If you’re like most summer travelers, there’s probably an item you’re forgetting to pack…
laxatives. Because travelers tend to be off their routine, perhaps not getting enough exercise and eating different types of foods, they could experience an occasional bout of constipation.

Most travelers worry about the weather and what they might forget to pack, never preparing for occasional constipation during a trip. Many people tend to be less concerned with portion size, overeating, getting enough fluids or exercising while on vacation, which can lead to
constipation.

Best-selling author and international travel expert Joel Widzer, Psy.D, says digestive health issues, including constipation, can disrupt vacations. “I try to prepare travelers for every eventuality, and dietary issues are always a top concern,” he explains. “Even once they’ve
arrived safely at their destination, people often don’t prepare for different cuisines and local foods. I always suggest they bring along a laxative, just in case.”

There is a wide array of products out there to offer relief, and you need to make sure to bring along the one that’s right for you. “I recommend Senokot(R) Tablets. It’s a gentle laxative tablet that provides overnight relief from occasional constipation,” says Widzer. “Senokot(R) Tablets
contain the natural vegetable laxative ingredient proven effective in over 50 clinical studies.” The Senokot TO GO(R) four-tablet package is convenient and easy to travel with.
Most experts recommend incorporating plenty of high-fiber foods into meals, drinking lots of water and making sure to get adequate exercise to promote bowel regularity. It is important to keep this in mind even while you are away.

You can log on to www.senokot.com for more information about ways to relieve constipation, healthy recipes and exercise tips.

The Purdue Products L.P. Family of Laxatives
Purdue Products L.P. laxative products have been recommended by doctors and pharmacists for more than 55 years for gentle and effective
relief from occasional constipation. The Purdue laxatives portfolio includes: Colace(R) Capsules, Peri-Colace(R) Tablets, Senokot(R) Tablets,
Senokot-S(R) Tablets, and SenokotXTRA(R) Tablets.
Contact:
Emily Blasi
Pollock Communications
212.941.1414
eblasi@pollock-pr.com
SOURCE Purdue Products L.P.
/Web site: http://www.senokot.com

Available on:
The Apple Store
Google Play

Designed and developed by noted travel expert Joel Widzer, Psy.D., this app will help manage your Jet Lag with this World Clock and Get information about jet lag causes, symptoms, prevention and treatment. Learn how to minimize the effects of travel across time zones with some helpful tips and strategies.

This app offers a global map with features to monitor time differences between two cities along with the ability to calculate travel time between two destinations.

The app also provides users with a chart detailing a typical sleep-wake-cycle for user’s “Home Time” and “Destination Time.” This is a calculated function of offsetting time zones correlated with the body’s internal timekeeper or circadian cycle. This helps users determine when they are most likely to feel sleepy and alert during their trips.

The chart also details basic tips for countering the effects of travel fatigue.

This handy app can help users manage travel fatigue, by understanding their “Home Time” and “Destination Time” zones.

The Apps are Available on:

By: Joel Widzer

 Translated, the 31.2% drop means the general population actively participated in 1.5 Travel-related loyalty programs in 2009 compared to 2.18 programs in 2007, when COLLOQUY last completed similar cross-demographic research on loyalty marketing perceptions in the Travel, Financial Services and Retail industries. Overall, consumer participation in rewards programs in the U.S. market has jumped 19% since 2007, COLLOQUY’s research shows.

 COLLOQUY’s latest travel-specific results indicate that customers are consolidating their spend with fewer hotels and fewer airlines as the travel-whenever-you-want-for-business “bubble” has burst, and Road Warriors no longer are able to earn elite status in multiple programs.

 “These numbers shouldn’t be daunting to travel loyalty industry pioneers who launched programs in the early 1980s in another acute recession,” said COLLOQUY Partner Kelly Hlavinka. “One preferred hotel and one preferred airline, that’s how loyalty programs were supposed to work all along. Savvy travel marketers will see the opportunity to lock consolidating Road Warriors into their particular program, knowing they’ll emerge in a much stronger competitive position when travel ramps up again.”

 Another key finding from the COLLOQUY research attests to the importance consumers attach to loyalty programs, despite challenges presented by the worst recession in the post-World War II era. Fully 32.3% of consumers said the recession has made their participation in Retail rewards programs more important. In the Financial Services sector that number was 23.9%. In Travel, reflecting corporate mandates to cut travel and entertainment budgets, a slightly lower 21.5% of respondents said rewards programs are more important in the recession economy.

 Loyalty marketing programs recognize and reward the best customers of a business. COLLOQUY’s data on Travel programs is included in a white paper titled, “After the Meltdown: Consumer Attitudes and Perceptions About Loyalty Programs in the Post-Recession Economy.” The paper is available for a free download at www.colloquy.com/whitepapers. Hlavinka and COLLOQUY Editorial Director Rick Ferguson are the authors. A condensed report highlighting Travel rewards findings and insights from the paper is available for a free download at http://colloquy.com/files/colloquy_meltdown_travel_report.pdf.

 Ferguson provided additional analysis: “The disparity between Travel and the other two industries featured in our latest research mirrors the shift in consumer spending away from the travel sector, in which both business and leisure travel have seen cutbacks, and toward retail categories, particularly in the everyday spend categories of grocery and fuel.” He added, “In those categories, the opportunity to earn gift certificates and cash-back rewards that allow consumers to stretch their budgets is having a positive impact on program participation.”

 COLLOQUY’s study of loyalty perceptions examined trends in six consumer segments: General Population representing a statistically distributed sample of the U.S. overall; Affluent (heads of household with annual incomes of $125,000 or greater); Millennials or Young Adults (any respondent 18 to 25 years of age); Seniors (any respondent 60 years or older); Core Women (any female respondent age 25 to 49 with an annual income between $50,000 and $125,000); and Emerging Hispanic (any respondent age 21 or older of Hispanic origin with an annual household income of $40,000 or less). April 2009 online survey respondents are broadly representative of the U.S. population within each consumer segment. COLLOQUY obtained a total of 2,152 completed survey interviews.

Some other significant results from COLLOQUY’s travel program research are as follows:

 •    Just 48% of respondents would be disappointed if their Travel rewards program was discontinued, a lower disappointment rate than for any Financial Services or Retail programs;

 •    The average number of Travel rewards programs to which consumers belong droped to 2.0 in 2009 from 2.77 in 2007, or 27.8%;

•    Affluents, at 67.4%, reported a higher level of participation in Travel reward programs than any other demographic segment.

In one of the survey’s most surprising results, Millenials view Travel rewards more favorably than any other demographic segment, with 35% saying Travel rewards are of increased importance in the recession economy – significantly higher than the next closest demographic segment, Core Women, at 30.1%.

“Young adults typically have the weakest purchasing power in the Travel category, but they view Travel rewards programs more favorably than any other demographic group,” said Hlavinka. “This finding reveals that loyalty marketers have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to demonstrate program value to the next generation of U.S. consumers.”

 About COLLOQUY

COLLOQUY comprises a collection of publishing, education and research resources devoted to the global loyalty-marketing industry. COLLOQUY® has served the loyalty-marketing industry since 1990 with over 30,000 global subscribers to its magazine and www.colloquy.com is the most comprehensive loyalty web site in the world. COLLOQUY’s research division develops consumer and B-to-B research studies and white papers including industry-specific reports, sizing studies and insights into the drivers of consumer behavior. COLLOQUY also provides educational services through workshops, webinars and speeches at events throughout the world and is the official loyalty-marketing partner of both the Direct Marketing Association and the Canadian Marketing Association. COLLOQUY also operates The COLLOQUY Network, a global consortium of practitioners certified in COLLOQUY’s proprietary methodology. COLLOQUY magazine subscriptions are available at no cost to qualified persons at www.colloquy.com or by calling 513-248-9184.

Joel Widzer

1. Plan, plan, plan. The best plan is to think ahead. Look for flights that are less full, days when hotels have lower occupancy, and times when rental cars are sitting idle on the lot. If you don’t have this information, call the reservations line and ask; after all, every company wants to maximize the use of its inventory. You can also check sites like ExpertFlyer.com, which can tell you when flight upgrades are available.

2. Pay a little more. Increasingly, travel providers are blocking the lowest airfares and room rates against upgrading. In these situations, even the most generous gate agents and reservations clerks cannot override the computer’s block without losing their jobs. The good news is that the difference between the lowest fares and the upgradeable fares is often as little as 5 percent. In other words, if you pay just $10 more, that $200 airfare or hotel room could become eligible for an upgrade. Again, be sure to call ahead to confirm with a reservations agent that the fare you have selected is upgradable.

3. Use your points. My longtime advice has been to use your miles or points for upgrades, not for cheap tickets and hotel rooms. To my mind, the upgrades give far greater value. Many domestic airfares can be had for $200 to $250 with a little advance planning, and hotel rooms priced under $200 are easy to find. But a first-class domestic plane ticket runs between $1,200 and $2,000, and prime hotel suites go from $350 to $900 per night (even more in some places). Clearly the value of your miles lies in leveraging them for the upgrade.

4. Think hotels. If you can upgrade only one aspect of your trip, go for the hotel upgrade. With luxury hotel rates rising at a faster clip then airfares, hotel upgrades are the better value. This is especially true if your flight is relatively short (under four hours) and your hotel stay is relatively long (more than three days). It has been my experience that a good room in a luxury hotel makes any trip special.

5. Leverage your loyalty. As the economy settles down, companies rely more and more on their best customers. This means you don’t have to be in an ultra-elite category of membership to get the goods. Even the first tier of membership should give you an extra edge, so don’t be afraid to ask.

Upgrading takes some knowledge and a little effort, but an upgrade can absolutely make the difference between a great trip and a lousy one.

Joel Widzer

Of course patting down a woman’s bra – a knee-jerk reaction to the two Chechen women who were thought to have carried nonmetallic explosives on two Russian airlines that were bombed – is a bandage solution to the security threat from terrorists.

Where’s the real danger?

Don’t look for it in the main cabin. I believe the actual threat comes from the cockpit.

Think about it. What does it take to turn a plane into a guided missile, 9/11-style? A pilot. Someone in control of plane can kill not only the 200 people on board, but thousands more on the ground.

Don’t get me wrong. In my opinion, 99.9 percent of the nation’s pilots are among the most honorable and committed individuals in the service industry.

But what does it take for a wayward pilot struck with financial difficulties to make a deal with the bad guys? Or maybe it’s for ideological reasons?

Ponder that for a few moments.

You can probably come up with any number of reasons a disgruntled pilot could turn a plane into a weapon of mass destruction.

Perhaps the scariest aspect of this is the ease with which a pilot could commandeer a plane. Consider that most planes require only two pilots. This makes it relatively easy for one pilot to overtake the other, gaining complete control of an aircraft.

A deranged pilot could divert a plane off-course, explaining to air traffic control that the aircraft is experiencing a mechanical failure. In this short time, before fighter jets could be scrambled, a plane from La Guardia or JFK could once again plow into a heavily occupied building.

There are cities other than New York that are vulnerable. The proximity of Reagan National Airport to the Washington leaves it vulnerable to the kind of attack that could cripple the entire U.S. government.

Pilots are screened just like passengers – and they do submit to psychological tests – but once they’re in the cockpit, they’re alone. And those of us flying with them, and many more on the ground, are at their mercy.

Just last week we learned that uniforms and security badges have gone missing from 89 airports in Canada. Although the Canadian government has called the controversy a “tempest in a teapot,” I beg to differ.

Who will end up wearing these badges? And where will they go?

It’s time to focus on the genuine security threat. Let’s look at those who might do tangible harm. If we’re going to give passengers the once-over, how much more careful should we be about the people flying the plane?

Joel Widzer

The unbundling of air services is indeed the best news for air travelers’ since deregulation in 1978. According to The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics by Alfred Kahn; airfares have generally dropped 30 percent since deregulation, saving travelers’ $5 billion to $10 billion per year. I expected that these new charges will generate even greater cost savings.

This is all about equality. Spirit Airline’s scheme to charge for carry-on baggage is fair and supports the best interest of air travelers. Unbundling of base rates offers consumers transparency, choice, flexibility and only charges travelers for the services they require. Basically, it charges consumers the cost for the options they select. It doesn’t force them to subsidize their seatmate’s flight. What is more fair than this?

Under the old model airlines bundled everyone together, charging you for a meal when you didn’t want one, or charging you for excess fuel consumption from weight-laden luggage when all you have is a backpack.

Essentially, airlines are responding to free market dynamics. The exceptionally low fares offered for the past 10 years were obviously unsustainable. The International Air Transport Association stated in December 2009 that airlines have lost $49 billion since 2000. Facing demise, insightful airline executives figured out that they could increase revenue while offering customer’s enhanced choice and control over the cost they pay to receive air service.

Although capitalism has become a pejorative noun recently, there is no denying that a business needs to operate profitably to continue as an ongoing enterprise. Therefore, airlines are simply responding to the consumer’s requisite for low fares at the same time maintaining fiscal responsibility. Now before, chants of overpricing are levied at this claim, consider that Spirit Airline concurrently announced with the carry-on fee, fare reductions averaging $40, and for their $9 Fare Club members, fares as low as low as a penny plus fuel, taxes and fees. A Ph.D., in economics is not necessary to realize that those fares don’t offer much profit.

Spirit’s recent announcement echo’s a clear message from the airline industry as a whole — we will no-longer gouge our loyal customers at the expense of a mooching traveler. Indeed the transformation of airline pricing will sting a few travelers. However, those stung, offer little if any value to an airline. Those most likely to be affected by these fees are the same travelers that scour the web for the lowest fare without regard to the concept of reciprocity.

This is a clear case of be careful of what you ask for. For years, the typical travelers’ demanded low fares only persuaded by which airline offered the lowest fare. At the same time, savvy travelers’ recognized the significance of loyalty. Incidentally, the importance of loyalty is enhanced with these fees.

As previously stated, airlines are become more responsive to market forces. As such, they are rewarding those who are willing to build mutually beneficial relationships with them. For example, if you hold the lowest level of elite membership with most airlines, including Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and American Airlines, your baggage and most other ancillary fees are waived. What does this mean to you? You and in many instances your traveling companions can check-in a bag without a charge, or proceed directly through security screening without delay.

The negligible price for these perks—loyalty.

In the past one might argue that elite membership is only available to frequent fliers. This is no-longer the case. These days elite qualification can be earned through affiliated credit cards, earned bonus miles for certain flights, partner airlines, and the newest tend is Delta Air Lines allowing members to apply excess qualifying miles from one year to the next year’s qualifying period.

Realistically, if you fly at-least three times a year there is no reason why you should not hold elite membership with an airline. If you make less than three annual flights, the fees only modestly impact your travels. As I describe in my book The Penney Pincher’s Passport to Luxury Travel the route to elite qualifications is easy—select the airline that will best serve your needs and remain steadfastly loyal to them.

In exchange for safe inexpensive passage to the world, airlines seek a symbiotic relationship—is that too much to ask for—I think not.

Joel Widzer

Still, lots of people are expected to hit the road over the next three months, in part because there is pent-up demand for travel and in part because this is the only season that some people can travel. That means full planes, oversold hotels and lots of crowds — especially at airports.

The way I see it, you have two options this summer: travel despite the high cost, or postpone travel for a more opportune time. If you absolutely must go, consider these cost-savings tips.

1. Shorten the trip. Instead of taking a seven-day vacation, reduce it to four or five nights. This will save on hotels, food, car rentals and other related costs.
2. Have the patience of an elephant, then pounce like a jaguar. Travel providers have raised prices in anticipation of a record number of summer travelers. If these expectations are not met, look for prices to drop and specials to appear.
3. Think short. While many airlines have increased fares on popular long-distance routes, many have reduced fares on shorter routes. For example, Alaska Airlines recently reduced fares by as much as 76 percent for a number of short flights.
4. Cash in your miles. Now might be the time to use those miles you’ve been hoarding — even if you have to redeem at twice the usual rate. You’ll save more money if you can find a package that includes air travel, hotel stay and car rental.
5. Look local. Think of the opportunities in your own backyard. If you’re in Baltimore, take a weekend and explore the Inner Harbor. If you’re in Philadelphia, revisit the museums and the Liberty Bell. Check into a nearby luxury hotel for the weekend and treat yourself to a wonderful meal, a round of golf or a daylong spa treatment.
6. Get two days for the price of one. Looking for a weekend escape on the cheap? Try booking a room with an early check-in for Saturday night then, once you arrive, ask for a late Sunday check-out. That way you’ll get two full days for the price of one.
7. If you decide not to travel, think about putting the money you save to good use.

   Get out of debt. Pay off that nagging credit card with the 20 percent interest rate.

   Treat yourself to something new. A special piece of jewelry or a new outfit will continue to please you long after the summer is over.

8. Go to the bank. Investing for the future is a good idea in any season. Maybe you’ll pick a stock that will pay for your next vacation.

Remember, things can change. The weak dollar will eventually gain strength, and I believe air fares and hotel rates will settle down. In the meantime, keep your eye on the travel pages and be ready to pounce on those destinations and fares that offer reasonable value. Remember, too: That prized vacation spot will still be there next year.

Joel Widzer

Friends rave about their relaxing days at sea experiencing cruise-ship luxury and fabulous food, but I don’t see the appeal. I originally balked because being stuck on a boat for days at a time just isn’t my cup of tea. I’m more of an out-and-about kind of guy. But after the recent rash of stories about such cruise-industry problems as noroviruses, missing passengers, pirates and sinkings, I think my chances of taking a cruise are now slim to none.

Am I being too hard on the cruise industry? Are the stories all overblown? I don’t think so. In fact, I think my landlubber resolve is well warranted. I am concerned about both health and safety aboard ship. I also think cruising is costly, inconvenient and environmentally unfriendly.

Let me tell you why.

Disease and danger

Reading recent news reports, it’s hard not to see cruise ships as anything but bacteria-filled tubs. In just the past two years, reports of cruise passengers falling ill have filled the pages of newspapers and travel blogs. Many of the reports center on noroviruses, a group of viruses that causes gastroenteritis, whose symptoms are nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. According to a fact sheet from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cruise ships are frequently affected by outbreaks of norovirus because they dock in countries where sanitation can be poor and because the tight quarters aboard ship facilitate transmission of the virus. Further, the boarding of “new and susceptible passengers every 1 or 2 weeks” creates a condition where the disease can be sustained over successive cruises; in fact, the CDC says that outbreaks extending beyond 12 successive cruises have been reported.

Not even the iconic grand luxury liner Queen Elizabeth 2 is immune from the virus. CNN reported in January that 276 passengers and 28 crew members on an around-the-world cruise aboard the ship experienced symptoms of norovirus — that was 17 percent of the passengers, a particularly high number according to the CDC. One Web site that tracks the cruise industry states that there were 53 reports of norovirus aboard cruise ships in 2006, sickening 6,698 passengers and crew members. Another 117 passengers and crew were reported to have been afflicted with E. coli infections.

Safety is another big concern. Indeed, a litany of dangers might await you on your voyage — everything from sinking ships to missing passengers. In April, a Greek cruise ship sank off the coast of Santorini, and just last week a U.S. cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Alaska, forcing the evacuation of all the passengers. And what about pirates? No, I’m not kidding. According to ABC News, pirates wielding machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades attacked the Seabourn Spirit off the east coast of Africa two years ago but were foiled when the ship took evasive action and sounded an ear-splitting alarm.

As for missing passengers, who can forget George Smith, the honeymooner who disappeared from a Royal Caribbean ship two years ago, leaving blood behind on a metal overhang. Despite claiming that the family’s lawsuit was false and frivolous, Royal Caribbean settled with Smith’s wife for nearly $1 million in January 2007. Commenting on the case during a congressional hearing in 2005, Rep. Chris Shays, from the couple’s home state of Connecticut, said, “We think that people are not aware of some of the challenges [on cruises] and some of the potential problems they encounter.”

I think that’s putting it mildly.

Another pressing but often unreported problem is the rising incidence of sexual assault on board cruise ships. During a March 2007 Congressional hearing, Professor Ross Klein of Memorial University of Newfoundland, who monitors the cruise industry, used the industry’s own numbers to demonstrate that cruise passengers may have a 50 percent greater chance of being sexually assaulted aboard ship than on land. According to the International Cruise Victims Organization, many incidents of shipboard sexual assault go unreported because passengers “often feel alone and frustrated by the jurisdictional uncertainties and poor treatment by cruise companies.”

Money matters

If you’re lucky enough to make it off your cruise ship alive and in good health, you might want to check your wallet for damage. Many people think cruises are “all-inclusive” vacations, but that’s actually not the case. Things like shore excursions, cocktails, sodas, gambling, and onboard shopping can end up costing as much as five times your fare. On top of that are the mandatory tips imposed by some cruise lines, which can add as much as $40 a day to your bill.

The pocketbook gouging is not limited to shipboard activities. You can get clobbered in port, too. I know this from personal experience. When I was shopping for a rug in Istanbul a few years back, a shopkeeper made it very clear that cruise travelers get special treatment in the local shops — and it’s not the special treatment you’d like. The shopkeeper asked if I was from the ship that was in port, and when I told him no, he said, “OK, follow me.” He took me into a special room, where I was treated to tea and shown a number of high-quality rugs and told their origins and history. From here I could hear other salespeople pushing inferior rugs on shoppers from the cruise ship — and quoting them much higher prices.

Similarly, in Monte Carlo the cruise ships dock in front of a street littered with T-shirt shops, cheap-souvenir stands and overpriced restaurants. Venture a few blocks away and you’ll find better food at better prices, with nary a T-shirt in sight. Too bad the cruise passengers can’t get here — they have neither the time nor the transportation. Both a recent Tripso.com column (“Suckered in Santorini”) and a recent article in the Arizona Daily Star (“Gullible Travels: Art Sales at Sea”) address similar issues of shady dealings in port and aboard ship.

Another salient issue these days is the green factor. Let’s face it, cruise ships are heavy polluters. Consider the following average daily outputs: 11.5 tons of garbage per day; 23 gallons of toxic waste generated per day; 270,000 gallons of “graywater” from washing per day; 30,000 gallons of “blackwater” (sewage) per day; and 7,000 gallons of oily bilge water per day. What’s more, a single cruise can release as much air pollution each day as 12,000 automobiles.

Cruise ships can also adversely impact animal life. For example, three humpback whales died in southeast Alaska after a cruise-ship collision in 2002; harbor seal populations have been known to decline in frequently cruised areas; whales and porpoises are thought to become disoriented by ship noises; and large sections of coral reefs in the Caribbean have been damaged by cruise-ship anchors.

So why in the world are cruises so popular?

Two reasons, I think. First, because they’re so easy. You jump on the ship and leave everything to the crew. Second, because travel agents push them. And why do they push them? Because cruise lines still pay commissions on cruise bookings — not to mention booking bonuses and performance incentives. In fact, cruising is one of the last sources of income for travel agents. Not surprisingly, a 2006 survey by Taylor Nelson Sofres PLC (TNS) found that almost 80 percent of cruises are booked through travel agents. Perhaps more telling is this statistic: 56 percent of those surveyed believe they could have gotten a better deal if they had booked on their own.

For many people, cruising presents a wonderful and romantic opportunity to sail the high seas. It’s a chance to explore new places and meet new people without a whole lot of effort. But when I look at the issues of health and safety, add up the costs, and consider the environmental impacts, I come to another conclusion.

Cruising? No thanks, not for me.
Joel Widzer

There is a cost to transporting bags, and many carriers have adopted business models that account for that cost by giving their customers more choice. Making choices and paying for services you use and value is common practice across industry because it is fair and equitable. Service choices in the airline industry are not new. Airlines began offering customers the option to pay for services they value, including checking a bag, more than three years ago.

Rather than limit choice and regulate what airlines can or cannot offer fliers, regulators should continue working on the efficiency of airport checkpoints.

The government imposing its judgment about competitive services will not improve wait times.

Airlines have found that a fee is not the sole driver in a customer’s decision to check a bag, and today fewer than one in four customers pay a fee.

Regulating pricing is a 30-year step backward to when customers paid more and had fewer choices. Consumers have been the big winners from airline deregulation. Adjusting for inflation, customers pay 40% less to fly today than they did in 1978.

At the same time, flying today is seven times safer than it was in 1978. America’s airlines will safely connect more than 23 million customers to family and friends this Thanksgiving.

We all know that going through security is a necessary, but often lengthy process. Our airlines are committed to ensuring that their customers’ experience is as positive as possible and are working with the TSA to improve their wait time.

The Air Transport Association partnered with the TSA and the Air Line Pilots Association on Known Crewmember, which enables pilots to go through a separate security line, improving security and wait times for all. We hope to add flight attendants and fully support TSA PreCheck, a program for fliers who volunteer to be pre-screened, which will also reduce lines.

We agree with the TSA that focusing the agency’s resources on the greatest risks, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, will improve security and the customer experience.

The following op-ed was originally written by Nicholas E. Calio; President and CEO of the Air Transport Association on 11-23-11. This editorial supports JetReady.com belief in Consumer Choice.
Joel Widzer

But there is a little-known downside to the system: A disgruntled employee can wreak havoc on your record — and your reputation — and you usually won’t know a thing about it.

It happened to me last month.

I was in Budapest, Hungary, trying to change my return flight when I crossed paths with a very disagreeable airline representative. She called herself Ms. Jones. I assume she made this name up. She certainly made up most of the things she wrote about me in my airline file. These customer files are meant to be kept secret from the customer, but I was inadvertently shown her comments. Ms. Jones called me rude, demanding and several other things that I am not going to repeat, and presented a self-serving version of our unpleasant interaction.

Here’s what actually happened.

I called the reservations center from my international cell phone, which charges me $1.29 per minute. After waiting five minutes for Ms. Jones to answer my call, I politely informed her (yes, I was polite) that I was in Budapest using my cell phone at a rate of $1.29 per minute, and if she could expedite my call by changing my next flight, I would appreciate it.

You’d think I’d demanded her firstborn child.

She told me, tartly, that she didn’t know how she could help me because she didn’t have my flight information. This, despite that fact that she had addressed me by name when she answered the phone. I’ve been around this airline long enough to know that when an agent has your name on the screen, they also have all your pending reservations in chronological order right there in front of them. When I repeated that I needed to change my reservation, she again denied having any information, and declared, angrily this time, “I don’t know what you want!”

When I finally made my wishes clear, she told me the flight I wanted was sold out.

“How can that be?” I asked. “The Web site shows 26 seats available in coach and 21 seats available in first/business class.”

“Sorry, the flight is sold out,” she said.

When I asked if she could check again, she put me on hold. She would return periodically, only to say, “Please continue holding.”

Which I did — for 40 minutes. (Let’s see, that’s $51.60 plus tax.)

Finally, I hung up and called my assistant in the states (something I should have done in the first place) and asked her to change the reservation for me. Result? Five minutes later I was booked on the “sold-out” flight. By that time, presumably, Ms. Jones had already entered her invective into my file.

There are a number of lessons to learn here. For one thing, if you are overseas on a by-the-minute phone plan, don’t waste your money on an expensive call if other means of communication are available.

But the most important lesson is that employees in dicey situations will attempt to cover their backsides. They will annotate your record with a version of events that is favorable to them. It’s their way of protecting their jobs should the customer later complain.

If you find yourself in a situation like this, there are a few things you can do to protect your good reputation.

1. If a call or interaction is not going well, bail out as soon as you can.
2. Don’t waste your time with someone who doesn’t want to help you.
3. Don’t argue with an unresponsive representative.
4. After you disengage from the difficult employee, call back immediately, ask for a supervisor and explain the incident.
5. When speaking with the supervisor, never blame the employee, even if he is at fault — it will only make you look bad. Just state the facts and explain what you need.
6. Stress that you want to build a lasting and mutually beneficial relationship with the company.
7. Ask whether the difficult employee annotated your file; if so, request that any inappropriate remarks be deleted or amended with your version of events.
8. If you feel the incident was inexcusable, call the executive offices of the company and explain your position, again stressing your desire for a long-term relationship with the company.

Don’t get branded as a black sheep by a renegade employee. Understand the difficulties all travel employees face, sympathize with stressful circumstances, work hard to build a mutually beneficial relationship with companies you like. But never accept less than stellar service from insolent travel employees. After all, they work in a service industry.
Joel Widzer

What does this mean to you as a consumer? You will need to open up that wallet just a little bit wider. The airlines, already struggling financially, will be negatively impacted by all three events, resulting in cutbacks and the airlines needing to find creative new ways to generate revenue.

The recent loss of Aloha Airlines, ATA and Sky Bus shouldn’t have much of an impact on the global traveler but certainly has and will continue to affect the regional traveler. Perhaps the hardest hit will be intra-island traffic in Hawaii. Fortunately, both Hawaiian Airlines and Go have been picking up the slack in this area. But when three airlines bite the dust at the same time, you can be sure that what is left is a large number of both unusable tickets and irate travelers.

Rebounding from increased fuel costs and competition, not to mention a distrustful public, is hard enough without the Wichita AQR Report adding to the burden. While the published results on the quality of the airlines shouldn’t be big news to most travelers, I personally find the report dubious, as historically the AQR is decidedly pessimistic.

The real news is the behavioral shift taking place in the airline industry. This shift is giving consumers low fares, while dinging them on the back end in terms of ancillary fees or a la carte pricing.

Over the years the airline industry has done one thing very well–shifted the buying habits of consumers. Think of online ticket sales: Airlines have successfully oriented buyers in the direction of online travel. PhoCusWright estimates that for the first time, online U.S. travel bookings will surpass offline bookings, while eMarketer estimates that 41.3 million U.S. households will book travel online. According to eMarketer, online travel sales will climb from $79 billion in 2006 to over $146 billion in 2010.

Remember those bulky paper tickets you waited for in the mail? Well, no more waiting. The paper airline ticket will become extinct by May 31–less than two months from now. According to the Air Transport Association, three years ago worldwide electronic tickets accounted for only 16% of all airline tickets; today the number is over 84%, and rapidly increasing toward 100%. As a side note, it is estimated that consumers save an average of $21 per ticket when booking online.

All of this directly impacts the cost airlines incur to get you on the plane. In the past, airlines relied on travel agents to sell their wares. No more, as online is the norm. Likewise, in the early days (a mere few years ago), airlines relied on third-party Web sites to sell tickets. No more, as airlines’ propriety sites have become better than most secondary sites.

The act of shifting buying patterns away from travel agents to airlines’ Web sites is estimated to have saved airlines billions of dollars annually–sorely needed at a time of record-high oil prices. Likewise, electronic tickets have reduced the cost to generate a ticket from $10 to $1.

Cutting distribution costs is an action that has become the airline industry’s best friend. This has been the one area where airlines can lower operating costs without rocking the boat. Labor costs are hard to attack, due to unions and the collateral damage of unhappy employees, and fuel costs are inviolate and difficult to gauge.

Logically, the next step in cutting distribution costs is making a full-frontal attack on credit cards. This topic has been on my mind recently as I prepare to present at the Airline Payment Summit in Toronto this week. It is estimated that for each ticket booked with a credit card, airlines are charged a merchant fee ranging from 2% to 3%, or around $10 to $15 per ticket, roughly $3 billion for the world’s airlines.

What’s the solution? Get ready for your airline to charge you next time you use a credit card. Will this result in a revolt among travelers? Probably not. This is just another example of how adept airlines have become at getting consumers to switch to behaviors that benefit the airlines. The newest entry in the unbundling of what used to be included in fares or a la carte pricing, are fees for checking in more than one bag. Many carriers now charge up to $25 to check in a second bag. Check in a third bag and expect to pay up to a whopping $100. This opens the doors for more fees down the road.

However, all is not lost, as imposing a surcharge for using credit cards is going to require some creative thinking. Although a Truth in Lending ban on surcharges expired in 1984, both Visa and MasterCard prohibit surcharges, while American Express discourages them. However, a small number of carriers do charge “handling fees” for credit card payments made on their Web sites. These airlines include Qantas, Singapore Airlines and the U.K. trio of British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and BMI British Midland. Singapore Airlines’ site says “a small number of payment-card issuers may charge a transaction fee for booking on our Web site.” My best bet is that airlines will find a way to structure some sort of surcharge to recoup costs associated with credit cards.

What can you do as a consumer? If past history is any precedent, then there will most likely be a few ways to avoid these fees. The key is to adhere to a mantra I’ve been crying about for years and detail in the new edition of the Penny Pincher’s Passport to Luxury Travel, which is to build loyalty with one airline and strive for at least the minimum level of elite membership.

The formula is simple: Airlines reward those who are loyal and disproportionately penalize those who are not. Many of these unbundled fees do not apply to elite members or those flying in first class. While sitting up front takes a little work, achieving elite membership is fairly easy for most fliers. In fact, it’s now possible to earn most of your qualifying miles on the ground, as is the case with Delta Air Lines’ American Express SkyMiles card, which can yield 20,000 of the necessary 25,000 annual qualifying miles. Another possible route for avoiding credit card surcharges is to use an airline’s co-branded credit card. In their quest to maintain vertical markets, I suspect that you’ll find using your co-branded card a bigger benefit than imagined.

When it comes to air travel, consumers have certainly been in the driver’s seat. Competition has bred low fares, allowing travelers to fly across the lower 48 states for less than $200 or across the Atlantic or Pacific for only $500. Recent changes in operating costs will force airlines to rethink and retool their revenue streams. Rather than increase fares, it is more likely they will increase the number of a la carte items that travelers pay for. Remember when you could get food aboard a flight for free?

A la carte pricing is bound to sting. Fortunately, immunity can be found with a little loyalty. The choice of paying now or later is up to you.

Also available on Forbes.com

Joel Widzer

Imagine my surprise when the ticket agent told me that I did not have a first class seat.

What? I sputtered. But I confirmed that seat just an hour ago!

On this particular occasion, comfort was foremost in my mind. Just a day earlier I had flown 8,000 miles home from Vietnam, and now I was jumping on a plane for another 6,500 miles to the South of France. When you’re traveling more than halfway around the world in less than 24 hours, comfort seems like a big deal.

But the agent would not be moved. Never mind that I was tired. Never mind that I had booked the ticket long in advance. Never mind that I am a member of this airline’s million-miler club several times over. On this flight, Seat 1B a seat that over the years I have come to think of as my personal seat would be occupied by someone else.

I wasn’t giving it up without an explanation. Drawing on my years in sales and sales training, I probed and questioned representatives from the airline until I discovered what had happened to my seat. In time, the truth came out. Seat 1B had been commandeered by a federal air marshal. I had been bumped off the plane and onto another flight in the name of national security.

Perhaps I should have swelled with patriotic pride but, no, I was incensed.

How dare they? I thought. I’m a paying customer! Along comes this cowboy at the last minute, and he gets to take my seat on whim? No way?

I took my high dudgeon to anyone who would listen. First I spoke with as many gate agents, ticket agents and flight crew members as would hear me out. I quickly learned that bumps like mine are not uncommon, and while they cause trouble for the airlines, the gate agents can hardly refuse a federal request. But the more I talked to people, the more I realized my first take on the situation was mistaken. In fact, after talking to agents in charge of the Federal Air Marshal program, I have concluded that the program is responsible and well thought out.

Of course, the Department of Homeland Security cannot disclose the particulars of the program, so you won’t learn anything here about what flights the marshals fly, what seats they occupy or what their tactics are. But I can tell you that my situation being yanked from first class on less than one hour’s notice on a seemingly peaceful Sunday morning was an anomaly. Most assignments are scheduled with much more advance notice. But, as one official said, we consistently have to balance the need for security and passenger’s comfort.

What I didn’t know about the program is that it protects U.S. citizens from curb to cabin and back again. In fact, marshals are on duty from the moment they leave their homes. They are on guard on their approach to the airport, in the airport’s parking lot, on the shuttle bus to the terminal, in the boarding area, on the plane and in the baggage claim area.

The program also comprises a cadre of highly trained Canine Explosive Detection Dogs; the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program, which allows highly trained pilots to carry a weapon in the cockpit; and the Crew Member Self Defense Program, which teaches flight attendants the same defensive skills that the air marshals learn (Watch out! That flight attendant serving you a drink could very well take you out!).

In short, the Federal Air Marshal program has built a multilayered approach to protecting the safety of air travelers. Though much of the program is cloaked in secrecy, and it can occasionally inconvenience passengers, it seems to this frequent traveler that the program is serving the interests of the U.S. traveling public well.

Sure, it’s tempting to get mad when you lose that coveted first class seat. But save the hissy fit. In the end, arriving safely is all that matters.
Joel Widzer

Northwest Airlines announced it would add a surcharge of between $5 and $15 for tickets booked offline. As I write this, several other airlines, including American Airlines, Continental Airlines and US Airways, have matched the fees.

Most travel pundits say these new charges are terrible. I disagree.

Consider how some travelers reacted to the news. When asked if the fees would change the way they purchased their tickets, 61 percent of travelers told Cyber Survey “no.” I know, it isn’t a scientific survey, and it’s skewed towards those who already use the Internet.

But it does raise an interesting question: Will this fee have impact those who travel the most? I don’t think so.

Nearly 75 percent of U.S. households have Internet access at home, according to a July 2004 Nielsen//NetRatings survey. The remaining 25 percent of homes without Internet access chiefly comprise the elderly and lower-income populations.

Yes, these new fees which most likely will be instituted by all major airlines will disproportionately prejudice these groups. However, these groups do very little air travel to begin with.

The reality is that these fees will affect those who travel the least.

In fact, the fees have the potential to actually benefit that group.

Think about it. Those who travel infrequently typically require a higher level of service. This new approach will provide that superior service. For a nominal fee, callers will have shorter wait time and more attentive service.

Psychologically, agents will feel obligated to assist paying customer, and not rushed with fewer calls waiting in queue.

