From their press release (emphasis added):

For the low price of $25 per item each way, customers can send their bags, golf clubs and skis ahead to their final destination via FedEx standard overnight delivery.
[...]
Customers booked for travel between March 18 and March 29 within the continental United States on at least one United-operated or United-marketed flight are eligible. Sale prices are limited and available until 5 p.m. EDT on March 19 or while supplies last. Travelers may purchase the Door-to-Door Baggage option up to 10 days before departure.
[...]
A customer may ship up to nine bags at the limited $25 price, per bag. Weight, size and other restrictions apply.

Nine bags at that rate??! Wow. Cheap. If you’re moving cross-country, this deal is for you.

But… you have to reserve this by Friday the 19th. Which is a stupidly narrow window of opportunity if they really wanted people to take advantage. Needless to say, this won’t help a lot of people. But someone may benefit.

Since January 26, the airport has changed the way passengers move from terminal to terminal. Out with the old, in with the new.

In: The Aerotrain, an inter-terminal subway. Out: The moon-buggy-style mobile lounges, oversized buses on hydraulic lifts that ferried passengers from one terminal to the other.

Sure, they were smelly, loud, and rather slow. There wasn’t much “lounging” in a lounge, either. Waiting for a lounge to get moving when you had a connecting flight was tortuous.

And yet… I liked them. Maybe that’s because I’ve always liked the tarmac-level view of the airport. Maybe it was the carpeted walls. Maybe it was the retro flavor. Maybe it was just… different.

Sure, the new train will be faster, cleaner, more efficient, and not prone to traffic jams. But a little piece of aviation history is on the way out.

(Edit: Via April in the comments, the lounges aren’t gone quite yet… but the AeroTrain is operational.)

Here’s a video for those who never experienced it. And a bonus info sheet (PDF) on the history of the buggies.

R.I.P. mobile lounges.

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Downgraded: Meals on Continental
Continental Airlines has finally thrown in the towel and is giving up the free meals in coach. Instead, they’re instituting a buy-on-board program. Maybe I’m suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, and I’ve become assimilated by my airline captors, but this doesn’t bother me much. Yes, it’s the end of an era. But I’ve moved on. So have others. The problem, for me, is that Continental is taking another page from its colleagues in the industry and spinning the removal of an existing amenity as an upgrade.

Upgraded: Flight Attendants’ Demands
Flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants, want training in hand-to-hand combat. I think they’re right. Other demands: portable communication devices for speaking to the pilots (makes sense); standardized (read: smaller) carry-on sizes, “so that flight attendants can look for suspicious passengers instead of struggling with oversized bags” (makes sense, but let’s not go Ryanair on sizing); shutting down onboard wi-fi during periods of “high threat” (this is particularly subject to abuse).

Upgraded: Airline Seat Ratings in Brazil
The Brazilian government is taking an interesting and unusual step: requiring airlines to grade their legroom for their aircraft. It’s like an officially-sanctioned SeatGuru, without the specific-seat-level unit of analysis.

Downgraded: Aircraft Air
This is not particularly comforting: 1 in 2000 flights has a “fume event,” which often involves the intrusion of contaminated air into the cabin. In a recent incident, engine oil seeped improperly, was vaporized, and spread through the cabin. Tricresyl phosphate in the oil can cause neurological damage. Awesome.

American’s announcement brings their count of cities to 27 airports. United’s count is thirteen. Continental is still the leader, with 48 airports (including 2 overseas, in London and Frankfurt.) The TSA’s website lags reality, it seems, listing 43 airports in the US currently participate, across all airlines.

The expanded service is being pitched as a convenience to customers. And it is convenient, if you’re not able to print your passes. But be sure to save that e-mail or text message on the phone: If your miles don’t post, you’ll need to find a way to print that message to prove you actually took the flight.

This is only available at those airports where both the airlines and the TSA are linked up and able to scan the boarding pass. That’s what’s really holding this up from more widespread adoption nationwide.

