorted out of their consumers.
Here's the back story. On November 7, Carnival announced a $5 per passenger per day fuel surcharge to cover the rising cost of fuel. This is a common way for travel providers to hide a fare increase without having to share the increased fare with travel agents who are often paid commission. What made this particular fuel surcharge so awful, was that Carnival applied the fee retroactively. If the traveler has yet to sail, but has a cabin booked, extra charges of up to $140 per cabin applied. The only exception was for people who were already paid in full by the day before the announcement was made. Thousands of travelers lost, Carnival Corporation won to the tune of $40 million. Royal Caribbean soon followed, reaping $21 million of their own.
Other cruise lines jumped on the surcharge bandwagon, but did so for new bookings only. (Disney Cruise Line is the only major cruise provider not to charge a fuel surcharge.) The move, as you imagine, was not only highly unpopular, but also borderline illegal. After multiple complaints, both Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean were being investigated for unfair business practices with the Florida Attorney General.
Royal Caribbean quickly backed off as the investigations started to happen, refunding all retroactive charges. (Fuel surcharges booked after the November start date still apply.) However, Carnival hung tough until today, more confident that the terms of their Contract of Carriage would allow their surcharges to stand. Or maybe they were more confident in the large political donations given to Governor Charlie Crist's campaign in 2006, while he was Attorney General.
It turns out, Carnival approached the then Attorney General about this proposed Fuel Surcharge and got the thumbs up from the Crist machine. Two weeks later, two Carnival subsidiaries - Princess and Holland America Line - sent a check to the Florida Republican party for $125,000 according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Once this came out, rumors had been swirling in the industry that Carnival was about to cave, and today they did - now avoiding both a class-action lawsuit from angry travelers, but also potential pursuit of some real serious action by the Florida Attorney General. But is this story over? Or will it start sticking to Florida's Governor? Stranger things have happened.
Here's the back story. On November 7, Carnival announced a $5 per passenger per day fuel surcharge to cover the rising cost of fuel. This is a common way for travel providers to hide a fare increase without having to share the increased fare with travel agents who are often paid commission. What made this particular fuel surcharge so awful, was that Carnival applied the fee retroactively. If the traveler has yet to sail, but has a cabin booked, extra charges of up to $140 per cabin applied. The only exception was for people who were already paid in full by the day before the announcement was made. Thousands of travelers lost, Carnival Corporation won to the tune of $40 million. Royal Caribbean soon followed, reaping $21 million of their own.
Other cruise lines jumped on the surcharge bandwagon, but did so for new bookings only. (Disney Cruise Line is the only major cruise provider not to charge a fuel surcharge.) The move, as you imagine, was not only highly unpopular, but also borderline illegal. After multiple complaints, both Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean were being investigated for unfair business practices with the Florida Attorney General.
Royal Caribbean quickly backed off as the investigations started to happen, refunding all retroactive charges. (Fuel surcharges booked after the November start date still apply.) However, Carnival hung tough until today, more confident that the terms of their Contract of Carriage would allow their surcharges to stand. Or maybe they were more confident in the large political donations given to Governor Charlie Crist's campaign in 2006, while he was Attorney General.
It turns out, Carnival approached the then Attorney General about this proposed Fuel Surcharge and got the thumbs up from the Crist machine. Two weeks later, two Carnival subsidiaries - Princess and Holland America Line - sent a check to the Florida Republican party for $125,000 according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Once this came out, rumors had been swirling in the industry that Carnival was about to cave, and today they did - now avoiding both a class-action lawsuit from angry travelers, but also potential pursuit of some real serious action by the Florida Attorney General. But is this story over? Or will it start sticking to Florida's Governor? Stranger things have happened.
Labels: carnival, cruises, florida, holland america line, princess, royal caribbean, travel
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
North Korea Opens Its First Hostel... in Berlin
Where you sleep when you visit Berlin may just have become political again. According to Bloomberg News, the North Korean government is taking some of its unused embassy space, left over from when their operations were much larger in the former East German capital, and turning a section of their building into a Hostel.