Keep in mind that airlines are a business with profit and loss statements, obligations to shareholders and employees to pay. The U.S. consumer has been the beneficiary of an excellent air transportation system. We enjoy low cost, secured air travel throughout the world with relative ease. To continue this boon, consumers should realize what’s in our best interest.

In the latest edition of the Penny Pincher’s Passport to Luxury Travel I talk about the value principle. I describe this as a relationship between your cost of business, and the receipt of preferential treatment and services. To maintain our preferential services, we need to help our travel providers maintain a sustainable cost structure that will permit their on-going existences.

Bear in mind that charging for support services is not limited to the major airlines. Southwest, JetBlue and Independence Air offer cheaper flights on their Web sites. Travel agents and third-party web sites commonly charge booking fees that range from $10 to $25.

This fee is not unlike that which other companies charge for using in-house services.

Call your satellite or cable provider to order pay-per-view, and pay an extra dollar-over the Internet or through your TV, it’s free. Order a book from Barnes & Noble’s Web site and pay less than you would in its stores. Buy stocks on-line for much less than talking to a broker (a task much more complex than purchasing an air ticket), talk to a bank teller and pay a fee.

Last week, when I called the manufacturer of my computer for support, the overseas outsourced employee took 22 minutes to comprehend my name and computer model. Another 47 minutes later, a technical support person attempted to assist me in broken English.

Although, I’ve made a habit of pinching pennies, I would have gladly paid $10 for a shorter wait time, and a representative who clearly understood my needs.

As a side note, Northwest has stated that this fee will help them avoid laying off any reservation agents. So it can be argued that these fees will help create and save much-needed employment for U.S. workers.

Although this is unfortunate, companies from all industries are trying to get you away from the human interface, which costs so much to maintain. So if you like to talk with people, it will cost you. If you can figure out how to buy something on your own, you’ll save.

Despite our best attempts, we can’t create a perfectly fair society.
Joel Widzer

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.

These hallowed words ring true 73 years later as we face a faceless terror that works in the dark exploiting humankind’s greatest, most powerful emotion.

Radical ideologists who hate the American way of life and free democracies of all kinds have clearly figured out how to disrupt our most sacred freedom — freedom of mobility — without using any weapons other than psychological warfare.

As Americans, we hold dear the ability to freely move about without threat or harm, and yet we have been paralyzed by terrorist threats to our air travel infrastructure. I submit that we must not hold ourselves hostage to threats and fear. To do so would only serve the terrorists’ interests.

Maintaining a commitment to travel is a way of demonstrating your patriotism. Some serve in the armed forces, others support the troops with time and money, or give speeches, or fly the flag. Traveling also tells the terrorists that you will not be deterred.

Why do I issue a call to travel? For starters, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the travel industry is the second-largest economic engine of the U.S. economy. A reluctance to travel jeopardizes more than $646 billion of economic activity, 7.4 million jobs and $167.3 billion in payroll income for Americans. Disrupting our economy would please the terrorists no end — something we simply cannot let happen. Moreover, travel is important to our social institutions; it connects social groups and exposes citizens to new people, new places and different points of view. It also provides recreation and social rejuvenation. For example, the other day on a flight to Salt Lake City, I met a family traveling to Sun Valley, Idaho, to meet with other relatives for a week of family bonding. I ask, “What can be more American than a family on summer vacation?”

My call to travel is not based on some pundit’s view from a desk. I have been in the trenches these past five years — standing in the security lines, taking off my shoes, opening my luggage and checking out my fellow passengers every time I fly. And I fly a lot: 166,000 miles this year alone.

So forgive me if I sound preachy. But I do speak from a position of experience and that experience tells me that we need the courage of national unity. We need to trust in our democratic ideals, and we need to trust those leaders working diligently to protect us. We need to stand firm against those radicals who wish to disrupt our freedom of mobility, one of the foundations of our society.

Certainly there is a lot of concern about air travel these days. It is caused by terrorist plots and perpetuated by a fear-mongering media seeking sensational headlines. The recent headlines are certainly enough to scare wavering travelers off a plane. In the past week, we saw United Airlines Flight 923 diverted from Washington, D.C., to Boston when a petite, 59-year-old woman suffering a panic attack made passengers and crew nervous. A West Virginia airport was evacuated when items in a woman’s carry-on bag tested positive for explosives — wrongly, as it turned out. In yet another case, a flight from London to Egypt was diverted to Italy after a bomb scare that later proved groundless.

Such incidents are no doubt alarming to the passengers involved and perhaps worrying to other people contemplating future air travel. But what these incidents should do is generate confidence in air travel. Hyper-vigilance is increasing security. Indeed, as my colleague Charlie Leocha has recently written, security improvements since 9/11 have made air travel more secure now than ever in aviation history.

When news of the London bomb plot broke, I had just arrived in Budapest. Days later I returned to the United States, not knowing what to expect at the airport. To the credit of the professionals working the security clearing process, I transitioned the airport fairly seamlessly; the experience was little different from my six other departures from Europe this year. Subsequent security checks at JFK, Salt Lake City and Santa Ana were similarly uneventful.

Upon my return from Budapest, my inbox was filled with questions from travelers about canceling upcoming trips. My response to each and every one of them was: Fly and be free.

In my view, anyone who is fearful of boarding a plane is scoring a win for the terrorists. If you truly want to be patriotic, get out and travel.

Joel Widzer

In the last 15 years, I have accumulated 3.5 million miles of air travel, many of them during the summer months. In fact, I took 24 flights this past June alone, so I know the challenges well. My best advice is to follow the three P’s of summer travel: plan ahead, be proactive and have patience.

Plan ahead. We were sitting on a rain-pelted runway in New Bern, N.C., and the pilot kept delaying our takeoff. As time wore on, I knew I might miss my connection in Atlanta to Memphis, so I called the Westin Memphis, which was holding my reservation, and told them that I might be delayed or even stuck in Atlanta overnight. The clerk said that since I’d called, the hotel would hold my room but not charge me a no-show fee if I didn’t make it. One base covered. I then called a favorite hotel in Atlanta, the Grand Hyatt, and explained the situation. Same deal: The hotel agreed to hold a room in case I needed one but would not charge me if I made it to Memphis. I was covered either way, with no cost to me but a couple of phone calls. When I arrived in Atlanta, my flight was indeed canceled, but I knew exactly what to do and where to go.

Be proactive. During a weather delay in New York’s La Guardia airport, I came across a friend who wearily told me he had been waiting in line for two hours trying to rebook his canceled flight. At the same time, he was on his cell phone, trying to reach a phone representative. My friend was doing everything right, but he could have cut his wait time with two easy steps — if only he took advantage of the airline’s special programs.

1. With even the lowest frequent-flier status, my friend would have been given a special toll-free number that would allow him to bypass the public reservations line. When I gave him my own Delta SkyMiles number, he instantly reached an agent, who rebooked him on a flight for the next day.

2. A membership in an airport lounge can also get you out of a jam. While trying to get to Memphis on another occasion, my first flight from Atlanta to Memphis was canceled. I immediately went to Delta’s Crown Room, where the agent rebooked me on a flight two hours later, and I snagged the last first class seat.

Reaching elite status on most airlines is not very difficult. A co-branded credit card can usually give you a head start. For example, with Delta’s Platinum SkyMiles credit card, you can earn up to 20,000 of the required 25,000 “Medallion Qualification Miles” with credit card charges instead of air travel. Similarly, you can usually purchase a day pass to an airline’s private lounge for a nominal fee of $25.

Be patient. If you are patient and can keep everything under control, you will remain calm and collected — and that’s half the battle in summer. Review the terms and benefits of your frequent-flier program carefully before you travel, then calmly ask for assistance from the airline agents whenever you need it.

Here are a few more tricks I’ve learned.

* Have a car ready to go. If your destination is within a day’s drive, and you’re faced with another day at the airport or missing your meeting or a vacation day, look into a one-way rental. Often the cost is more reasonable than the cost of a night at a hotel.

* Buy a one-day lounge membership. Not only can you get rebooked more quickly in the lounge, it is also a nice place to wait out a flight delay. In fact, if your flight is delayed three hours or more, $25 for a one-day pass might be money well spent; in Delta’s Crown Room, for example, you’ll get free drinks, and those add up. You can usually get a guest admitted on the same pass, as well. Another nice benefit is that most lounge memberships allow you to go through the preferred security line, making your airport transition much less stressful. Many airlines now allow you to purchase a one-day pass online or at the ticket counter. I know a guy who has one for each of the three airlines he flies, each set aside for an emergency or when he needs to get through security in a hurry.

* Be in the know. On a recent Friday night, while trying to get home to Orange County, Calif., my flight was delayed due to a delayed incoming flight. When I asked the agent when the flight was going to arrive, she told me, “Five minutes.” I walked to the gate, only to find out that the flight hadn’t even left the departure city! This time, I fired up my computer and tracked the flight on the airline’s Web site, knowing precisely when it departed and when it would arrive at the gate.

* Book directly with your airline. When you book through a third-party Web site, or even through a travel agent, you may find that the airline cannot directly access your ticketing record, thus impairing their ability to rebook a flight for you.

If you plan well, act proactively and keep your patience, the road bumps of summer travel won’t take such a toll.
By: Joel Widzer

My educated guess: Simply nothing.

The reality, in my opinion, is that despite the major airlines’ best efforts to come together in a blessed union, it’s not going to happen. Basically, there are too many competing interests in this game that will railroad any efforts toward larger airlines.

The highly discussed merger between Delta and Northwest has more than a few sticky points. The primary nuisance for executives bargaining for position between Atlanta and Eagan, Minn., headquarters for Delta Air lines and Northwest respectfully, is the much beleaguered issue of seniority. Seniority, to airline employees, is paramount to getting the best routes, flying the best planes, having prime vacation days and higher pay and generally enjoying better perks and benefits.

The blending of two airlines requires piecing together a large puzzle. Historically, the most difficult pieces to fit together have been seniority, especially among the ranks of pilots. For example, Northwest is still figuring out how to blend pilot groups from their merger with Republic Airlines back in 1986–22 years ago. Likewise, U.S. Airways and America West are still working on a joint seniority plan three years after their much-touted boondoggled merger.

One issue impacting the discussions between Delta and Northwest is that Northwest’s pilots tend to be older than their Delta counterparts. Many senior Delta pilots bailed out before their 2005 bankruptcy filing. Senior Northwest pilots did not do the same prior to their filing, primarily due to the difference in how their pension plan was structured. This leaves many Delta pilots in a vulnerable position, possibly losing rank and going back to flying older, slower, smaller planes–all translating into smaller paychecks. This might be one reason why Northwest pilots remain hopeful that a merger will transpire. The same goes for flight attendants. One Delta flight attendant told me that her 12 years of service will become meaningless if a merger goes through. This means no more prized international routes, and longer days with less pay.

Although airline employee groups might intellectually understand the economics of airline mergers, emotionally they can’t take the toll of another shrinking paycheck. The years since Sept. 11, 2001, have been tough on airline employees who have made concession after concession to keep their airlines alive. I think this time around it’s going to be a hard sell to tell employees to take a de facto pay cut through seniority reduction or other methods.

Besides the challenges of blending together employees, the merger puzzle requires a delicate process of operationally bringing two airlines together. Here again, history does not promise much guidance for airlines. Since the airlines were deregulated in 1978, dozens of mergers have taken place with iconic names such as Pan Am and TWA. Most analysts consider these mergers to have been unsuccessful, with many of the acquiring airlines divesting acquired routes and being crippled by strikes and other forms of labor strife. The recent merger of U.S. Airways and America West remains an episode many executives and customers wish they could rewind.

Everything from employee moral to customer service to frequent-flyer programs have suffered as a result of blending these relatively minor airlines. Bringing together the mammoths of Delta and Northwest, resulting in the largest U.S. airline, or the other rumored merger of United and Continental, will be a significant undertaking–one I’m not sure the airlines are up to.

Of concern to travelers will be airfares, frequent-flyer points and their inherent loyalty with an airline, which is very similar to the seniority issue among employees. Despite prognostications of higher airfares, probably much won’t change. Over the past 30 years, airfares in real terms have decreased, and in spite of high oil prices, airlines don’t have much pricing power. The minute they try to raise prices, a competitor will come in and lower them. Frequent-flyer points and programs will be little changed by a merger between Northwest, Continental and Delta, as the three have almost identical programs. Any mergers outside these programs could lead to the confusion U.S. Airways and America West fliers are still experiencing after their 2005 merger.

Perhaps the biggest losers among any merger are the die-hard loyalists–the elite frequent flyer who has sacrificed to maintain allegiance to one airline. Elite fliers can suffer much the same way that employees will suffer from reduced seniority. The newly merged airline will transport a larger pool of elite fliers with reduced capacity, meaning that the real prize of elite membership–first-class upgrades–will become harder to get. Essentially, any airline merger will downgrade elite membership with over-capacity, upsetting the already tenuous relationship between elite frequent flyer and loyalty programs. This could led to a loss of loyalty that airlines can ill-afford.

In the off chance that an airline merger gets through employee groups and customer ire, a bigger and more powerful player has to sign off–the U.S. government. Maybe a few years ago congressional approval for a larger-scale airline merger would have passed. But in today’s environment, I say no way.

The largely Democratic House and Senate will fight hard and examine any anti-trust issues and the possibility of fare increases. Furthermore, the issue of lost jobs, which the airlines vehemently state would be avoided, will face close scrutiny. Likewise, the loss of local and regional routing is a major concern to lawmakers from rural districts.

The shining light for consumers is the difficulties a relatively simple merger, between Sirius Satellite and XM Radio, has had in recent months. If this merger–which has had widespread support–can’t gain approval, is a merger of airlines ever likely to see the light of day? The prospects for all parties to a merger getting together in agreement are not good–and this is good news for consumers.

Instead of growing bigger and taking on more problems, airlines should pay attention to the mistake of Doug Parker’s U.S. Airways-America West merger and focus on delivering top-notch customer service. If they deliver on that proposition, the rest will take care of itself.

Also available on Forbes.com
Joel Widzer

Whether you plan to be on the road or celebrating at home for the holidays, you’ll likely get caught up in the excitement and the frenzy the season brings. Holiday travel poses a special set of stresses, like airport delays and traffic, which can leave you feeling tense and overwhelmed. That’s why it’s smart to always bring along some of the comforts of home to help keep you relaxed and prepared.

Families should be sure to pack all the medications they take on a regular basis, along with common first aid items. And, as occasional constipation can be triggered by stress, being off your regular schedule, and poor diet — which many folks experience during the holidays — travelers should remember to bring along treatment to help stay regular.

According to the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, constipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal complaints in the country. Nutrition experts recommend a healthy, balanced diet with fiber, and exercise to combat occasional constipation, but incorporating both into your schedule during the holiday season can be a challenge.

Travel authority and acclaimed author Joel Widzer also recommends getting familiar with your destination and accommodations to reduce stress and stay regular.

“In my travel experiences, I have learned that getting to know a destination is the easy part of your trip, especially with increased access to myriad guidebooks and online reviews,” writes Widzer in his book, “The Penny Pincher’s Passport to Luxury Travel.”

Widzer advises holiday travelers to use the following tips to deal with bowel irregularity:

Stay hydrated. Holidays often mean an increase in alcohol and caffeine consumption, which tend to be dehydrating. Remember to intersperse water between glasses of wine, mimosas and spiced egg nog.

Maintain physical activity. Hotels are making it easy for customers to stay active while on the road by offering running shoes and workout gear as a complimentary service. Familiarize yourself with your accommodations to help plan ahead. Another workout option includes resistance bands, which are lightweight and compact for convenient packing. Travelers can also research the Web for local running and biking trails.

Eat a balanced diet. Holiday feasts aren’t known for their nutrition value, so try to introduce some new recipes this season. Wow your family with fresh vegetable dishes such as baked acorn squash or buttermilk mashed yams. Broccoli, carrots, greens, avocados, apples and berries are all high in fiber, thus great for regularity.

Find a reliable laxative. When all else fails, travelers should be equipped with an effective laxative, like Senokot Tablets. This product offers gentle, overnight relief from occasional constipation. Plus, the new Senokot To-Go packets are perfect for cramped suitcases. Please read full product label before use. For more details, go to
www.senokot.com.

Originally posted at www.newsusa.com
Joel Widzer

I’m not talking about your frequent flier mileage statement – I’m referring to the number of points or miles you have that will provide you elite membership with your preferred airline next year.

Elite membership is becoming more difficult to earn, so this is the time to think ahead. Otherwise, you could lose your status.

Why worry?

Elites use first class check-in, board early, get priority seating and priority waitlists.

Elites use the faster frequent traveler security lines.

Elites get complimentary upgrades.

Elites get bonus miles, ranging from 25 percent to 200 percent on all your flown miles.

Elites have a better shot at redeeming miles for awards.

To gain distance from the crowd, earn the highest level of elite status possible. Usually this means having a year end balance of 25,000 to 100,000 elite qualifying points or miles. Crest over the 100,000 threshold and you can earn extras including elite status for a friend, and international upgrade certificates.

Normally, elite junkies will take an extra trip or two at the end of the year to reach their desire level.

This year it’s not only about the distance or segments you fly, but the fare you paid. Your fare basis can mean the difference between a pittance of elite qualifying points and a windfall of valuable miles.

For example, on a typical flight between JFK and LAX, some passengers will earn 3,300 points while others earn 12,000 points towards their future of upgrades and preferred services. The difference results from the nuance of how airline calculate elite qualifying points. Like all things airline, bonuses are not equal. Most airlines and exceedingly more in the future, dole out points based on the fare paid.

Achieving elite membership can seem intimidating, if not down right difficult.

Make it work in your favor. To gain all the extras of elite flying it can be well worth it to pop up to the next fare level for the added qualifying points. For example, at the end of June 2004, I had 111,000 elite qualifying points while flying less than 60,000 actual miles.

I did this through a mix of discounted special fares that qualified for Delta’s 200 percent qualifying bonus. As an added benefit, the fares automatically upgraded me to a confirmed first class seat.

Consider a hypothetical flight an elite junkie might take to earn their membership.

Leaving Saturday morning from Santa Ana Orange County, returning the same day from Atlanta, yielded a choice of tickets costing $547 and $707, a difference of $160. On the face of it, many would choose the cheaper flight.

But remember, the lowest price is not always your best bet. The flight costing $547 yields only 3,838 qualifying points while the second flight yields a whooping 7,676 qualifying points. In other words, for less than a 30 percent premium, you get a 100 percent bonus in terms of elite qualifying points.

Is this worth it?

The most immediate benefit will be that you will have a confirmed first class seat for your day’s journey, access to the preferred security line, free food and drinks and entertainment during your flight.

The long-term perks depend on whether you have top-, middle- or lower-tier status. Besides the perks already mentioned, elite membership means upgrades to first class, cushier seats, more overhead storage space and more specialized attention.

Members also get VIP boarding and shorter waits in airport security lines, special check-in privileges, preferred seating, priority waitlist status, unlimited free domestic upgrades on most the major airlines, special toll-free lines, airport lounge membership discounts (free in some cases), service-fee discounts, free companions upgrades, and international upgrade certificates.

Oh, and one more thing. If your airline fails, the one thing guaranteed to transfer to another airline is your elite membership. In fact, if you decide to change carriers mid-year, most airlines will match your level of elite membership.

With status becoming more difficult to earn and droves turning towards discounters, membership truly has its privileges.
Joel Widzer

I have traveled a lot this year. In fact, I have traveled 245,000 miles to 21 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Panama, Mexico, Canada, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Ethiopia, Korea and Vietnam.

And which is the Contrarian Travelerss best bet?

Vietnam, hands down.

What’s exciting for travelers is that Vietnam is currently at a crossroads where backpackers and luxury travelers can both discover a land of great beauty and charm at very affordable prices. It may not last long. Though tourism in Vietnam has not hit tidal-wave proportions, it is certainly growing, even among late-coming Americans; in fact, more than 350,000 U.S. travelers made the trip last year. Some of those visitors spent their time at luxury resorts on white-sand beaches or in five-star hotels in charming towns, while others backpacked and trekked along routes that no other means of travel could offer. Whatever the chosen path, travelers could see glorious beaches and mountain vistas, witness the interesting routines of village life and enjoy open-armed hospitality. The hospitality is apparently genuine, untainted by memories of the millions of Vietnamese people who lost their lives during what we call the Vietnam War. When I asked one official if there was any lingering animosity from the war, he asked me, Which one? His point was that Vietnam’ss history is an unsettled one, including recent wars involving France, the United States, China, Laos and Cambodia, and yet the Vietnamese people still welcome visitors with wide-eyed, cheerful manners.

I’m not a backpacker. I’m the kind of traveler that likes a good meal, a luxury spa and a soft pillow at the end of the day. Happily, Vietnam did not disappoint. Several luxury hoteliers have matched the charms of Vietnam with beautiful buildings and excellent service. Two of my favorites are the Sofitel Metropole Hanoi and the Park Hyatt Saigon. The Sofitel Metropole Hanoi graces the ancient capital city established nearly 1,000 years ago by the Ly dynasty. The award-winning hotel was built in 1901, at the height of the French Indochina colonial period, and it retains the charm of that era. The Park Hyatt Saigon is blessed with a prime location in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), right in Lam Son Square overlooking the elegant Opera House. The hotel is within walking distance of many cultural and historical sites including the Reunification Palace, Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon and the Beh Thanh Market. The food is also excellent. The local award-wining restaurants presented cuisine with the panache of the finest French eateries, and the sumptuously light fare usually cost less than $15.

Outside the cities, Vietnam offers visitors some amazing sights, including the limestone grottoes at Halong Bay (a World Heritage site), lovely vistas over the Mekong Delta, and the harmonious blend of mountains, forests and streams of the Perfume Pagoda. Vestiges of the imperial past evoke dreamy images of the long-ago Orient, while the temples provide a welcome respite from the rush of the surrounding world, inviting contemplation. Indeed, Vietnam is a peaceful sanctuary, as yet untouched by the kinds of terrorist activity that have encroached on tourist areas in Bali and Thailand. In fact, one of the world’s largest risk management companies identified Vietnam as one of the safest destinations in the world.

A few tips to get you going

* Passports. Get your visa in advance. Most U.S. travelers obtain a single-entry visa, available for $25 from the Vietnam embassy in Washington D.C.

* Currency. The official unit of currency is the dong, but most businesses and shopkeepers accept the U.S. dollar; in fact, most shops and restaurants list prices in U.S. dollars. ATM machines are widely available and major credit cards are widely accepted.

* Business hours. Most businesses are open between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., although many close for a midday break between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Restaurants and museums usually remain open all day but many museums are closed on Monday.

* Air travel. United Airlines has direct service to Vietnam from the United States, while many other carriers offer service through code-share agreements. I flew Vietnam Airlines in Business Class between Hanoi and Saigon and found the service to rival most long-haul international services. The modern fleet offered lay-back seats with on-demand movies, delectable meals and friendly service.

* Traveling by car. A luxury car and driver can be hired for about $40 per day — a steal compared to the rate I was quoted a week later in Barcelona, where it would cost me $240 for just three hours.

* Reading. I’m not a big fan of guidebooks, but I found National Geographic Traveler’s new Vietnam guidebook to be indispensable. The suggested walk in the Old Quarter of Hanoi was especially rewarding.

* Tour operators. A knowledgeable and reputable guide can lead you in the right direction and save you thousands of dollars. One operator guiding visitors for years with an insider’s edge is Trails of Indochina.

This month, Vietnam hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, and its tourism industry will be in high gear. In fact, Vietnam’s days as one of Asia’s best-kept secrets may soon be over. For travelers seeking a glimpse of a dreamy world that has yet to be overrun with McDonald’s franchises — now is the best time to go.

Also Available at MSNBC.com

Joel Widzer

I fly a couple of hundred thousand miles each year, so I have experienced firsthand all the ills of long-haul flights: jet lag, lousy food, cramped muscles, disorientation — you name it. A while back, I decided to do something about it. Now, after three years of academic research ranging from work with the World Bank to the U.S. Army, I have designed a method for adapting to the ills of travel fatigue. By using a set of simple behavioral strategies, travelers can travel better, safer and more productively.

Some physiology

The problem of transmeridian travel is simple: Our bodies are not designed to cross multiple time zones in mere hours. For everyday living, the body is set to a natural sleep/wake cycle, which takes its cues from the passage of the sun. Under normal conditions, the body is set to be alert during daylight hours and to sleep when it’s dark. Any disruption in this cycle throws off the body’s “circadian clock,” its internal timekeeper, causing fatigue.

Before modern jet travel, it took travelers weeks or months to cover any significant geography. For example, the average trans-Atlantic ocean liner crossing took four weeks. Leisurely travel like this gives the body’s circadian clock time to reset naturally, following a gradual change in the day/night cycle. Jet travel over more than three or four times zones, on the other hand, almost always results in travel fatigue.

Travel fatigue is known to affect memory, performance and digestive function; it can cause irritability, stress and sleep deprivation. Cumulative travel fatigue, resulting from frequent or consecutive trips, can result in such physiological and psychological conditions as anxiety, obesity, depression, cardiac disease, reduced performance, job burnout and interpersonal difficulties. In fact, the World Bank concluded from one study that travelers taking five or more trips a year experience a 66 percent increase in family-related psychological disorders.

Consider a typical trans-Atlantic itinerary. You leave Chicago at 5 p.m., fly for nine hours and arrive in Paris at 9 in the morning. You should be ready for a full day of meetings or sightseeing, but your body thinks it’s still in Chicago, where it is 2 in the morning and you are fast asleep. You may drink a double espresso and do a hundred jumping jacks, but without strategic intervention, your body is going to win. Your business deal will be blown, and that afternoon tour of Notre Dame will be nothing but a blur.

The bad news is that travel fatigue is inevitable. The good news is that with a little effort, you can train your body and mind to better adapt to the rigors of travel.

Here are a few tips to keep you going.

Train like an athlete.

During the regular season, a professional baseball player flies from city to city and plays 180 games under constant pressure to perform. Although your trips might not mean the difference between a World Series championship and a long off-season, your million-dollar deal or valuable vacation time is just as important. So, train like an athlete.

• Get 40 winks. Sleep is the key to restoring your body to a healthy level of functioning.
• Eat right. Carbohydrates tend to promote sleepiness, so eat some cookies before your nap. Protein, on the other hand, helps with alertness, so order some eggs or cheese with your power breakfast.
• Limit alcohol intake. One glass of wine might help you sleep on the plane, but too much can disrupt your sleep waves and prevent you from reaching the restorative stage of sleep known as REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep.
• Get your exercise. Once you reach your destination, getting outdoors in the sunlight can help reset your circadian clock and speed your adaptation to the new time zone. Exercise can also help reduce stress and gear you up for an important event.
• Lighten your load. If possible, leave the computer at home and carry a USB key or some sort of flash memory device. Since most major hotels and office complexes have computers available for use, I like to carry a USB key loaded with a software program called Pass2Go, which allows me to safely store my passwords on a USB key and securely log in to online accounts from any computer anywhere in the world. A big advantage of this little key is that you don’t have to screen your computer through security.
• Carry the right bags. Travelpro has a nice line of luggage that is ergonomically designed to relieve physical fatigue with cleverly designed handles and rollers that adjust to the way you carry your bags. The Travelpro Platinum 4SE bag features a “weigh less, stress less” handle that greatly reduces the chore of lugging around carry-on baggage.
• Reduce ambient noise. A pair of noise-canceling headphones can eliminate the loud drone of the airplane. My personal preferences is for “Solitude” headphones from ProTravelGear.com. I have found them to be comfortable and I enjoy their superior sound quality. Cue up your favorite music or listen to a sleep-promoting program such as Barb Badolati’s “Resting on Cloud 9.”
• Stay healthy. An airplane is a great place to pick up dirt, germs and other nasties. TravelKleen has a nifty reusable headrest protector that puts some distance between you and any germs or head lice that previous passengers may have left behind on your seat.
• Develop an overall travel fatigue strategy. Serious travelers need a serious program. Look for a comprehensive book on managing stress and fatigue at your bookstore. Better yet, check out my e-book “The Art of Transmeridian Travel” on TransmeridianTraveler.com.

To overcome travel fatigue, you need to call on the body’s unique powers of physiology, psychology, sleep and stress reduction. By properly managing these functions, you can attain optimal performance while traveling.

Also Available at MSNBC.com
Joel Widzer

These laptop-toting experts, many of whom openly despise all things airlines, have shifted the collective psyche of a generation of travelers into believing that airlines are the devil of the day. Yet, all too often, self-styled airline pundits fail to address the ripples of prosperity from the economic forces of the airlines.

Air transport is closely linked with economic development, driving activity locally, regionally, nationally and globally. A 1998 study attributed 6 million jobs globally to the aviation industry. A decade later, that figure is believed to widely exceed this count. These jobs include high-paying positions directly attributable to civil aviation, such as service providers, manufacturing and service industries, which in turn depend on numerous suppliers.

Rather than recognize the merits and benefits of a strong and viable air transportation system, travel writers resort to a game of political foes attacking their enemies. And enemies they are. I like to think of this group as a grumpy gang of travelers. Those who seemingly believe that airlines are to serve at the whim of the consumer without any consideration toward generating a profit to sustain their business, pay their employees and return value to shareholders.

One longtime critic of the airlines, Joe B., recently wrote a column proclaiming that he “began to dislike and distrust the big airlines on Feb. 1, 1987, a date that still lives in business-travel infamy. Like thousands of others, I, too, was stranded by Continental Airlines on the day it attempted a ‘big bang’ merger with its Peoplexpress, New York Air and Frontier Airlines subsidiaries.” Wow, this was 20 years ago and the guy still holds a grudge. I’ll steal a line here from Cameron Crowe’s 1989 Say Anything, and tell him: “You must chill. You must chill.”

In the words of Joe B., “Continental’s terminal was overwhelmed with angry, abandoned travelers, mishandled luggage, and dazed and confused employees.” But the untold story is that Continental was losing over $1 million a day (that’s 1987 dollars or nearly $2 million today).

Organizational restructuring is a tough game, but what rational individual can blame a company for changes when it’s bleeding that kind of money? What speaks most to this long-ago event is that Continental is a thriving airline today with relatively strong customer service marks.

Most likely as a result of the bash-all-thing-airlines brigade, pedestrian crusaders have entered the fold. The latest incarnation of these evangelists seeking to impose their will on an entire industry is Kate Hanni, a real estate broker from the Napa Valley who had a bad flight and formed the Coalition for an Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights (CAPBOR). And why not form a coalition, since it has made her the Cindy Sheehan of air travelers. Expressing angst against airlines is a sure mode toward popularity, with this real estate agent’s anguish propelling her to a seat before Congress and onto a number of cable news programs.

Possibly the most disingenuous anti-apostles of airlines are those whose view of a plane comes from the screensaver on their computer monitor. To me, travel writing is inspired from the trenches–to know travel you have to get down and dirty. Think of a war correspondent reporting from the safety of a Manhattan office–not very credible. One writer, a troubleshooter of sorts, solves the world’s travel problems, mostly airline-related, from the comfort of her home. Often her headlines will read “This Is Not The Airline For You” or “Airlines Playing Games Again.”

To be fair, airlines certainly have contributed to consumers’ apprehension. Without a doubt, a plane full of travelers will remember the long hours they spent on a runway without food and water or use of bathrooms. I concur that no one should have to endure such conditions. However, airlines got the message and, for the most part, instituted change.

For example, about a year ago JetBlue plummeted into one of its worst PR disasters since starting operations in 2000. Storms in the Northeast paralyzed JetBlue’s operations, stranding JFK passengers on nine planes for up to six hours. The story that often is not told is how then-CEO, David Neeleman, issued a public apology, stating that he was “humiliated and mortified” by the system failures and promised to introduce a “Customer Bill of Rights” and compensation for passengers inconvenienced from this act of nature (which JetBlue had no control over).

Other than security screening, which really is a TSA process, airlines have been working hard to enhance the flying experience. For example, airlines such as Delta have responded to one of the biggest gripes of consumers–award seats. According to Jeff Robertson, Delta Air Line’s director of the Sky Miles programs, “Providing greater transparency in award seat availability is a customer benefit that also gives them greater control over their travel experience.” By adding access to Continental, Northwest and Air France award seats on its Web site, Delta.com, Delta’s customers have access to more than 95% of all redeemable seats.

Likewise, mainstream airlines such as American Airlines and United Airlines have bumped up their in-flight services with enhanced meal choices, including meals prepared by notable chiefs, state-of-the-art entertainment systems and lay-flat seats on select flights.

Also available at Forbes.com:

I, however, remain skeptical that this is a bandwagon on which we need to jump. The most compelling reason to shy away from this course of congressional action can be seen clearly by simply asking yourself: When has governmental bureaucracy been the answer to anything?

On the contrary to solving any current problems, government intervention will seismically disrupt an already fragile air system that is best solved by the airlines themselves. Despite conventional wisdom, flight delays and canceled flights are not in the best interests of airlines.

Believe me when I tell you it is no fun for the airlines’ chief dispatchers to see flights sitting on the ground, awaiting clearance for take-off. Not only is it less than entertaining, it can be a costly proposition both in terms of real cost (including fuel and overtime), as well as the bad publicity and loss of future passengers.

If Congress has its way, airlines will be subject to regulations that would force planes back to the gates if runway delays exceed pre-established time limits. Setting arbitrary time limits for delayed flights will ultimately result in more flight cancellations, potentially snowballing into passengers not getting to their intended destinations for days on end.

Take, for example, an episode I experienced this past summer. I was sitting on a Delta flight from Atlanta to Memphis, when, minutes after we pulled away from the gate, the pilot announced that we would have a wait to take-off, and that he would keep us posted. Forty-five minutes later, while our plane was still sitting on the runway, the pilot announced that he was monitoring the situation and that he would turn back to the gate if the delay became too lengthy.

After another 45 minutes, thus equaling a total of an hour and a half runway waiting time, the pilot informed us that there was still a delay, and that he was going to head back to the gate. At this point, it was clear the pilot feared backlash from angry passengers sitting on the runway for too long.

However, during the entire hour and a half delay, the flight crew handed out water and snacks to both first class and coach passengers. When a group of passengers in the front of the plane, myself included, heard the pilot say he was turning back, we summoned a flight attendant to ask her to request that the pilot not turn back, as we had already waited a substantial amount of time, and we did not want to be stuck overnight in Atlanta.

Five minutes later, the pilot announced that a slot had opened up and we were ready for take-off. If the pilot had not had the discretion to remain on the runway, despite his fears of upsetting the passengers, a full plane of passengers would have been forced to spend the night in Atlanta–and, further complicating the issue, a full plane of passengers would have been trying to rebook on new flights, knowing most of the flights for the next day were already full.

When it comes to flight delays, the best people equipped to deal with the immediacy of the situation remain those in the trenches. Taking discretion away from pilots, air traffic controllers and airline dispatchers by imposing rules designated by Washington bureaucrats will mean a flight that could have had a possible take-off window open within five minutes would have been re-routed to its gate rather than getting its passengers on the way to their final destinations.

Government intervention will also mean increased cost to the consumers. The proposed “Bill of Rights” has airlines increasing payouts for canceled flights and bumping passengers. To pay the higher penalties, airlines will have no choice but to hedge their newly exposed liability by increasing fares, imposing tighter ticketing restrictions and requiring passenger to check in many hours before their flights. For example, some airlines are already requiring passengers to check their luggage a whopping 45 minutes before flight time as a “pledge” that they will make the flight. If a Passenger Bill of Rights is passed, restricting the airlines ability to operate, one can expect similar hardships to be passed on to passengers.

A government-mandated Passenger Bill of Rights will only serve political goodwill by placating ill-informed air travelers with a false sense of comfort. Additionally, the burdens placed on the airlines will carry over to air travelers, and ultimately result in a no-win situation for all involved. I hope, in the end, the intensely competitive market within the airline industry will be enough to propel airline executives to make the right decision to serve the consumer in a way that will promote customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Read more at Forbes.com

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First, there’s the question of taste and priorities. How do I know that the reviewer and I want the same things from a hotel? Perhaps the reviewer wants a pool and a sports bar, while what I want is timely room service.

Then there’s the problem of the reviewer’s motivation. The more reviews you read, the more you notice how they tend to cluster at the extremes of opinion. On one end, you have angry reviewers with axes to grind; at the other, you have delighted guests who lavish praise beyond believing. You will probably not be surprised to learn that hotels sometimes post their own glowing reviews, or that competitors line up for the chance to lambaste the competition. So, how can you know which reviews are authentic, or whether one traveler’s experience is representative of many others’?

Here’s what I suggest.

* Look for balance. The best reviews are the ones that focus on both the good and the bad, providing an objective picture of the hotel and of the reviewer’s experience there.

* Look for recent reviews. Last year’s stellar hotel might not be operating with the same zest for service this year. Changes in management, or in behind-the-scenes ownership, can almost instantly affect a hotel’s performance — especially when the changes also involve budget cuts related to service. Even a new general manager with a different management style can render older reviews obsolete.

* Call the hotel. The best way to learn about a property and its service is to call it directly and judge the staff’s responsiveness for yourself. How long does take for a clerk to answer the phone? Does the operator answer your questions? If you are transferred to another department, how long does it take? Are you disconnected? How do the various employees treat you? Do they seem friendly? Also ask some basic questions, such as how long the current manager has held the position, whether you can make dinner reservations before you check in, or whether you can speak to the spa manager.

* Ask around. Have any of your friends, co-workers or colleague ever been to this hotel? What was their impression? Do they have the same taste and interests as you? How long ago was their visit? Would they go back?

* Talk with a travel agent. But find one who has actually been to the property or has sent a number of long-term clients to the hotel. If the agent tries to direct you to another property, find out why.

