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Recorded in the St Louis Airport Marriott courtesy of a blown connection by Southwest. We clean out the TravelCommons mail bag, going through listener comments on disabling in-flight electronics, eating alone, and finding good non-chain food on the road. We talk about the sudden collapse of the CLEAR registered traveler program and if in-flight WiFi will really improve frequent traveler… Continue Reading →
A Wall Street Journal Middle Seat column illustrated how airlines can make a good thing bad — flipping the proverb to turn a silk purse into a sow’s ear. In March, American Airlines restarted their program to replace their old gas-guzzling MD-80’s with sparkling new Boeing 737-800’s. As someone who earned 2+ million American AAdvantage miles, I’ve spent a lot… Continue Reading →
Recorded in the Seattle Marriott Waterfront, this special 4th-year anniversary edition collates the best bits from four years of TravelCommons podcasts. Starting with the “hotel medley” — the roll call of all the hotels that have served as TravelCommons’ recording studios, we move on to excerpts from stories about the TSA, Bose headphones, memories of better airplane food, the hassles… Continue Reading →
The International Air Transport Association reported earlier this month that premium ticket purchases fell 21% globally in February — which follows January’s decline of 16.7%. Part of the drop is due to falling air traffic, but a good bit of it is from tighter corporate travel policies that are pushing mid-level executives to the back of the plane. Not good for… Continue Reading →
Recorded somewhere over the Atlantic in the business class toilet of a South African Airways A340 and the Rosebank Hotel in Johannesburg at the start of a week’s stay in South Africa. We talk about inconsistent rules for mobile devices on planes, the value of renewing my CLEAR registered traveler membership, the three things that make a restaurant a great… Continue Reading →
I travel frequently through Denver International Airport (DEN) to visit family and to ski. From this first-hand experience, I’ve always believed that the DEN TSA crew is among the nation’s worst. According to an internal TSA report, a key reason is the local TSA management. Denver’s NBC affiliate obtained a copy of the report and ran an investigative segment on… Continue Reading →
The two reasons most frequent travelers invest in a frequent flyer programs — status perks (e.g., free upgrades, pre-boarding) and free trips. While comparing status perks between programs is pretty straight-forward — most airlines proudly list every status perk, the number of seats that can be booked with miles seems a closely guarded secret, making comparisons between frequent flyer programs… Continue Reading →
Recorded in the TravelCommons studios outside of Chicago at the end of a full week home, decompressing after 6 weeks of straight travel. We talk about some “travel rules” violators — the woman whose airport meltdown is a YouTube hit and an Amazing Race couple whose violation got them eliminated. A listener suggests a topic — what is the one… Continue Reading →
When I used to work in Detroit’s Renaissance Center, international cellular calls would occasionally appear on my bill. After way too many calls to AT&T, I finally figured out that whenever I used a certain conference room in Tower 600, my phone would grab the cell tower directly across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario. However, my hassles were nothing… Continue Reading →
I work very hard not to take out my frustrations with the airlines on the employees — those folks are usually just trying to do their jobs; just trying to get through to the end of the day like the rest of us. Others aren’t so considerate. Flying back from San Francisco last week, the guy next to me at… Continue Reading →