Expected to open in May, Cityhostel Berlin will include a Korean restaurant and a Grand Piano apparently. The cost per night? 20 Euros a night (or roughly $31) for a bed. That's actually on the high end of competitive for Berlin, where even in high season, dorm beds generally run for about 14 or 15 Euros a night. But they don't get the added benefit of funding one of the world's most repressive and horrifying regimes in the process.
Sometimes it makes sense to consider where your travel dollar is going. A lot of hostels in the developing world can make you wonder if the money you are spending is going to the community around you, or going back to the owner's home country. In this case, where the money is being headed is most definitely worth consideration. After all, in this Korean restaurant it might be worth considering that eating Kimchi in this hostel isn't keeping North Koreans from eating tree bark to stay alive, even if the money is going to North Korea.
Expected to open in May, Cityhostel Berlin will include a Korean restaurant and a Grand Piano apparently. The cost per night? 20 Euros a night (or roughly $31) for a bed. That's actually on the high end of competitive for Berlin, where even in high season, dorm beds generally run for about 14 or 15 Euros a night. But they don't get the added benefit of funding one of the world's most repressive and horrifying regimes in the process.
Sometimes it makes sense to consider where your travel dollar is going. A lot of hostels in the developing world can make you wonder if the money you are spending is going to the community around you, or going back to the owner's home country. In this case, where the money is being headed is most definitely worth consideration. After all, in this Korean restaurant it might be worth considering that eating Kimchi in this hostel isn't keeping North Koreans from eating tree bark to stay alive, even if the money is going to North Korea.
Labels: berlin, germany, hostels, north korea, travel
Putting the Scare in US Airways
It's been a difficult couple of days for US Airways. Already burdened with a not-so-good reputation, two unrelated events definitely didn't help matters today, giving the beleaguered carrier another black eye, or two.
First, a piece of a wing fell off a US Airways flight, cracking a passenger's window. The 757 lost about eight square feet of wing in mid-air while en route to Philadelphia. There was some minor damage to the tube, a cracked window, but ultimately nothing terribly serious - although extremely scary. The flight didn't even cut itself short, electing not to divert to BWI. There were no injuries, although at least one passenger did lose her cookies in fright, according to some news reports.
However, the other piece of scary news involves a pilot mistaking his cockpit for a firing range, accidentally shooting a gun while landing in Charlotte this Saturday. Seriously. Nobody injured here and pilots are allowed to carry arms, thanks to some panic legislation in the wake of 9/11. There was no danger to the aircraft as a result of the discharge, according to officials, but the A319 has been taken out of service, at least temporarily.
Does this mean US Airways is unsafe? No, of course not. These are both freak accidents. But having them happen so close together is more than a little unsettling. For the nervous flier, it's not a good sign and just another reason to avoid an airline that doesn't generally have a lot to attract fliers with to start.
First, a piece of a wing fell off a US Airways flight, cracking a passenger's window. The 757 lost about eight square feet of wing in mid-air while en route to Philadelphia. There was some minor damage to the tube, a cracked window, but ultimately nothing terribly serious - although extremely scary. The flight didn't even cut itself short, electing not to divert to BWI. There were no injuries, although at least one passenger did lose her cookies in fright, according to some news reports.
However, the other piece of scary news involves a pilot mistaking his cockpit for a firing range, accidentally shooting a gun while landing in Charlotte this Saturday. Seriously. Nobody injured here and pilots are allowed to carry arms, thanks to some panic legislation in the wake of 9/11. There was no danger to the aircraft as a result of the discharge, according to officials, but the A319 has been taken out of service, at least temporarily.
Does this mean US Airways is unsafe? No, of course not. These are both freak accidents. But having them happen so close together is more than a little unsettling. For the nervous flier, it's not a good sign and just another reason to avoid an airline that doesn't generally have a lot to attract fliers with to start.
Labels: fear of flying, planes, travel, us airways
Monday, March 24, 2008
The South Shore Line
Lately, I've been thinking about trains a lot. It might have a lot to do with the fact that I've been reading a lot of Paul Theroux lately. It might also have to do with my impending move to New York City and giving up my car. This means that most of my short to medium trips will suddenly take place on rails rather than tires. I've always loved the train. We lived near the Amtrak rails to Detroit, and the city I lived in revolved around the South Shore Line.