Whether you travel for business or for pleasure, the right hotel can make a big difference. To increase the odds that a hotel will meet your exceptions, be a proactive consumer. Take a select look at travelers’ reviews, but don’t stop there. A few extra steps can save you from some nasty surprises.

Earlier this year, when I was given the opportunity to face down my wine anxiety, I took it. I signed up for a four-day food-and-wine event, The Masters of Food & Wine, South America, which took place at one of my favorite hotels: The Park Hyatt Mendoza, in Mendoza, Argentina. Mendoza is one of the world’s most important wine regions, and Argentina is one of my favorite places, so it seemed an auspicious place for me to get a little more wine-savvy.

What I liked most about this event was how accessible and comfortable it was for amateur wine buffs and newbies. I had been nervous about fitting in, but I needn’t have worried. The Masters staff organized us into small groups then sent us out on a series of day trips to vineyards. We also enjoyed “culinary excursions” (lunches and dinners) consisting of perfectly matched wines and foods selected by the event’s international roster of sommeliers and chefs. The combination of small-group intimacy and professional attention made for a very personal event, entirely devoid of class consciousness and snobbery. In fact, a nice fellowship sprang up among the attendees, who engaged in many lively discussions of the philosophies behind winemaking and good food.

Many participants made new friends at the Masters, including me. I fondly remember the kindness of the editor of Eno City and Wine Guides, who took me under her wing at many of the wine tastings and vineyard tours, explaining to me the intricacies of wine, viticulture, oenology and the social aspects of wine. Another new friend is the founder of Women & Wine, who shared her passion for identifying wines by grape variety, origin and vintage. She’s the one who taught me the ABCs of color, smell and taste — I even learned a thing or two about tannins.

All this eating and drinking and fellowship took place against the background of the spectacular surroundings of Mendoza. As Julie Brosterman, of Women & Wine puts it: “Lunch isn’t just lunch in this town of over 900 wineries. It’s a celebration of family, friendship, good food and fine wine — but mostly an appreciation of what has happened in this land at the base of the Andes mountains.”

The architect of the inaugural Masters of Food & Wine, South America, was Carl Emberson, general manager of the Park Hyatt Mendoza, a wonderful host and a respected hotelier. Because of his unique position, the event drew participation from distinguished chefs from celebrated kitchens ranging from New York and Buenos Aires to Tokyo and Paris. Their talents were abundantly displayed on the last evening at the exclusive Wine Spectator Gala Dinner, an eight-course meal of fabulous dishes, each with a perfectly paired wine.

I feel lucky to have participated in the first Masters of Food & Wine, South America, where I came to prefer a fine Malbec to my usual single-malt scotch. I’m confident this event will draw crowds in years to come, as it is truly an extraordinary gastronomic experience. Next year’s event will be held at the Park Hyatt Mendoza from Feb. 14 to Feb. 17. It would make a wonderful Valentine’s gift.

The conference, which was chaired by Ravindra Bhagwanani, managing director of Global Flight and Roger Williams, managing partner of Airline Information, was a gathering of 250 delegates from 60 airlines, including frequent-flier program executives, loyalty marketers, consultants and industry insiders. They were joined, on the last day of the conference, by program partners from the hotel, rental-car and financial-services sectors.

The conversation was candid, especially about dissatisfaction among consumers who are frustrated by the lack of award availability. Happily, the conference organizers were able to report the results of a survey conducted, at their request, through IdeaWorks, which found that nearly 60 percent of the surveyed program directors anticipate increasing award availability this year.

But the big take-away from the conference — and important information for you, the consumer — is that the economics of these programs are changing. At a time of dwindling ticket revenues, the FFPs have become a profitable source of income for airlines. In fact, airline executives have come to realize that these programs are now generating big bucks for their coffers. As a result, the longstanding rift between the airlines’ cost-centric finance departments and their consumer-sided marketing departments is easing, and program directors are gaining the ability to better serve the customer.

This means you can rest assured that your loyalty programs are here to stay and that the airlines will do more to keep your business. But there’s a catch: Your business has to make the airlines a profit. As one vendor at the conference put it, “Don’t count the people you reach. Reach the people who count.”

How the numbers add up

The conference made clear that FFP consumers fall into two basic categories: those who earn points in the sky and those earn points on the ground. Both groups help the airlines pay their bills. The sky group is profitable because its members fly often and purchase high-premium tickets; in fact, they can account for 85 percent of profitable ticketing revenue. The ground community is profitable, too, even though its members are infrequent fliers who earn most of their “miles” through co-branded credit cards with generous accrual bonuses. This group drives ancillary revenues because the airlines can sell their miles to those secondary markets (for more on this topic, see “ Why FFPs Are Important to Top Management“).

Though both groups are profitable to the airlines, they are not equally happy. This is because they are looking for different kinds of rewards. High-flying program participants typically want upgrades, and these are generally available. The ground group typically wants free travel, but award tickets are scarce. The lack of award availability has been a major source of frustration to award seekers but, if the IdeaWorks survey is reliable, this situation may soon see some improvement.

It pays to know whether you are a sky-earner or a ground-earner and to think about whether your frequent-flier program really suits your needs. Some airlines, like American Airlines and United Airlines, tend to be more generous with award tickets than upgrades. Others, like Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines have liberal upgrade policies for frequent fliers but keep a tighter hold on award seats. If your preferences are mixed, look to an airline like Alaska Airlines, which offers an excellent array of benefits.

Technologies and expiration dates

Technology was dominant theme at the conference, as it is every year. Many of the legacy carriers are still using the now-antiquated technology that launched their programs 25 years ago. While migrating IT systems is a Herculean task, it can be done. This year, the conference’s gold and silver Awards for Program Innovation went to Qatar Airways and Aeroplan, respectively, for their use of newer technologies to deliver award value to their customers. As airlines move back into the black, achieving profitability, expect them to invest in technologies to better reward those “people who count.”

Also look for FFP expiration periods to become shorter, not only in the airline sector but across all loyalty programs. The longtime average of three years availability for accumulated points is now more like 18 months. In the words of one of the conference presenters, “If your account is dormant, we don’t need you.” Shedding the dormant accounts is advantageous to active participants, of course, as it eliminates billions of orphan miles, reducing the provider’s liability and making awards more freely available.

So, how can program members take advantage of new trends in FFPs? First, select your program wisely. If you’re a ground-earner, affiliate yourself with an airline that offers you the best benefits. Secondly, select your awards judiciously. Instead of trying to get an award ticket to the most popular destinations, such as Hawaii and Florida, purchase these inexpensive tickets and opt for more generous and easier-to-obtain international awards. For example, Delta Air Lines has a First Class partner award on Singapore Airlines for travel from the West Coast to Southeast Asia for just 140,000 miles. The price to purchase a first-class seat for these routes on Singapore Airlines averages $10,000. The Delta partner award gives you a dollars-to-points ratio of .714 cents per “mile,” compared to the average of .01 cents per “mile.”

My final word on this subject is consolidation. As I have said time and again, holding 20 frequent-flier cards does you and the airlines no good. Select one or two programs and stick with them.

For me, a true contrarian destination must meet three criteria: (1) It must offer a good exchange rate; (2) it must offer great travel value; and (3) it must offer an appealing environment. I recently found such a place: South Africa. While this is not a new place for travel, it is fast becoming a vibrant travel region as Johannesburg and surrounding cities prepare to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup of Soccer. This event is the Superbowl and Olympics of soccer rolled into one, and will draw thousands of new travelers to the region. In my opinion, the time to visit is not three years from now, but right now.

Although South Africa is an ocean and a hemisphere away, new airline service from Delta Air Lines makes the trip a relatively easy jaunt. Departing from Atlanta, the 17-hour flight stops in Dakar, Senegal, before continuing on to Johannesburg. Delta’s flights are reasonably priced and offer an above-average level of service and videos in each coach seat. For a little more comfort, I suggest purchasing an upgradeable fare and redeeming 25,000 miles each way to experience Delta’s superior Business Elite service, which offers an excellent array of meal choices, new entertainment systems and, beginning next year, a lie-flat seating configuration.

South Africa occupies a huge swath between the Atlantic and Indian oceans, and its landscapes are vast and beautiful, comprising everything from desert dunes and white-sand beaches to savannahs and subtropical forests. The Western Cape has one of the richest floral kingdoms in the world, and the country’s game viewing is among the best in Africa (where else can you find both penguins and elephants — and more than 1,000 bird species?).

I started my visit in Johannesburg, where I stayed at the Park Hyatt Johannesburg, an idyllic property in the tree-lined, upscale neighborhood of Rosebank. Its outdoor conservatory is a wonderful place to relax in comfort, get over jet lag or have a drink after a day of touring or business meetings. In the evening, many of the hotel’s guests head to the nearby Sandton neighborhood, which has a rich nightlife and many popular restaurants.

Through the Park Hyatt, I booked a “Freedom Trip” to Soweto, only a short drive from the hotel; on the way I passed the yellow hills that were once the city’s main gold mines. The tour also took me to the Apartheid Museum, which presents the history and struggle of South Africa during the 20th century. The museum is filled with reminders of the divide between the elite Whites and the Black and “Coloured” South Africans, who were declared second- and third-class citizens. It paints a vivid picture of an awful past, and is a must-see for anyone interested in human nature. It left me both sobered and enlightened.

I also took a moving tour of Nelson Mandela’s house, which is just up the street from the home of another South African Nobel Prize winner, Bishop Desmond Tutu. My guide pointed out the bullet holes in the front wall of the house, where government agents tried to assassinate Mandela’s wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Inside the house, I sat in the same room where world leaders visited after Mandela became president of South Africa. This modest house is a living memorial and testament to a man who triumphed over evil and who today is revered for his grace, statesmanship and good will.

My second day in Johannesburg involved a leisurely one-hour drive to Kruger National Park, a wildlife park that ranks among the best in Africa. Established in 1898, the park now encompasses nearly 2 million hectares, and is home to monkeys, baboons, lions, elephants, buffaloes, leopards, spiders, snakes, scorpions and white rhinos.

If you’re after African artifacts and souvenirs, Johannesburg will not disappoint. A short walk from the hotel brings you to the daily African market, which showcases handmade crafts, prints and baskets. On Sundays, look for the Rooftop Market, which offers a grander selection of African-made goods. I have long been an admirer of the artwork in Frasier Crane’s apartment in the hit TV show “Frasier,” and I was able to find similar works in the Johannesburg market for a fraction of what I would pay at home.

Beyond Johannesburg, South Africa offers a world of exploration, and my next trip will include a visit to the coastal city of Durban (which has wonderful beaches) before continuing on to Cape Town and the “African Riviera.” Instead of flying to Cape Town, I plan to take the Blue Train from Pretoria, a 27-hour journey of pure luxury that affords the opportunity to view some of the most diverse and spectacular scenery on the African subcontinent. Cape Town is said to be a beautiful place — a city embraced by a blue ocean on one side and 300-year-old vineyards on the other. I can’t wait to go.

The vastness of South Africa requires more than the few days I had there. Although my time was limited, I truly found it a magical place of history and natural beauty at home in the sleek, modern world of the 21st century. Knowing that the good value of South Africa won’t last for long, I am heading back to explore more and report back on the further wonders of this part of the world.

ExpertFlyer.com is changing all that. Normally, I’m reluctant to embrace Web sites that promise a better travel experience than you can get on your own, but this one I cannot resist telling you about.

ExpertFlyer has been around for a couple of years, providing information by subscription on airfares, upgrades, award tickets, seat availability and other things that frequent fliers care about. When the company asked me to review the service a year ago, I said no. But recently, after hearing some success stories, I decided to take it on a test flight. Unwittingly, I tested the system to its outer limits.

The program works with almost every major airline, though award and upgrade information is limited to certain cooperating carriers, notably Northwest Airlines and American Airlines (for awards and upgrades) and Delta Air Lines (for upgrades). My particular quest was to search the availability of international upgrades on my preferred airline, Delta. Only after meeting with ExpertFlyer’s president, Chris Lopinto, did I learn that this is the program’s most daunting task, due to a quirk in how Delta provides information.

In technical terms, I was looking for flights that had “Z” availability, i.e., seats in the BusinessElite section which would allow me to use Delta PMU certificates or frequent-flier miles. Before using the program I spent a few hours on the phone with a Delta representative searching for a flight from Orange County, Calif., to Santiago, Chile. I tried every imaginable option, switching dates, flying into Buenos Aires — even connecting through Sao Paulo.

Not getting anywhere, I powered up ExpertFlyer to see if it was up to the task.

What I found amazed me. Right there on the screen I saw “Z” — meaning that two Z seats were available on the flights I wanted. Immediately I called Delta, this time with the information I needed. I specified the flights I was interested in and this time the answer was “Yes, sir.”

“OK, lucky break,” I thought. So I did a search on another route. Again, ExpertFlyer listed seats with upgrade availability, and Delta confirmed the result.

But the real payoff came when I decided to change my flight. This time one of the flight segments came up ineligible for an upgrade, so I enabled a nifty feature called “Flight Alert,” which sends you an e-mail when the system determines that a desired booking class has become available. Two days later, which by coincidence was the deadline for booking the ticket, an alert came through informing me that an upgrade seat was available. I grabbed my coffee, sparked up the laptop and checked the availability again. Still there.

Still a little skeptical, I called Delta and asked if an upgrade had come through for my flight. The answer was “No.” When I reported that ExpertFlyer was showing a G fare available (G is the international equivalent of a Z fare on domestic routes), the agent cleared up the confusion. She thought I had wanted a “segment upgrade”, a complimentary upgrade that clears a certain number of days before your flight, depending on your membership level. The segment upgrade was not available, but the G fare was mine.

This trial underscores the importance of having good data. If I didn’t have ExpertFlyer’s detailed information, I would not have been able to press the agent to look up the proper upgrade code. With all due respect to reservation agents, there are the occasional few who either don’t understand your request, don’t really understand their reservation system, or are just plain lazy. But I had my arsenal ready and I was determined to get that last upgrade.

The ExpertFlyer program does have a learning curve. For example, you have to know what class category to enter, but that is easy enough to find with the quick “Look Up” feature. You also need to understand such things as “hidden codes,” and I found the program to be more accurate when I entered a specific time instead of the default time (5 a.m.). And remember that the availability of award and upgrade information is limited to certain cooperating airlines, so check the list on the site’s Help/FAQ page before signing up.

Overall, ExpertFlyer is a good tool that gives consumers unfettered and transparent access to travel intelligence, eliminating the need for third-party intervention and keeping them on the do-it-yourself track. It can serve you well. I, for one, will not fly without it.

Learn some lessons from my friend Maryam, who should have known better.

Maryam planned a family trip to Hawaii over the holidays, from December 21 to January 2. That was her first mistake, as this is one of the busiest tourist seasons in Hawaii, so there are few deals and room upgrades available. Don’t get me wrong. If a white Christmas doesn’t get you going, Hawaii is a wonderful place to be. Just expect to pay top dollar.

Maryam would have been better off waiting a week. She lives in Orange County, California, just 10 minutes from the beach, where temperatures topped 75 degrees on Christmas Day. What’s more, her kids didn’t return to school until the second week in January, giving her ample time for a Hawaiian adventure during a less-traveled time period.

Maryam’s second mistake was a whopper. After doing all the research and planning on her own, Maryam allowed a travel agent to book her hotel and airfare at no savings to her. In fact, it cost her. It turns out that the agent booked Maryam’s vacation under an unpublished consolidation rate and fare that gave the agent a bigger commission but put Maryam in the Do Not Upgrade category for both her hotel and air travel.

Unpublished rates and fares are the goat’s tail when it comes to getting upgraded. Even though Maryam paid for her travel six months in advance, met all eligibility criteria, and had enough points and miles to upgrade her room and her flight, she was barred from all upgrades because of the way the agent booked her ticket. The lesson is one I have articulated many times in the past: Unless your itinerary is very complex or requires special expertise (say, for an African safari), book your travel yourself. Above all, make sure you are upgrade-eligible.

Maryam’s last mistake was a failure of initiative. Maryam wanted a room upgrade badly. (Who can blame her? Because of the high rate, her family of four was booked into one room). After her travel agent told her there was nothing she could do, I advised Maryam to call the hotel’s manager and see if an upgrade could be arranged directly through him.

This is a somewhat tricky call, I admit, but when well executed, it can reap a number of rewards. It would involve phoning in advance, asking for the manager, getting his or her name, explaining the situation, asking for special consideration, and letting the manager know that if he could help her, Maryam would remember the effort.

Maryam was reluctant to make the call. As a result, her family ended up crammed into their one room without so much as a view. Hotel managers do have discretion to override room bookings, but if you don’t ask, you certainly won’t receive.

Most New Year’s resolutions get lost in the shuffle of everyday life. Don’t let this be one of them. Good travel planning requires no dieting or heavy effort, only some foresight and confidence — and the benefits are all yours.

Robert started off on the right foot by following a key strategy, i.e., he booked his travel with providers with whom he had a loyal relationship. Knowing that he wanted to take his wife to Rome for their 20th anniversary, Robert called his preferred airline and checked for dates and flights that would allow him to upgrade his seat. After securing his own upgradeable ticket, Robert then purchased a ticket for his wife. At this point, Robert’s goal was to save some money, so he purchased his wife a lower-priced coach ticket. Of course, Robert risked having to give up his first class seat to his wife if he couldn’t get her upgraded, but he had a plan.

Robert watched the bookings of the flight on his airline’s Web site. As the flight date approached, he saw that half of the first class cabin remained open, giving him confidence that he wouldn’t be sitting in coach. Then he strategically selected the seat for his upgrade. After consulting with me, he chose Seat 1B. I recommended this seat because I have found that the accompanying seat, Seat 1A, remains open on about 90 percent of the international flights I take. For some reason, people aren’t keen on the bulkhead window seat.

On flight day, Seat 1A remained open, so Robert approached the gate agent and asked if he would upgrade his wife to the open seat next to him. No go! Robert was careful not to push the issue. He knew that it is increasingly difficult for gate agents to make a seat change without justification, and he didn’t want an unpleasant confrontation to influence his next target: the flight attendants.

Robert boarded the flight with his wife and made a joke to the flight attendant standing at the front of the plane that his poor wife had to go sit in the back. Robert got comfortable in his seat and when the flight attendant offered him a pre-departure drink, he mentioned that his wife was in the back. Again, the reply was, “Sorry, sir, we can’t bring her up.”

Keeping his cool, Robert patiently waited for the flight to get underway. Once he saw the lead flight attendant with a free moment, he approached her and told his story, mentioning that he held the highest level of the airline’s elite frequent-flier status. Soon husband and wife were reunited.

According to Robert, the flight crew couldn’t have been more pleasant. This has also been my experience in similar situations. Most people do want to help others when given the chance. In this case, Robert’s politeness and loyalty paid off in a romantic trans-Atlantic flight, side-by-side with his wife in first class. Mind you, this kind of travel benefit is one you can only negotiate on your own.

Robert was equally proactive when he planned his hotel stay. As a loyal guest with a particular hotel group, he had gotten to know the managers of two European hotels within the hotel’s group of properties. When it came time to book his stay in Rome, Robert e-mailed the managers and asked if they would introduce him to the manager of the hotel he was planning to visit with his wife. The introduction was made, and the manager of the hotel in Rome e-mailed Robert with his direct number, asking him to call. When he did, the manager immediately asked for Robert’s phone number and called him back, so Robert needn’t pay for the call — a very nice touch, Robert thought.

Even though Robert had already booked his room on the hotel’s Web site, the manager offered him a special rate, took down some information about the anniversary, and told Robert the best way to get to the hotel from the airport. Robert appreciated this personal touch, but was really surprised by what the manager had in store for the couple’s anniversary: the hotel’s house seats to the theater, and a chauffeur-driven Mercedes-Benz to take them to the event.

The main difference between Robert’s trip and Maryam’s trip is that Robert took a proactive approach to his travel planning, knowing what he wanted and how he wanted to get it. He did not rely on idle advice or on the impersonal data-crunching of third-party Web sites. By building his own personal and loyal relationships, Robert was able to finesse a memorable trip and a wonderful anniversary.

You’ve gone thousands of miles, so why not leave the beaten path?

Increasingly, travel is woven into our daily lives. Whether for business, pleasure or holiday merry-making, travel is as much a part of our lives as MP3 players and cable TV.

With so many people traveling (42 million Americans will travel over the holidays alone), I’d like to make the case for treating travel as a hands-on adventure, rather then a passive sightseeing opportunity. It can make a big difference in the rewards you reap.

Here’s an example. Earlier this year I had the opportunity to visit Panama. Naturally, I ventured down to the famous canal. While dining on the top level of the canal restaurant, I watched a cruise boat navigate the lock, transiting from west to east. Passengers lined the decks, waving gaily to those along the shore. “How boring,” I thought, and sad, too. Here are all these people who’ve traveled so far and they’re stuck on a bacteria-ridden boat, waving as opportunity passes them by.

Determined not to be a passive traveler, I ventured off in my four-wheel-drive truck to see the real sights. I found a local crossing point and stopped in the middle of the canal for a close-up view of the lock mechanisms — truly a marvel of engineering. I continued along a dirt road until I literally could drive no more. I had arrived at an idyllic, tranquil cove offering a billion-dollar view. A couple of fishing boats were returning to shore — just dinghies really, with small outboard motors. I offered the guys a few cold waters I had in the truck, and we chatted about this and that. One offered to take me out for a short ride, and I accepted. It was a priceless experience — totally unique and personal, and nothing like the touristy shore excursions the cruise passengers were in for.

Another such blessing occurred when I was in Ethiopia, where I was traveling with a group to see the countryside, the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela and the giant ancient monoliths in Aksum. (For two excellent articles on this little-visited country, see On the Right Track in Ethiopia and Advancement in Ethiopia. I was there for the nature and the history, but I found a spiritual renewal sitting among a crowd of local men drinking a beer and talking about sports, music and even a little politics (there is a picture of me with the group in the first link above). Most of the conversation was happy and trifling, but I also learned that one of the group, a youngster of about 13, had lost all his family and was living on the streets. Despite his sad story, you could not have found a better-adjusted kid, who joked with me when I called him Snoop Doggy for his love of rap.

Now, I am no stranger to poverty, but something about the people of Ethiopia genuinely touched me, and I was glad to have stopped by the side of that dusty road. While my travel companions were stuck watching a touristy coffee ceremony, I was sitting on a tree stump talking and laughing and drinking with some wonderful people. Of course, as word got out that an American was handing out beers, more and more townspeople came out to greet me, but no one was begging for anything or taking advantage of the situation. With each beer, I received a heartfelt “Thank you.” All in all, I spent about $12 to buy 25 beers, and I got another priceless moment.

When it comes to travel I truly have been blessed. This past year I traveled to more than 21 countries. I saw the ancient pyramids in Egypt, the wonders of the Roman Empire, and the beauty of Budapest. I visited Vietnam and found it easy to understand why Sen. John McCain has become so devoted to this country. I travel first class and I stay at 5-star hotels, but what really hits home are the everyday people I meet along the way. The boy doing perfect back flips in the field beyond the Queen of Sheba’s throne, and his luminous smile when I gave him 50 birr (about $5). The Ethiopian farmers cultivating the land as their ancestors have done for thousands of years. These are people and blessings I’ll hold dear this year.

My advice is to embrace the wonderful world of travel. If you can get off that cruise ship or tour bus and rub shoulders with the locals — do it. Of course, be careful, but experience tells me that there is much in this world to discover if you let down your guard just a little. Put aside your first-class airs and humble yourself to the world around you. Open your eyes, open your mind, open your heart — open your wallet if you have to. The blessings will all be yours.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16368365/

Hotel hospitality often times makes or breaks a trip

The world is not wanting for world-class museums, historical churches or breathtaking views. Nor is it lacking in companies providing planes, trains or automobiles. What the discerning traveler does not find often enough are travel providers offering high-quality service.

To my mind, travel is service. Wherever I travel, the quality of service I receive is what makes a trip memorable or a disaster. Price is not the issue. I believe service should be excellent whether you are staying at an ultradeluxe Four Seasons Hotel or a value-orientated Hilton Garden Inn. In fact, I have stayed at the crème de la crème of hotels whose service was terrible and at value hotels whose service far exceeded expectations.

It is important to differentiate between true service-oriented travel providers and those whose commitment to service is only a facade. Let me use a few examples from recent hotel visits to demonstrate my point. With the exception of the hotel in Vietnam, none of the hoteliers knew I was a travel writer. Ironically, the Vietnam hotel is my example of poor service.

The Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo is one of the pre-eminent hotels in the world, and my first visit there, in 2001, was an exceptional experience that has probably spoiled me. On a recent visit, however, a few hiccups occurred. Nothing serious, but a collection of small things like having to call twice to have my cell phone brought up from my car, and having to make more than one call to get ice and an international adaptor brought to my room. All in all, not a big deal. But when I checked out and mentioned that the service was not as great as it had been on my previous trip, the front desk clerk notified the general manager, who came to the desk, personally apologized and then took care of my bill. (Now this was way beyond the call of duty, as my daily rate was 520 euros per night!)

On another occasion, I was checking into the Hotel Palace in Barcelona when my colleague noticed that the rate was 15 euros higher than what he thought we had been quoted and that breakfast was not included in the rate as he had expected. As it turns out, my colleague was wrong on both counts, but come Monday morning, the manager approached us during breakfast to say that he had adjusted the rate and that breakfast would be included after all.

Now the Vietnam story. This one is instructive because it illustrates what I’ve found to be a common combination: gorgeous view, lousy service. When I was in Vietnam in October, I had the opportunity to visit Evason Hideaway & Six Senses Spa at Ana Mandara, a resort located on its own island — arguably one of the most picturesque settings in the world. But I found the staff to be unwelcoming, forgetful, slow and indifferent to its guests (I got not so much as an apology when the gift shop clerk gave my purchases to another guest). Of course, service often takes its cue from leadership, and this resort is run by an arrogant general manager who (among other things) failed to return phone calls when I inquired about a pair of shoes I had left in my room; he later answered my complaint that it had cost me $40 in phone charges to reach him with an abrupt “I can’t do anything about that.”

Don’t get me wrong. Quality service doesn’t mean you get a refund every time you have a bad experience. This past summer, I visited The Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest. I must have had a bad flight, because I got all upset over something silly like having to wait for a minute before the front desk picked up the phone. When I complained (and I had no right to), the hotel manager personally apologized and gave me his direct number should I need anything else from the hotel. Here I was whining, and yet the hotel showed me respect and demonstrated care for my experience. This hotel manager made his guest whole.

The Park Hyatt in Washington, D.C. takes an equally respectful and proactive approach toward customer service, placing complimentary bottles of Voss water in every guest room. Many hotels offer bottles of water, of course, but they typically come with a tag saying you can enjoy the water for a $15 extra charge! The Park Hyatt also offers two empty slots in the mini-bar for your own beverages. Nice touch. Another nice touch: When I called the operator to get the room service department, he did not transfer the call but instead promptly took my order himself.

Commitment to service is also expressed as a willingness to listen to the customer and change business practice. During a recent trip to Ethiopia, Green Land Tours led me through the many wonders of northern Ethiopia. On the last day of my trip, I spoke to the owner of this tour company and told him that his buses were not up to par and that I couldn’t recommend the company to other travelers because of it. Well, between the language barrier and my boorish attitude, we had a clashing of Titans (mind you, the buses weren’t awful; I’m just a tough critic). Later that evening we cleared up our misunderstanding, as Dario, the owner, explained to me the difficulty of obtaining financing for tour buses and how they can cost more than $60,000. I apologized for my ignorance — and arrogance — and we made friends. The very next day, Dario sent an e-mail saying that despite the large investment, his company was expanding its bus fleet to better serve its customers. Hearing the customers and acting on their feedback is the highest proof that a company cares about you.

Finding hotels with good service can be tricky. You can’t rely on the ratings of peer-to-peer sites such as TripAdvisor, especially if you have high standards for service. Instead, I recommend that you call the hotel yourself and get an idea of how they treat their guests by asking questions about the property. You might also ask how long the manager has been there. A new manager does not necessarily signify trouble, but if someone new is on board, you might ask what happened to the last manager. Finally, go with well established hotel groups. The Hiltons and Four Seasons of the hotel world work hard to keep their brands up.

Travel is service. When you come across a travel provider that offers value and quality service, you are certainly in for a good ride.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16187586/

I thought that maybe I was delusional or suffering from malaria.

But, no. Right there on the front page of USA Today was the news that brash Doug Parker, CEO of US Airways Group, wanted to take over the nation’s third-largest airline while still struggling to complete last year’s bungled merger of US Airways and America West Airlines.

I admit that my first thought was for my first class upgrades. I have more than 3 million frequent-flier miles with Delta Air Lines, and I get upgraded on every flight I take. But it’s not just me. This proposed merger is a no-win situation for everyone except Parker and his executive team.

Let’s look at the facts.

Labor tensions. The recently merged US Airways and America West Airlines unions are in a bitter battle over wages, seniority ratings and the blending of two diverse corporate cultures. Adding a third company and its unions would certainly throw a wrench into the system. As Jack Stephan, chairman of the unit of the Air Line Pilot Association at US Airways says, “If this airline can’t successfully put two airlines together, we’re very skeptical about their chances of putting three together.”

Job loss. Mergers are meant to provide synergies and often this means eliminating overlap. In this case, it would mean the loss of well-paying jobs. Delta and US Airways have significant overlap in Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., Cincinnati and Philadelphia, and Salt Lake City and Phoenix, where Delta and US Airways, respectively, have major hubs. Under the proposed merger, these city pairs would mean excess capacity. The result would be closing or reducing the current hubs, eliminating thousand of jobs. It is estimated that, overall, a combined Delta/US Airways airline would save $1.65 billion in annual costs by reducing redundancies.

Higher fares. Airline executives and Wall Street are hungry for airline consolidation. In fact, US Airways stock shares were up a surprising 17 percent on buy recommendations from stock analysts after the airline announced its merger intentions. Ordinarily, the stock of an acquiring company trades down because of the anticipated cost of the merger, but the perceived pricing power of a new Delta/US Airways airline seems to make Wall Street happy. The proposed merger is expected to reduce current capacity by 10 percent. Such a reduction would hit particularly hard in the South and Northeast, where both airlines have a strong presence.

Poor service. An undertaking of this magnitude is bound to cause confusion and, if past precedent is any indication, the customer will suffer. Currently, US Airways’ service rankings are among the lowest in the industry, with complaints ranging from baggage handling to a botched integration of the airline’s reservations and frequent-flier systems — not to mention poor customer service. Adding the complexity of a third airline, especially one the size of Delta, would surely overtax an already troubled operation.

Wealth distribution. Consumers will not share in the wealth of a merger as they will face higher fares and increased competition for award and upgrade seats, but Parker will probably find a bigger paycheck in his pocket. In 2005, Parker was paid $6.2 million — up from his pre-merger compensation of $1.3 million just the year before.

Opportunistic behavior. I am all for free markets and capitalism. But for this deal to make sense, Delta must be in bankruptcy protection. Why? Because bankruptcy protection gives Delta the legal right to reject or renegotiate leases for aircraft and other assets. This powerful tool would allow Parker to cut costs in ways that would ordinarily be unavailable to him. Good business? Maybe. But how fair is it to those vendors and creditors losing millions of dollars or to the families of the employees laid off because of this special advantage?

Sure, I have a selfish interest in seeing Delta remain independent since a merger means more competition for my prized upgrades. But all travelers — everyone from the once-a-year flier to the multimillion-miler — should favor competition and choice. A merger of this magnitude would reduce the number of flights in heated markets such as the South and Northeast, causing an increase in airfares. Moreover, it would limit the availability of frequent-flier awards and other customer options. If you want low airfares, greater choice and sustained employment for hard-working airline employees, say “No!” to this absurd proposed merger.

When safety is more important than one person’s comfort

Imagine my surprise when the ticket agent told me that I did not have a first class seat.

“What?” I sputtered. “But I confirmed that seat just an hour ago!”

On this particular occasion, comfort was foremost in my mind. Just a day earlier I had flown 8,000 miles home from Vietnam, and now I was jumping on a plane for another 6,500 miles to the South of France. When you’re traveling more than halfway around the world in less than 24 hours, comfort seems like a big deal.

But the agent would not be moved. Never mind that I was tired. Never mind that I had booked the ticket long in advance. Never mind that I am a member of this airline’s million-miler club several times over. On this flight, Seat 1B – a seat that over the years I have come to think of as “my” seat – would be occupied by someone else.

I wasn’t giving it up without an explanation. Drawing on my years in sales and sales training, I probed and questioned representatives from the airline until I discovered what had happened to my seat. In time, the truth came out. Seat 1B had been commandeered by a federal air marshal. I’d been bumped off the plane and onto another flight in the name of national security.

Perhaps I should have swelled with patriotic pride but, no, I was incensed.

“How dare they?” I thought. “I’m a paying customer! Along comes this cowboy at the last minute, and he gets to take my seat on whim? No way!”

I took my high dudgeon to anyone who would listen. First I spoke with as many gate agents, ticket agents and flight crew members as would hear me out. I quickly learned that bumps like mine are not uncommon, and while they cause trouble for the airlines, the gate agents can hardly refuse a federal request. But the more I talked to people, the more I realized my first take on the situation was mistaken. In fact, after talking to agents in charge of the Federal Air Marshal program, I have concluded that the program is responsible and well thought out.

Of course, the Department of Homeland Security cannot disclose the particulars of the program, so you won’t learn anything here about what flights the marshals fly, what seats they occupy or what their tactics are. But I can tell you that my situation – being yanked from first class on less than one hour’s notice on a seemingly peaceful Sunday morning – was an anomaly. Most assignments are scheduled with much more advance notice. But, as one official said, “We consistently have to balance the need for security and passengers’ comfort.”

What I didn’t know about the program is that it protects U.S. citizens from curb to cabin and back again. In fact, marshals are on duty from the moment they leave their homes. They are on guard on their approach to the airport, in the airport’s parking lot, on the shuttle bus to the terminal, in the boarding area, on the plane and in the baggage claim area.

The program also comprises a cadre of highly trained Canine Explosive Detection Dogs; the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program, which allows highly trained pilots to carry a weapon in the cockpit; and the Crew Member Self Defense Program, which teaches flight attendants the same defensive skills that the air marshals learn (Watch out! That flight attendant serving you a drink could very well take you out!).

In short, the Federal Air Marshal program has built a multilayered approach to protecting the safety of air travelers. Though much of the program is cloaked in secrecy, and it can occasionally inconvenience passengers, it seems to this frequent traveler that the program is serving the interests of the U.S. traveling public well.

Sure, it’s tempting to get mad when you lose that coveted first class seat. But save the hissy fit. In the end, arriving safely is all that matters.

Are you a frequent flier, frequent car renter or frequent hotel guest? Have you checked the calendar lately? Important deadlines are fast approaching. If you don’t plan ahead, you may lose your chance for hard-earned rewards.

That would be too bad, because this year loyalty programs have made a comeback and there are opportunities for significant rewards. This is especially true of the airline programs. As most of the major full-service airlines recover from aggressive cost restructuring, they are focusing their attention back on their loyal customers, who are more important to them than ever. Today’s loyalty programs can snag you the best airline seats, hotel rooms and low-mileage cars; complimentary access to airport lounges, concierge floors, and gyms; and, increasingly, special awards tailored to the members’ own needs and interests.

For example, this year I will exceed 200,000 Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) with my preferred carrier, Delta Air Lines. As a means of reaching out to me and rewarding me for my loyalty, Delta sent me a coupon for my choice of a) 10,000 MQMs for 2007; b) 25,000 bonus miles; or c) a free year of Crown Room Membership, which would otherwise cost me $400 out of pocket or $2,000 in tickets to earn the necessary qualifying miles. Lesson: Loyalty pays, and the more you consolidate your business with a small number of providers, the more you will benefit.

Year-end checkup

Frequent-user programs typically close their books at the end of the calendar year. That means you have until December 31 to accumulate all the frequent-flier miles — or frequent-guest nights or frequent-driver rentals — that you need to qualify for your program’s rewards. You may also be facing an expiration deadline for some of the rewards you have already earned. Many programs give you only one to three years to cash in, and the expiration date is typically February 28. For example, membership rewards earned between January 1 and December 31, 2006, would typically expire on February 28, 2008.

For this reason, I advise travelers to give their frequent-user programs a checkup well before the December deadline. Flying the red-eye on December 31 trying to earn those last thousand miles is a really terrible way to spend New Year’s Eve.

Now is a good time to review how many qualifying miles (or nights or car rentals) you still need to qualify for elite status with your preferred airlines, car rental companies and hotels. You don’t want to miss out on the benefits of elite membership because of careless planning.

If you’re close to reaching the minimum level required to maintain your current status, or if you are just a few steps from a higher level, now is the time to act. Otherwise you will run into the holiday rush. Here’s what to do.

First, take stock of your program and see where you stand. Can you reach an elite status with one more flight, a short hotel stay or an extra car rental? If yes, consider visiting Spokane in December rather than in January, or maybe treat yourself to a fall getaway with a weekend hotel visit and a nice rental car. Business hotels often offer discounted rates over the weekend, and rental companies like Hertz sometimes offer discounts on their special-collection cars on the weekend as well.

Remember, the objective is to obtain preferred status at the lowest possible price, so look for low fares. If you don’t need hotel nights, take a day trip to top off your airline qualifying status. For example, I can leave southern California in the morning, fly to Atlanta or Cincinnati and get back home for dinner — usually earning around 5,000 qualifying miles on Delta for less than $450.

Once you’ve examined your direct qualifying opportunities, check with your program provider to see if there are other ways to make an elite grade. For example, holders of Delta’s Platinum Sky Miles Card can earn 10,000 qualifying miles by charging $25,000 on the card annually. Putting your Christmas gifts on the card may do it for you.