Taking the convenience equation out of the picture for a moment: For you to move through security with one of those mobile boarding passes, you need to have it scanned by TSA first. What bugs me about this is the TSA’s involvement in the equation makes “revenue protection” the U.S. government agency’s job, in the name of security. (As I’ve argued ad nauseam, checking ID’s and passes does nothing to make you safer; true airport security does not hinge on holding a boarding pass or having an ID.)

This will be more and more widespread, going forward. But it’s still not truly widespread in its adoption — yet. In a reader poll back in November, 38% of readers had used a paperless boarding pass. That’s pretty high, but let’s face it, the readers of this site are highly travel-savvy, frequent-fliers. The general flying public is far less likely to have gone paperless. But not to worry, that will change.

John Battelle was sitting onboard a wi-fi enabled cross-country flight on United Airlines, and fired up video chat to wish his wife and kids a good night. (He stresses that he used headphones and the in-laptop microphone.) Then, mid-chat, a flight attendant told him to shut it down: “Security. Cameras not allowed!”

Since he was still wi-fi-enabled, but chat-restricted, Battelle fired up his inter-twitter-tubes, ran some searches, and asked if there were any legal restrictions against video chat.

Turns out there’s no federal policy against it. The closest you can find on the FAA website is this fact sheet:

While passengers are welcome to access the web, U.S. airlines offering WiFi service block the use of inflight calling using Skype or similar applications. This is not an FAA restriction; they are simply responding to the overwhelming majority of their customers, who prefer silent communications to the public nature of Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) calls.

And there’s the core of it: The airlines (and the wi-fi providers) can set their own policies. United, which uses the Gogo service by Aircell, specifies that voice over IP (VoIP) services are currently prohibited. Video chat — voice and video — falls under that.

The argument that phone calls and chats are banned out of respect for seatmates, I get. If an airline wants to ban chat, like banning IP calls, that’s their choice. But blaming that policy on security? Hardly.

The purser on Battelle’s flight argued that video chat was prohibited because it enabled terrorists to communicate with partners on the ground. Umm… and an e-mail or text message isn’t good enough for terrorists?

This is the kind of thing that drives me nuts: Airline staff making up rules, justifications, and regulations.

Downgraded: Continental exit row seats
Starting March 17, exit row seats will cost you extra money, unless you’re a Continental OnePass elite member. (United elites get it for free eventually, too, but not yet.) No big surprise, given the industry as a whole. But as David Jonas argues, this is actually a meaningful shift by Continental, whose management had been more resistant than other airlines’ leadership to charge fees for things that were previously free.

Downgraded: Luggage scanning at Denver
For a few days, thousands of checked bags were not scanned by TSA at Denver. No further comment.

Upgraded: All-you-can-drive toll payments for Bay Area rental cars
If you’re renting a car in the Bay Area from Dollar or Thrifty, you’ll be able to buy a “Pass 24″ add-on for $9.95 per day or $39.95 per week (5-7 days) that includes unlimited use of all tolls in the region. The service is run by Rent-a-Toll. I guess it’s a deal if you’re crossing a lot of bridges. Just be sure to use the FasTrak lanes.

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The display of winning bids is nice, but given that the BetterBidding or BiddingForTravel message boards exist to catalogue winning bids with greater precision, it’s not all that useful.

The best-rate-guarantee promotion — which expires March 31, 2010 — is potentially more interesting: Just like Priceline’s normal best-rate guarantee, the new offer only applies to their name-your-own-price product. But the terms and conditions of the deal are more generous.

While the normal best-rate guarantee was only valid for 24 hours after purchase, the new “big deal” guarantee is valid up until the day before check-in. That’s a much bigger window in which to find a better rate.

If you do find a lower publicly-available and -visible rate (i.e., no AAA or convention rates) for your hotel room on a website (it has to be via a website) and phone it in to Priceline, you’ll get a full refund, a $25 credit, and a $50 coupon for a Priceline vacation package.

