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 direct to consumer sales business.

You have a ready willing and able sales force to handle your distribution. Remember travel agents? Carlson Wagonlit? American Express? ASTA? Home-based? The thousands upon thousands of independents? Orbitz? Travelocity? Expedia?

Just pay them something for the effort and they will reward you with full flights and, what's more, customer service. America West has done it and the last time I checked, their balance sheet was fairly healthy.

Besides, travel agents have already demonstrated that they are survivors - they're still here despite your best efforts.

You are not in the restaurant business.

Stop trying to convince your passengers that you are. Your catered food, when available, is horrible and the real restaurants have plenty of options in the airports. Save your meals for the really long flights, save some money and offer some prepackaged snacks. Sit down, shut up and eat your peanuts.

You are not the mafia.

Stop acting like it. People are willing to pay you good money to use your planes. Stop trying to extort more money from them with fee upon fee upon fee. You are not charged a penny when you return to a retail store for a price accommodation because your goods were just put on sale. Why do you think it is fair for you to do this to your customers? If you want to operate a cartel, why not just shake everyone down at the gate and collect all their loose change?

But be careful, a horse head in the bed is worse than cabin lights coming on after a red-eye.

You are not in the cruise business or the hotel business.

Stop trying to meddle in that market. If you guys could get your own house in order, I might understand the push. But first things first. It is bad enough that your customers hate to fly on your planes (and travel agents deal with your clients every day and trust me, "hate" is not too harsh). Now they might get a chance to hate a perfectly good cruise line.

You are in the people moving business. You know, as in elevators, escalators, moving walkways, mass transit. You move people from point A to Point B. You employ tens of thousands of bean counters to tell you how much it costs to operate your business.

Price yourself accordingly. Do not play games. They do not work and one would think that after the past four or five years you would have seen that they do not work.

How many harebrained schemes have you devised that have failed?

Douglas, remember the GDS "sharing" - this is not the sharing you learned in kindergarten. What about those "use-it-or-lose-it" tickets that you all, dare I say colluded, on implementing?

Instead of trying to figure out ways to land the golden parachute, concentrate on landing the planes - preferably on time and safely, but if it needs to be late, not that much, and please let your customers know what is going on.

Gerard, there is nothing special in the air. Gerald, we don't love the way you fly. Glenn, your skies are anything but friendly. Gordon, the proud bird with the golden tail is molting. Douglas, some people really know how to fly - unfortunately, it seems their names are Kelleher, Neeleman, Leonard, and Parker. And Bruce, while US Airways may begin with me, you need to remember it may also end with me.

Gentleman, fly your planes, price them fairly, and treat your employees, agents and customers as you would want to be treated yourself.

You do have some outstanding talent out there - look at your pilots, flight attendants, mechanics, gate agents, ground crew, management, travel agents, caterers, cleaners…they want to earn a fair wage and they want to work for you. Treat them and pay them fairly and soon you will reap the rewards.

Happy holidays.

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 tells a different story. All or part of the flight may be operated by Pinnacle Airlines, based on one way travel with a round trip purchase, only on super bargain days--November 21,22,25,26, December 25, and January 5th, does not include the ticketing fee, federal excise tax, passenger facilities charges, or the September 11th security fee.

Whew!

So what does a $50 ticket really cost? $186.40 before you add in the Northwest ticketing fee. By the way, fares will be higher if you elect to fly on days other than those mentioned.

The crime is, that while "disclosed" these fees will not materialize until after you have clicked "buy." When you call a travel agent, the price quoted should be the total price including all taxes and fees - no surprises.

Are you mad yet? Well, it gets worse.

American Airlines last week created and amended its "rollover policy". They called it an amendment, but since no one could confirm its existence, I figure they also created it (a typical airline tactic).

Prior to November 4th, if American lowered the price of a purchased ticket (fare war, pesky Southwest sale, etc.), it would issue a credit for the difference in the form of a voucher. However, you or your travel agent had to catch them in order to get the credit.

Now, they are considering this a "change" and will be charging you $100 to issue the voucher. Thank you Mr. Arpey. But according to American, "This change will allow American to lower its operating costs, while continuing to offer fares competitive with low-cost carriers. Customers still can travel at low fares, and enjoy the benefits of American's extensive…"

While the airlines seem to hold a monopoly in the skies, they do not when it comes to the fine print. Next time you take a cruise, check out their fine print.