What if your travel pattern has changed?

If you find that you are often flying an airline other than your preferred carrier (perhaps because your business routes have changed), don’t be afraid to inquire about transferring your elite status to the other airline – or hotel group or car-rental company.

This little-known strategy simply involves calling a competing travel provider’s membership office, explaining your new travel circumstances, and requesting that they match the status you hold with your current travel provider. Many companies will be happy to do so in exchange for getting your business, which they can see will be lucrative. But you must fulfill your part of the bargain: You must prove that you actually have elite status with a competing travel provider, and you must use the new provider soon and regularly. Most programs will allow only one lifetime “courtesy match,” and if you try to scam the program, you’ll be denied benefits.

Don’t stop at the top level of elite status

If you have already reached the highest level of elite status in your loyalty program, you may think you’ve capped out and should throw your business to a second or even third provider. Think again. The more business you keep with your preferred partner, the greater the rewards. I have found, for example, that when my miles creep up over 75,000 or 100,000 in a year, I start getting unannounced benefits like fee waivers, not to mention upgrades galore. In fact, although I have never paid for a conventional first-class or business-class ticket in the last 15 years, I have always sat in the first-class or business section.

So go ahead, rack up the miles with one provider. Think of it as putting distance between you and your competitors — other travelers. Consolidation also keeps tracking simple. It is no fun learning you’re short at the end of the year because you have too many programs chasing too few miles.

When you’re set for this year, get started on 2007. Many airlines offer special discounted flights in the slow winter months. For example, Delta is offering $99 one-way fares on their new route from JFK to London ($499 business class). I’m taking advantage of this, starting 2007 off with a nice 15,000 MQMs for my flight from Orange County to London.

In sum, now is the time to organize your travel programs for another year of rewards and upgrades. Whatever your reasons for going the extra mile, be certain that your program is going the distance for you. If it isn’t, find yourself a program that will.

Also Available at MSNBC.com

By know we have all been inundated with reminders that we passed the fifth anniversary of 9/11 on Monday. Americans cannot and should not forget the atrocious attacks on American soil — attacks that shocked and changed the world forever. Among those whose lives have been changed are travelers and the travel industry itself.

Leading the discussion of 9/11 topics is the question of air travel safety, specifically whether air travelers are any safer now than they were before the 9/11 attacks. Various interests have capitalized on this question, bending the discussion to fit their own agendas. For example, with pivotal midterm elections coming up and Democrats looking to regain control of both the House and the Senate, leaders of that party march to a drumbeat that declares travel security to be worse than before the terrorist attacks. This notion is backed by plenty of newspaper columnists and television pundits all taking the low road.

One example is a six-page spread from the September issue of a major travel magazine which lambasted the state of airline security with a collection of flimsy anecdotes. The writer borrowed a page from Florida Rep. John Mica’s playbook, dissing everyone from President Bush to TSA chief Kip Hawley and from airline management to airport officials. I read this article as I flew safely from New York to Orange County, Calif., sitting in my customary seat (1B), staring at the very-secure cockpit door. With an air marshal seated three rows behind me, I felt as secure as a baby in his mother’s arms.

The best training I received when I studied for my doctorate in industrial organizational psychology was in the technique of scientific investigation — examining facts and supporting conclusions with factual evidence. Unfortunately, propaganda has led otherwise intelligent individuals to a false impression about the state of air travel — that and a lack of firsthand experience. Whenever someone launches a tirade about how horrible and inconvenient air travel is, I usually inquire how often they have traveled in the past year. The answer is generally “once” or “twice.” Conversely, those who travel frequently usually tell me air travel is not much of a problem and that they feel safe whenever they fly. Whom are you going to believe: the people with a handful of personal experiences, or people who fly all the time?

Are we safer five years later? You bet!

Yes, our intelligence and security systems still need work, but the facts are undisputable: Not one major U.S. airline has suffered a terrorist attack since 9/11.

Not much of a benchmark, you say? Well, look at the incidence of airline security breaches since 1930. (That was the year history recorded the first airplane hijacking, after revolutionaries took over a plane in Arequipa, Peru, in hopes of dropping political leaflets over the countryside.) There were three hijackings in 1948; 109 from 1968 to 1969 (mostly to Cuba); and 255 from 1970 to 1972, at the height of the hijacking phenomenon. The industry reported approximately 300 incidents between 1977 and 1986, and approximately 200 from 1987 to 1998, including the notorious bombing of Pam Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Yet today, airline hijackings are virtually unheard of. With the exception of the domestic bombing attacks in Russia, airliners have been untouched since the terrorist attacks five years ago. Attempts like Richard Reid’s shoe-bomb plot in December 2001 and the London plot discovered in August have all been foiled. Certainly this is no time to let our guard down or become complacent, but it is also no time to shrink back in fear.

Make no mistake. Travelers who don’t have much experience with the current state of air travel are prone to becoming pawns in a high-stakes game of politics. Politicians seeking reelection are using this cause to win votes, twisting and altering facts as skillful politicians can do. Before you jump on the “Woe are we!” bandwagon, look at the facts and understand that the evidence speaks otherwise.

Take it from this traveler, who has flown 190,000 miles so far this year: Each and every time I step on a plane, I have the fullest confidence in those working hard to secure the safety of my flight and yours.

Also Available at MSNBC.com

So I went back to Europe this summer, and I managed to find some good values by following some of my own advice, strategies that I first outlined in my book “The Penny Pincher’s Passport to Luxury Travel”.

Contrarian Strategy #1: Look for out-of-the-way destinations that are not overrun with seasonal tourists. Often these are the very places offering low airfares. This was the case for my first stop: Barcelona. I choose Barcelona because the flights from Orange County were reasonably priced, and I had plenty of upgrades. (Contrarian Strategy #2: Use your frequent-flier miles and loyalty points). Upon arriving in Spain, I rented a BMW 3 series for 92 euros — not the cheapest rate but it was a new car and Hertz has a reputation for quality. Moreover, the car came equipped with Hertz’s “NeverLost” GPS system, which would allow me to travel to many out-of-the-way places in confidence.

I headed out immediately, intending to enjoy Barcelona on the return trip. A six-hour drive took me to Geneva and my wonderful hotel, the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva. The hotel, which sits on the southwestern shore of Lake Geneva, has views of Mont Blanc and offers special bed-and-breakfast packages along with a fourth-night-free promotion. (Contrarian Strategy #3: By combining frequent-guest points with a special promotion, you can get a better deal. I enjoyed a luxurious room overlooking the lake.)

Geneva has the flair of Paris without the expense. The city played a pivotal role in shaping Europe for centuries, especially during the Reformation; it was Rousseau’s birthplace and Voltaire’s refuge. Today Geneva is an important banking and watch-making center and serves as the European headquarters of the United Nations. It is also a pretty city, with enchanting quays, lakeside promenades, leafy parks and a lively Old Town. There are many fashionable stores and art galleries, more than 30 museums, several theaters and an opera house, gourmet restaurants and a dynamic nightlife.

My favorite museum in Geneva was the Patek Philippe Museum. I collect Patek Philippe watches, and it was a thrill for me to see the history of this brand unfold before my eyes. (Contrarian Strategy #4: Skip the “must-see” sights that you couldn’t care less about, and do something you really like.)

From Geneva, I took a marathon drive to Bilbao, Spain: 1,100 kilometers in roughly nine hours. I drove nonstop because I was short on time, but if you are traveling at a more leisurely pace, I recommend spending a day or two in either Toulouse or Bordeaux, both beautiful regions in the interior of France offering charming settings, wine and good dining.

I went to Bilbao to experience the ultramodern Guggenheim Museum. Happily, the prices weren’t bad. I stayed at the five-star Gran Hotel Domine Bilbao, a Silken hotel. My room overlooking the museum included breakfast for only 120 euros a night. The service was superb, and the hotel’s teakwood-paved terrace offered outstanding views of the museum and surrounding hills. It was also the “in place” to have breakfast. I happened to be in Bilbao during its inaugural Bilbao Music Festival, so I ate breakfast with band members from Cheap Trick and Guns & Roses, who were also staying at the hotel.

Architect Frank O. Gehry’s design for the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is sheer genius. Interconnecting blocks of limestone run down on one side to the banks of the Nervión River, which lies 16 meters below the city of Bilbao. Many of the building’s astonishing sweeps and curves are encased in titanium, but glass curtain walls allow light to shimmer through to the inside. The 19 exhibition galleries occupy three levels arranged around a central atrium; they are connected by a system of curving walkways suspended from the roof. The interior space has been described as a “metaphorical city” and as “a city within a city,” where architectural design is taken to its most extreme limits. As I wandered through the museum enjoying the artwork, I was amazed by the curvy sometimes-passive, sometimes-interactive nature of the building’s architectural design.

From Bilbao I headed back to Barcelona by way of Pamplona, the Spanish city notorious for its annual “Running of the Bulls.” I arrived two days after the official event but found the city to be a worthwhile stop nonetheless. Meandering among the small streets without the threat of a bull horning down at me is more to my tastes anyway (see Contrarian Strategy #4). The half-mile route winding through town from a corral on Santo Domingo Street to the city’s bullring is filled with charming restaurants, cafes and residences above the ground-level businesses.

The drive from Pamplona to Barcelona took me through northern Spain along an excellent autopista, or highway, traversing a landscape that ranges from highlands to desert to mountains. The BMW was a dream machine, and I was in heaven the whole way. (Contrarian Strategy #5: Spend your money on experiences that matter to you.)

In four hours I was back in Barcelona, the third city on my must-see list. If you have not already visited this young, alive, multicultural, European city with a Catalan flair, you’re missing a true delight. If you have been there before, as I have, there are many new adventures, restaurants, cafes, shopping and beaches to explore.

I stayed at the Hotel Palace, Barcelona, an early 20th-century building with the grace and charm of that era. It’s ideally located along a tree-lined street close to the popular Ramblas area of the city, which is full of restaurants, shops and cafes. The hotel is currently undergoing renovations, so the rates are below market for a property of this quality. (Contrarian Strategy #6: Look for luxury hotel properties under new ownership or renovation, but avoid booking during reopening festivities, when prices go up.)

If Europe is calling you, try to think past the pricey cites of Rome, Paris and London. Explore some less-traveled places and apply some contrarian strategies. You’ll not only be happy with the money you save, you’ll also find welcoming hoteliers and budget-friendly prices. You might even have breakfast with someone famous.

Also Available at MSNBC.com

Six strategies to make the most of your European escape

To compensate for the loss of points, American Express will launch a new program called “Bonus Point Mall,” which effectively awards members two points for each dollar spent at selected online merchants, including Target, Barnes & Noble and Gap. Cardholders will be required to access these online merchants through a link on American Express’s Web site.

American Express says it will start notifying affected cardholders beginning with their August statements. Under current plans, customers holding Blue Cards and Delta Air Lines SkyMiles Cards will continue to receive double points on selected purchases.

The good, the bad and the ugly

American Express is attempting to channel cardholders’ spending to direct channels. This is a buying strategy that I usually advocate, but American Express is pushing it in the wrong way at the wrong time.
Here are the nuts and bolts of the proposed changes.

The bad:

* Many cardholders will lose double points on everyday shopping at grocery stores, gas stations, and drug stores.

* Some members could see their annual fee rise by $35, while others (those who lose the double points) could save up to $15 in fees.

* Elimination of the free Membership Rewards Options program, a free reward program offered to charge-card users. Members of this program will have to pay a fee to “upgrade” to the Membership Rewards program.

* Elimination of the free shipping and handling currently offered to certain high-end cardholders.

The arguably good:

* Participants will earn double points on purchases made at designated online shopping sites.

* Certain cardholders will benefit from a new insurance plan that reimburses patrons who miss concerts, plays or sporting events if the tickets were purchased with an American Express card.

* Gold, Platinum and Centurion cardholders will qualify for free roadside assistance.

In short, American Express is stepping back into the ’50s, turning its once-valued program into a modern-day application of the model formerly used by S&H Green Stamps (the program that allowed grocery shoppers to collect “green stamps” that could be redeemed for an inventory of items ranging from coffee makers to sewing machines).

A number of travelers have told me that reducing their opportunities to earn points will not increase their American Express spending but rather decrease it; in many cases, cardholders said they will cancel the card.

The reality is that the new program limits consumer choice while enriching American Express and its select group of partner vendors. The program won’t fly because it offers little value.

Let me explain what I mean:

1. A dedicated Web portal where the vendor and card issuer are in collusion gives the vendor greater pricing power which, naturally, results in higher prices. Amex is basically setting up an affiliate mall and betting that you, the consumer, will ignore prices in favor of double points. Maybe you will. But at a time when the value of air miles and loyalty points is falling faster than the U.S. dollar, I think informed consumers will say, “No, thanks.”

2. The added incentives, such as ticket protection and roadside assistance, are of limited value, I think. The ticket protection will require many restrictions and burdensome documentation, and it seems ripe for abuse by unscrupulous consumers — ultimately generating costs to legitimate cardholders’ claims. The roadside assistance is almost surely duplicative, as the higher-end cardholders likely already have roadside plans through AAA (or their car’s dealer/manufacturer) that cost less than the high annual fees charged for American Express premium cards.

So why the change?

Desiree Fish, a spokeswoman for American Express, says that the everyday point program was devised to change consumer behavior. Essentially, the goal was to stimulate spending on items other than travel and entertainment. At the same time, Amex was working to increase merchant acceptance in the United States. With these objectives achieved, American Express seems no longer to find any benefit in creating added value for its cardholders.

Curiously, this pullback in customer value comes at a time when American Express is faced with increased competition from MasterCard and Visa and is experiencing lackluster financial results. I can appreciate the company’s search for added profits, but I think Amex is in for a rude awakening a year from now, when it takes a look at its member roster. American consumers are often fickle and disloyal. American Express cardholders are no exception, and I predict that many of them will defect to better credit-card offerings.

If I were a holder of an American Express card slated for a change, I would wait and see what the final iteration of the new program looks like. If the program rolls out as anticipated, I think I would change to a card offering greater value.

August 9, 2006

On a recent trip to Spain, I rented a BMW 3 Series car with Hertz’s NeverLost GPS system and unlimited mileage for 92 euros a day. Yes, I could have saved 30 euros a day with a subcompact model, but since I was planning to drive from Barcelona to Bilbao and on into southern France, I figured the extra 120 euros (the total for my four-day rental) was little enough to pay for the thrill I would get hugging the curvy roads through the Pyrenees, along the Bay of Biscay and on through Toulouse and Bordeaux. To this driver, a snazzy car makes driving a rental a joy rather than a chore.

Car rental companies have been quietly sprucing up their fleets with cars designed to give travelers a little extra. One beefy example is Hertz’s exclusive special-edition Ford Shelby GT-H Mustang, which is sure to please the muscle-car crowd. Adventurous types might find a Hummer fits their needs when they head out to explore the red rocks of Sedona or to ski in the Rocky Mountains. Want to impress your business associates, or cruise Rodeo Drive or South Beach in luxury? Try a car from Hertz’s Prestige Collection, which offers Audis, Jaguars and even Cadillacs.

Sometimes what you want from your car is something fun or out of the ordinary. While planning a rental for a recent visit in Hawaii, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Hertz’s Fun Collection features unusual and sporty cars like the Mazda Miata, Nissan 350Z and PT Cruiser Convertible. And Avis recently launched a line of Cool Cars, including the new Cadillac CTS, Volvo S60 and Hummer H3. Avis has also expanded its fleet with more convertibles, including the Chrysler Sebring and Ford Mustang, and more sedans and coupes, including the PT Cruiser and the Chevy HHR.

Most of these special-collection cars come equipped with Sirius satellite radio and GPS systems, and in many cases, you’ll get special services like free pickup, delivery and dedicated customer service agents.

Here are a few tips for getting the most from your car rental:

* Join the club. Most major car rental companies offer memberships that allows you to book online and bypass rental lines. Just print out your contract and go directly to your car.

* Book direct. The best rental deals are found on the company’s own Web site. Look for limited-time specials, which can save you big money.

* Use your membership. Being a member of AAA, AARP and other organizations can often save you 5 to 10 percent on the cost of a rental.

* Look beyond the lowest rate. Sometimes cheapest is just, well — cheapest. There is a lot to be said for comfort, special features and a fun drive.

* Think safety. Special-collection cars typically have added features like side air bags and enhanced braking and stability systems that increase your chances of walking away from an accident.

With customers looking for vehicles that are more fun and entertaining to drive, car rental companies have made great strides in improving vehicle selection and their customers’ overall driving experience. In some markets, Hertz even lets you select the exact make and model of your car — which really gives customers something to get excited about.

Look past the jalopies the next time you rent, and you will drive away happy.

Also Available at MSNBC.com

Joel Widzer

My favorite column topic, by far, is the idea of contrarian travel, or traveling against the grain. It’s my strategy for getting luxury for less. But recently one of the pillars of this strategy — the tactic of traveling off-season — has lost some of its punch. As more people are traveling smarter, the lines between on-season, “shoulder season,” and off-season have blurred, and the return for traveling off-peak has gotten smaller.

These days you have to look at travel opportunities differently, not only off-season, but off the beaten track. Rather than simply thinking of going to Arizona in July (which is still a hot bargain, in terms of both price and heat index), think of out-of-the-way destinations that you’ll enjoy, and consider some other contrarian strategies while you’re at it. Here are some tips to help you get the idea.

Think like a celebrity. Paparazzi-shy stars are often seeking out-of-the-way places to relax in comfort. Think Namibia. It was good enough for Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

Consider trendy passe. The real finds are the up-and-comers, those places that have yet to catch on with the mainstream (like Prague in the early 90s, but now overrun with tourists). Two good bets for today’s traveler: the coastal towns of Dubrovnik and Zadar in the western Balkans on the Adriatic Sea.

Act like a humanitarian. Natural disasters and other calamities that wreck havoc on a destination also leave the local tourism community in turmoil. Not only can you score luxury at a fraction of the usual cost, but you can also help the local economy with your tourist dollars. A friend of mine traveled to Indonesia after the 2004 earthquake and tsunami and found great hotel bargains. He also spent a few days of his vacation helping with local relief efforts. In his words: “I had a great vacation and helped needy people at the same time.”

Play the loyalty card. If you must travel to busy tourist places, parlay your past loyalty into upgrades. The cheapest hotel rooms, rental cars, cruise cabins and airline seats generally go first, so travel providers end up upgrading guests to higher levels of service. Get ahead of the game by notifying your travel provider of your travel plans and requesting an upgrade based on your past loyalty.

Catch the opening. Whenever a hotel, cruise line or airline offers a new property, route or service, try to get in the door before the crowds. The best strategy is to travel a week or two after the opening. The first weeks will be full of VIPs, but between the opening and the crush of the later-coming general public, you can scoop up some good bargains.

Skip school. This bit of advice will be appreciated by your kids. A few days of missed school can mean a truly memorable vacation and valuable family time — at preseason prices. Just make sure to get your kids’ homework so they can keep up with their classmates in between swimming, rafting and horseback riding.

Save a day. Go for quality not quantity. My recent trip to the Grand Hyatt Kauai lasted only four days. But those four days in the 2,700-square-foot Presidential Suite overlooking the blue Pacific were certainly more memorable than six days spent overlooking the parking lot.

Consider luxury. In their quest to save money, most travelers consider only budget travel choices. Ironically, luxury can be cheaper. The Four Seasons, a name synonymous with luxury, routinely offers a fourth night free with three paid nights. When you add up all those numbers, luxury can actually save you money. Other luxury hotels are well-priced to begin with. In Bilbao, Spain, for example, the Silken Gran Hotel Domine Bilbao offers five-star luxury with rates reasonably priced at 110 euros. And from its teakwood terrace, you get views of the city’s extraordinary Guggenheim Museum, one of the must-see sights of Europe.

Here’s my current list of areas of opportunity for traveling off the beaten path. All it takes is a willingness to go a little farther afield.

Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, not the Italian or French Riviera. Both the Hyatt and the Four Seasons have wonderful hotels in Sharm el Sheikh, a seaside resort with some of the finest beaches and diving in the world. At press time, the Four Seasons was offering a bed-and-breakfast package starting at $195 per night.

Vienna, not Paris. With a famed opera house, world-class museums, hotels, restaurants and cafes, Vienna offers a nice alternative to pricey Paris.

Panama, not Cancun. While lacking the festive reputation of Mexico’s beaches, Panama offers a delightful retreat at a fraction of the cost. The Bristol Hotel, a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, offers luxurious accommodations in the center of vibrant Panama City. At press time, rooms with daily breakfast were available from $125 nightly.

Budapest, not Prague. While both cities have stunning baroque architecture, Budapest has the mighty Danube, fewer crowds and generally lower prices. The Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace Budapest, a former palace, has been transformed into an Art-Nouveau-and-Renaissance landmark. Many of the rooms have views of the Danube, the Chain Bridge or Buda Hills. Delta Air Lines recently initiated direct service to Budapest from JFK.

The world of travel offers boundless opportunities, and you can find truly memorable travel at a bargain. If you’re not sure how to do it, check out the advice in my book “The Penny Pincher’s Passport to Luxury Travel.”

And remember, there’s nothing better than a first class flight to a five-star hotel.

Also Available at MSNBC.com

Joel Widzer

For all their usefulness, third-party travel Web sites can be as much a burden as a boon. The conventional wisdom is to check three or four Web sites before purchasing travel services. I say: Hold on a minute. The guy who spoke to me after a speech in San Francisco would agree. He had spent six hours searching Web sites for bargain airfares and found he could save only $25.

“It’s not worth it,” he said. In the end, he purchased the ticket directly from the airline’s Web site. In my opinion, that’s what he should have done in the first place.

The online sale of airline tickets dates back to December 1995, when Alaska Airlines sold airline tickets to a family of four over the Internet. That simple transaction changed consumers’ travel planning forever.

Before the advent of travel Web sites, it was difficult for travelers to access products, pricing and other travel information There was not a lot of marketplace transparency, i.e., customers couldn’t easily compare prices among competing airlines and other travel providers. As a result, customers leaned on travel agents and ticket sellers to guide their travel experiences.

Thanks to Web sites like Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz, transparency is now the industry standard and consumers are both savvier and better served. Travelers literally have a world of information available through their computers.

Credit for a revolutionary change in travel booking should be given to the early trailblazers.

But I’m afraid their time has come.

According to PhoCusWright, an independent consulting firm, online bookings through a third-party agency will comprise 55 percent of all travel bookings in 2007, a market share that represents $136 billion in business. These are big numbers, and they have gotten the attention of direct service providers, e.g., airlines, hotels and car rental agencies. These suppliers have responded with low-price guarantees, bonus miles and a seamless booking experience for customers who book directly with them, whether online or by phone. PhoCusWright reports that consumer perceptions of direct-supplier Web sites have improved in recent years; in fact, a 2004 study found that 55 percent of consumers believed that direct travel providers offer the best price. I suspect the numbers are much higher today.

It makes sense when you think about it. Whenever you have a middleman, prices are going to be higher. If I sell my used car directly, I avoid paying distribution or commission costs; if I sell it on eBay, I pay to use their services. Sometimes a broker or intermediary can provide added value, but when you’re booking a single hotel room, a car rental or a flight from point A to point B, there really isn’t much to it.

Today, third-party Web sites cannot compete with direct providers in terms of price and service. Let me give you a few recent examples.

I needed to book a flight from Tel Aviv, Israel, to Amman, Jordan. Using a metasearch engine, I found that Royal Jordanian Air offered a flight (I will explain metasearch engines in a moment). The best fare I could find was about $240. When I called Delta Air Lines to see if they could book this flight for me (I was already flying Delta from the United States to Tel Aviv), the agent offered me a rate of $200. In another case, a third party web site offered me a $638 U.S., round trip fare between Barcelona Spain and Budapest Hungary, while Malev Airline’s website offered me the same flight for 195 Euros. Even with the exchange rate, I out fared far better.

Other airlines offer incentives for travelers booking direct. For example, Frontier Airlines is offering free DIRECTVR service for travelers who purchase tickets online before June 30, 2006, and travel before the end of the year.

Better service and cost savings are not limited to the airlines. Back in March, I booked a room at the Grand Hyatt Kauai for a trip in May. Weeks later, I noticed that the room rate offered on the hotel’s Web site was $50 a night less. I called Hyatt’s reservations line, explained the situation, was placed on hold for 30 second and, presto, I had a new rate and confirmation e-mailed to me. This simple phone call direct to the company netted me a savings of $200 — enough to pay for the rental car. Would this have happened with a third-party Web site? From the scores of letters I have receives seeking advice about how to deal with similar situations, I doubt it.

In another instance, I booked a room for the San Francisco Hilton. I mistakenly booked the wrong date and did not notice my error for a few weeks. I finally realized what had happened when I saw the room charge on my credit card. When I called the hotel and explained my mistake, the Hilton not only refunded the no-show charge but also honored the lower rate I had booked, even though the room rate had risen by more than $100.

These stories go on and on. The point is that direct providers of services have a greater vested interest in your booking than do third-party providers, so they work harder to assure your customer satisfaction.

Still, there are a few occasions when a third-party Web site can offer good value.

1) Specialized or exotic travel. If you are planning a trip to Africa or other exotic locale, a resourceful site or travel agent can be of great help. Likewise, a site like Road Trips, which offers “The Ultimate in Sports Roadtrips, Travel and Tours,” is indeed a source of added value for those seeking a unique sports outing.

2) Metasearch engines. These sites search numerous providers (airlines, car rental companies and hotels) to find the lowest price and then direct you to the provider for booking. This is particularly useful when you’re not sure what is available, as was the case when I was searching for a flight from Tel Aviv to Amman. In that case, I used the site kayak.com. Metasearch sites usually do not book travel but rather redirect you to the provider’s own Web site; they earn a nominal fee for each referral. Since the price quoted can be higher than you need to pay (as was the case with my Tel Aviv/Amman ticket), I tend to gather information from the metasearch sites, then go directly to my provider of choice for booking. Mobissimo, Qixo, and Sidestep are other popular metasearch sites for travel services.

3) Strong performers.If you’re intent on using third-party Web sites, be aware that some appear to do a better job with price then others. For example, according to PhoCusWright, hotel rates available through American Automobile Association (AAA) were generally lower in 20 key metropolitan areas than those on Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz and Travelocity.

The choice is yours: Spend endless hours surfing the Web, or go direct to save time and money and get better service.

Also Available at MSNBC.com

Joel Widzer

I was recently in the Atlanta airport, headed for a flight to Tel Aviv, when I noticed something odd: a young man and his 3- or 4-year-old daughter were taken aside and asked to stand behind the security perimeter.

Were they carrying too many toys? Was there something wrong with their tickets? Did they fail the security screening? Could they possibly be terrorists?

None of the above. This gentleman, who was traveling from California to Israel for an important family gathering, had failed to check his passport. The passport hadn’t expired. In fact, it wouldn’t expire for five months and 22 days. But that wasn’t good enough. Like several other countries, Israel will not permit travelers to enter the country unless their passports will remain valid for at least six months after their scheduled departure.

This young father didn’t know the rules. Both he and his daughter were denied boarding, and they had to spend three days in Atlanta getting new documents. The airline kindly waived the customary change fee for rebooking their flights and upgraded them to business class. But, sadly, they missed their family gathering.

What to know about special expiration rules

It’s true: Some countries require that your U.S. passport be valid not only for the duration of your visit, but also for three to six months after your entry or return from their country. This means you have to check your passport expiration date carefully. For example, if your passport expires on March 1, 2007, and you want to travel this coming November, you may need to renew your passport before you go.

Here is a list of some countries that have special passport expiration rules.

* Brazil, Ecuador (including the Galapagos Islands), Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Paraguay, Romania, Singapore: six months

* Cambodia, Denmark (including Greenland), Fiji, Switzerland: three months (Denmark applies its three-month rule to your stay in any of 15 European countries)

There are many others. Some countries count their expiration windows from date of entry into their country, others from scheduled departure, so be sure to ask. For further information about special passport expiration rules, check the U. S. Department of State’s listing of foreign entry requirements. Other good sources of information are your airline, your travel agent, and the host country’s embassy or consulate.

What to do if your passport will expire in less than six months

* Contact the host country’s embassy or consulate to see if you can get a special visa for travel within the expiration period.

* Renew your passport. The State Department says to allow six weeks for renewal, but you can sometimes get it sooner. For example, if you apply during September or December, when relatively few travelers apply for passports, the turnaround time is faster.

* Apply for an expedited renewal. For an additional fee of $60, you can get your passport renewed in about two weeks.

Only the U.S. State Department can issue you a U.S. passport. For information on all passport matters, consult the State Department’s Web site.

A few more things you should know about passports

* Many Middle Eastern and African countries will deny entry and refuse to issue a visa if your current passport contains an entry or exit stamp from Israel. If you are in this situation, you should apply for a new passport.

* New passport rules are scheduled to take effect for travel to and from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Panama, Mexico and Canada. As of December 31, 2006, a passport or other secure documentation will be required for all travel by air or by sea to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda. As of December 31, 2007, a passport or other secure documentation will also be required for all land border crossings to or from these countries.

* If you have been traveling a lot and have run out of passport pages, as I recently did, you can add new passport pages. Be aware that South Africa requires that all travelers have at least two blank pages for visas in their passports.

* In most cases, U.S. citizens planning to stay in one country for more than 90 days will be required to provide additional paperwork, such as visas, proof of financial resources, and an outgoing ticket.

* Finally, be aware that all U.S. citizens must have their own passport. Children cannot be included on a parent’s passport — even newborn babies must have a passport to travel.

Don’t let your next overseas trip get tripped up by a passport fiasco. Check your passport well in advance, and make sure your paperwork is in order.

Also Available at MSNBC.com

Joel Widzer

A key principle of my travel strategy, which I call Contrarian Travel, is to travel against the grain: Go off-peak, follow the dollar, look for distressed properties, eschew all trends – in general, look for the destinations and travel providers that need your business the most.

Right now, the dollar is somewhat weak, especially in Europe, where it is currently buying only 0.78 euros. Airfares to Europe are also pretty high, as are hotel rates. So, the contrarian traveler looks elsewhere: to Asia, South America and, yes, the Middle East.

I recently visited Jordan, Israel and the Sinai Peninsula, and the trip was an excellent test of the contrarian strategy. Of course, the Middle East is a region steeped in history and rich in tradition; any good guidebook can give you the rundown on this most remarkable cradle of civilization. But the imperative questions for me – and all contrarian travelers – are these: How safe is the region and how affordable is it? I found the region rated high on both issues. As an added bonus, I found the people to be welcoming, sincere and charming.

My first stop was Amman, the capital of Jordan, where I stayed at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. The hotel was the site of a suicide bombing last November, along with two other hotels in Amman, yet I felt completely safe and would have no hesitation recommending the hotel to close family or friends. Security is now very tight but it is neither intrusive nor overbearing. Upon arrival, I was greeted warmly then swiftly whisked through the security screening; the process and equipment are similar to an airport screening. All hotel guests pass though the screening every time they enter the hotel, as do all visitors. An alternative to the Hyatt is the luxurious Four Seasons Amman, which was not involved in the bomb attack; its bed-and-breakfast rates range upward from $195.

Check-in at the Grand Hyatt was pleasant. The desk clerk spoke perfect English, and he escorted me to my upgraded room, explaining everything in a congenial manner. After showing me my room, he escorted me to the club lounge. When we crossed paths with a member of the housekeeping staff, he asked that my room receive turndown service right away, a very considerate gesture, I thought.

Later that evening I had an authentic Jordanian meal of chopped salad and sea bass – with a drink, dessert and coffee – all for a pittance. When I misread my bill and overpaid by 30 Jordanian dinars (JOD), the waiter immediately noticed and corrected my mistake: “Oh no, sir, you’re paying too much. It is only 17 dinars” (about $25).

My taxi driver was also helpful and honest. After dropping me off at the restaurant, he told me I could pay him later, trusting that I would call him after my dinner. When I did, he took me on a tour of the city, pointing out prominent landmarks for just 10 JOD, or about $14.

Jordan has plenty of modern shopping malls, a buzzing nightlife and five-star cuisine, but the great draw is its many interesting archaeological sites. A few of these sites include Petra, Jerash, the Desert Castles, Um Qais and, of course, the Dead Sea.

My second stop took me to the famed King David Hotel in Jerusalem, the flagship hotel of the Dan Hotel Group and a member of the Leading Hotels of the World. The King David Hotel has been host to world leaders including Bill Clinton, as well as to many celebrities. Despite its notable guest list, I was upgraded to a room with a wonderful view of the Old City. The hotel has remarkable restaurants, a pool and gardens, and it is within walking distance of the major historic sites.

I spent an entire day exploring Jerusalem and still could not cover all the history of this extraordinary city. On my second day, I hired a driver to take me to Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity, where believers say Jesus was born. I expected crowds but found none. In fact, the guide who escorted me through the church, describing everything in perfect English, told me that he used to take 15 to 20 groups through the church a day, but now he counts himself lucky if he has 10 groups a week. Such are the benefits of contrarian travel: You get personal attention from a seasoned guide unhurried by pressing crowds.

After my trip to Bethlehem, I headed out to the Dead Sea where I took the obligatory float and mud bath. It was strange floating on my back covered in mud, but it was mysteriously relaxing.

How does Jerusalem measure up on security and affordability? Very well. Security was top-notch everywhere I went, and not once did I fear for my life. The prices at the restaurant and shops were much lower than I would expect in Europe. I was able to hire a driver and a new, air-conditioned Mercedes-Benz for only $100 a day, and the driver knew exactly where to go and how to avoid precarious areas. Of course, most drivers will take you to a friend’s souvenir shop, where you’ll be treated to fresh tea or another drink; the driver earns a commission on the goods sold. These shops usually offer fair value, but if you don’t want to be pressured to purchase anything, be sure to say that you’re not interested in shopping.

I did not have a chance to venture much outside Jerusalem and Bethlehem, but Israel offers several other good tourist venues, including Tel Aviv, with its lively Dizengoff Street; Jaffa, an ancient port city now filled with artists’ studios and galleries; Haifa, with its beautiful coastal and mountain views; and the sunny southern Red Sea resort area of Eilat. The Dan Hotels have properties in all these destinations, and they offer a frequent guest program in which members get reduced rates, earn bonus points and receive up to a 12.5 percent discount of food and beverage purchases, among other benefits.

Across the border from Eilat is the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, and on its northeast point, right on the Red Sea, is the Hyatt Regency Taba Heights. The resort is surrounded by mountains and has direct access to the sea. This part of the Middle East is considered to offer some of the best snorkeling and diving in the world. Points of interest in the Sinai Peninsula include the Monastery of St. Catherine and Mount Sinai, which overlooks it. The monastery is built on the site traditionally regarded as the place where Moses encountered God in the form of a burning bush. Visitors can climb the mountain by camel or by foot. I didn’t do it, but I’ve heard it’s an amazing experience, especially if you can be on the summit (7,500 feet) at sunrise.

The Middle East is not a popular travel destination for American tourists, which makes it an excellent destination for travelers with a contrarian attitude. Is it safe? Reasonably, yes. In my view, the danger is overrated, and both the governments and tourism providers are paying very close attention to security. To my mind, the historical attractions, warm welcome and dollar value in the region all make the Middle East a great alternative to high-priced destinations. It’s a contrarian pick, with contrarian benefits.

Also Available at MSNBC.com

Joel Widzer

Summer is around the corner and families are looking forward to their vacations. In summers past, families would load up the station wagon, pack a cooler, fill up the gas tank and head down the road for hours of quality family time on the way to Grandma’s, a national park or some faraway historical attraction.

But the annual road trip doesn’t make as much sense these days.

For one thing, the old highway pastimes — license plate contests and family singalongs — have given way to the more private enjoyments of iPods and Game Boys, so there’s less real family time on the road. But the biggest problem is skyrocketing gasoline prices. According to a Lundberg Survey of 7,000 gas stations, the average price of gasoline in mid April was $2.91 per gallon.

Which raises a question for all summer travelers: Should you fly or should you drive?

Let’s consider a few scenarios that are typical of many family summer trips.

The Price family, two adults and two children, wants to visit the historic city of Philadelphia from their home in Miami, a distance of 2,404 miles round trip. That’s a big trip and it sounds exciting — until the Prices do the math. Their SUV gets only 17 miles per gallon, so gas will cost them $411. Then there’s the cost of food and lodging. It’s a 19-hour drive, so figure three days, two nights, each way, allowing for a couple of stops on the way. Let’s say the Prices can get hotel rooms for around $125 a night (everyone in one room), and they can keep their food costs to $50 a day.

Here’s the total: $411 for gas, $500 for lodging and $300 for food, for a total of $1,211.

How much would it cost to fly? $138 per person, round trip on American Airlines, or $552, for a savings of $659.

Here’s another example.

The Anderson family of four wants to head out from Chicago to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Salt Lake City. The drive is a total of 2,800 miles. The Andersons have a minivan that gets about 24 miles per gallon, highway, so their gas will cost about $340. Since it is a long trip and the kids are small and squirmy, they plan to spend six-
days and nights driving round trip. This puts their total driving cost (using $175 for hotel and food per day) at a whopping $1,390. To fly they would spend $198 per person on the American Airlines summer fares for a total of $792. For the Andersons, air transportations saves $598.

The Portillo family wants to take their dream trip to southern California. They are a family of five living in Austin, Texas, which is 1,400 miles from Los Angeles. Their fuel-efficient car gets about 26 miles per gallon on the highway, so they would spend $313 on gas round trip. Not bad.

Since Mr. Portillo is heavy on the pedal, he figures he will spend only four days and nights on the road. Like the Prices, the Portillos are thrifty and willing to sleep in one room, at $125 a night, but their food costs average $75 a day because the family is bigger and the kids are older. Here’s the math: $313 for gas, $500 for lodging, and $300 for food for a total driving cost of $1,113.