The commuter railroad which runs between South Bend and Chicago is enjoying a renaissance and is now the 10th largest Commuter Rail system in the country, despite having only one rail line. Each year five million passengers take a seat on the silver Japanese rail cars. But when I was younger, the South Shore was a different animal, wheezing on life support and way past its prime.
I remember riding the rails with my mother to the South Side of Chicago when she went to work. We'd grab a donut next to the old station in downtown Michigan City, where the train still rides down the middle of the street. We'd hop in the very old Orange cars, vintage 1910 Pullman, for a slow ride. The train cars had stickers on them that said "The Little Train That Could." This was no joke, these train cars were built to last but after 70 years of daily use, the fact that they functioned at all was a bit of a miracle. I remember summer days, sitting on the ripped up horsehair seats, springs sometimes pushing through the cushion. I remember walking to what seemed like a mail car at the time during hot days, standing by the door that the conductors would leave open, so that there was a chance to cool off when the air conditioners would invariably break down.
For commuters, the South Shore was a nightmare. People avoided it in droves and on several occasions in the 1980's, it almost shut down, eventually being sold to a quasi-public company in Indiana for one dollar in 1989. As the government finally started to step in and help the railroad survive - which even in its worst years was getting nearly a million passengers to and from Chicago - new shiny steel cars that worked were introduced. The magic lessened for me, but its never disappeared. Almost every visit home involves a ride on the South Shore. There's always an odd duck to observe in the car, something strange to see out the window along the industrial remnants of Lake and Cook Counties. The train is special. And for me, it always will be.
The commuter railroad which runs between South Bend and Chicago is enjoying a renaissance and is now the 10th largest Commuter Rail system in the country, despite having only one rail line. Each year five million passengers take a seat on the silver Japanese rail cars. But when I was younger, the South Shore was a different animal, wheezing on life support and way past its prime.
I remember riding the rails with my mother to the South Side of Chicago when she went to work. We'd grab a donut next to the old station in downtown Michigan City, where the train still rides down the middle of the street. We'd hop in the very old Orange cars, vintage 1910 Pullman, for a slow ride. The train cars had stickers on them that said "The Little Train That Could." This was no joke, these train cars were built to last but after 70 years of daily use, the fact that they functioned at all was a bit of a miracle. I remember summer days, sitting on the ripped up horsehair seats, springs sometimes pushing through the cushion. I remember walking to what seemed like a mail car at the time during hot days, standing by the door that the conductors would leave open, so that there was a chance to cool off when the air conditioners would invariably break down.
For commuters, the South Shore was a nightmare. People avoided it in droves and on several occasions in the 1980's, it almost shut down, eventually being sold to a quasi-public company in Indiana for one dollar in 1989. As the government finally started to step in and help the railroad survive - which even in its worst years was getting nearly a million passengers to and from Chicago - new shiny steel cars that worked were introduced. The magic lessened for me, but its never disappeared. Almost every visit home involves a ride on the South Shore. There's always an odd duck to observe in the car, something strange to see out the window along the industrial remnants of Lake and Cook Counties. The train is special. And for me, it always will be.
Labels: chicago, nictd, south shore line, trains, travel
Sunday, March 23, 2008
This Week In Link: Best of the Web
Hard times. All over the place. Beat of Hawaii talks about Aloha Airlines becoming the latest airline to enter, or in their case re-enter, bankruptcy. But how bad is the economy when brothels have to shut down? The oldest one in Hamburg is shuttering, Gadling has the scoop.
Flying with bad weather? The potential to have a completely FUBAR'd schedule is there. One of my favorite blogs, Cranky Flier, gives you a guide to making it work.
And with JetBlue introducing more legroom for premium prices, Gridskipper has twelve things that they would totally pay extra for.
Flying with bad weather? The potential to have a completely FUBAR'd schedule is there. One of my favorite blogs, Cranky Flier, gives you a guide to making it work.
And with JetBlue introducing more legroom for premium prices, Gridskipper has twelve things that they would totally pay extra for.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Flashback: NCAA Tournament 2002
"How about some scores?" came from the front seat as the old man I was driving suddenly woke up. Ohio in the dead of night, the Turnpike at 85 miles per hour and I was reduced to trying to find a crackling sports talk station for this guy as we raced back to Michigan. I was simply struggling to stay awake and not crash into a fiery end along I-90.