Pregnant? Better check. Thinking of canceling six months in advance? Better check. Always dreamed of seeing Barcelona by sea? Better check. Cruise lines are not obligated to transport pregnant women, refund your money within certain time frames, nor are they obligated to visit the ports of call that they advertise.

And don't think that hotels and packaged tours are exempt. You can be walked from one property to another if the property is sold out. Car rentals? When was the last time you rented a car for $49 a day and were not saddled with fee upon fee upon fee? All clearly detailed in the fine print.

Web booking has its own perils. Most of the sites give information "as-is" which leave you with no recourse if it is incorrect, old, or never transmitted to complete your transaction. Additionally, most sites claim (in legalese) that they "are not suitable for any particular purpose" - muddle that one for a bit.

When you accept their terms and agreements by using the site, you usually waive any right for a monetary claim. Dig a little deeper and you will see that by use of these sites, you agree to sue and be sued in particular jurisdictions convenient to - you guessed it, the airline, car agency, cruise line, or hotel.

Most traditional travel agencies do not have such requirements.

Considering the number of people traveling at any given time, the industry actually does pretty well in avoiding litigation. Most consumers are lucky and never have to exercise their rights, but occasionally, someone will get the short end of the stick.

Hopefully it will not be you, but if it is, you had better be familiar with that fine 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 a concept from Terry Riley, no one is going to protect you - you need to do it yourself. But you can hedge the odds in your favor.

Today's consumers are becoming more and more gullible and taking less and less responsibility for their actions.

People actually wire money to the idiots that run the Nigerian e-mail scam. People actually buy stocks from the knucklehead that calls the office with a hot tip.

Hello. Why would anyone give access to their life saving to their travel agent? Why would someone give cash to a travel agent to give to a tour operator?

AA has its 12-step plan to sobriety; here is my 7-step plan to making a sound decision for travel purchases:

1. Deal with an established company. Online or off, it should have a track record of selling travel. Check the business out with the Better Business Bureau, the local Chamber of Commerce, ASTA, ARTA, CLIA, OSSN, or an existing client. While not a guarantee, this shows that it is interested in being in business and not just scamming you.

2. Never pay in cash. When you pay by credit card, it is usually processed by the travel supplier and you will have some protection if it fails to deliver. This also assures that your deposit was applied to your booking. Alternately, pay by check - and always get a receipt.

3. Guard your personal information. Your travel agent has a need (not a right) to know certain personal things about you - family members, passport numbers, credit card numbers, personal preferences. There is never a need to provide a social security number or an authorization for a direct draft from your bank account. If you feel uncomfortable, go with your gut and go elsewhere.

4. Deal with someone with experience. While not usually possible on the Web, you should deal with someone who has been there and done that. The Web will not let you know about the horrible drive from Montego Bay to Ocho Rios, Jamaica. A true professional will. Seek out those who have obtained their cruise certifications from CLIA, or their CTA or CTC designations from the Travel Institute (formerly ICTA) or destination specialists with credentials.

5. Use the Web to investigate and corroborate - with caution. This column is my opinion. We all have opinions and opinions are like … well anyhow, we all know about opinions. Tripadvisor.com has a wealth of information - but beware, there is nothing to stop a hotel from loading the site with favorable reviews, or a dissatisfied guest from trashing a property gratuitously. Read three pages of reviews to get a better insight.

6. Be sure that the travel provider is solvent or protected. Are they a member of the USTOA (they need to post a bond to carry the designation)? Alternately, does an escrow company manage their receipts? Do they have a history? These are questions you need to ask before handing over the credit card. You should know who is ultimately providing the service because travel agents and Web sites are simply intermediaries. Is the travel supplier well-known?

7. Trust your instincts. As my father always told me, "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is." But please don't let him know that I am listening to his advice after all these years. The best tip I can give is to go with your gut.

Use your head and don't be led blindly off the cliff like a lemming. You are ultimately responsible for your decisions and when you are shelling out some big bucks for travel - vacation or business - you want to be sure the investment is as safe as it can be.