How much would it cost the Portillos to fly to Los Angeles? $270 per person round trip on American, or $1,350 for the family. For the Portillos, driving is the cheaper alternative by more than $200. But what’s really going to cost them is the dead time they spend on the road. Staring out the window mile after mile isn’t much fun (ask the kids). The Portillo family can maximize their vacation time by spending the extra $237, flying to Los Angeles and getting a two-day jump on their vacation.

Three families, three different calculations, but in each case flying is clearly a good alternative to driving. Sure, there are other things to consider. The fares I quote today may be gone tomorrow. The price of gasoline may go down. There are airport taxes and fees to add on (but there’s vehicle depreciation if you drive, too), and if you fly, you may need to rent a car at your destination (and that will cost you about $20 a day from Hertz if you rent a compact).

The point is: You need to think carefully about transportation for your summer vacation. To me, flying is almost always a no-brainer. It gets me where I want to be faster and with far less hassle than driving. I get to spend more time sightseeing, relaxing and enjoying my companions. Plus it saves me money.

It’s your vacation. You do the math.

Also Available at MSNBC.com

Disregarding industry press releases and any of my own columns, I found 100 percent of the articles portrayed the industry in a negative light.

Here’s a sampling of headlines:

* Airfares head higher

* Complaints on the upswing

* Customer satisfaction is the lowest since 2000

* Misery index expected to rise

* Coffee on airplanes is terrible

* Airlines lost record number of bags

* Price takes precedence over loyalty

* It’s harder to find airline award seats

* Discount airlines own the skies

Before examining facts and fiction, let’s look at why there is so much negativity toward the airlines. In my opinion, there are two main reasons.

First, bad news sells and, like the Bush administration and pro-gun laws, airlines are an easy target.

Second, many travel writers are former travel agents who are still smarting over the loss of their cozy commissions-for-bookings arrangement with the airlines. It’s no surprise that Delta Air Lines, which is perhaps hardest hit by the media, was the first airline to slash travel agents’ commissions (thereby savings travelers millions of dollars — that’s the good news you don’t hear about).

With this bias in mind, let me decipher some of the facts in the fiction.

Air fares head higher. According to a recent report from Business Travel Monitor, domestic airfares hit a six-year low in 2005 — despite high fuel costs.

Complaints are on the upswing. I believe that many of these complaints stem from the fact that many airlines no longer serve meals on flights, and some have gone so far as to charge for pillows and blankets. Yes, these cutbacks make flying less pleasant. But look at the other side of the ledger: Airlines have also installed self-ticketing kiosks, faster boarding-pass readers and widescreen displays to note flight delays, gate information and upgrade status. Of course, the greatest annoyances to air travelers are things that airlines can’t control at all, e.g., weather delays, air traffic control delays and new security measures.

Airlines lost a record number of bags. A recent report found that last year airlines lost more than 30 million pieces of luggage. What the headlines do not announce is that passengers checked in more than 30 billion pieces of luggage, meaning that the loss ratio was just one in a thousand. Even more interesting is that most “lost” bags were returned to their owners within 36 hours; only 240,000 pieces of luggage were never located. So, overall, the airlines did a pretty good job handling passengers’ baggage. But “pretty good” doesn’t sell newspapers. (Side note: The study cited was commissioned by a company that claims to have a solution for lost airline bags. Can we say, “Vested interest!” here?)

It’s harder to find airline award seats. In my experience, this is simply not true. I recently called Delta Air Lines in a quest to get two first class tickets to Hawaii, the most coveted flight award. I was prepared to spend hours with my calendar in hand trying to find the right combination of dates and flight times. Surprisingly, I was able to get tickets with my first request. Furthermore, Randy Petersen, frequent flier guru and coauthor of “The Mileage Pro,” states that airlines continue to deliver 80 percent of all free-ticket awards, even as demand increases.

And the biggest mistruth is this one:

Discount airlines own the skies. There is no doubt that the majority of travel writers have a love affair with Southwest and JetBlue. For years, writers have proclaimed the virtues of their beloved upstart airlines over the prehistoric models of the legacy carriers. What these writers fail to consider are the dynamics of the marketplace. Sure, it’s been tough for the legacy carriers, but out of the ashes have risen some fairly strong airlines.

The Air Transport Association reports that mainline carriers like American Airlines, United Airlines, Continental Airlines and US Airways should rack up profits for the second quarter of 2006 with overall profitability for the year; a Bear Stearns analyst’s report states that American Airlines and Continental should post the biggest gains. Moreover, industry wide, legacy carriers’ stocks are trending upward.

I predicted two years ago that the complexity of the airline industry would eventually hurt JetBlue and Southwest. And look what has happened.

* During the last quarter of 2005, JetBlue marked its first loss, and its stock price has fallen approximately 33 percent this year. The company’s woes stem from its own ambition. While JetBlue was operating one type of aircraft on limited routes, it had an easy time controlling operating costs. Now that JetBlue wants to play with the big boys, adding more routes and another type of aircraft (the Embraer 190) to its fleet, the flying is no longer so smooth.

* Likewise, due to increasing labor costs, lower margins and increasing competition from legacy carriers, Southwest Airlines has had to implement two fare hikes this year and abandon its much-lauded $299 fare cap. Not surprisingly, JPMorgan reports that US Airways is experiencing strong unit-revenue growth, chiefly from generating up to 20 percent higher revenues in markets once dominated by Southwest.

Why are there so many mistruths in travel writing?

In short, there is no accountability. Every graduate student knows that the best articles are those that have been submitted for peer review; in serious circles, feedback from colleagues is welcomed.

Not so among travel writers. I recently wrote to a columnist who had opined that it was crazy to remain loyal to airline frequent flier programs because he could not find “preferred seating” on a Continental flight out of Newark. When I informed him that I had conducted an informal survey of 11 flight segments and found exit rows or aisle seats on all segments without claiming any level of loyalty, he blocked me from his e-mail list.

Ronald Reagan was known for saying, “Trust, but verify.” When it comes to reading travel articles, this advice just might be the right ticket.

Joel Widzer

Jets are great. They allow eager travelers and hard-charging business people to travel thousands of miles in a matter of hours. Some of them get used to the stresses of “transmeridian travel” (a fancy name for travel across multiple time zones). But with summer around the corner and flights to Europe filling fast, a lot of novice travelers are about to experience the peculiar effect of being physically located in one part of the world while their bodies and minds are left many hours behind.

I fly a couple of hundred thousand miles each year, so I have experienced firsthand all the ills of long-haul flights: jet lag, lousy food, cramped muscles, disorientation — you name it. A while back, I decided to do something about it. Now, after three years of academic research ranging from work with the World Bank to the U.S. Army, I have designed a method for adapting to the ills of travel fatigue. By using a set of simple behavioral strategies, travelers can travel better, safer and more productively.

Some physiology

The problem of transmeridian travel is simple: Our bodies are not designed to cross multiple time zones in mere hours. For everyday living, the body is set to a natural sleep/wake cycle, which takes its cues from the passage of the sun. Under normal conditions, the body is set to be alert during daylight hours and to sleep when it’s dark. Any disruption in this cycle throws off the body’s “circadian clock,” its internal timekeeper, causing fatigue.

Before modern jet travel, it took travelers weeks or months to cover any significant geography. For example, the average trans-Atlantic ocean liner crossing took four weeks. Leisurely travel like this gives the body’s circadian clock time to reset naturally, following a gradual change in the day/night cycle. Jet travel over more than three or four times zones, on the other hand, almost always results in travel fatigue.

Travel fatigue is known to affect memory, performance and digestive function; it can cause irritability, stress and sleep deprivation. Cumulative travel fatigue, resulting from frequent or consecutive trips, can result in such physiological and psychological conditions as anxiety, obesity, depression, cardiac disease, reduced performance, job burnout and interpersonal difficulties. In fact, the World Bank concluded from one study that travelers taking five or more trips a year experience a 66 percent increase in family-related psychological disorders.

Consider a typical trans-Atlantic itinerary. You leave Chicago at 5 p.m., fly for nine hours and arrive in Paris at 9 in the morning. You should be ready for a full day of meetings or sightseeing, but your body thinks it’s still in Chicago, where it is 2 in the morning and you are fast asleep. You may drink a double espresso and do a hundred jumping jacks, but without strategic intervention, your body is going to win. Your business deal will be blown, and that afternoon tour of Notre Dame will be nothing but a blur.

The bad news is that travel fatigue is inevitable. The good news is that with a little effort, you can train your body and mind to better adapt to the rigors of travel.

Here are a few tips to keep you going.

Train like an athlete. During the regular season, a professional baseball player flies from city to city and plays 180 games under constant pressure to perform. Although your trips might not mean the difference between a World Series championship and a long off-season, your million-dollar deal or valuable vacation time is just as important. So, train like an athlete.

* Get 40 winks. Sleep is the key to restoring your body to a healthy level of functioning.

* Eat right. Carbohydrates tend to promote sleepiness, so eat some cookies before your nap. Protein, on the other hand, helps with alertness, so order some eggs or cheese with your power breakfast.

* Limit alcohol intake. One glass of wine might help you sleep on the plane, but too much can disrupt your sleep waves and prevent you from reaching the restorative stage of sleep known as REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep.

* Get your exercise. Once you reach your destination, getting outdoors in the sunlight can help reset your circadian clock and speed your adaptation to the new time zone. Exercise can also help reduce stress and gear you up for an important event.

Lighten your load. If possible, leave the computer at home and carry a USB key or some sort of flash memory device. Since most major hotels and office complexes have computers available for use, I like to carry a USB key loaded with a software program called Pass2Go, which allows me to safely store my passwords on a USB key and securely log in to online accounts from any computer anywhere in the world. A big advantage of this little key is that you don’t have to screen your computer through security.

Carry the right bags. Travelpro has a nice line of luggage that is ergonomically designed to relieve physical fatigue with cleverly designed handles and rollers that adjust to the way you carry your bags. The Travelpro Platinum 4SE bag features a “weigh less, stress less” handle that greatly reduces the chore of lugging around carry-on baggage.

Reduce ambient noise. A pair of noise-canceling headphones can eliminate the loud drone of the airplane. My personal preferences is for “Solitude” headphones from ProTravelGear.com. I have found them to be comfortable and I enjoy their superior sound quality. Cue up your favorite music or listen to a sleep-promoting program such as Barb Badolati’s “Resting on Cloud 9.”

Stay healthy. An airplane is a great place to pick up dirt, germs and other nasties. TravelKleen has a nifty reusable headrest protector that puts some distance between you and any germs or head lice that previous passengers may have left behind on your seat.

Develop an overall travel fatigue strategy. Serious travelers need a serious program. Look for a comprehensive book on managing stress and fatigue at your bookstore. Better yet, check out my e-book “The Art of Transmeridian Travel” on TransmeridianTraveler.com.

To overcome travel fatigue, you need to call on the body’s unique powers of physiology, psychology, sleep and stress reduction. By properly managing these functions, you can attain optimal performance while traveling.
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While making bothersome mile-high phone calls on U.S. carriers still requires approval from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Communications Commission, it is widely expected to come sooner rather than later. That means it’s time to educate passengers on when to talk — and when to shut up.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m usually enthusiastic about the confluence of flying and new technology. But I dread the day when I no longer hear my favorite inflight announcement: “Please turn off your cell phones.”

Call me crazy, but I look forward to a few quiet hours on a plane. A time when I can read, listen to good music and — most importantly — decompress. Now technology is disconnecting one of the last cell-free zones on earth.

The momentum for this change is fueled by hard-charging business types with a need to stay connected. For them, a minute without their cell phone is a business meltdown.

Recently, on a 45-minute minute flight, the young hard-charger next to me chatted away on his phone. The proximity of our seats meant that I couldn’t help but hear his obtrusive conversation, one consisting mainly of blabber.

But then, a beautiful thing happened: The aircraft door closed and the conversation stopped.

Until we landed. As soon as we touched down, he was back on the phone to find out if he had any messages. Then he asked to be transferred to a number of extensions until he found someone willing to carry on a seemingly incessant conversation.

For years, air passengers have been spared the yapping of cell phone users, thanks in no small part to fears that the wireless devices would interfere with a plane’s navigation and communication systems. Newer phone technology may be less intrusive to a plane’s systems, but it’s no less obtrusive to the person sitting next to you.

If the current trend among cell phone users is any indication of what we can expect, the skies will soon be very noisy, and mild-mannered inducements to courtesy won’t have much effect. A while back, a local library in Southern California imposed a $200 fine on patrons who disturbed its quiet areas. Fines from cell phones users soon increased the library’s revenue 1000 percent.

I understand the convenience factor. It would be nice to use your cell phone in an emergency or for a high-priority call. But I’m not so important that someone calling me can’t just leave a message. If I were, I suspect I would have my own private jet or a cadre of lieutenants handling my calls.

When I conducted an informal survey of passengers on a recent flight, I found that many travelers prize the cell-free zone. Among the most common comments: “It’s nice to get away from the phone.”

When cell phones take off — and they will soon enough — I hope my fellow passengers will remain mindful of their seatmates’ need for solitude and peace. There’s something about soaring high above the chatter and cares of the earthbound that just makes you want to be alone with your thoughts.

Joel Widzer

I found such a place in the city of Mendoza, Argentina. I first learned of Mendoza two years ago, when I began making regular trips to Buenos Aires. During each visit, the locals would sing Mendoza’s praises and urge me to visit there. Though it is the fourth-largest city in Argentina and has long been a favorite of those in the known. Mendoza is still relatively undiscovered by U.S. travelers — which means low prices, good service and a whole lot of fun for those who take a chance on it. But my fellow contrarian travelers need to move fast, as Mendoza and its surrounding province (also called Mendoza) are becoming more popular with both wine aficionados and nature lovers.

Mendoza is located in northwest Argentina at the foot of the Andes near the Chilean border. The town is lively and more stylish than other provincial cities, so it makes a great base for exploring the region, which is famous for its wine. Argentina’s wines have come to the world stage only recently, but are quickly growing in popularity, and most of the vineyards and the winemaking industry are located nearby. Mendoza is also a major destination for outdoor sports enthusiasts who appreciate beautiful surroundings.

Mendoza is easily reached from Buenos Aires (a two-hour plane trip) or from Santiago, Chile (a short half-hour flight). I chose the Santiago route because it was unexpectedly cheaper for me from the United States and because it offered an easy connection to Mendoza’s airport. The flight from Santiago also flies over the Andes, so from a window seat you get a view of one of the world’s most magnificent mountain ranges. Just be sure to declare yourself as a transient passenger when you arrive in Santiago, otherwise you’ll be socked with Chile’s $100 entry fee.

I was met at the Mendoza airport by my charming driver Guillermo, who had been dispatched from my hotel, The Park Hyatt Mendoza. The driver, who spoke perfect English, gave me a brief history of this beautiful city before taking me to the main plaza, where the hotel is conveniently located. The hotel has a beautifully restored 19th-century Spanish Colonial facade, a lobby with granite columns and carved-timber detailing, and a landscaped courtyard graced with palm trees and fountains. The 186 guest rooms and suites each provides a stylish and comfortable environment worthy of the hotel’s five-star amenities (a spa, gym and swimming pool, of course, but also a wine library and a bistro that serves freshly prepared dishes equal to any bistro fare in Paris). The hotel and adjacent park have the look and feel of a Park Avenue luxury hotel, but the rooms ring up at about a third the cost.

The hotel arranged a number of activities for me. I usually avoid hotel-arranged tours because the prices tend to be higher than those you would pay on your own. But not in Mendoza — or at least not through this hotel.

On my first day, the hotel arranged a tour of Mendoza’s famed wineries, an outing that would please the most discriminating wine enthusiast. The tour, which included a driver for the day, a nice air-conditioned car and private tours of the wineries, cost about $80 — and that included lunch for two. It was worth it just to see the famed Catena Zapata Winery. Designed as a replica of a Mayan pyramid, it is one of the most striking wineries in the world.

The next day was more adventurous, with a lineup of activities that included horseback riding and white-water rafting. The horseback ride took me through an awe-inspiring landscape of foothills, desert and freshwater creeks — all set against the backdrop of the magnificent Andes. After a two-hour ride through the pure, clean Andean air, I headed to Aires de Monta, a neat little resort settled on the banks of the Mendoza River, where I enjoyed a remarkably soothing one-hour massage for $20. The resort is the ideal place to unplug and enjoy the beauty of nature; it even offers a relaxation room along the river. A nice restaurant overlooks the river as well.

After the spa, I headed out to raft the great Mendoza River from a launch point in the town of Potrerillos. Argentina Rafting Expediciones offers wonderful excursions year round; in February, the high volume of water and exciting rapids made for a Class IV rafting experience. My trip included five other rafters, a guide and lots of white-water fun — all for less than $20. At the conclusion of the ride, you can purchase a picture CD of your experience, set to music, for about $10 more.

By the end of the day I was tired, but other outdoor sports enthusiasts may want to hike one of the many excellent hiking trails outside Mendoza; there are also many opportunities for mountain biking and climbing. During South Americas winter (i.e., May through September), visitors can take in some great downhill skiing at Las Leñas Ski Resort, on the slopes of one of the highest mountains in Argentina.

Granted, the nightlife in Mendoza doesn’t have the pulse of Paris, but the city’s fine restaurants are world-class. The Park Hyatt Mendoza itself has a pleasant casino with low minimums bets and friendly dealers.

If you have time, you can make a nice side trip from Mendoza to Buenos Aires. A new addition to that endlessly fascinating South American city is the Palacio Duhau – Park Hyatt Buenos Aires. Located on the famous Avenida Alvear, the hotel is situated right in the middle of the city’s most fashionable residential and shopping district. I had an opportunity to take an advance tour of the hotel and found a refurbished palace that manages to be lavishly luxurious yet understated at the same time. All I can say is wow. When can I check in? (The answer to that question is as yet unknown, so check with Hyatt Hotels for the opening dates.)

It’s little wonder this varied and beautiful region of South America is experiencing an upsurge in interest from travelers searching for an affordable alternative to the overexposed — and overpriced — vacation destinations of Europe, Mexico, Canada and Central America.

If you are looking for fun and relaxation in Paradise, look no farther then Mendoza. For an extra thrill, throw in Buenos Aires and you’ll have a world-class vacation at a fraction of the cost.

Joel Widzer

Quite the contrary.

Northwest Airline’s new test offering of selected Coach Choice seats at a $15 premium per flight has received less than rave reviews from the press and travel bloggers.

Before I explain why Coach Choice is good for the flying public, let’s get the facts straight.

* As of March 14, approximately 5 percent of Northwest’s coach seats have been set aside for Coach Choice seat assignment.

* Coach Choice seats are selected aisle and exit-row seats located at the front of the coach cabin.

* Coach Choice seats can be confirmed from anywhere in the United States, but only within 24 hours of departure unless the traveler is a Northwest frequent flier (see next point).

* Frequent fliers with “WorldPerks Elite” or “SkyTeam Elite” status can purchase Coach Choice seats within 36 hours of departure by using the Manage My Reservations tool on Northwest’s Web site, giving them a 12-hour head start on the general public.

* Seats can be purchased online or at self-service check-in kiosks at the airport.

* The price for a Coach Choice seat is $15 per flight; note that some routes involve more than one flight.

Why is Coach Choice a good thing for travelers and the airline industry?

For starters, it gives travelers a choice, and choice seems to be what Americans want. Look at the recent move in Congress to force cable television companies to offer free choice in channel selection. The scheme under current discussion would allow consumers to decide whether they really need ESPN and TV Land; if not, they wouldn’t have to pay for those channels. Conversely, if a consumer couldn’t live without “The Sopranos,” all he’d have to do is pay for HBO.

It’s called “a la carte pricing,” and it’s no different from what the world’s finest restaurants have been offering their discriminating customers for decades. Northwest’s Coach Choice brings “a la carte” to the skies.

This plan is good for Northwest’s frequent fliers

The new seat-selection plan will not adversely affect Northwest’s frequent fliers. Like business class passengers and travelers with special needs, travelers with “WorldPerks Elite” or “Partner Elite” status will continue to have access to other designated “premium” seats at the front of the cabin. They will also have first dibs on those premium seats when higher-level elite members are upgraded to first class.

Moreover, what’s good for Northwest is good for its frequent fliers. Elite membership is not built overnight. In my case, I have invested years of seat time building a relationship with Delta Air Lines. By and large, it has served me well. If you are a frequent flier with Northwest, you need to watch its balance sheet carefully. If Northwest goes under, all your seat time goes with it, and you will have to start over with some other airline.

Even if the new airline is willing to match your Northwest status (and airlines will often do that, just to get your business), you won’t have the personal history of goodwill that you built with Northwest over the years.
Many travel commentators have called Northwest’s move a greedy attempt to squeeze money from the traveling public. But think about this for a minute: According to a recent report from Business Travel Monitor, domestic airfares hit a six-year low in 2005 — despite high fuel costs. With historically low airfares, it is hard to argue that U.S. airlines are gouging the public by offering travelers the opportunity to pay a nominal fee to guarantee a choice seat.

Think of it as real estate: Location, location, location. In my Southern California community, developers can command twice as much for a house with an ocean view as for one without. The better the view, the more you pay. Some people just can’t live without that glittering ocean view; others say it’s not worth the cost. The beauty of the system is: The choice is yours to make.

So why shouldn’t the seats on an airplane be priced by their locations? If this is going to help airlines stay airborne, I’m all for it. Low airfares are a boon to all air travelers. Logic and economics tell us that lower fares mean less revenue for the airlines. To have our cake and eat it, too, we need to support airlines that seek alternative revenue streams.

In my opinion, low fares, consumer choice and profitable airlines make for a win-win-win situation. Instead of denouncing Northwest, the traveling public should be applauding it.

I certainly am.

Joel Widzer

“After seeing workers laid off by the thousands,” he wrote, “after seeing hard-earned pensions slashed with the stroke of a judge’s pen, after seeing friends’ investments in the airlines reduced to rubble, after a seemingly endless series of pay cuts — after all the misery this bankruptcy has caused — hearing the cheerful banter of pilots and flight attendants over breakfast at a luxury hotel was jolting to say the least.”

The column blasted airline workers and airline executives for clinging to their “perks,” even as they publicly decry the cuts their industry has had to make. “I think they would rather see their best friend lose his job than lose their own favorite hotel or preferred flight schedule,” the columnist said.

But like so much else in the airline industry, looks can be deceiving. In these difficult times for the airline industry, I think we need to take an evenhanded look at management practices that affect employees, executives, customers and investors.

Take that flight crew, for example. The crew might have been staying in a posh hotel for any number of reasons. The airline could have a discounted price with the hotel, perhaps because so many flight crews stay there. Or the airline might be bound by a negotiated hotel or union contract that has yet to expire. Perhaps the hotel is particularly safe and secure, or perhaps it maintains a flexible schedule that can accommodate the crews’ erratic arrival and departure times.

These are all good reasons to put up a flight crew in an especially good hotel. But the most compelling reason is this: employee satisfaction.

This is a subject I know something about. I have my Ph.D. in industrial organizational psychology, which is the study of psychology in the workplace. I know from extensive research that satisfied employees deliver better customer service. Moreover, better customer service increases customer loyalty, which in turn drives profitability. Keeping employees happy is particularly important when a company is going through internal strife, such as bankruptcy or major layoffs.

One shining example of this principle in action is Harrah’s Casino Hotels, which arguably has the best loyalty program in the travel sector. CEO Gary Loveman stated in an interview with the McKinsey Quarterly (2003, Number 2) that the secret to getting the hotels’ employees to really care about their customers was to treat the employees well; the ensuing loyalty pays off big time, resulting in what Loveman calls a “massively more profitable” operation. Even though Harrah’s Las Vegas hotel has only half the rooms of the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino — and no fountains or battleship shows going off every hour — they have the highest take per slot machine. Why? Because people go there for the service, which starts with happy employees.

Turmoil in a company always causes uncertainty among employees, but especially among employees who remain after a layoff. The tendency is for the employees to feel anxiety about their jobs, which may be in jeopardy, as well as “survivor guilt” that they have held on to their livelihoods while their coworkers have been cut loose. The most effective way for a company to deal with these situations is to treat the remaining employees with care and dignity, being especially careful to provide fair compensation.

A few weeks ago, I had an opportunity to visit the Park Hyatt Hotel in Mendoza, Argentina. Not only did I receive heartwarming service, but I also had the fortunate experience of speaking with the hotel’s general manager. When I inquired how he was able to coordinate all his staff members to offer such exceptional service, he replied simply, “I treat everyone with respect and dignity.”

And it showed. As I was sitting with him, a number of employees came into our contact; the GM knew every one by name and could tell me about each person’s background. The key to his good management was caring about his employees.

This much is clear: When your employees deal directly with customers, it is especially important that they have high job satisfaction. Airline flight crews, especially, are key employee-contact personnel. One disgruntled airline employee can result in the loss of more than 100 passengers. So, is it worth treating these employees well? Logic and past research say yes. The airline my colleague thinks is squandering resources is in fact investing wisely in those employees who are most accountable for customer service.

Think about it. When you fly, don’t you like to be treated well? Now think of what those flight crews do to serve you. Not only do they work hard, they work many miles away from their homes and families. Can’t we give them a perk or two? Even my colleague confesses his yearning for privileged service: “Hey, I’m entitled to some perks once in a while,” he says.

The way I see it, airline ticket prices are still at an all-time low and, in my experience, service has been fine. (And my experience isn’t paltry: Last year I flew 200,000 miles, and this year I’ve already racked up 75,000 miles.) So if fares aren’t rising and service is acceptable, I’m all for giving airline employees a perk or two.

I assume that the airline has a smart industrial organizational psychologist on staff advising the simplicity and value of the following principle: To maintain good customer relationships, keep your employees happy — especially during traumatic times.

I appreciate the risk I take when I sound like an apostle for the airlines. Going against conventional wisdom is not always popular, but in this case, it is certainly the right thing to do.

Joel Widzer

I always enjoy my conversations with C.F. because he has great natural curiosity and wisdom. On this day, the conversation turned to travel as his mind started to explore a new adventure to Europe. After pelting me with questions and proposing various strategies for ensuring a great trip, he commented, “To get a brilliant travel experience you need to be very savvy.”

I paused with my thoughts for a moment then replied, “It’s actually rather simple if you ask the right questions.”

With that in mind, I offer my 10 best questions for successful travel planning.

1. Is there a better time or place to go?

The hallmark of my travel philosophy is “Contrarian Travel” — traveling when others are not. And who’s better to know the most opportune times to travel than travel providers? An airline can tell you which flights have light loads — and therefore lower fares and better opportunities for upgrades. Likewise, hotels and resorts know best when their occupancy is likely to dip. Sometimes the difference is only a week — but what a difference a week can make if you save money and get prized upgrades.

2. When is the best time to call?

When you need to call a travel provider, schedule the call for maximum efficiency and service. Avoid weekends, when agents are generally swamped; instead, make midweek call and make it midday. If you’re trying to reach a manger of a hotel, speak first to his assistant, who can tell you when the manager is likely to be free. Better yet, make an appointment to call him.

Also pay attention to breaking news that may affect your travel provider’s availability. Last week, during a nasty nor’easter, I called my airline to check on an itinerary that was still seven days away. While I was on hold, the news flashed a weather update announcing that five major East Coast airports had closed. I realized that with all the canceled flights, I was probably looking at a long hold time. Not to mention that I would be taking up an agent’s time on routine matters when she really needed to serve stranded travelers. So I hung up. Two days later, I got right through.

3. Does this flight, stay or rental count toward my elite status?

My friend Tim wrote me last December telling me how thrilled he was to have finally achieved “Medallion” status on Delta Air Lines by taking one flight to South Africa. Unfortunately, Tim didn’t know that the miles he earned on South African Airways would indeed give him Delta points, but they would not count towards Medallion status. I recently experienced a similar situation renting a car from Hertz. Because I rented the car outside the United States, the rental did not count toward my requalification as a “Five Star” member. Many loyalty programs have this kind of two-track system — especially when the transaction involves a third-party “partner.” Your best bet is to always ask — specifically — whether the rate or fare you are booking counts toward the elite status you are hoping for.

4. What rooms offer the best location, view or size?

Those who travel widely and often understand the value of a well-situated hotel room. Whether you want a room on a club floor, a stellar view or just some peace and quiet, an advance call to the front desk will tell you where you want to be.

5. Is there a better fare or rate?

Most travel providers automatically offer the lowest price available, but sometimes an agent misses a better deal. A little probing can provide good results. For example, I was planning a trip from Orange County, California, to New York and was offered a coach rate exceeding $1,000; on further review, I found that a first class ticket was available for $795. And I have often picked up hotel rooms with better views — or free breakfast or spa services being offered on a midweek special — that the booking agent overlooked. Simply asking can pay handsome rewards.

6. Should I take a different route?

Later this month I have a trip to Mendoza, Argentina. My regular route would take me first to Buenos Aires then on a short flight to Mendoza. However, when I tried to book this route using my first class upgrades, all the available upgrades were gone. After trying unsuccessfully for a few days to get an upgrade, I inquired about flying through Santiago, Chile. Not only did I get the upgrades, I saved more than $400.

7. Where do you recommend I visit?

Key any city into Google and what do you get? An endless list of ads and tour operators pitching their goods. A better idea is to ask your local hotel agent where he would go if he were exploring the city on a budget. Specifying “budget” has a triple benefit: You will price out of the tourist traps; you will likely get an authentic local experience; and you will save money.

8. Can you leave the seat next to me open?

Airplane cabins are tight quarters; if the seat next to you is open, you gain a little elbowroom. On a return flight from Panama recently, I mentioned to the gate agent that I would be grateful if he could keep the seat next to me open. Just before the plane left the gate, the agent came aboard to seat a non-revenue passenger. The passenger pointed to my empty seat, but the gate agent just kept going, escorting her to another open seat a few rows back. Asking doesn’t always work, but when it does, it sure is nice to spread out.

9. If I pay a small premium, can I get an upgrade?

This is a good question for hotels. It works with airlines, too, but with hotels you can find yourself scoring a suite for pennies on the dollar just by offering to pay a nominal upgrade fee.

10. Can I get a complimentary upgrade?

The Holy Grail of penny-pinching luxury travel is getting a free upgrade. It happens — usually just by asking. I was rerouted a few months back onto a flight on American Airlines, an airline I had flown only once before. I asked the agent for a first class upgrade, and lo and behold, she printed me a boarding pass for 6B.

This is not a comprehensive list of questions, but it should get you on your way. The key is to just think ahead and dare to ask questions. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Joel Widzer

In fact, complaining about lousy service from travel providers is often warranted. But what do you do when you make a complaint and later discover that you’re the one at fault?

This happened to me during a recent visit to the Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires. I was certain that the housekeeping staff had failed to adequately service my room, and I crossly complained both to the director of rooms and to the general manager.

I was completely self-absorbed. I berated the director of rooms and was not even willing to listen to his side of the story. When I did shut my mouth for a few moments, the director expressed regret and offered me a free stay on my next visit (which I refused). He also inquired as to the times that I entered and exited my room, and asked if it was possible that the housekeeping staff had not yet attended to the evening turndown service. I said, no, that was not possible, and I told him I was thoroughly disappointed with the service. I made it clear I would never return to the hotel.

What really happened?

The trouble began when I went down to the pool to relax in the Argentine sun; I needed some downtime before an afternoon meeting. While I was out of the room, housekeeping did its morning cleanup — making my bed and cleaning the bathroom – so it was all straightened up when I returned from the pool. So far, so good.

After a short nap, I went to my meeting. When I got back, the bed was made, but the bathroom was a mess. I figured the housekeepers had forgotten the bathroom, so I headed downstairs and made a big fuss — not only with the housekeepers’ boss, but also with the GM.

I didn’t realize my mistake until I was sitting on the plane heading home. That’s when it hit me: I hadn’t taken a nap before my meeting, I’d taken a shower. The bed was made because I hadn’t slept in it. The director of rooms had been right all along: The housekeepers hadn’t yet come for the evening cleanup.

The most telling sign of this hotel’s dedication to service is that the managers took my word and expressed concern over their level of quality even after they had looked into the facts and had determined that housekeeping was not in my room between the morning service and the time I complained. Even though they had a good idea that I was in the wrong, they apologized for inconveniencing me. All in all, they handled my complaint with dignity, giving me the respect of the benefit of the doubt. Which is more than I can say for myself.

Don’t let this happen to you

This incident got me thinking about how cavalier we often are with our complaints — how quick we can be to criticize and how little we think about those we might harm. In my case, I probably caused trouble for a hardworking, fairly low-paid employee because I jumped the gun. My supercilious attitude probably didn’t help any, either. I can only imagine the countless times that a customer’s word has been taken over an employee’s — when in fact the customer was at fault.

In the spirit of mea culpa, I offer these five tips for more responsible complaints.

1. Look at the big picture. Is it possible that you’re overlooking something?

2. Take a timeout. Before dialing for the manager, ask yourself whether there could be a misunderstanding, or whether you are being overly critical.

3. Voice your concern to a neutral party. Talk over the event with a spouse, a friend or a co-worker. If you’re traveling alone, call someone you trust and ask his opinion.

4. Speak with the worker directly. Before approaching management, seek out the worker, talk over the problem, and if he is at fault, give him the opportunity to make amends.

5. Say you’re sorry. After I realized my mistake, I felt terrible. I e-mailed the general manager and the director of rooms and apologized profusely. I also asked that they express my apologies to the employee who may have been harmed by my insensitivity.

Complaining has become central to modern-day consumer culture. The competitive nature of the marketplace puts a special premium on customer service. “The customer is always right” is the imperative that service providers live by, but consumers should not abuse it. As a consumer, you certainly have a right to voice concern about poor service or poor quality wherever you encounter it. But a travel provider’s generosity and willingness to provide good service do not give you permission to make off with free goods; they don’t even give you permission to act like a jerk.

Remember, a misplaced complaint could cost somebody his job. In the future, I’ll think before I voice my concerns so I don’t repeatedly make a fool of myself.

Pull out your program descriptions, your calendar, your travel schedule and some reading glasses (for the fine print). Just five check points and you’re done.

1. Know your programs. Loyalty programs are in constant flux, and the ones that worked for you last year might not do the job this year. Check to see if your programs have changed since you joined them, then consider whether your travel patterns will change this year.

Will you be traveling the same routes and times? Will you need different accommodations when you get where you’re going (better conferencing facilities, perhaps, or a suite instead of a single room)? Will you be traveling with companions who are using other travel programs? Whatever the reason, if you are better served by another program, now is the time to change.

2. Schedule your trips for the year. Remember November and December, when you were frantically trying to squeeze in enough year-end points to qualify for the perks and awards you want? Do you want to do that again this year? I didn’t think so.

Remember, all loyalty programs operate on the same principle, i.e., “What have you done for me lately?” You have to keep coming back to your travel partner, and you have to build points before you can cash in for perks. Since it’s a new year, your ticket for elite privileges has been renewed. So schedule your trips now, at least on paper, to make sure you can maintain the loyalty level you want. Added bonus: You’ll save yourself from a mileage run next New Year’s Eve.

3. Swing your partners. One benefit of the network airlines is that their loyalty programs often include allegiance partnerships; when you do business with one of these partners, you can earn extra privileges. But you need to keep up with the partnerships so you can get the most bang for your buck.

Once you’ve chosen your travel programs and have scheduled your trips, determine which partnership offers will benefit you. Pay special attention to point bonuses that can put you on the fast-track to elite status. Two caveats. First, partnership opportunities come and go, so stay current with the available program options. Second, know that some of the best bonus offers require you to sign up in advance.

4. Check online opportunities. Most airlines and some hotels charge extra when you book by phone but reward you when you make reservations on the Web. When you need personal assistance, discuss your itinerary with an agent, book the reservation online, then have the agent make any necessary changes. This will save you money and get you the bonus.

5. Think about sleeping and driving. In the past, travelers have focused their earning efforts on airline loyalty programs. But with ever-dropping airfares and rising hotel and car-rental rates, secondary programs deserve special attention these days. Getting elite status with a hotel or car rental company can mean cost-saving free nights and miles of free driving. I predict that 2006 will be a banner year for secondary programs, so plan your elite qualifying activities across the boards to score the goods.

OK, your checkup is done and you’re good to go. Travel safe, and enjoy your well-earned elite status.

Head to the slopes. This winter’s record cold has been a bonanza for ski bunnies — and ski resorts — across North America. Resorts in Vail, Aspen and Whistler, British Columbia (the home of the 2010 Winter Olympics), have some fairly good deals. For example, you can spend four nights at the world-class Four Seasons Resort in Whistler for the price of three nights through April 30.

Be an Olympian. This year’s Winter Olympics in the mountains of Torino, Italy, are sure to stir up interest in this beautiful Alpine region along the Italian and French border. You don’t even have to ski: The blend of joie de vivre and abbondanza! is reason enough to go. The trick is to watch the Olympics in the comfort of your warm home, then head out after the crowds have gone. That way, you’ll find great hotel rooms at discounted prices but still experience some of the fanfare and all of the hospitality that is being mounted for this event.

Beat the cold. Scientific fact: It’s summer in the Southern Hemisphere. South America offers a wonderful range of beaches, and the culture is warm, too. I particularly enjoy the Four Seasons Resort in Carmelo, Uruguay, a wonderful, low-key resort offering great value where you can get one on my favorite spa treatments, the “Carmelo Relaxation”, an 80 minute massage for $120 U.S.

Tour Europe. The dollar has been gaining some strength against the euro, so what was prohibitively costly last year has become more affordable. This is especially true of airfares.

Unable to make a profit on domestic routes, airlines have shifted their assets to trans-Atlantic routes, making for some great bargains. For example, round-trip fares from New York to Europe can be had for as little as $399.