We were on our way home from Washington D.C. after a disappointing basketball game. One that cut our stay in the city short by a couple nights. What had seemed so promising became grating, annoying and disappointing. But then again, for 63 other teams each year in March - the same feelings and emotions are felt, however differently. I'm a Michigan State fan, and our quest to hit the Final Four for the fourth straight year ended quickly with a loss to some sub-standard state school that was trying to make a cinderella run.
I watched that game in the closest thing to a sports bar that I could find in downtown Washington D.C., sitting next to a bunch of office workers who were slipping out early to get soused while watching hour after hour of College Basketball. Drinking and watching this game was a bit of chance for me. I was working as an audio engineer for a radio station doing a live broadcast from the tournament. We were the voice of the Michigan State Spartans. The deal was that if we won, we got to stay in D.C. for the weekend. If we lost, we had to get back to Michigan... immediately. After our pre-pre-pre-game show was taken care of, I watched the first half from my room. The game seemed charmed. We didn't play well, but the other team couldn't find the basket to save their life. It was something like 30-14 at half time.
I found a bar and decided it was Miller Time. This was the reason I didn't take up the offer to get the ticket for the full weekend. $50 to see six basketball games is a great deal, but without beer to drink at the game (College games are dry,) what's the point? Halfway through the first beer, it was evident the tide had turned for good. The Spartans found themselves behind and dead in the water, getting outscored by 30 points in the second half, and heading home early. Which meant that my drive back home was just beginning. Washington D.C. was fun for the 14 hours I got to visit the city. Walking around the MCI Center, looking for a restaurant late at night in Chinatown.
My driving partner knew the deal. With the station manager refusing to pay for a second night in the hotel, we had to get out post haste. Yet, he hung around - all afternoon - talking and talking and talking. He gets to the room and its another hour before he's ready to go. It's 4pm, D.C. rush hour is in full gear and I just know it's going to suck.
It took three hours to get out of the D.C. area because that's how fast traffic moves there. It was nearly 10 when we stopped in Maryland for gas, just off the Pennsylvania Turnpike. I was motivated to get home, and get to bed. I blasted music to keep myself awake, as my elderly partner snored. Every half hour or so he would startle awake and demand sports scores. And I would oblige. Wearing my adrenaline out trying to find sports scores that wouldn't come on until he had passed out again to my right. So annoyed and in such a rush, I never stopped for gas again until Toledo, Ohio. Well over 400 miles. After a full tank fill-up, I realized that we got off the highway at the right moment, I had .15 gallons of gas left in the tank.
We got home at 5AM to save my manager 200 dollars. Then the other shoe dropped, the University was picking up the hotel tab all along.
We were on our way home from Washington D.C. after a disappointing basketball game. One that cut our stay in the city short by a couple nights. What had seemed so promising became grating, annoying and disappointing. But then again, for 63 other teams each year in March - the same feelings and emotions are felt, however differently. I'm a Michigan State fan, and our quest to hit the Final Four for the fourth straight year ended quickly with a loss to some sub-standard state school that was trying to make a cinderella run.
I watched that game in the closest thing to a sports bar that I could find in downtown Washington D.C., sitting next to a bunch of office workers who were slipping out early to get soused while watching hour after hour of College Basketball. Drinking and watching this game was a bit of chance for me. I was working as an audio engineer for a radio station doing a live broadcast from the tournament. We were the voice of the Michigan State Spartans. The deal was that if we won, we got to stay in D.C. for the weekend. If we lost, we had to get back to Michigan... immediately. After our pre-pre-pre-game show was taken care of, I watched the first half from my room. The game seemed charmed. We didn't play well, but the other team couldn't find the basket to save their life. It was something like 30-14 at half time.
I found a bar and decided it was Miller Time. This was the reason I didn't take up the offer to get the ticket for the full weekend. $50 to see six basketball games is a great deal, but without beer to drink at the game (College games are dry,) what's the point? Halfway through the first beer, it was evident the tide had turned for good. The Spartans found themselves behind and dead in the water, getting outscored by 30 points in the second half, and heading home early. Which meant that my drive back home was just beginning. Washington D.C. was fun for the 14 hours I got to visit the city. Walking around the MCI Center, looking for a restaurant late at night in Chinatown.