But finding that better rate will be really tough. Priceline rates are deeply discounted because the name of the property isn’t revealed until you commit to purchase. But for a best-rate-guarantee, you’ll need to find a lower price for the specific hotel you won. And let’s be honest, it’s hard to beat a Priceline rate with a conventional publicly-visible rate. Priceline knows it’s not going to see many claims here, so this promotion is all bark, no bite.

On the other hand, they do introduce a portly new pimp character to be William Shatner’s sidekick in the ads. Tradeoffs.

Free internet, free local calls, and free breakfast are commonplace at the lower end of the hotel spectrum, while at the luxury end, you’re paying for each of those. (The sweet spot may be the mid-range hotels and suites which improve the comfort level over the Motel 6’s but throw in the freebies.)

Given the success of Ryanair, EasyJet, and their ilk, it’s actually a surprise that the a-la-carte model hasn’t been more widely tested at the economy tier. But that’s changing.

EasyHotel, from the folks who brought you EasyJet, EasyCar, EasyCruise, and their ilk, opened its 12th hotel yesterday. The most recent property, in Berlin, follows other properties in London, Luton, Basel, Budapest, Larnaka, Sofia, and Zurich.

The pricing concept is (unsurprisingly) similar to the airlines: You pay a base price for the (small) room with spartan private bath. (Berlin seems to start at 25 euros per night, though some reports mention 12.50. The earlier you book it, the lower the price. Then, the add-ons.

Want to watch TV? That’ll be 5 euros.

There’s a single towel per guest. Want another? That’ll be 1 euro.

Wi-fi? Another 3 euros per 24-hour period.

Housekeeping? Only on request. Additional charge: 6 euros.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that comfort is something you can buy as an add-on. And the decor is extremely orange, branded just like the airline. Which is fine if you’re decorating in order to appeal to the Dutch Olympic team, or taking your interior design inspiration from a 1979 Burger King. But for a hotel, it’s rather jarring.

This particular configuration doesn’t appeal to me personally, but I can see the draw for those who aren’t interested in hostels (…or camping) but are looking to keep lodging costs near rockbottom. Why pay for stuff you don’t need?

The pay-as-you-go model for hotels and motels isn’t new. This just takes it to a different level. And while luxury travelers have ironically accepted this model for years, it’s an innovation at the low end. Expect to see others follow suit in coming years.

What’s your take? Are a-la-carte economy hotels a good idea or another step backward for travelers? Vote in the poll below and hit the comments with your thoughts.

(Can’t see the poll? Reading this via the feed? Click here to visit the site to vote in the poll or leave a comment.)

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Downgraded: This site’s backend

Just an administrative note: This site’s database crashed over the weekend. In a big way. (Thanks for the emails letting me know you couldn’t move beyond the homepage — which was cached.) I’m still working to restore the content that was lost in the crash — the last two weeks’ worth of content, basically.

Upgraded: Amtrak
If you’re traveling Amtrak in the Northeast Corridor, you’ll soon be able to snag a free wi-fi signal, but only in first or business class. A good start, but only available in first/business? Come on. At least offer in economy at a billable rate!

Downgraded: Full-body scanners in the UK
Two women refused to pass through the full-body scanner at Manchester Airport in the UK. One refused, on the basis of her faith; the other cited health concerns. But instead of being given a pat-down option, as is the policy in the US, they were prevented from boarding their flights. “The women were warned they were legally required to go through the scanner, after being chosen at random, or they would not be allowed to fly, an airport spokesman said.”

Upgraded: Turkish Airlines’ mysterious premium economy cabin
Turkish Airlines has pre-announced that they’ll introduce a new cabin between economy and business on widebody aircraft, but don’t call the new product premium economy. It “will exceed the premium economy standards of most other carriers and will be close to the business class of some other carriers,” according to CEO Temel Kotil. Okay, great. But why pre-announce a new product, without details, instead of just… announcing? What are they trying to get in front of?

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