For a real cultural treat, head to Budapest. This wonderful Hungarian city on the Danube offers the culture of Prague without the commercialization. Delta Air Lines is offering direct service from JFK to Budapest beginning May 8, 2006.

Go exotic. While you’re daydreaming, dream about out-of-way places like the Middle East, where you can explore the origins of civilizations (tell your boss you’re on an educational sabbatical). You can climb the pyramids, enjoy the beauty of the Nile or enjoy ultimate luxury at the world-renowned Burj Al Arab, in Dubai, the world’s only 7-star hotel.

It doesn’t matter what path you choose for 2006; just put on those traveling shoes. Sure, the number of travelers is expected to be at an all-time high, but that can mean great travel opportunities. So think big, look wide, plan ahead and enjoy yourself.

Here’s to a great year of travel.

Joel Widzer

It amazes me how long we hold on to the misadventures that occur during our travels, yet how quickly we forget the times when a gate agent straightened out a missed connection or a flight attendant went beyond the call of duty to ensure a comfortable flight. Like rubberneckers at the scene of a grisly accident, travelers become transfixed each time they hear stories of evil airlines treating a customer badly.

Of course, sometimes there are real lapses in service. Just the other week, a reader told me about a trip with five family members to the Big Island of Hawaii on a network carrier. According to the writer, both the outbound and return flights were utter chaos. Not only did the cabin smell of urine (both times) but his Thanksgiving Day flight also served no meal (he was offered a turkey sandwich, but it would cost him $3).

Worse, the fellow’s return flight was canceled, which involved hours waiting at an airport then boarding a bus to an unknown hotel without any guidance from airport agents. When the traveler finally returned home, he found his luggage was damaged; his claim for compensation was denied because the damage involved the handle and another attachment on the bottom of the suitcase.

OK, this flight deserves criticisms. But is bad service the norm?

Well, maybe. According to the Department of Transportation, complaints about U.S. airlines have jumped more than 29 percent this year, due mostly to canceled flights and baggage problems. One explanation for this increase is that more people are flying — more than 481.2 million people this year, a 3 percent increase over last year.

So I wondered: Is it really the big network carriers that are doing a bad job, or is it all kinds of carriers? According to the DOT’s “Air Travel Consumer Report,” Southwest Airlines and JetBlue had 0.18 and 0.29 complaints per 100,000 passengers while every network airline except Continental Airlines (0.94) was in triple digits, from Northwest Airlines at 1.00 to US Airways at 1.91.

Convincing evidence? I don’t think so. I think we just like to complain.

The disdain for network carriers that is evident in the press and among many people stems from past experiences when travelers felt they were being gouged by airlines with high last-minute fares and excessive fees. To this, I offer a simple observation: Airlines operate in a free and open competitive marketplace. If the market supported such fares in the past, then it was pure economics working — not the evil airlines gouging customers. They charged the prices the market would bear at the time. Thanks to discounters, airlines are now adjusting prices to meet new market conditions.

It also seems that those who complain the most are the ones who fly the least.

That makes sense if you think about it. If you took only one flight this year and it was a bad experience, you’d be more likely to complain than would the traveler flying 30 flights with three bad experiences. In one case, you’ve got 100 percent trouble, while in the other, you have a bad experience only 10 percent of the time. People who have good experiences 90 percent of the time have a better understanding that travel is not always perfect.

This still leaves one wondering why the complaints are more common with network carriers.

I believe it’s all about perception. When flying a network airline, travelers have grander expectations than they do when they fly a budget carrier. When flying Southwest or JetBlue, people adjust their attitudes to lower expectations. Psychologists call this the expectancy value.

I think travelers still expect United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and America Airlines to give them red-carpet service even while the passengers are paying unprofitable fares. Moreover, when something goes wrong, travelers expect a free first class ticket anywhere in the world, even if they’ve paid less than $200 for their flight.

I hate to sound unsympathetic, but there is a disconnect here.

The only path to getting better service is through a longstanding relationship of loyalty with an airline. Of course in situations of really terrible service, everyone should be compensated, but for common events, the fact is this: People who get compensated are those who have a vested stake in the company.

Think about it: With limited resources, airlines are most likely to make their best customers whole. As mercenary as it sounds, those who contribute more to the airline’s bottom line will get first dibs on goodwill gestures when things go wrong.

From a business perspective, this is sound practice. If you’re already giving customers loss-leading prices and you’re teetering on the brink of bankruptcy (or are already there), your limited resources have to be used wisely. If you know that one customer has only a 1 percent likelihood of returning to your business, while another has a 90 percent likelihood of returning, you are going to take care of the customer with the higher expected rate of return.

Remember the fellow with the truly terrible trip to Hawaii? He was a loyal customer of the airline — a frequent flier and a member of the airline’s preferred-customer club. In the end he got his due: a personal letter of apology in his mailbox and 20,000 miles in his frequent-flier account.

Even if you’re new to the loyalty game, you can still win with a smile. Last week I was rerouted to an American Airlines flight because of mechanical problems on my regular carrier. Now, I have only flown American Airlines once before, but I noticed that the gate agent working three flights was harried. I told her with a smile that this is only the beginning of her troubles, as Christmas is just around the corner. I then expressed my appreciation for her help. At first she handed me a boarding pass for a middle seat in the back of the plane, but then she glanced at it and said, “That’s not a very good seat. Try this one.” It was a first class seat, won through simple sympathy and courtesy.

When it comes to air travel, we like to blame other people when what we really need to do is take responsibility for our own travel experiences. You can do this by managing your expectations, by funneling more of your business to one travel provider, and by extending simple courtesies. Loyalty will give you the leverage you need to guarantee quality service, and a smile will win you friends.

It’s about time. Of course, after a disaster like 9/11 it takes time to get the wrinkles out of a new, nationwide policy. But what an annoying four years we’ve endured at the security gate: everything from confiscated nail clippers to humiliating pat-down searches.

Sure, there was some reason for concern. Everyone remembers Richard Colvin Reid, the notorious Shoe Bomber. Then there were the two Chechen women who are thought to have carried nonmetallic explosives aboard two Russian airliners last year; the two planes exploded midair, killing 90 people. But these events occurred on risky overseas and international flights. For the most part, U.S. domestic flights have gone off without a hitch.

I am happy to see the new changes. They should prevent unfortunate delays like the one my friend’s 77-year-old grandmother endured last week: two-and-a-half hours to clear security at Orange County’s John Wayne Airport. They should keep me from having to remove my tennis shoes after I’ve already cleared the metal detector. (Yes, that happened, too. The TSA agent demanded that I take off my shoes or she would make me go through a full screening.)

So what do the changes mean?

For the most part, better security. Yes, better security — despite the outcries from liberal politicians like Rep. Edward Markey (D., Mass.), who stated that he would introduce legislation to reverse the TSA action, arguing that what’s needed is more screening, not less.

Apparently, Markey still thinks that a 4-inch scissor can bring a plane down. The reality is that no one is getting through the cockpit door. Pilots and airline executives may not agree on much, but every pilot and airline executive I have spoken with agrees that the new reinforced cockpit doors and onboard security procedures have secured the cockpit against all intrusions.

It is true that a belligerent passenger could cause some harm to other passengers using scissors or other items lifted from the ban. But with today’s ever-vigilant passengers — and air marshals on many flights — the risk of harm from these items is low.

I think that TSA chief Kip Hawley had it exactly right when he said, “The system must be less predictable so terrorists don’t know what they will encounter when they arrive at an airport on any given day.” By looking at those who might do tangible harm and by making the screening process less predicable, the TSA hopes to put more effort toward developing an efficient risk profile based on behavior rather than on ubiquitous items carried in a purse.

After all, the Israelis have taken this approach to airline security for years, and they are arguably the best in the world at protecting planes and passengers.

What to expect

* Expect the screening process to be different from the one your encountered the last time you flew. It will be different the next time, too. The new process is fluid by design — to keep the bad guys guessing.

* Don’t expect the changeover to be smooth. The new rules take effect December 22, but it will probably be January before most agents become familiar with the new rules and procedures. In the meantime, don’t be surprised if you see screeners using measuring tapes to determine whether your embroidery scissors can go on board. The Christmas travel season is bound to add to the confusion, so patience is still important.

* Expect to see more bomb-sniffing dogs patrolling the airports.

* Know that you may be singled out at random to go through a second screening, which may include taking off your shoes, submitting to a pat-down, and having your carry-on bags tested for explosives.

Overall, you should encounter a more efficient process that is quicker to navigate and more focused on explosives than on small items. You should also come across TSA agents (now called “Transportation Security Officers” — TSOs) who are more empowered to use their knowledge and training to detect and defeat terrorists by focusing on genuine security threats.

I applaud the TSA for taking these progressive steps toward better security. I hope that the intended outcomes of safer skies and quicker security also result in travel that is more enjoyable for everyone.

Joel Widzer

For me, Thanksgiving means more than that. More than the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, cranberry sauce, and a fight over who gets to pull the wishbone. It means a lot of requests for Joel’s airline upgrade tips.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately, and I think the best tip I can offer this year is: Give thanks.

That’s right. Just say, “Thank you.”

I learned a long time ago that having an attitude of graciousness, gratitude and respect is by far the most effective means of interacting with travel employees — especially in these somewhat difficult times. These employees are often overworked, underpaid and stressed-out, and yet we demand a lot of them when we’re trying to get home to family or get away on a Thanksgiving holiday.

Do we ever stop to appreciate those who make our trips possible? Those unsung travel heroes who efficiently make reservations, provide brilliant service and safely deliver us along the way?

It takes surprisingly little to reward those toiling to assure our travel goodwill. A simple smile, “Thank you,” or “You’re doing a great job” goes far.

This easy technique of giving thanks pays off for you and for others. When you give thanks, you let people know that their work is appreciated. This builds incentive for them to treat other customers with courtesy, too. Let me give you an example.

Last week, I gave a friend an award ticket to visit her family and friends on the East Coast. She can’t return in December, so she took all her holiday gifts with her. While checking in her oversize and overweight luggage, the counter agent told my friend that she would have to pay a $45 surcharge.

Then the agent noticed that the ticket was associated with my record and, remembering a letter I wrote praising this agent’s First-Class service, she waived the fee. What goes around comes around.

My first job after college was working for Tom Hopkins, an internationally recognized sales trainer. One day he pulled me aside and told me the most effective means of closing a sale is to write a handwritten thank-you note after your initial meeting with the customer. I have found this to be a valuable technique for rewarding travel service employees as well.

I tested the idea before completing the second edition of my book, The Penny Pincher’s Passport to Luxury Travel by going to 33 hotels in the San Diego area, ranging from the super-deluxe Aviara Four Seasons to the moderate Hyatt Islandia. I questioned service employees ranging from front-desk agents to concierges, bell staff, pool staff, reservations agents and housekeeping personnel.

Eighty-nine percent of the employees surveyed said they would prefer a written letter praising their quality of service to a tip. The only exception was the concierge group, of which 67 percent preferred cash. The most common reason for preferring a letter over a tip was that a letter goes into the employee’s personnel file and helps them when it comes time for merit raises, promotions or job movement.

So, when you’re out there traveling this Thanksgiving, remember to give thanks. Whether it’s a smile, a sincere thank-you or a gracious letter, it will do more than pay tribute to the dedicated individuals who are giving you their time, service and expertise.

It could also land you an upgrade.

Joel Widzer

Frequent-user programs typically close their books at the end of the year. That means you have until December 31 to accumulate all the frequent-flier miles (or frequent-guest nights) you need to qualify for your desired level of preferred status. Moreover, most frequent-user programs require you to use your earned rewards within a 1-3 year period. For many programs, the expiration date for rewards is February 28. To illustrate, membership rewards earned between January 1 and December 31, 2004, would typically expire on February 28, 2006.

For this reason, I advise travelers to give their frequent-user programs a checkup well before the December deadline. Flying the red-eye on December 31 trying to earn those last thousand miles is a really terrible way to spend New Year’s Eve.

Now is a good time to review how many qualifying miles (or nights or car rentals) you need to achieve elite status with your preferred airlines, car rentals companies, and hotels. You don’t want to miss out on the benefits of elite membership because of careless planning.

If you’re close to reaching a minimum level of preferred status, or if you are just a few steps from a higher level, now is the time to act. Otherwise you will run into the last-minute holiday rush. My advice is to achieve the highest level of preferred status possible by consolidating your travels with as few providers as possible.

Here’s how.

First, take stock of your program and see where you stand. Can you make an elite status with one more flight, a short hotel stay, or that extra car rental? If yes, consider visiting Spokane this December rather than in January, or maybe treat yourself to a holiday getaway with a weekend hotel visit and a nice rental car. Business hotels often offer discounted rates during the weekend, and rental companies like Hertz sometimes offer discounts on their “Prestige Collection” cars on the weekend as well.

Remember, the objective is to obtain preferred status at the lowest possible price, so try to fly during the week when fares can be cheaper. If you don’t need hotel nights, take a day trip to top off your airline qualifying status. For example, I can leave southern California in the morning, fly to Atlanta or Cincinnati, and get back home for dinner-usually earning around 5,000 Elite Qualifying Miles on Delta for less than $450.

Once you’ve examined your direct qualifying opportunities, check with your program provider to see if there are other ways to make an elite grade. For example, holders of Delta’s Platinum Sky Miles Card can earn 10,000 qualifying miles by charging $25,000 on the card annually. Putting your Christmas gifts on the card may do it for you.

What if your travel pattern has changed?

If you find that you have to frequently fly an airline other than your preferred carrier (perhaps because of your company’s travel or business policies, or because your business routes have changed), don’t be afraid to inquire about transferring your elite status to the other airline — or hotel group or car rental company.

This little-known strategy simply involves calling a competing travel provider’s membership office and requesting that they match the status you hold with your current travel provider. Many companies will be happy to do so in exchange for getting your business, which they can see will be lucrative. Be prepared to prove that you actually have the requested membership status with a competing travel provider. In most cases, you will be asked to fax a statement showing your level of membership.

In the past, I have advised building long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with travel providers. However, in these days of cookie-cutter travel providers, you don’t need to become a million-miler to get the goods. You should now choose your preferred travel providers on a year-by-year basis.

My friend Vin, who recently moved to North Carolina, maintained his allegiance to Delta Air Lines this year even though it required that he fly through Atlanta on his frequent trips to the Northeast. He told me it was worth maintaining his “Platinum” status (which requires flying at least 75,000 qualifying miles with Delta a year) because he enjoyed the free Crown Room privileges. But circumstances have changed, and Delta recently announced that it was planning to discontinue complimentary admission to Crown Room lounges for Platinum fliers. So now Vin will take his Delta credentials to U.S. Air and fly directly to the Northeast as a “Chairman’s Preferred Member.” Sometimes you have to play hardball to win.

In sum, this is the time of year to organize your travel programs for another year of rewards and upgrades. Whatever your reasons for going the extra mile, be certain that your program is going the distance for you. If it isn’t, find yourself a program that will.

Joel Widzer

However you feel about these schemes, there are certain actions you can take to protect yourself and ease your travels.

Answer your phone. When I had a flight rearranged because of a fuel conservation cancellation, the airline left a message on my cell phone. The problem is that when I’m not traveling, I rarely use my cell phone; the message went unheard until two days before my flight. That made things dicey because the canceled flight connected to an international flight, and there wasn’t that much room to maneuver. So, make sure you give the airline a number where you will actually get the message. Go the extra step and give the airline a backup number, too.

Call ahead. A few days before your trip, call your airline and check that your flight is on track. Be sure to ask if they anticipate any cancellations, and reconfirm that they have your preferred phone number. Don’t do this just for your departing flight; check on your return flight as well. There is nothing worse then being stranded in a distant city when you want nothing more than to get home.

Load the dice. Maximize your chances of flying by avoiding flights that have a history of low loads. When booking your flight, ask the agent what the average load factor is for the flight. Ordinarily, I try to avoid flying during peak periods because there’s less chance of getting an upgrade to first class, but for the duration of the fuel crisis, I recommend looking for flights that are certain to fly. Go for the middle ground: If a flight has an average load of 60 percent, it probably will not be canceled and you’ll still have a shot at an upgrade.

Remain calm and flexible. Travel throws curve balls once in a while. When it does, it’s not the end of the world. But attitude is key. Patience, courtesy, good humor and flexibility always give you a leg up in negotiations with airline agents. When my flight was canceled, I had to do some creative work with the agent to get back into first class for the domestic portion of the flight. I asked a lot of questions and researched all the available alternatives, finally settling on a flight out of a different airport that guaranteed me the upgrade. It was a decent flight, and my trip went without a hitch.

Get your due. When an airline cancels a flight for “fuel conservation” reasons, they’ll tell you it is a national mandate from the president, but what it boils down to is that the airline is inconveniencing you in order to convenience itself.

Getting mad and yelling won’t accomplish anything, but you are entitled to some consideration. Calmly point out to the agent that your travel plans have been disrupted, then ask that the airline make it up to you. In my case, I received a $75 voucher good for a future flight. Not too bad for having to take a flight two hours earlier. The compensation you’ll receive depends on the type of fare you have and the cost of the ticket. I was on an international itinerary in first/business class so $75 was appropriate; if you have a $200 ticket for a two-and-half hour flight, $25 might be the appropriate compensation.

In these times of high fuel prices and bankrupt airlines, travelers need to be proactive in their travel planning. The key is: “Know before you go.”

And yet, a review of the résumés of industry executives reveals a group of well-educated and talented individuals with solid business experience both inside and outside the industry. Are airline executives really inept?

I don’t think so.

Recently I was on a major airline’s inaugural flight from Atlanta to Rio de Janeiro. Apparently, this flight was a big deal for the airline because it had a number of top executives at the gate and aboard the plane. This gave me the chance to sit down and seek some answers. After talking with several executives and pilots, I concluded that they are earnest, hardworking individuals who understand the importance of the U.S. airline industry to the global economy.

As I pen this, I am sitting in a seaside café along Rio’s famed Leblon Beach – trying to figure out what has gone wrong in the airline industry. I have looked at the problem from all angles, and I have to give top management of the airlines passing grades. Having weathered 9/11, they have dealt with declining traffic and rising fuel costs as best they could. It’s been a difficult job.

That brings us to a more obstinate problem: labor unions and their leadership. Let’s leave aside the union workers, a hearty group of individuals who just want to do a good job and earn living wages. Let’s look instead at union bosses, the Tammany Hall of the industry.

Union leaders are grossly inept. They live in a world of paranoia and greed. Do they really want the best for their workers?

I think not.

Let me tell you about my recent experience with a union representing airline workers. It is dumbfounding but true, and it lays bare the arrogance and megalomania of the union leadership.

After having a dialogue with a number of hardworking members of this union, who are currently on strike and struggling to make ends meet, I set up a financial-assistance fund for the workers and solicited donations for them in a recent column.

Within days, the union’s national leadership called for me to shut down the fund. I was stunned. Is this how the union honors its hardworking members, by denying them relief?

I asked the union leadership that very question.

The union’s response: “Cease and desist.” They also threatened me with legal action.

I now find myself threatened by a large organization that can spend virtually unlimited resources on legal fees to get its way. This type of abusive power and manipulation of the legal system reminds me of how the American Civil Liberties Union intimidates its opponents.

Although this experience is only a microcosm of what happens every day, it leads me to believe that it’s not the airline executives who are the monsters in this drama. I contend that much of the current woe of the airline industry comes from these heavy-handed union bosses, who look out for their own interests at the expense of their members’ welfare.

After all, who’s losing here?

The little guy.

The union bosses are getting paid, and the union lawyers are getting paid – it’s only the union workers who aren’t getting paid. They’re out of work. Meanwhile, American consumers are paying higher prices.
I once read that an airline union called the demise of Eastern Airlines “a victory.” How can losing thousand of jobs be a victory? Will the mechanics’ union also dance on Northwest’s grave?

To be fair, some airline workers unions do a good job. The pilots unions, for example, have done an excellent job supporting their members.

But I say, let the antiquated unions die a natural death. They are already on their last legs. The fact that a union would try to prevent striking workers from receiving much-needed support just demonstrates their perishing grip; it is a last vestige of prehistoric behavior.

We already have a large bureaucratic system in place to protect workers’ rights. It’s called Congress. Congressional oversight would serve airline workers far better than their unions currently do. People like Maxine Waters, Democratic member of the House of Representatives for 14 years, and Ted Kennedy, Senator forever, work tirelessly and fairly for workers’ rights. Let them have a go at it for airline employees.

If we allow airlines and employees to deal with each other directly, under Congressional oversight, I believe they will work together to provide top-notch customer service.

But if we allow the adversary relationship between airlines and unions to fester, and if we continue to let union bosses have their way, our great airline industry will suffer the fate of our once-great steel and automotive industries.

And that will be a very sad day.

Not all the comments were polite. I was called “insane,” “stupid” and some other words not fit for print. But others praised me as someone who “gets it.” Either way, I’ve gotten a crash course in people’s travel habits, and I’ve learned a great deal about people who work in the travel industry.

I see now that my last column took a narrow view of some labor issues. After hearing pilots’ and mechanics’ tales of long hours, missed holidays, salary cuts and lost pension benefits, I have definitely given the issue more thought.

In my last column, I expressed my gratitude for the major airlines. This time around, I want to personally thank all those dedicated airline employees who faithfully serve the American flying public. The airline industry employs great individuals who work hard to assure that every flight is safe and enjoyable. (If you doubt their dedication, just remember the pilot landing the JetBlue plane with the broken nose gear at LAX last week.)

I have heard many heartfelt stories, especially from striking Northwest Airlines employees, who are worried about their future pensions but are also struggling – right now — to make ends meet. I remain philosophically opposed to labor unions, but I am not inhumane. In fact, I have started a relief fund with a personal donation of $1,000 for those Northwest mechanics who are struggling during the job action. Details are available on the NWA Fund Web site.

The problem

Readers had many suggestions for solving the current airline crisis. Some suggested letting the major carriers collapse, leaving Southwest and JetBlue to run the industry. Others suggested shooting the all the major airline executives (I heard this more than once).

It isn’t that easy, folks. The industry’s problems are deeply systemic. They include pilots’ pay, labor unions, fuel costs, lack of pricing power, as well as poor business decisions, mismanagement and indifferent customer service. Executive compensation may also be a problem – many readers thought so. However you look at it, we have a big mess.

The business factors I know best are customer service and loyalty. As an industrial organizational psychologist, I have focused my work on factors that drive customer service, customer loyalty and employee retention. In its simplest form, the equation looks like this:

Satisfied employees = Happy customers –> Higher profits.

As I see it, much of the current problem lies in the commoditization of flying. This trend, which has focused executive attention on price rather than value, has disrupted the equation. Falling fares have forced airlines to institute cost-cutting measures, including pay cuts and cutbacks in service, which have caused dissatisfaction all down the line. This price competition created the tremendous dissonance we currently see in the industry.

Solution #1: Empower employees

The most profitable move a struggling airline can make is to give its employees more respect and more authority to make decisions. After all, as C. E. Woolman, the founder of Delta Air Lines, once said, “All airlines are the same. Only the people make them different.”

Why are respect, authority and attitude so important? Not only because they directly increase employee satisfaction, but also because they increase employees’ power to make customers happy. Customer-contact employees — those who have direct contact with the public, such as pilots, reservation agents, ticket agents, gate agents and flight attendants – can be the difference between a customer having a memorable flight and a miserable one. So why not give them more latitude to succeed?

Here are three stories to show what I mean.

A friend of mine was flying the red-eye on a paid first-class ticket. He arrived on the East Coast at 6 a.m., two hours before his connecting flight. When he asked the gate agent for a pass to the airline’s members-only club (so he could refresh and have a cup of coffee), she refused, saying she was afraid she’d lose her job for bending the rules. This inconsequential gesture would have made my friend happy and loyal to the airline. Instead, he now flies elsewhere.

A reader traveling with her infant daughter was greeted at the cabin door by a flight attendant who refused to allow her to bring the baby’s car seat onboard, even though the baby had a paid ticket. When the mother pointed out that the car seat was approved by the FAA for airline use, the flight attendant said, “I don’t care.” This stressed-out employee cost her company the lifetime value of that customer.

The last story comes from a reader who will choose American Airlines every time she flies because of the kindness one a flight attendant. The reader was traveling with her 16-year-old cat, Nerm. When they changed planes in Chicago, the flight attendant asked to take a look at the cat.

Thank God she did! Blood was coming out of his nose and his eyes were rolled back in his head. She grabbed the carrier and took off to the back of the plane, where there were three empty seats. She laid Nerm on the seats, put the air vent on him, took down the oxygen mask for him, got wet cloths and got a first aid book. Then she walked back up the aisle and came back with a doctor. Right then we flew into turbulence, but she let me kneel in front of the seats and put my arms around Nerm to keep him in place. She even let me remain kneeling during landing and got me off the plane before anyone else. I could not thank her or American [enough] for what they did.

This kindness cost American Airlines nothing but the price of a cat’s worth of oxygen. Yet it cemented a relationship with a customer who will share this story with many other potential customers — including you.

Solution #2: Create customer value

The big airlines’ big mistake was to get into fare wars with airlines like Southwest and JetBlue. Competing on price is a no-win solution for the majors because their costs are higher. It pays to look closely at why this is true. In fact, the mechanics’ strike at Northwest Airlines has exposed a dirty little secret about the popular budget carrier JetBlue: JetBlue achieves its low fares by using nonunion workers and by outsourcing its mechanics jobs to low-wage countries like El Salvador.

I call it the Wal-Martization of the airline industry. Those progressives who have a problem with Wal-Mart should be equally troubled by America’s low-cost carriers. Those “bargain” fares come at a big price.

The big airlines cannot compete on fares, but they can offer better routes and better customer service. This is their real legacy and their continuing strength, and that’s why I continue to fly them. For example, as a loyal customer of Delta, I can fly business class to Rio de Janeiro on October 1 for less than $1,300. Can I do that on Southwest? No way. Sure, I have more than 2 million frequent-flier miles with Delta, but anyone can build a loyal relationship with an airline and reap similar benefits — even if they fly as little as two or three times a year.

Here’s another story. One of my readers, an attorney from San Jose, CA says he can save $5 by flying Southwest on his regular route between San Jose and Los Angles, but he chooses to fly American Airlines. Why? Because he sees value in being greeted by name when he enters the Admiral’s Club. He also sees value in such perks as avoiding lines and getting upgrades. This level of service is so important to him that he will make the horrendous drive from Los Angeles to his final destination, Burbank, just to maintain his loyalty to American Airlines – even though Southwest flies to Burbank direct.

Is he crazy?

No. In fact, he is typical of a rather large segment of the market that is willing to pay a premium for perceived value. This is the type of customer the major airlines should be seeking, not the customer who wants the lowest fare, no matter what.

My advice: Airlines should avoid the shortsighted mistake of fare matching and concentrate on services that discriminating travelers will pay for.

A cultural change

The game will go to the first major carrier that dares to say, “We are not JetBlue. We are not Southwest. We compete in a different realm.” So long as the company can clearly outline its value-added services, it will win back value-oriented travelers.

Hotels have already proven that market segmentation is possible in the travel industry. Take the Starwood Hotel Group, which offers brands ranging from the bare-basics Four Points Sheraton Hotels, to the business-class Westin Hotels, to the ultra-deluxe St. Regis Hotels. All the properties find customers. In fact, luxury hotels have higher occupancy and growth rates than budget hotels. Clearly, travelers are willing to spend money if the value proposition is right.

The money is out there for airlines to capture higher fares that would keep them operating with a fair profit and the ability to pay their employees fairly. Of course, price is of concern to consumers; even a deluxe carrier can’t charge the moon. But the fact is, American consumers are currently blessed with the lowest airfares in history. Airplane tickets are by far the best consumer buy in America today. This tells me that the legacy carriers have a fair amount of room to adjust their pricing. In my opinion, they should look up, not down.

To succeed in the current market, the legacy carriers must understand they are in a service business, and that means treating their employees — and their customers – better. Showing this type of leadership will be hard to do in bankruptcy. The leader who does so will be hailed as the next Robert L. Crandall, the highly respected CEO of American Airlines. Remember the simple equation:

Satisfied employees = Happy customers –> Higher profits.

Treating employees and customers with respect will not solve all the woes of the industry, but it will certainly set a course in the right direction.

My thanks to the hundreds of readers who have praised me, blasted me – and made me think.

And what have they gotten in return? Travelers have taken advantage of airlines’ willingness to maintain competitive fares and repaid it with fleeting loyalty and indifference. At the same time, selfish labor unions have drained the big airlines’ coffers and predatory upstart carriers have poached their routes.

In other industries, consumers build mutually beneficial relationships with providers of goods and services. Wal-Mart shoppers won’t shop anywhere else, just as BMW owners won’t let anyone else service their $70,000 vehicles. These consumers are fiercely loyal, no matter their income bracket.

But when it comes to air travel, consumers toss loyalty aside in search of a better deal. I call this the “Southwest Effect” — the naive idea that the best deals will be found on Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, and other low-budget carriers, as well as on third-party Web sites. Not only do these better deals not exist, but this greedy strategy is wreaking havoc with the U.S. air travel industry.

In my opinion, it’s un-American.

Whenever travelers fly a low-cost carrier, they disrespect the contributions that the major carriers have made to the United States of America. Failing to repay the debt of gratitude we owe the major U.S. airlines is unpatriotic.

Why should we reward the major U.S. airlines?

Without the major U.S. airlines, my neighbor would not be able to visit her brother twice a year in Israel; she would not have been able to explore Central and South America, taking time to become fluent in Spanish. Without the major airlines, many Americans would be unable to share Thanksgiving and Christmas with their families.

During the past 10 years, the airline industry has been in turmoil. In that time, we lost several great American companies, including TWA, Pan Am and Eastern. Chock it up to competition — that’s the American way. The remaining big airlines have answered their challenges with innovation and reinvention — that’s also the American way. Responding to market conditions, the airlines have whittled their cost structures and profit margins to the lowest in any industry.

At the same time, the full-service airlines have continued to serve the American public with pride, especially in times of trouble and hardship. When America was terrified by the events of 9/11, the big airlines responded quickly and got passengers on their way. When winter storms pummel the Northeast, the major carriers still take you anywhere in the world. When Americans become displaced by harsh hurricanes, the major U.S. airlines offer their services and ferry those in need to safe ground.

During such difficult times, major airlines also waive their usual change fees, rebooking rules, and refund policies. Unlike other businesses, the big airlines typically forgo opportunistic practices in order to serve their customers’ needs.

Think about it. At a time when gas prices make it more expensive to drive than to fly, airlines have done their best to maintain low fares (and they have high fuel costs, too). In fact, today you can fly from coast to coast and stay in a five-star hotel for less than it costs to drive the same distance.

The major airlines are big contributors to charity, too — and not just in times of national tragedy. In fact, they routinely donate miles and services to such causes as the Make-a-Wish Foundation, the American Red Cross, cancer victims and their families, and many other worthy causes.

What is the problem here?

The scourge of the big U.S. airlines is their labor costs. Even after running the automotive industry into the ground, highly bureaucratic labor unions have yet to realize that their services are obsolete. Northwest Airlines rightly stood up to the unrealistic demands of its mechanics union, filling open positions with readily available, highly qualified mechanics with an average of 20 years experience servicing airplanes.

The striking mechanics did not have an opportunity to vote on Northwest’s final offer before union officials called the strike. Their union has no strike fund, and the workers’ last paychecks were paid weeks ago.

Currently, workers are without health benefits, and these hard-working Americans are now struggling to make ends meet because the egoistical union leaders cannot see through their own foggy thought.

Forcing airlines into bankruptcy in order to renegotiate an antiquated labor contract is un-American. Relying on the courts to handle a company’s labor woes is bad business. Supporting this type of behavior is clearly not in the best interests of a free capitalist marketplace economy.

I say to the labor union: Remember the Reagan years and the air traffic controllers’ strike.

Where is this all going?

To those who think that the new low-cost carriers like Southwest and JetBlue are the future of the U.S. airline industry, I say: Think again. Will they get you to Des Moines to see Grandma at Christmas? I think not.

But Delta will.

In fact, the major airlines have maintained many unprofitable routes to responsibly serve their customers. Southwest and JetBlue cherry-picked their routes, offering limited service and poaching customers from the big carriers. With the major U.S. airlines, you can fly anywhere in the world. Southwest and JetBlue take you only where they want to go. Is that the kind of company you want to do business with?

The reality of the current U.S. airline industry is that the big airlines are shrinking their operating costs while the so-called low-budget carriers are increasing theirs. David Neeleman, CEO of JetBlue, expects JetBlue to operate more than 275 planes by 2010; those planes will include many new Embraer 190s to go with JetBlue’s current fleet of Airbus A-320s (the company doesn’t even buy American!). This plan will more than triple JetBlue’s fleet and workforce. Sounds like a lot of added costs to me.

I fear for Northwest and for the economy. Losing yet another major airline will hurt our transportation industry badly. It is time to reward airlines that have graciously withstood economic recessions, terrorism, high oil prices and labor disputes.

Showing support for the backbone of the U.S. airline industry shows support for the ideals of America. Don’t let labor unions rob the United States of well-paying jobs with their inflated demands. Instead, fly an airline faced with a labor dispute, and keep flying even when the carrier faces bankruptcy.

My advice? Commit to one major airline and let their planes fly you anywhere you need to go. You’ll be better off for it, and so will America.

Mine do.

Take this recent experience with a Hertz rental in Denver. I arrived at the airport, sauntered right past the rental counter, and immediately boarded the shuttle bus, where I was the only passenger. The driver dropped me right at my car. The car was clean, the engine was already running, and the trunk was open, ready to receive my bag.

As usual, I had paid a discounted rate, yet I received a free upgrade to a luxury car. As I drove away, I could see at least 50 weary travelers in line at the Hertz counter, waiting impatiently for their run-of-the-mill cars.

This happens to me all the time. Am I just a lucky guy? No way.

My experience in Denver is not based on good fortune; it is based on solid knowledge of how to obtain fast, upgraded car rentals and preferential treatment, all at discounted prices. I save time, I save money, I save the hassle, I drive a cool car-and I’m treated like a king. I do it all the time, and you can do it, too.

The General Idea

Car rentals are a small yet important part of luxury travel. With an upgrade and a low rate, you can spend a few days driving a car you can’t afford to purchase, or you can live out an automotive fantasy. You can drive a convertible with the top down, or careen through ski country in a four-wheel-drive SUV. I once drove a BMW along the winding roads of the Swiss Alps — a real adrenaline rush. Memorable experiences like these can be yours, too.

Nuts and Bolts

* Frequent renter programs. Like airlines and hotels, major car rental companies track their customers’ rental histories and offer preferential service to loyal customers. Most of the major companies offer frequent renter programs that are similar to airline frequent-flyer programs and hotel frequent-guest programs.

* Preferred renter clubs. Most major car rental companies also offer preferred renter programs or clubs (one example is the Hertz #1 Club). When you belong to one of these clubs, you get preferential treatment, including automatic upgrades when those cars are available. You can join these programs at any time, even if you are a first-time renter with that company.

While basic-level club memberships are often free, higher-level memberships (as in the Hertz #1 Gold Club, which allows you to bypass the rental counter) generally come with a price tag. What most people don’t realize is that it is often possible to avoid the membership fee by simply writing or calling your car rental company and asking them to waive it. They will do it because the car rental industry is very competitive, and they want your business.

Strategies for Getting the Best Deal

* How to maximize your clout. Select at least two different companies for your car rental business. The first is your primary provider; this is where you will put most of your business so you can earn the highest level of preferential service.

The second company is your hedge against regional market variations. As in the hotel industry, rates and availability in the car rental industry can vary from place to place; on occasion, one company’s rates will be grossly out of whack By working two loyalty programs, you won’t get caught paying inflated prices when your game is to get luxury for less.

* How to get the best rate on the best car. You have to be persistent, and you have to call the car rental companies directly — sometimes several times. It is not uncommon to speak with one rental agent and be offered one rate and then call back a few minutes later and get another rate.

* How to get an upgrade. Upgrades are subject to availability. If you cannot confirm an upgrade when you make your reservation, make sure the agent documents your request in your reservation record. This will greatly increase your odds of being upgraded when you pick up your car.

Another strategy is to call the on-site manager in advance of your arrival, introduce yourself as a loyal, preferred customer, and ask if she can help you nail down that upgrade. It has been my experience that most on-site managers are very accommodating.

Sometimes you don’t even have to upgrade to get a great car. You just have to ask. For example, while planning a trip to Hawaii a couple of years ago, I was quoted a rate of $250 per week for a mid-size car. On further inquiry, I learned of a special luxury rate of only $215 per week. I was able to confirm a luxury Cadillac — for $35 per week less than what I would have paid for a mid-size car.

* How to work the discounts. Car rental companies offer myriad discounts, ranging from corporate discounts to those affiliated with airlines and hotels. I have found that AAA and American Express often have special rates with car rental agencies; check your monthly airline mileage statement for special offers available from you airline’s car rental partners.

Be sure to check the car rental company’s Web site for special deals or promotions; there are often discounts for booking online. Finally, individual rental locations will occasionally offer their own specials and promotions, so you should ask at the counter if they have anything for you. Just remember to mention your status as a preferred customer.

Special Rentals

* The benefit of resort locations. Resort areas are often good places to get a luxury car upgrade. Resort rental agencies have inventories of luxury vehicles that regularly go unrented, especially during the off-season, so supply is in your favor. Preferred customers can often get a top-of-the-line vehicle for little or no additional cost.

* Why non-smoking cars rule. You will increase your odds for getting a newer, cleaner car if you insist on having a non-smoking car. You will also increase your chances for an upgrade because if a non-smoking car is unavailable in the class of service you booked (and it might be, since non-smoking cars are in high demand), you will be upgraded to accommodate your non-smoking needs.