My driving partner knew the deal. With the station manager refusing to pay for a second night in the hotel, we had to get out post haste. Yet, he hung around - all afternoon - talking and talking and talking. He gets to the room and its another hour before he's ready to go. It's 4pm, D.C. rush hour is in full gear and I just know it's going to suck.
It took three hours to get out of the D.C. area because that's how fast traffic moves there. It was nearly 10 when we stopped in Maryland for gas, just off the Pennsylvania Turnpike. I was motivated to get home, and get to bed. I blasted music to keep myself awake, as my elderly partner snored. Every half hour or so he would startle awake and demand sports scores. And I would oblige. Wearing my adrenaline out trying to find sports scores that wouldn't come on until he had passed out again to my right. So annoyed and in such a rush, I never stopped for gas again until Toledo, Ohio. Well over 400 miles. After a full tank fill-up, I realized that we got off the highway at the right moment, I had .15 gallons of gas left in the tank.
We got home at 5AM to save my manager 200 dollars. Then the other shoe dropped, the University was picking up the hotel tab all along.
Labels: march madness, ncaa basketball, travel, washington dc
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Jet Blue's Dirty Little Secret
The airline known for free TV and Blue potato chips has a dirty little secret. For smart travelers, it's capped its most expensive flights for $250 each way. You just have to know how to look, and be a part of their frequent flyer program.
JetBlue has a pretty average to poor frequent flyer program. TrueBlue doesn't let you keep any points earned longer than 12 months after you've earned them. Unless you have their American Express card, in which case, they don't expire at all. It's a great way to limit award availability on their flights.
The benefit to the program is that earning free flights isn't too difficult. Four roundtrip coast to coast flights and a short one way flight and you've got a free round trip ticket. For someone who flies a moderate amount, awards are acheivable. But this month, they just got more achievable.
Early this March, JetBlue quietly rolled out the chance to purchase points. At least for now, the pricing is reasonable. $50 gets you 10 points, and their website doesn't seem to indicate a limit in points to purchase. This means for $500, you can buy a round trip ticket anywhere that JetBlue flies. Although this won't be cheaper than most JetBlue tickets that are currently available, it can save you quite a bit on some routes.
For example: booking a ticket from JFK to Las Vegas April 4 to April 6 would cost you as much as $648.50 round trip, or 100 JetBlue points. Which you can buy for $500. Obviously, some caveats apply. Before you spend money on points, make sure you can get the flights you want with points... and don't expect this deal to last too long. Generally, these kind of frequent flier "enhancements" are there to primarily benefit the company. When the airline notices lots of 100 point purchases, bets are that limits on point purchases will suddenly materialize.
Cranky Flier has some great info on the other JetBlue news of the week, paying extra for extra legroom.
JetBlue has a pretty average to poor frequent flyer program. TrueBlue doesn't let you keep any points earned longer than 12 months after you've earned them. Unless you have their American Express card, in which case, they don't expire at all. It's a great way to limit award availability on their flights.
The benefit to the program is that earning free flights isn't too difficult. Four roundtrip coast to coast flights and a short one way flight and you've got a free round trip ticket. For someone who flies a moderate amount, awards are acheivable. But this month, they just got more achievable.
Early this March, JetBlue quietly rolled out the chance to purchase points. At least for now, the pricing is reasonable. $50 gets you 10 points, and their website doesn't seem to indicate a limit in points to purchase. This means for $500, you can buy a round trip ticket anywhere that JetBlue flies. Although this won't be cheaper than most JetBlue tickets that are currently available, it can save you quite a bit on some routes.
For example: booking a ticket from JFK to Las Vegas April 4 to April 6 would cost you as much as $648.50 round trip, or 100 JetBlue points. Which you can buy for $500. Obviously, some caveats apply. Before you spend money on points, make sure you can get the flights you want with points... and don't expect this deal to last too long. Generally, these kind of frequent flier "enhancements" are there to primarily benefit the company. When the airline notices lots of 100 point purchases, bets are that limits on point purchases will suddenly materialize.
Cranky Flier has some great info on the other JetBlue news of the week, paying extra for extra legroom.
Labels: frequent flier miles, jet blue, travel, trueblue