A word of warning: Be sure to ask the reservation agent to calculate the total cost of your rental, including fill-up costs if you come back empty. Often the quoted rate leaves out such things as airport fees, city taxes, license fees, and more. These won’t sting so much if you know about them in advance.

Your rental car can be a clunker or a dream machine. Take your pick. It’s really not that hard to treat yourself well. If you take my advice, you will drive away happy.

My grandfather was right. Sure, there are times when you want to just strike out on impulse without plans, reservations or schedules. Such trips can be highly adventurous and gratifying, but most travelers are more comfortable with some kind of agenda, and a good plan can help you get the best bang for your buck (or for your euro and peso).

With a well thought-out trip, your travels will be more enjoyable and less costly, and you can take advantage of preferential services and amenities. So let’s look at some tips for making a good travel plan.

Remember supply and demand

The first economic principle I learned in college was the law of supply and demand. In travel, it means that travel suppliers will offer incentives to offset lower demand for a season or destination. Knowing how to travel around peak demand can bring you significant rewards, including low rates, pleasant weather, uncrowded museums and preferential service.

Travelers who aren’t constrained by school holidays or company-imposed vacation dates can pick the best times to pack their bags. A little research on the Internet or a quick chat with a travel agent will tell you which off-peak dates savvy travelers recommend for your destination. By traveling off-peak, you can satisfy champagne tastes on a penny-pinching budget‚ and you can do it year-round.

Fall into luxury

Traveling in autumn isn’t only cheaper, it’s often more pleasant (think smaller crowds, a less blistering sun, fewer squalling kids and big shopping discounts). One traveler summed it up to me as a time when airfares and hotel prices are at their lowest, and the best rooms are just waiting for you to turn the key.

Low-rate destinations such as Bermuda, Bali and the Mediterranean all offer good weather for sightseeing and swimming in fall. Rates at some hotels fall as much as 50 percent, and flights can be 30 percent cheaper. Many seasoned travelers wouldn’t dream of traveling to these places at any other time.

Win in winter

Many temperate destinations offer excellent winter deals. For example, many hotels in California’s Monterey County offer a free night for every paid night from November through January.

For snow enthusiasts, Quebec City is a great choice — and winter is the only time you can catch the city’s famed Winter Carnival. Even with Carnival, hotel rates can be low: The posh Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, for example, offers a 50 percent discount from January through March.

Spot spring deals

Discounts abound in the spring. Just avoid any destination catering to students on spring break. Before and after spring break, hotels and resorts in Hawaii slash rates, and European holidays are almost always less costly in April and May.

Four Seasons in summer

Even summer offers deals — particularly if you head for the Sun Belt. For example, the Four Seasons hotels in both Scottsdale, Ariz., and Dallas offer rooms for less than $150 a day, and both have highly acclaimed spas and golf courses.

Think upside down

The time to go Down Under is in our late spring and summer, when it’s fall and winter in Australia. That’s when you can get real savings on airfares. The exchange rate is favorable, too. Smart travelers enjoy the best hotels and dine in the finest restaurants at this time of year, saving up to 40 percent.

Follow the dollar

It’s no secret that a strong U.S. dollar can deliver a better travel experience for less money. Currently, the dollar goes a lot further in Canada and in many Central and South American countries, while the current strength of the euro will increase the cost of your European trip by about 20 percent.

Book wisely

Arriving at a ticket counter, hotel desk, car rental counter, or cruise line and plunking down your credit card in front of the attendant is not the best way to get good value. It’s actually the worst.

On ordinary itineraries, you’ll save time and money if you call your travel providers direct or book your reservations on the Internet. Recently, some airlines have instituted a surcharge on tickets purchased through the airlines’ toll-free 800 numbers. If you do not have access to the Internet personally (or through family, friends or a local library), call the airline and explain your situation. Most likely, they will waive this fee for you.

When planning an exotic trip or traveling to a new destination, don’t do it yourself. Seek the assistance of a good travel agent. He’ll help you plan a smart itinerary that is flexible enough to allow for changes in plans and unexpected events, but still save you money.

Ask questions

By all means, ask questions — even if you think you already know the answer. While planning a trip from Orange County to Atlanta this past summer, I was told that a coach ticket would cost me $1,024; when I asked about the cost of a first-class ticket, I found it was less than half that price: $496!

Make memberships pay

If you can show evidence of membership in organizations such as the American Automobile Association (AAA) or the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), you’ll save an additional 20 percent to 25 percent.

Leverage loyalty

Now that you’ve got the best basic price and a well-planned journey, it’s time to get a little more luxury than you paid for.

Remember that loyalty pays — even if you travel only once or twice a year. Travel providers want to keep you as a customer, so they will reward repeat business with preferential services, prime upgrades and special discounts.

All you have to do is establish a history of loyalty and mention it when you travel. To maximize your advantage and bargaining power, limit your purchases to a select group of quality travel providers, and be sure to join their frequent user programs.

Make friends

My favorite strategy for getting a great travel experience requires no planning at all: Just be pleasant! When you show appreciation for the hard work of travel providers, you become a pleasure to do business with. Relax, smile, commiserate, spread some human kindness, and often as not, rewards will follow.

This was true for my friend Laurie, who got stranded at the Miami airport after an equipment failure on her plane. While waiting to rebook her ticket, Laurie saw the customer in front of her berate the ticket agent, blaming her for the delay. When it was Laurie’s turn, she kindly told the agent to take a minute to recover from that passenger’s rudeness. The agent was so touched by this gesture that she booked Laurie on another airline’s flight — in first class.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained” that’s something else my grandfather taught me.

So, do your research, learn these tips, plan well and go have fun.

Quality travel companies strive to maintain a credible reputation for providing exceptional service.

An unhappy customer is the last thing they want at their door. Every mistake and mix-up, then, gives rise to two opportunities: one for the company, to uphold its reputation, the other for the customer, to achieve a fair resolution. Here is some advice for striking a balance — and getting a good deal.

Take responsibility.

First things first: Responsibility for the quality of your travels starts with you. Know what to expect from your airline, hotel, cruise line, tour operator or rental-car company, and you won’t be caught in a lot of misunderstandings. You’ll also learn where the benefits and perks lie.

Over the years, I have gotten to know my preferred travel providers quite well. For example, I have studied the routes that Delta Air Lines flies out of my home airport, Orange County; I’ve learned what planes are used on each route; I know which flights arrive and depart on time; and I know which flights offer the best opportunities for an upgrade. Yes, I’ve had to read a lot of fine print. But taking responsibility means I get to fly in first class for free.

Taking responsibility also means not taking advantage of your travel providers. Fox News Channel recently ran a story about a man who suffered a heart attack while reviewing his bill in a restaurant. The problem is that this was the 18th time this man happened to have a heart attack after a meal at this same restaurant. The restaurant decided not to take it anymore, and the man got free meals for the next 90 days in jail.

Attitude counts.

In an earlier article (“Good Views = Lousy Service?”), I wrote about poor service at two hotels in coastal Orange County. Their respective responses speak volumes about their dedication to quality service.

When the owner of the Montage Resort & Spa read my article, he immediately dispatched an e-mail to his general manager to find out what went wrong. The general manager contacted me and expressed sincere concern, asking me how the hotel could improve and prevent future lapses of quality service. Prompt action, solicitude and a willingness to change are sure signs that goodwill really matters to a travel provider. You just have to follow their lead.

Conversely, when my friend Claudia gave my article to the manager of the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, he retorted that he knows the hotel has good service because guests tell him so. When she told him I’d received a number of e-mails from readers concurring with my assessment, he demanded that I send him some proof. Arrogance is a sure sign that a travel provider lacks consistent quality. The best providers offer top quality to every customer, whether it’s a mega-superstar or an average traveler like you and me. There is little you can do with a provider like this, except take your business elsewhere.

Ask and you might receive.

Recently, my 16-year-old daughter was traveling from school in upstate New York to see her mom in Dallas. I had mistakenly booked her on an itinerary with a three-and-a-half-hour layover in Atlanta. Concerned that she would be alone on a Friday night in a busy airport, I called the Delta Crown Room in Atlanta two hours before her flight to ask if I could purchase a one-day pass so she would have a safe place to wait for her next flight. It was probably too late to contact her, so I had little hope of success. But I thought I’d ask.

Luckily, I spoke with a Delta employee who was willing to make a champion effort. She made the arrangements in Atlanta, relayed the information to Syracuse, made sure my daughter got the message — she even waived the $50 fee for the one-day pass. All the while, she was extremely sympathetic and helpful.

My friend Lance got in a similar jam. After bragging about the low fare he had gotten just one day before a trip to Washington, D.C., he took a second look at his ticket and discovered that he had actually booked a flight three weeks hence. (I have done the same thing with hotel reservations.) Lance called the airline, explained his mistake, and got a full refund. It turns out most quality airlines and travel providers (including a few third-party Web-based providers) will refund your purchase if your plans change within 24 hours of booking.

Extra effort and consideration are signs of real quality, and customers should reward such companies with their continued patronage.

Seek fair compensation.

When you have a legitimate complaint, state your dissatisfaction clearly and succinctly to the appropriate person. If your room service is a half-hour late, call the manager of room service not the hotel’s general manager. If your first effort fails, take it to the next level. But before you lodge any grievance, think about what would be fair compensation. If your soup is cold, it would be silly to expect a free week in the hotel’s presidential suite.

It often pays to let the travel provider suggest appropriate amends. My friend Carol and her two young daughters sat sweltering on a hot runway for two hours when their plane experienced mechanical difficulties. When they finally returned to the gate, Carol voiced her disappointment, noting that the flight attendants had not even offered the girls water in the heat of the plane. The agent promptly provided her with vouchers for dinner and placed her on a competitor’s flight in first class — much more than Carol had expected.

Finally, here are four quick pointers for getting the service you deserve.

Be polite. Very often, the customer-contact people are doing their best, and some things are simply beyond their control. Try to work with them patiently and politely to resolve your difficulty.

Don’t take no for an answer. My friend Susan was stranded in the blackout on the East Coast in August 2003. She stood in line for three hours before getting to a gate agent, who then said, “Sorry, all flights are full.” Undeterred, Susan (politely) asked to be put on a waiting list. The ticket agent said it would not make a difference, but she agreed to do it anyway. And Susan did get on a flight.

Use your leverage. If you are a frequent flier or a privileged customer of a traveler provider, use your status to your advantage when asking for a favor or amends. I’m sure my 2 million frequent-flier miles with Delta helped get my daughter that pass for the Crown Room in Atlanta.

Don’t waste your time with someone who won’t help or doesn’t care.

Complacency, like arrogance, is almost impossible to deal with. I’d rather spend my money with a company that values its customers.

As a consumer on a quest for first-class travel, you have the right to expect and receive nothing less than the best. If a travel company fails to meet high standards, inform the appropriate official in a professional and caring manner. This may not always get you what you want, but it ensures that you keep up your own high standards, which is half the battle.

Is there a best seat in the house? Not really. There are good seats for different purposes, so people have different preferences. I prefer a bulkhead aisle seat, usually 1B or 1C. This puts me near the bulkhead galley. I get served first, and I’m usually the first off the plane. This works for me — so well, in fact, that when I sit somewhere else, I feel out of place.

Other people swear by window seats, which are good for sightseeing and sleeping (the window provides a nice place to rest your head, especially if you’ve snagged a pillow). Veteran window-sitters take careful note of the flight plan, deciding which side of the plane to sit on according to where the sun will be. Aisle seats have different considerations. They let you stretch your legs once in a while without disturbing your seatmates, but you risk getting bonked by other people’s elbows and carry-ons.

Front or back? There are advantages to both. On most flights, passengers in the back rows board first, so they get first grabs at overhead bin space. On the down side, there’s usually a long wait to get off the plane, food choices can be limited by the time the cart gets to you, and the line for the lavatory can be distracting and noisy. Front-seat passengers usually deplane first, but not always: Some short-haul commuter flights (such as Delta’s shuttles between New York, Washington and Boston) use both ends of the plane for deplaning, so you can make a quick escape front or back.

There are other, more particular considerations. For example, bulkhead seats are a good choice for kids who tend to be climbers and kickers, and seats near the emergency exits really must go to competent adults who will take the time to figure out how to use them. And every would-be Lothario knows that the back of the plane is where the flight attendants hang out.

How to get what you want? What most people don’t realize is that seat inventories are in constant flux. Ticket cancellations and upgrades affect seat availability. So does airline policy; airlines can reserve or release a portion of their inventory to meet their own needs. The key to getting the seat you want is vigilance and persistence.

To check on seat availability, you can call your airline or your travel agent, or you can use your airline’s online seat locator (a map of the plane that shows not only how the seats are laid out, but also which seats are taken and which are still available). Most airlines allow you to use the seat locator to choose or change your seat directly online.

You don’t have to buy a ticket to see what’s available. When I am waitlisted for an upgrade on a flight I’ve already booked, I go onto my airline’s Web site and make a second, mock booking for a first-class seat. I don’t actually reserve or confirm the seat, but during the booking process, I am given the opportunity to select a seat. That’s my eye into the first-class inventory. If I see that half the seats are still available a week before my departure date, I know I have a good chance for an upgrade. Having taken a peek, I just log off. Of course, you can use the seat locator in the same way to decide which flight to book in the first place.

Don’t despair if you can’t get the seat you want in advance. Just bring your determination to the airport. Talk to the ticket agent or, better yet, the gate agent in charge of your flight. If all else fails, you can try to trade seats with another passenger after you’ve boarded the plane. People generally make room for gimpy passengers and families who’ve been split up. And, believe it or not, some people really don’t care where they sit.

Get a guru. If you have yet to heed my oft-repeated advice to put all your air travel with one airline, or if you’re just not familiar with the design of your next aircraft, check out SeatGuru. This handy Web site offers cabin maps and seat plans for all the aircraft used by most major carriers, providing useful information about seat width and pitch. It also has the inside scoop on such things as which seats have extra legroom, misaligned or partial windows, restricted reclining, tray tables in the armrests-even which seats are especially noisy or cold. SeatGuru also tells you about the availability of in-seat entertainment options like satellite TV and MP3 players. It’s a really good site all around.

From the front of the plane to the back, airplane seats are not all the same. Know which one you want, go after it with persistence, then just fasten your seat belt and have a nice flight.

For the air traveler, these fantasies rank right up there with getting a free in-flight meal or fawning service from a friendly flight attendant. But are they just that — fantasies?

Not necessarily. Here are nine tips that can take the lug out of luggage and help you travel in style.

Carry good bags. If your luggage can’t handle the rigors of the road, you are just wasting your money. On a long flight a few months ago, my seatmate Chuck and I started talking about luggage (a sure sign of boredom). He told me that six months earlier he had gotten what he thought was a great deal: a brand-name, wheeled carry-on bag for $200. His good fortune was short-lived, however, because the bag was already falling apart. My Tumi bag, on the other hand, is 10 years old and can probably go another 2 million miles with me. Yes, I did pay $200 more for my bag, but 10 years sure beats six months. In luggage, good value really does start with quality.

Carry on if you can. Carry-ons make flying so much easier. Everything you need is always within reach, you never risk losing your bags, and you save all that time at the baggage carousel. Just remember: most airlines limit the number of carry-ons to one bag and one personal item, such as a purse, briefcase or laptop. (Generally, passengers may also carry a coat, umbrella or other routine item.) Remember, too, that overloading yourself can be a nuisance — and sometimes a danger — to others in the cabin. How many times have you been hit in the face with a shoulder bag when some overburdened bozo lumbered past you in the aisle? That’s just bad travel etiquette.

Size does matter. Carry-on bags must fit in the aircraft’s overhead compartment or underneath the seat in front of you. Usually, this means your bag should measure no more than 45 linear inches (e.g., 9 inches by 14 inches by 22 inches); moreover, it must weigh no more than 40 pounds. Some airlines are stricter about the rules than others, especially on full flights and around the busy holiday seasons. For that reason, many veteran travelers invest in luggage specifically designed to meet the Federal Aviation Administration’s carry-on size limit.

Pack right. Several books detail good packing techniques. Use them. But first understand the basics. Always put your contact information and your itinerary inside your bag. (Putting this information on the outside of your bags advertises your personal information to the world). Never pack hazardous goods, guns or knives in your carry-on. Sounds like common sense, but you would be surprised what Transportation Security Administration officials have confiscated. (If you have any doubts about what items are allowed, check out its Web site.) Finally, keep your glasses, medications, and emergency phone numbers handy, along with a bottle of water and healthy snacks for the ride.

Lose the lock. Unless you are carrying gold bullion in your bags, locking them provides little value. But it sure can impede your travels. While returning from a golf trip in Costa Rica, I had to change planes and recheck my luggage in Mexico City. When the federal officer asked me to open the case around my golf bag, I couldn’t find my keys. After fumbling haplessly for several minutes, I was escorted to an office and asked a series of question while officers broke the locks on my case, ruining it for future use. I could have avoided the 45-minute ordeal — and the cost of a new case — if I had simply kept the case unlocked. Bear in mind that less than one-half of one percent of airline passengers ever experience a theft from their luggage. Of course, if you must travel with valuables, keep them in a carry-on bag in you line of sight.

Toss the tags. I often see travelers with all sorts of tags littering their bags. The only tags you need are the baggage receipts you are given at check-in (keep these on your person), the destination tag (make sure it’s correct and that it has been firmly attached to your bags), and a nametag. If your airline insists on showing you how special you are by putting a priority tag on your bag, tear it off. Every time I’ve needed to check my “priority” bags, they have been the last off the plane.

Store your bags. There will be times when you arrive at your hotel early or have a late flight. Instead of hauling your bags around with you, have the hotel staff — usually the front-desk personnel or bellman — store them until you can collect them. (There may be a nominal charge for this service.)

Handle with care. One of the joys of travel is finding unusual items to bring home from interesting countries. But these may require special handling. I once found a great wooden mirror in the Ipanema section of Rio. Having carefully packed it, I thought it would ship without harm. But I was wrong, and I ended up having to replace it. On a later trip, I bought a few delicate vases and other art in Buenos Aires. This time I sought out the supervisor at the airport check-in counter and explained that my package was fragile. She put my box aside and hand delivered it to the plane. Happily, all those items arrived home undamaged.

Watch your bags. More bags are lost on the ground than in the air, so keep a close eye on your luggage, especially at the airport, in the hotel lobby, and at the curb. If you ever have a dispute with your taxi driver, make sure you get your bags out of the car before voicing your displeasure. I once took a gypsy limo into New York from JFK and refused to pay for poor service. Fortunately, I had collected my bags before complaining, because the driver stomped off muttering that he should have held my bags ransom.

Your bags are an essential part of your trip: they are your emergency kit, your change of clothes, and your connection to your everyday self. That said, remember that there is very little you can’t buy abroad — whether your destination is across town or halfway around the world. So travel light, travel smart, and save some space in those bags for something really wonderful to bring home.

Here’s my list of the seven deadly sins of travel.

Pride. Every travel season I hear travel magazines and travel journalist talk about the “hottest destinations” or “must-go to places.” These are the places to avoid. Not only will you run into crowds, but you’ll also find peak prices. So put your pride aside, let your neighbors pay the high prices and follow my contrarian strategy, which means hitting undervalued destinations offering great luxury at a discount.

Destinations like ski resorts or New England coastal towns like Providence, Rhode Island, offer great bargains during the summer. Providence’s extensive art and cultural history is reminiscent of Europe, so it’s more affordable for vacationers looking for an exceptional experience.

Envy. Whenever and wherever you travel, you won’t have any trouble finding someone with a nicer hotel room, better airline seat, a grander cruise cabin, bigger rental car, higher elite status, and, most disconcerting, a lower price. This is something you just need to accept. Instead of envying your friends, neighbors, co-workers, or the person in the suite next to your tiny room, just follow my strategy of “Know Thyself.” Get to know what is most important to you. This might be a cheap seat on a discount airline but a luxury hotel with great service and a view. The key is to know what works for you, what you can afford, and where you’re willing to make compromises. When it comes to elite status with travel providers, be practical in the type of travel you do and where you stand in the pecking order. Don’t go up to a gate agent and tell her that you want an upgrade because you are the airline’s most loyal customer when you only fly once a year. Instead, try saying that you don’t fly often, however when you do, you make (the airline) your first choice.

Anger. A fit of anger with a travel provider will get you nowhere fast. (Throwing a phone at a hotel clerk might end you up in jail.) Getting angry at poor service or a delayed flight will not correct the problem. For me, I often find myself tempted to get angry at inept service people but by turning the other cheek. I don’t look like the bad person, and besides, you attract more bees with honey than vinegar.

Avarice. Quality travel providers will go out of their way to assure that their customers are happy. This can make some travelers become greedy and try to get away with too much. In a previous column, I wrote about an experience where I received poor room service and how the manager of the hotel took extraordinary steps to remedy the situation. In that case, the manager asked what he could do for me, if I would have told him that I wanted a free week in the hotel’s presidential suite I would have come across as disingenuous and greedy. Other forms of greed include cheating your frequent flier program to earn a few extra miles, or complaining about a hotel’s service, hoping that they’ll offer you a few freebies. As I have said many times, you need to build mutually beneficial relationships with quality travel partners by not getting greedy or taking advantage of them.

Sadness. When things are not as expected, don’t wallow in sadness; instead take proactive steps to solve your problem. One affirmative step to avoid sadness during your trips is to double-check your reservations. Recently, I booked a trip from Orange County, Calif., to Philadelphia with a telephone reservation agent. The agent forgot to put me in the upgrade-clearing queue that would have automatically upgraded my flight five days prior to departure. Double-checking the reservation saved me from flying coach instead of enjoying first-class. Booking travel can be a complicated with many codes that have to be just right. It’s common for reservations and requests to end up somewhere in cyberspace, so do your advance planning to assure that your travel day goes well.

Gluttony. Too much of anything can led to trouble — even a luxury vacation. I like to take my trips in small doses, giving me enough time to enjoy what I set out to do, without overdoing it. Shorter trips provide a getaway while saving money for another wonderful destination. It might be hard to believe, but I have been at the most wonderful resorts in the world where after a few days I became bored and am ready to move on. Why spend excessively for a week when three or four days will do? Save your time and money for another day.

Lust. This is similar to having envy — lusting for something won’t yield any worthwhile results. Lusting for a luxury vacation won’t get you on that beach chair with a pina colada. Like all things good, make a plan and follow through with appropriate actions that yield results.

My seven deadly tips most likely won’t gain the notoriety as Dante’s work, but they certainly will help make your travels more enjoyable. And trouble-free.

Take Orange County, Calif., for example. I remember when the coolest hotel was the Holiday Inn along the 5 freeway. Today’s “OC” offers several fine hotels with spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean.

Three of the best views (ranked in order) of this Pacific Riviera are south of Laguna Beach at The Montage Resort and Spa, The Ritz Carlton in Ritz Cove, and The St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort.

All three hotels offer similar services. The Montage and the Ritz Carlton hug coastal cliffs leading to the pristine surf and sand of California’s gold coast. The St. Regis occupies an expansive piece of land across California’s Pacific Coast Highway or PCH, as it’s known to locals.

I recently ventured out into my backyard — I live in Tustin Ranch — and visited each of these hotels to rate them on various criteria, all of which came down to two main variables, their view and quality of service. Interestingly, my assessment of each hotel’s service quality inversely ranks to their views.

Great views swayed many inexperienced travelers’ decisions, but they would be wise to follow the advice of my good friend Michael MacGregor, the director of marketing for the Hotel Vina Del Mar, in Chile. While we were enjoying a spectacular sunset from the picturesque view of the hotel’s bar, he told me “the view attracts guest to our property but the service keeps them coming back.”

My hometown experiment confirmed this.

The newest entry to Orange County’s southern coastline, The Montage, has arguably the best view. But if service is important to you, forget about this property.

My visit to the Montage was deplorable. Driving up to the valet section of the hotel’s entry was chaotic and messy, cars strewn everywhere with clueless valets giving and taking the wrong keys from confused drivers.

Inside the hotel, the staff told me “no” 30 times in fewer than 20 minutes. A few examples of this include my request to order an appetizer on the hotel’s outside veranda, the response was a flat-out “no!” Later, I tried to order something to eat in the hotel’s lobby – again, “no!”

The server requested that I go to the hotel’s restaurant for food. When I went to the restaurant and asked to have an appetizer instead of a full entrée, I has told “no” and directed to the noisy and crowded poolside bar with children running between the chairs.

When I asked why I couldn’t have something to eat on the outside veranda or the main sitting area the staff stated the owner doesn’t want people entering the hotel and seeing plates on the table. I suggested that maybe the owner should focused more on service then a fleeting view.

After my unacceptable experience at the Montage Hotel, I drove down the road to the next-best view, but mediocre service oriented Ritz Carlton at the Ritz Cove. After pulling up to the hotel, a valet greeted me quickly.

I should have left then, because that was the extent of its service.

After taking an ocean view seat in the main lounge, the server greeted me and quickly took my order; 23 minutes later, she finally returned. My experience with its casual restaurant was not any better. The host did not greet me, so I took an available table, still with the previous guest’s lunch waiting for clearing. Finally, an impolite waiter came along saying he would be right back. After waiting another 13 minutes, I gave up.

On this occasion, I did not stay in a room, but during past visits, the rooms were dirty, and the service from check-in, to room service to dining in the restaurants was not satisfying. I also have had reports from many readers and friends whom checked into this hotel and consequently checked out with disappointment.

Heading across the coast highway to the St. Regis, I enjoyed an unblemished experience. The St. Regis lacks a white-water view of the Pacific Ocean, but it does have a private beach that they escort guests to in a stretched golf cart.

As I watched the sun settling into the Pacific Ocean, enjoying the hotel’s beautiful and expansive view, a friendly server delivered my smoked salmon platter. Most telling of the St. Regis is that the management does not take its views for granted. Instead, they work on all cylinders assuring that guests enjoy a total experience from check-in to checkout.

My microexperiment with luxury hotels spans beyond Orange County. I have been to hotels and restaurants worldwide where the view is great but the food or service is horrible.

Whenever I return to Malibu, Calif., where I spent my college years, I drive past an old restaurant where I enjoyed many nights drinking beer and watching the wonderful view of waves breaking on the Malibu sand. The view remains the same, but the restaurant is consistently changing ownerships or boarded up. The only reason I can surmise for this is that each new owner does not realize the value of service once the view becomes familiar.

The real guidepost for deciding which luxury resort deserves your money should include the view; but give more weight to the quality of service offered by the hotel or restaurant.

As my smart friend from Chile advised, a view will get people in the door but the service keeps them there.

It doesn’t have to. Instead of being resigned to bad service follow these solutions to finding the right person to help you.

The first key to getting the right person to help you is to understand that there are two types of customer-contact employees. In my latest book, I refer to them as ducks and eagles.

Ducks are those workers who go about their job watching the clock, waiting for it to strike quitting time. Basically, they just go through the motions. You want to avoid them, because they’ll only lead you in circles.

Eagles take pride in their jobs, effortlessly offering their support by providing exceptional service that exceeds your expectations. They understand the value of service and are willing to go the extra step. If they can’t resolve your needs on the spot, they’ll find someone who will.

To find your eagles and avoid the ducks, do the following:

Don’t be a jerk. My friend Laurie was on a flight from Miami to Los Angeles that was delayed and eventually canceled. While she waited in line to have her ticket reissued for a flight the next day, she experienced a horrifying event. The lady in front of her berated the agent to the point of tears, blaming the employee for the cancelled flight. When Laurie approached the agent she told the agent to take a moment to recompose herself and apologize for that lady’s behavior. The agent was so moved; she put Laurie on a flight that night, in first class, from Fort Lauderdale‚ and paid for her taxi ride to the airport.

Be patient. An impertinent representative can try your patience, often hoping you’ll give up in dismay. During a recent hotel stay at a St Regis Hotel, my room service order was not up to par. When I called to complain I encountered an employee who flat-out refused to offer any assistance. After requesting his name more than 10 times, I made a request to speak to his manager, after a few minutes on hold, the representative told me that his manager has Mondays off. I then asked to speak to the supervisor on duty, again on hold. He returned saying that his supervisor had Mondays off. After going through this drill a few more times, I thanked him and called the front desk. By this time it was late in the evening, and most of the lead managers were gone. I did speak to the manager of security that also was serving as the manager on duty.

This eagle was so apologetic that he cleared the charges from my bill, and offered to send champagne to my room (which I refused). He did not stop there. Apparently, he wrote a report to the manager of room service detailing the event. Because the next morning when I called to order a cafe latte and a croissant, the director of room service came on the line and apologized for my embarrassing service. He sincerely gave me the impression that he cared about the quality of the hotel’s service.

Keep moving up the ladder. If you can’t get what you want from the contact-level employee, follow my lead from the above illustration and ask to speak to a supervisor. If the supervisor is still a duck, call the corporate offices and ask for the chief executive (you can get their name by asking the operator or on the company’s Web site). In most cases, you’ll end up speaking to an executive assistant who will properly handle your needs.

Be concise. As you move up the ladder, boil your story down to its essential elements; you might even practice what you’re going to say in your mind a few times. Forget the irrelevant details and focus on the core issue. With the St. Regis example I just mentioned, it was the poor quality of food and the rudeness of the representative that was important, not that it was late Monday evening.

Know what you want and what the company can reasonably do. If I would have told the director of room service for the St. Regis that I wanted a week’s worth of free nights, he would immediately read my intentions as being disingenuous. Rather, I did not request anything. (On his own he paid for my morning’s breakfast.) On the other hand, when my friend Susan asked a Delta agent to credit her account for a flight that she took a week earlier without her frequent flier number in the record, the agent told her that “it was not possible.” Basically he was just being lazy, not wanting to take the extra effort. Later when I called on her behalf the account was properly credited.

Document your trials. Believe it or not, some people try to take advantage of the good nature of travel providers. When you can provide names, confirmation numbers, dates, and the time of the event, you create instant credibility for your case. You also help the company track down where and how the mishap occurred, which can aid in resolving your problem quicker. This also helps you from starting at ground zero each time you need to call back, get transferred into some black hole, or the phone goes dead — not that a service representative would ever intentionally hang up on you.

Don’t be swayed by “that’s not our policy.” If I owned a share of Delta Air Line’s stock for every time I heard a representative say this and was factual wrong, I would own the airline. Ducks like to use company’s procedures as a smoke screen to get you off the phone. If they won’t play ball use any of the above tips to find an eagle who will.

Be careful with what you say. A few years ago I came across a rather coarse ticket agent in Salt Lake City. I made the mistake of telling the agent that I would get an upgrade despite her. When I went to another representative, the agent noticed in my record that the previous agent wrote in bold lettering “do not upgrade passenger under any circumstance.” The new agent was aware of the others agent’s tendency for not being very helpful (a duck) and laughed at the comment and upgraded me anyway. In that case I was lucky. But keep in mind, just as you document your trials, the company is doing the same, and sometimes providing too much information to the wrong person can be deadly.

Finding the right person to assist you is an essential element for traveling in comfort and ease. Sometimes the route to find an understanding eagle willing to meet your needs can be long. By treating even the most inept service representative with respect, you’ll eventually find those who are willing to go beyond what is necessary to assure you have a quality travel experience.

Remember the TV detective who blundered his way from case to case? He often controlled his environment and the outcome of each case by what appeared to be dumb luck.

A seemingly clueless Columbo use his clumsy appearance to catch his suspects off guard, when, in fact, he knew exactly where he was going and want he wanted to achieve. I suspect that if Columbo was a world traveler he would navigate his way in the same disarming manner.

Using a few Columbo techniques can help you improve your travel experiences, too. Here are a few of mine:

Silence is golden. I recently reserved a Hertz rental for an overseas trip. While making the reservation, I told the agent that I wanted to upgrade using a certificate. Normally I would have been upgraded from a subcompact car to one that might have room enough for two.

After arriving at the rental counter, I mentioned my pending upgrade and asked what type of car I would be offered. Well, the reservation office was using an outdated system and was unable to see what I should be upgraded to. So the agent told me that they only had a subcompact. But I knew the location had a nice selection of SUVs. So I asked for one.

And then I shut up. While the agent searched for an answer, I maintained my quietness. Having a langue barrier also worked in my favor. Eventually the agent told me that he would give me the SUV for $10 extra per day, including all the insurance coverage, and provide me with a toll road transponder, so I wouldn’t have to stop and pay tolls. My silence paid off (and not having to search for change at every toll both seemed worth the $10 alone).

Know what you want.

When making hotel reservation, I first go onto the hotel’s Web site to check out room rates, and, more importantly, room types. After making a reservation either on the hotel’s site of through its reservations number, I then ask a reservation agent to place a notation in my record to upgrade me to a certain room type, like an executive level floor, ocean view, etc.

When I arrive to the hotel, my quest for an upgrade is almost a done deal. I simply instructed the agent that my profile is noted with a request for the type of room I desire. It also helps if I throw around the name of the hotel’s manager or the manager of reservations, which can easily be found online or by asking a hotel reservations agent in a previous call.

Be the last to speak. My first two “Columbo” strategies work well with car rental agencies and hotels. With the airlines it becomes a bit trickier. With stricter rules and the airlines propensity to document everything, your chances for success are not as good.

The best technique when working with an airport agent to get admission into the airline’s private lounge is to make your request and shut up. Let the agent click away at the keyboard. In most cases, they are trying to buy themselves time so you give up your request and walk away. So stay the course and let them be the first one to speak. Nine times out of ten, your silence will be rewarded with an upgrade.

The most important thing to keep in mind is honesty. Fabricating a tale might get you an upgrade once or twice but in the long run your travel company will catch on and refuse your requests. Even if you’re thinking that you can just go on to another travel provider, eventually you’ll run out of companies who will want to do business with you.

Follow the bumbling wisdom of Colombo by knowing in advance what you want and gently guide your airline, car rental company or hotel in that direction.

Check the pressure of your car’s tires. Shop around for the best deals. Don’t eat every meal in a restaurant.

Yawn.

So this year, I’m leaving my suit in the closet and sparing you a TV appearance. Instead, I thought I’d give you some tips on summer travel I guarantee you won’t find anywhere else.

Plan a dollar-smart vacation. No one I know wants to pay a premium to travel. But that’s exactly what can happen if you go somewhere with an unfavorable exchange rate. Heading to Europe when the euro is trading 30 points over the dollar means that everything from transportation to lodging to food will automatically cost you more. Save yourself the trouble.

Look for alternatives. A weak dollar will suck the fun right out of your vacation. But a strong dollar will enhance your spending power (and who knows, maybe your enjoyment?). So if you had your heart set on a European experience, but the dollar is too weak to get you into nothing more than a pension, think globally. Try Sao Paulo, Santiago, Rio de Janeiro or Buenos Aires. They’re charming, fashionable and cheap.

Forget about finding the lowest rate. Looking for rock-bottom travel prices is like trying to pick a stock at its absolute lowest price. If we could all do that, we’d be rich. Using my first two tips will save you more money than any amount of time spent on the Internet searching for the lowest fare, price or rate. Instead, choose your destinations carefully and seek the best value for your dollars. Not the lowest price.

Cheap gas? No worries. Just like the last tip on penny-pinching your travel dollar, trying to find a gas station offering gas at a few cents cheaper than your current location is not worth it. Consider that the average car holds 15 to 20 gallons of gas; if you save 5 cents a gallon you’ll only save $1. Even with a SUV holding 40 gallons of gas you’ll only save $2 per tank. The extra $1 to $2 spent for convenience will seem awfully cheap if you’re stuck in the Arizona dessert waiting for a tow truck (been there).

Avoid all the crowds. The biggest truism in travel is, when traveling with crowds you’re bound to pay high prices. Hold off on your summer travels until the fall, and you reap lower prices and will have the place all to yourself, making your travels more enjoyable.

Think local. We often think that our travels must involve a long journey to make it a real vacation. In the process, we overlook many excellent destinations that offer a great family experience with value prices. The U.S. National Park system offers wonderful locations and value. If you live in the West, you can easily head to Vancouver, B.C. and enjoy a favorable exchange rate. East Coasters can plot a course for one of the many small beach cities or mountain towns often overlooked by the tourist crowd for a reprieve from the humidity and heat of the cities. In the Midwest, check out the luxurious lake chalets, which often offer great rental deals.

The key to your summer travel planning is to remain flexible. If it is not a good time to visit your first-choice destination, keep in mind that the value of the dollar changes from year to year, and this year’s “in” spot with bloated prices might be next year’s value of the century.

Have patience and carefully use the above advice to assure you get maximum reward for your summer travels.

There are no hyped-up gimmicks, tricks, or loopholes.

Instead, I opted for a fundamentally sound approach that has proven successful over a long period of time and in all market conditions.

So what’s my technique? I build ongoing, mutually beneficial relationships with a quality travel partner.

I recently needed to take a last-minute trip from Los Angeles to Dallas. Although my usual policy is to spend my money on discounted coach tickets and use my miles only for upgrades, the fare for this last-minute trip was so high ($2,000), that I opted to use an award ticket. However, since I booked the flight at the last minute, I had to use a premium award level, meaning I had to use more miles than if I had been able to plan my trip in advance.

What normally would have been a lopsided transaction benefiting only the airline, turned into a mutually beneficial transaction.

The airline gained value through my redemption of a premium number of miles, while I gained value by getting them to waive the $100 fee they would have normally charged for booking an award ticket at the last minute. Plus, I received a confirmed upgrade to first class on a very crowded flight.

Essentially, mutually beneficial relationships can be defined as the customer seeking the best value for his or her travel dollar, while the travel provider attracts repeat business by offering “the right customer” preferred services.

This idea of getting the best value for your travel dollars is the core of my travel philosophy.

The right travel provider. Choosing the right travel provider depends on the individual traveler’s perception of the provider’s quality, service, price, and the degree of importance the traveler attaches to these factors. Nevertheless, while every traveler has his or her individual preferences and needs, it is fair to say that all travelers want good quality and service, a fair price, convenience, and comfort.

Depending upon your needs, some of the questions you might ask yourself when deciding if a company is the right travel provider are: Was I able to check in for my flight from an electronic kiosk or even from my home computer? Was the fare reasonable and upgradeable? Did I have a pleasant flight?

If you’re staying at a hotel, you might ask yourself: Was my room clean and quiet? Was the service friendly and accommodating?

The right travel providers are concerned with more than just profit; they care about all facets of their business operations, including their customers, employees, and investors. I have always sensed that there was a correlation between happy employees and happy customers, and companies.

I have often spoken with many employees in the travel industry and the ones who provided me the best service had always felt a strong sense of pride and joy with their job. Finally, in my work as an industrial organizational psychologist I was able to conduct an in-depth study that confirmed my suspicions.

No matter what your travel provider’s internal policies are, you as a consumer will know the value they bring to you. If your travel provider is not doing its part to provide good value to you, then it is time to make some changes.

Tips for choosing a travel supplier.

- Consider travel providers who have the geographical availability you require.

- Ask yourself what airports and cities do you most often visit.

- Talk with your well-traveled colleges about their preferences.

- Read travel publications for consistently high ranking travel providers.

- Call the travel provider directly and inquire what they will offer you in return for your loyal business (elite status, bonus miles, free upgrades).

If you see a company as the right travel provider, the more likely you are to give them your repeat business. If that travel provider sees you as the right customer, the more likely you are to receive preferential treatment in return for giving that travel provider an economic advantage over its competitors.

This is the essence of a mutually beneficial relationship.

Your valet pauses for a moment after you hand him the keys to your car. Your luggage porter lingers after delivering your bags to your room. A server signs your check with a smiley-face, hoping for a generous gratuity.

Knowing whom to tip, how to tip, and when to tip can save money and help you avoid awkward situations.

I never understood the power of tipping until a trip to Hawaii.

After I checked in, a bellman name John showed me to my room. On our way there, I asked John about the type of rooms that the hotel had, and he started to describe beautiful ocean-front rooms and suites.

When we arrived at my room it was average, nothing very special. So I asked John if he could call the front desk and see if perhaps I could be upgraded to one of the nice oceanfront rooms. As I said this, I pulled money out of my pocket so that John would know I was ready to reciprocate his goodwill.

John immediately called down to the front desk and asked them if it was possible to upgrade my room. After that brief phone call I was on my way to a beautiful oceanfront suite.

In return, I tipped John $40. That might seem excessive, but I received a room for a week that cost hundreds of dollars more than I was actually paying. In addition, every time John saw me in the hotel he was very attentive and always asked if he could help me with anything.

On that occasion, I invested $40 for a great room and at the same time made a hard working-employee very happy.

The ultimate decision to tip, when to tip, and how to tip, is yours. As you travel you’ll find that customs vary from city to city, country to country, hotel to hotel, making the tipping process confusing at best.

Here are a few guidelines that have served me well and are based on my own extensive experience as a value-conscious luxury traveler.

- Tipping is not a requirement it’s an investment or reward for good service. Subtly let service employees know that if they take care of you, you’ll take care of them.

- Be sure to see the goods before handing over a tip. My friend Greg handed over $50 dollars to the front desk agent at a Walt Disney Resort and asked for an upgrade. Sure, she replied taking his money, but poor Greg ended up with a standard non-upgraded room.

- If your service is not up to par, don’t leave a tip. It’s perfectly acceptable to write a note on your restaurant bill, or inform a manager why you’re not leaving a tip. Often you’ll end up with a free meal or some other compensation.

- A note or letter can be more effective than money. Recently, I conducted a survey of service industry employees. An overwhelming majority – 80 percent – said they would prefer a written letter to their supervisor over money. The reason? A letter helps them with promotions and merit-pay increases.

- Carry small bills. Have a stack of $1 bills readily available so you can quickly and easily hand over your tips, without having to ask for change.

- In foreign countries it is perfectly acceptable to tip in U.S. dollars. The advantage to you is that you don’t have to compute your tips into the local currency rates.

Many of the employees who work in the travel industry derive the majority of their income from tips. Consequently, they have a vested interest in providing the best service possible, since a higher quality of service ensures that they receive better tips.

In other words, when you tip and how you tip will be important to these employees, who will go out of their way to give you preferential service.

Look at your tips as an investment in your quest for luxury travel. If you tip wisely, you will be able to gain benefits far in excess of the average traveler. This does not mean you need to be extravagant to receive preferential treatment, but you do need to be prudent and perceptive

The conventional wisdom is wrong.

How can you put a price on avoiding a long check-in or security line? Or sidestepping employees who are indifferent to your needs? How about uncomfortable airline seats, miles that can’t be used, and dirty or noisy hotel rooms?

These are the real issues that can make or break a trip. And when you let your pocketbook dictate how you book, you’re far more likely to run into problems.

Here’s what the conventional wisdom should be: You get what you pay for.

On a recent trip to Santiago Chile, I stayed at the Hyatt Hotel, Santiago’s premier property. I woke up one morning feeling weak, with a horrible fever, chills, and persistent cough. Mustering what was left of my drained energy, I walked down the hallway to get some coffee and orange juice from the concierge-level lounge.

When I told the floor’s concierge how I was feeling, she immediately knew from my pale appearance that I was not right. She helped me back to my room and called a nurse, who came to my room, took my vital signs and applied a cold compress on my forehead. Room service delivered bottled water and a special herbal lemonade remedy.

Two hours later she returned to my room with a full plate of fresh fruit and more lemonade. By that evening, I felt much better. Besides nurse Amalia’s diligent care, the hotel’s concierge rearranged my flight to depart that evening.

The warmth and generosity of the hotel was priceless. To my great surprise, the hotel did not charge me a dime for all this added service and pampering. Even more unbelievable was that I was only paying $125 a night for a concierge-level room. I could have stayed at a lesser hotel and saved $30 a night, but I doubt they would have provided a comparable level of cuddling when I needed it most.

Luxury resorts have a reputation to uphold, and knowing that can ensure you will have a better stay.

A recent visit to the Lodge Hotel at Rancho Mirage in Rancho Mirage, Calif., comes to mind. The property is a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, and when I checked in, I was looking forward to a few days of rest and pampering.

As I drove up to the hotel’s grand driveway, my excitement grew. I popped the trunk open at the valet parking area and waited ten minutes admiring the beautiful view. When I finally realized no one was going to assist me with my luggage, I carried my belongings into the hotel by myself but made a comment to the front desk representative.

Once I checked in, I asked an employee to bring me ice. Twenty minutes later I got the clue that he wasn’t retuning. Later that evening I dined in the hotel’s main restaurant. The mediocre meal made things even worse.

But what came next put the Lodge over the top.

My dining companion had a headache and asked our server if he could bring some aspirin.

“No,” our waiter snapped. “The gift shop is closed.”

If I had been in his position I would have pacified the guest by going back to the kitchen kibitzing a minute or two, returning to apologize that I couldn’t find any aspirin.

After leaving the restaurant I went to the front desk, and told the manger what had happened. He immediately called security to open the gift shop and offered me a free dose of aspirin. His kindness was reciprocated with a nice tip.

We then ventured into the hotel’s lounge for an after-dinner drink. Fifteen minutes later, a server acknowledged us and took our drink order. After requesting drinks and a dessert menu, another 15 minutes elapsed before our drinks arrived — minus a dessert menu. Our second request for the menu also went unanswered. Leaving the lounge without paying, I went to my room and ordered dessert from room service, which they provided without charge when I told them my story.

Feeling that my quest for premium service was futile, I decided to check out the next day. Before I left, I asked to speak to the front-desk manager. I wasn’t even halfway through my litany of disappointments when she agreed to cancel all of my charges.

Not necessary, I said.

She disagreed. “We value our reputation,” she told me. “We would like to have you visit us again and experience our first-class service.”

Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage offer a plethora of resort hotels ranging from the $19-a-nighter to the high-end Lodge. If I would have chosen a sub-par hotel, I would have been stuck with inferior service which would have marred my entire trip. Even when the Lodge failed to meet its customer-service obligations, it ultimately showed that it was dedicated to quality.

How far will a first-rate hotel go to protect its reputation? I found out on a recent visit to Buenos Aires. After my long flight from Atlanta, I was met by my driver to escort me from The Ministro Pistarini Airport to the Four Seasons Buenos Aires.

The vehicle was not up to the Four Seasons-level. It was a noisy van, emitting a diesel smell. The ride was bumpy and uncomfortable. While checking into the Four Seasons, I told the front-desk employee that I thought that the ride wasn’t what I expected. Without any questions, he reversed the charges for the trip from the airport and did not charge me for my transport back to the airport.

On another trip to the same hotel, I had the opportunity to visit a sister property, the Four Seasons Carmelo in Uruguay. I had to take a ferry across the Rio de la Plata. On my return to Buenos Aires, I was expecting a driver to pick me up at the ferry terminal, located 15 minutes from the hotel. Due to a misunderstanding, a driver was not waiting for me. I took a taxi back to the hotel and again, I expressed my disappointment to the same front-desk representative. He arranged for me to freshen up in the spa, bought me a drink in the lounge and escorted me back to the airport in a beautiful Mercedes Benz.

I could have stayed in a less expensive hotel than the Four Seasons. In fact, in all of these examples, I could have saved money. But what is often missed by budget-minded travelers is the added cost of when you run into difficulties or inferior service.

I once made the mistake of making a reservation at the Hilton in San Francisco for the wrong date. When I called the hotel a week before my intended arrival they told me that my reservation was for a few weeks past. Wanting to offer the best service possible, the hotel’s agent reversed the no-show charges and honored the original rate which was $100 lower than the current rate.

It’s true that quality providers work hard to maintain their reputation. But that doesn’t mean they can be taken advantage of. Sure, you might get away with concocting a tale of mishaps, but make no mistake, companies have the capability to track customer behavior and patterns.

An essential aspect of a penny-pincher’s strategy is to seek the best value, so on those occasions when your choice is between a rock-bottom price or quality, quality will always save you money in the long run.

I found myself pondering this 54 days into the New Year, when I had skyrocketed to 80,000 qualifying miles on Delta Air Lines, extending my top-tier elite status for the next two years.

Reaching Platinum Medallion in such a short a time was pathetically easy. I flew three international flights and three transcontinental flights paying about $5,000 for coach-class tickets, which were upgraded to first or business class on every flight.

Now comes the hard part. Should I stay with Delta or try another airline?

I started to wonder if the requirements for elite membership in loyalty programs had become too easy, reducing the value of my loyalty.

No airline is perfect, so it’s certainly tempting to give another carrier a go. But instinctively, I also recognize that giving into temptation can be dangerous. So I mapped out the pros and cons of each route.

Here are the results.

Upgrades. By far the best reason for being loyal to an airlines is for the upgrades. My current loyalty has placed me at the front of the line for a shot at the good seats. In reality, any airline would favor my business and offer me elite status with noteworthy upgrading opportunities. But I would be establishing an entirely new profile with that airline, forgoing my long history of previous seat time.

Service. Second to being upgraded is the preferred service a loyal customer receives, and I can’t criticize Delta too much for its service. However, temptation does set in when I read about the exceptional, service offered by other airlines including such amenities as Flat Bed Sleeper seats. As tempting as a quiet bed on a long flight sounds, I doubt that my initial entry into their loyalty program would yield me such benefits at the discounted prices I currently enjoy.

Relationships. Loyalty programs are all about building mutually beneficial relationships. Sometimes, it can be a really small thing that supports the relationship. For example, when a ticket agent puts my tickets into a ticket jacket I always give it back to her and joke that this might save the airline a penny and keep you flying. Think about this, if one million people did this, it could save the airline real money.

The key to a good relationship is continuity. In real life, becoming seduced by every temptress that comes along would result in utter chaos. In my opinion, this is the same thing as chasing the newest or latest loyalty program.

Whether you reach first-tier elite status, or ultra status, continued loyalty is the consumer’s half of the equation, rewarded with upgrades, preferential service, and the occasional special reward.

I remain a passionate supporter of consolidating your travel business to build loyalty with a few quality travel providers, but there is a catch that we all should beware of. Elite status in the travel loyalty programs is beginning to go the way of premium credit cards.

Remember the day when a Gold American Express or a Platinum Visa Card made an impression? Nowadays, offers for these cards are sent to millions of homes every day. The real cachet comes from such cards as the American Express Black Card, which is only offered by invitation to a select group of loyal customers.

As elite membership becomes diluted with ease of entry, the worthy rewards will go to the devoted loyalists.

Instead of offering generic award, airlines and other travel companies will tailor exclusive rewards that will create purposeful incentive for their customers. For example, during a recent Hyatt Free Night Promotion I earned three free nights which due to the restrictions and other requirements had virtually little value to me. Hyatt offered me an equivalent but customized award more suited to my needs.

For me, the fun of chasing elite membership for this year is gone, but after all is said and done, I will keep my seat on Delta, knowing that someday I’ll be offered something analogous to American Express’s Black Card.

That used to be pretty easy. Value-conscious travelers just booked a trip during the off-season. But now that everyone is traveling during the off-season, the off-season has become the on-season.

The real insiders, meantime, have shifted from a seasonal strategy to a contrarian strategy.

In essence, a contrarian traveler looks for circumstances or events that have lower demand for a particular travel service or destination. In a time of higher demand (and prices) it may be the only way to get a luxury trip at a low price. Here are five ways to go contrarian:

1. Buy directly. Direct contact with a travel provider is important for building a lasting relationships with an airline, hotel or car rental company. Once you’re in the door you can ask for a better rate or an upgrade.

2. Profit when they’re not. Opportunities are created by what I call “situational uncertainty.” This occurs when a country or region experiences a natural disaster, terrorist activity, political upheaval or economic depression. Often, the unexpected situation can make the location more desirable. After an attack on German buses in Luxor Egypt, for example, security forces were on high alert with few tourists vying for highly discounted $50 rooms in five-star luxury hotels overlooking the Nile. When a rare tsunami hit the Asian Pacific region, thousands of hotel rooms went empty, depressing prices and the local workforce. Supportive travelers got both a great deal and also helped locals keep their jobs and feed their families by pumping money into the local economy.

3. Follow the dollar. What a difference an exchange rate can make. In the early 2000′s my European trip came with an automatic 30 percent discount because of a strong dollar. Years later, the same trip cost me 30 percent more because of a drop in the dollar’s value. During a jaunt to Buenos Aires, a favorable dollar help me enjoyed a cafe latte and croissant breakfast on a tree-line street cafe similar to Barcelona, all for only $4. I also stayed on the club-level floor at the Four Seasons for $225 a night with full concierge service and meal presentations, and enjoyed a signature massage for a mere $65.

4. Be flexible. The travel market is in constant flux and liable to change at any moment. Developing flexibility with respect to your travel dates, destinations, and accommodations will yield excellent luxury travel bargains. I experienced this when I was asked by CBS to do a Sunday morning interview in New York. My choice of last-minutes flights offered me coach on Saturday or a $304 first-class late night Friday flight, arriving Saturday morning. Adding to my value, The Grand Hyatt allowed a 7 a.m. check-in. So basically, I got two hotel days for one, and enjoyed a wonderful Saturday afternoon in the city.

5. Avoid trends. The worst time or place to travel is anywhere everyone else is going. Think about it. If a travel destination is full to the brim with travelers, there is less incentive for hotels to give you a discount or a free upgrade.

Also, it’s more likely that your experience will not be as good since the employees will be so busy, leaving less time for personal attentive service.

With airlines flying at capacity levels and luxury hotels experiencing higher occupancies, getting a luxury bargain at a discount is becoming increasingly difficult. The best solution is to have a contrarian mindset.

Follow this simple strategy of avoiding crowds, be a travel leader, not a follower, and you’ll experience great travel at discounted prices.

Determining whether that friendly agent is offering you an optional policy for your protection, or just for the commission, can be a trick. In the U.S., it’s usually an easy call. If you already have personal auto insurance or are renting with a major credit card, you’re probably covered.

But it gets a little complicated once you cross the border. Here are three easy questions you need to ask yourself before you sign on the dotted line:

1. What are the country’s insurance requirements? If you rent an economy car in France, certain companies only accept Visa Gold and American Express. In Australia, the basic rental rates usually includes collision and damage waiver. When in Italy, theft insurance is mandatory. Most Italian rental agencies offer a discounted comprehensive policy, but it’s only available at the rental counter.

2. What is my liability if I’m involved in fender-bender (or worse)? A simple accident in some countries could land you in jail, require a large deposit on your credit card or delay departure until the matter is settled. If you bend fenders in Ireland and don’t have the proper insurance documentation you’ll need to pay a deposit of 2,000 euros. Get into an accident in Germany without collision coverage and you’ll pay a 750 euro deductible.

3. Where am I driving? Drivers outside the U.S. can transverse multiple international boarders in hours. Unknowingly, laws can significantly differ from country to country.

I learned this lesson when I took a weekend jaunt from Vienna to Prague.

Renting a Mercedes Benz in Vienna was no problem. Getting it out of the
Czech Republic was another matter.

In attempt to make a Monday-morning meeting in Vienna, I left Prague at 12 a.m., more than enough time to get to the city and prepare for the day.

It turns out that many former Eastern European Countries have a high incident of auto thefts, and that the Benz was a hot car. So when I arrived at the main border crossing, the Czech Guard turned me away.

Thinking that it was no big deal, I went to a secondary crossing, where again I was turned away.

With time running short, I pleaded and begged for permission to cross, only to be met with a monotone “No!”

With the Austrian boarder two feet away, I pondered making a run for it, although the guard’s large rifle made me think otherwise. The guard told me I could leave the car there and walk across the border.

Finally, I found a small town on the map about 120 kilometers away with a border crossing. In a last ditch effort, I drove through the rural winding streets, coming upon a sleepy guard. I approached him with my passport in hand, and was promptly waved through.

The moral of the story: be well-informed. Rental rules are in constant flux, so it’s best to know before you go.

If you’re getting bad service, you’ve moved, you can’t get an upgrade any more or your carrier is in financial trouble, the answer might be “yes.”

Spend your loyalty dollars wisely. I review my travel partnerships once a year to make sure I’m not throwing away my money. If I need a loyalty tune-up, I switch programs.

Why switch? Here are four good reasons:

1. Poor service. Poor service is the root of all evil. If you’re consistently irked during your travels, chances are your vacations and business meetings will not be very pleasant. When you’re experiencing poor service with no-hopes of change-enough said-change programs! If poor service is the root of all evil, good service is heartwarming. First-class service paves the road for an enjoyable and productive trip. Whether it is a first class seat, hotel suite with a Central Park view or a sporty rental car, getting upgraded enhance your travels.

2. You’re relocating. If you anticipate a change in your travel destinations due to territory realignment or your prime customer moves, you might consider if your current travel partners will still best meet your needs. If not-determine who will. If you have been flying Untied Airlines because 90 percent of your flights went through Chicago, but now you’ll be flying through Atlanta you might consider switching loyalties to Delta. The same goes for hotels. If the Hyatt does not have suitable properties in your new destinations, check with another hotelier.

3. Getting rewards are impossible. Competition for upgrades is progressively higher the lower you are on the loyalty chain. For example, my top tier elite status with Delta Air Lines provides me a 95 percent probability of being upgraded. While someone with Delta’s minimum elite membership is upgraded only 25 percent of the time. If you’re finding too much competition for upgrades you might consider a program that is more suited to your travel frequency.

4. Your airline is about to go belly-up. If your travel partner is on the verge of non-existence it could be a good time to jump ship. Currently many air travelers are struggling with their loyalties to U.S. Airways. While many travelers have given up hope for the airline, you might reconsider. If they do manage to emerge from these difficult times, those loyal customers who “stuck it out” with them will greatly benefit. Your trust and dedication in the airline will position you to better negotiate your way into first class, receive waivers on ticket change fees, and any other special request you might need. As a caveat, be careful with your air miles. Either use the miles quickly or transfer them into one of U.S. Airways partner’s account.

If you find yourself in anyone of these situations, and it’s time to change loyalties, do the following these three steps:

1. Contact your current travel provider and inform them why you’re switching loyalties. Give them a chance to make amends. If you’re still unsatisfied, the contact the loyalty program of your new travel provider and tell them that you are switching to their program. Ask them to match your previous elite status, or to grant you their minimum status.

2. If you’re beginning or low frequency travelers consider a second-tier program. By this, I do not mean second tier in service. Rather, forgo American Airlines, United Airlines, or Delta Air Lines, the top three programs respectively, and consider Continental Airlines or Alaska Airline — both of which offer excellent service. These airlines have fewer members and even fewer high-elites. So your chances for getting an upgrade are dramatically increased. This same theory holds true with hotels and car rental companies.

3. Decide how to use your old miles, redeem them, donate them, or transfer them. Build the highest level of elite membership you can with your new partner.

As a loyal customer you have power, and that power gives you leverage. Just be sure it’s with the right company.

Shouldn’t an airline’s reward program reflect that reality?

Many readers of this column apparently don’t think so. Which is funny, because many of those same readers also run businesses. They wouldn’t think twice at rewarding their best customers.

But apply that logic to a frequent flier program? Forget it. Emails rushed in with vulgarities degrading my intelligence. Only a few readers though my critique of Delta Air Lines’ mileage program changes was on the mark.

Since I’ve devoted most of my career to studying loyalty programs, I thought I’d write about the things you didn’t know about Delta’s frequent flier program (but were afraid to ask):

1. There is a difference between SkyMiles and Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQM’s). SkyMiles can be redeemed for award such as, free tickets and flight upgrades. One SkyMile is earned for every mile flown, regardless of the fare paid. So, for example, a 1,500 mile flight earns members 1,500 SkyMiles. But MQM’s track a passenger’s loyalty and establish criteria for elite status. MQM’s have zero value except for tracking elite and Million Miler status. SkyMiles award usage; MQM’s reward consistency. And by the way, other programs have similar ways of measuring the “value” of their customers.

2. All frequent fliers are not created equally. And I’m not making this up, either. My recent article on Delta’s changes was an attempt to point out the imbalance of loyalty among air passengers and the effect to an airline’s profitability. My premised is based on the work by Italian economist Vifredo Pareto, who outline the Pareto, or 80/20 principle, which states that a distribution of factors is predictably unbalanced.

The movie business is a good example of how this principle applies in a free-market economy. According to a recent study of 300 movies released over an 18-month period, 1.3 percent of the total movies earned 80 percent of box office revenues while the other 296 movies earned only 20 percent of the revenue. (In the case of airlines, an additional $10 per fare can add up to several million in revenues, according to a recent statement by American Airlines CEO Gerald Arpey.)

3. Delta had it right the first time. A minority of customers generate the majority of profits. Delta’s original intent with MQM’s was to honor those customers who provided the greatest value to the company. Whether by choice, convenience, or lack of alternatives, passengers who pay higher fares should be recognized for their added value. Keep in mind, passengers paying $200 or $2,000, on the same flight, received the same number of SkyMiles.

I applaud Delta for upping MQM’s on their most discounted fares by 50 percent, but what possible reason could there be for penalizing their best customers?

By reducing the number of top level MQM’s by 50 percent Delta is effectively undermining the market segment that generates their largest revenues.

It’s my understanding that MQM’s are meant to recognized and encourage continued loyalty. It seems to me that Delta would be better served by focusing its efforts on the minority who provide the majority of their revenue. These passengers literally are the difference between Delta continuing to soar or plummeting into bankruptcy. As such, their recognition should be enhanced — not diminished.

Then again, recognizing passengers who can add millions of dollars to their coffers every day might be too obvious a solution for the mismanaged network airlines.

I’ve checked out the changes and I have a different opinion: I think it’s accelerating Delta’s path toward bankruptcy.

Delta is essentially downgrading its loyalty program to reward infrequent, disloyal, customers who make purchasing decisions based only on price.

Basically, they’re dissing their best customers.

How’s that? The new SkyMiles program disenfranchises Delta’s most loyal passengers, penalizing them for their continued patronage. It runs completely contrary to the purpose of loyalty programs, which are to promote repeat purchases.

I have argued for some time that the only way the major airlines can differentiate themselves from the crowded skies of economy carriers is by offering added value to the right customers.

Instead, Delta is reversing course and devaluing its product by awarding unprofitable, deeply-discounted fare-paying customers with mile-for-mile Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQM’s). This dilutes the program and fails to appreciate the value of their top-level elite members.

By reducing qualifications for its top-tier elite status, Platinum Medallion, to 75,000 MQM’s instead of the more appropriate 100,000 MQM’s, top tier membership will lose its cachet.

This will be especially noticeable in Delta’s Crown Rooms, to which Platinum Medallions enjoy free access. The already overcrowded so-called “private lounges” will convey a Wal-Mart experience versus a luxurious Neiman Marcus atmosphere.

Doling out prized upgrades to any Medallion customers willing to purchase a Y, B, or M fare also nullifies the benefits of tier elite status.

It’s all wrong.

Why reward those who bring you the least value? Sure the new SkyMiles will benefit the occasional bargain-hunting customer with a few extra elite qualifying miles. Big deal. They fly once or twice a year and accumulate only a few thousands miles – hardly enough to achieve even the minimum level of elite status.

What Delta doesn’t seem to understand is that price-sensitive fliers have no concept of loyalty. These cheapskates don’t intend to buy another ticket unless the price is right. That zero re-purchase intent translates into zero long-term profitability.

Where are the incentives for loyalty? The earned benefits of Delta’s most elite frequent fliers are now pretty much worthless.

Reducing the minimum number of MQM’s per flight from 750 to 500 makes it harder for frequent short haul-fliers to earn elite status. Doing away with the special qualification threshold bonuses removes the incentive to take that extra year-end trip to reach an exclusive level of service.

The greatest insult to Delta’s best customers is that they will no longer be rewarded with double MQM’s. Delta has also decided to penalize its prized customers willing to pay a slight fare premium (adding significant revenue to Delta) with a 50 percent reduction in MQM’s.

Adding further insult, Delta is no longer offering its most profitable customers a discount on service fees.

Medallion members will no longer get a waiver on the $50 service fees for reissues, redeposit, and tickets issued within 14 days of travel.

By taking away preferred benefits from their loyal elite, Delta is abolishing incentive for continued loyalty. And those incentives are the key to its long-term prospects for continued operations.

For me, Thanksgiving means more than that. More than the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with cranberry sauce, someone carving the turkey, and the fight over who gets to pull the wishbone.

It means a lot of request for Joel’s airline upgrade techniques.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately, especially given the holiday season. And I think the best tip I can offer this year is: give thanks.

I learned a long time ago that having an attitude of graciousness and respect is by far the most effective means of interacting with travel employees – especially in these somewhat difficult times.

Often overworked, underpaid, and stressed-out, we demand a lot of those who help us get home to family or on our way to a luxury vacation.

Do we ever stop to appreciate those who make our trips possible? Those unsung travel heroes who efficiently make reservations, provide brilliant service, and safely deliver us along the way.

Surprisingly, it takes very little to reward those toiling to assure our travel goodwill. A simple smile, thank you or your doing a great job travels far.

This simple technique of giving thanks pays off for you and others. When you give thanks you let the person know that their work is appreciated. This builds continuing incentive for them to treat future customers with courtesy.

Last week, I gave a friend an award ticket to visit her family and friends on the east coast. Unable to return in December, she packed all of her holiday gifts. While checking in her oversize and overweight luggage, the counter agent told my friend that she would have to pay a $45 surcharge.

Then the agent noticed that the ticket was associated with my record, and remembering the letter I wrote praising this agent’s first-class service, they waived the added fee.

My first job after college was working for Tom Hopkins, an internationally recognized sales trainer. One day he pulled me aside and told me the most effective means of closing the sale is to write a handwritten thank-you note after your initial meeting. I have found this to be a valuable technique for rewarding travel service employees as well.

I tested this idea before completing the second edition of my book by going to 33 hotels in the San Diego area, ranging from the super-deluxe Aviara Four Seasons to the moderate Hyatt Islandia. I questioned service employees ranging from front-desk agents to concierges, bell staff, pool staff, reservation agents, and housekeeping personnel. Eighty-nine percent of the employees surveyed said they would prefer a written letter praising their quality of service over a tip. The only exception was within the concierge group, which preferred money by 67 percent.

The most common reasons for preferring a written letter over a monetary tip was that the letter goes into their personal file and helps them when it comes time for merit raises, promotions or job movement.

So when you’re out there traveling this Thanksgiving, remember to give thanks. Whether it’s a smile, a sincere thank you, or a gracious letter, it’ll do more than pay a tribute to the dedicated individuals who are giving you their time and expertise.

It could also land you an upgrade.

The nation’s newspapers, Web bloggers, and airwaves are full of stories about the plummeting state of flying.

Every day, my e-mail “in” box fills with airline horror stories.

So I wonder: am I the luckiest person in world?

For me, air travel is not that bad.

I’ve flown 132,000 air miles this year, and on balance, my inconvenience factor has been relatively low. (In fact, I find navigating the Southern California freeways system, much more stressful.) And after a recent Sunday in Las Vegas, betting on losing football teams, I can certainly eliminate the chance that I’m just lucky.

In view of my betting misfortunes, I must surmise that I am doing something right.

So what’s that? I’m choosing quality travel partners that know the meaning of service.

Here’s an example. Moments into my flight last week, the pilot informed us that we were going to be delayed due to a small aircraft landing without its landing gear. As the Cessna 172 was being cleared, flight attendants served refreshments in both first class and coach.

Not only that, but they also served free drinks. To everyone. In both cabins, passengers were treated to complimentary wine, beer, or cocktails.

During our taxiway delay, the pilot updated our status every 15 minutes. Best of all, even with the delay we only arrived at our destination 10 minutes late.

This brilliant experience is the polar opposite to what those daring souls flying discounters endure. The most horrendous stories of horror come from passengers who have been delayed or inconvenienced.

They offer little in the way of remorse or compensation. (And yes, they’re getting exactly what they paid for.)
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my share of fight delays on full-service airlines without any added compensation. But they’ve been mostly due to weather – something no one can control – short in duration, and very few in number.

Based on my own experiences, I can’t understand the hullabaloo over the demise of air service. Yes, it is fashionable and certainly in-vogue to bully up on the airlines. But come on, I can’t be the only person getting quality airline service.

The secret to my providential service in the air is my strict adherence of seeking quality travel providers and maintaining loyalty.

If you think the airline industry has lost touch with its customers, maybe you should give it a try.

While making bothersome mile-high phone calls still requires approval from The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, and The U.S. Federal Communications Commission, it widely expected to come in 2006.

That’s almost enough time educate passengers on when to talk – and when to shut up.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m usually passionate about the confluence of flying and new technology. But I dread the day when I no longer hear my favorite in-flight announcement: “Please turn off your cell phones.”

Call me crazy, but I look forward to a few quiet hours on a plane. A time when I can read, listen to good music and most importantly, decompress.

Now, technology is disconnecting one of the last cell-free zones on earth.

The momentum for this change is fueled by hard-charging business types with a need to stay connected. For them, a minute without their mobile phone is a business meltdown.

Last week, on a 45-minute minute flight, the young hard-charger next to me chatted away on his phone. The proximity of our seats meant that I couldn’t help but hear his obtrusive conversation – one mainly consisting of blabber.

But then, a beautiful thing happened. The aircraft door closed and the conversation stopped.

Until we landed.

As soon as we touched down, he was back on the phone to find out if he had any messages. Then he asked to be transferred to a number of extensions until someone picked up willing to carry on a seemingly incessant conversation.

For years, air passengers have been spared the yapping of cell-phone users, thanks in no small part to fears that the wireless devices would interfere with a plane’s navigation and communication systems.

Newer mobile phone technology is less intrusive to a plane’s systems, but no less obtrusive to the person sitting next to you.

If the current trend among cell phone users is any indication of what we can expect-the skies will be noisy. A local Southern California library recently imposed a $200 fine for violating noise-free-zones. Fines from cell phones users have increased the library’s revenue 1000 percent.

I understand the convenience factor. It would be nice to use your cell-phone for an emergency situation, or a high priority call. I’m not so important that someone calling me can’t just leave a message. If I were, I suspect that I would have my own private jet, or a cadre of lieutenants handling my calls.

Informally surveying passengers on a recent flight, many concurred that there is serenity on a cell-free flight. Among the most common comment: “It’s nice to get away from the phone.”

When the cell phones take off – and they will soon enough – I hope my fellow passengers will heed decorum and remain mindful of their seatmates need for solitude and peace.

Think about the last time your seatmate chewed you ear off when all you wanted to do was be alone with your thoughts.

Face it: miles are all but worthless. In 1999, I wrote how air miles have become akin to a second national currency.

Today, they are a global currency that has become passé. The value of air-miles and other incentive-based points have fallen quicker than the Dollar to the Euro.

Why? Blame it on supply-side economics. The sheer barge of outstanding miles and points, which many experts estimate exceed 9 trillion, have been devalued from 2 cents to .05 cents. Going for the miles seems foolish, at best.

In a quest for points, many ignore high fees, pay steep interests rates, or spend needlessly, for deceptively worthless miles.

Consider the actual cost of the most popular source of miles: credit cards. When given the choice between earning miles on my new U.S. Bank Visa Business Card paying an annual fee of $75, or no annual fee and no miles, the choice was easy.

To earn a non-upgradeable-free ticket, with a maximum value of $300, I would first have to spend $25,000 and pay $75 a year for this privilege. It doesn’t take a Ph.D. in economics to see the fallacy in this deal.

No, real rewards come from loyalty.

The travel game is not about miles, but elite membership. Building loyalty provides consumers leverage. Without this leverage you risk having an average travel experience. In essence, you relinquish control of your travels to your providers.

A little loyalty takes you a long way. I’ve always emphasized building a mutually-beneficial relationship with a travel provider. The reason for this is obvious: it makes my travels easier and more comfortable. Not only that, it makes me a valuable consumer to the airline, hotel or car rental company.

Over the next few months I have a number of trips scheduled between Orange County, San Francisco, and Seattle. It’s a market not well served by Delta Air Lines. I called Alaska Airlines to request a MVP-Gold membership, their highest elite level.

No problem. Within a day I was an MVP-Gold. More importantly, when I booked my flights-pesto-I was upgraded to first class. All for the price of an economy ticket on a lesser airline.

By the same token, Hertz Rental Car recently offered me their Five-Star membership-even though I lacked the required number of rentals. When I went to use my new Five-Star membership, I was automatically upgraded to a car with a GPS system. (That’s a big benefit since I can’t read a map.)

Managing miles has become so complicated that enterprising Web sites offer insights and special software to help navigate this complex task. In today’s time-strapped society, it’s much easier to consolidate your purchases among a few select quality providers, build loyalty, and gain leverage.

The incentives and rewards far exceed the diminishing value of miles.

The biggest misconception in travel is that you have to shop around for the lowest rates and fares. This simply is not the case.

Right now, hotel and airline sites are extremely competitive by offering exclusive deals and added value only available on these sites. In most cases, you get the best deal directly with travel providers.

In all instances you get better value.

Consider my recent experience booking a hotel room at the San Francisco Hilton. Mistakenly, I reserved my room for the wrong night. A few weeks later, when I called the hotel to confirm my room and ask for an upgrade I was informed that I didn’t have a room reserved for June 22, but I did have a room back in May which I had not showed up for. After explaining my mistake, the representative reversed my “no-show” charges and booked me a new room at a discounted rate.

This type of added-value service would not have been afforded to me if I had booked my room on a third-party Web site.

And consider the facts. Consumer Reports recently evaluated Internet travel sites, concluding that not one site consistently provides a lower rate or fare. Meaning it’s better to earn loyalty with a select few quality travel providers and reap the benefits of your relationship. These benefits include preferred services, upgrades and discounted rates.

Here’s what I mean. This month, I’ve booked hotel rooms in seven different cities.

Four rooms were booked on Hyatt.com, two with Hilton.com, and one at Starwood.com. In each instance, I compared rates with the top three hotel sites, Hotels.com, Expedia, and Travelocity. Consistently, I received lower rates by booking directly on the hotels’ Web sites. Not only this, but I did not have to pay a booking fee, make advance payment and was not restricted to a ridiculous cancellation policy.

Also lacking on third-party Web sites is personalization. With their highly advanced customer management tools, travel providers can customize your Web experiences to your liking. You favor a non-allergic pillow – it’s in your record and your room will have foam pillows.

Buying direct also has benefits for time-crunched travelers. Consider the story I was told after giving a speech. A traveler came up to me and described how he spent six hours researching fares on the Internet. He told me that he saved $25, but wasted six hours that could have been spent with his family, friends, or reading a good book (like mine).

In short, there is no reason to shop around for the lowest fare or rate – it does not exist.

All travel providers offer competitively similar rates and fares. Further, since there is no one to hold accountable at a third party Web site, you’re asking for trouble and certainly you will not experience the admirable service I was offered at the San Francisco Hilton.

At best, the experience is a little bit like online casino gambling – sometimes you win, but you have to be lucky.

Just read your column and laughed all the way through it. That was your intention, right? A little tongue-in-cheek? You and I both know that if a Southwest fare is not competitive (like the two you carefully picked) it’s because Southwest is at near full capacity and the other airline is staring at 80 empty seats.

The government is not going to be willing to prop the shrinking six up for much longer, given the strong bookings and the growing profit margins of the discounters. I have a friendly bet going with another frequent flyer that US Airways is gone before Christmas. He really likes first class too, so I told him to get used to flying first class on America West. United – look out below.

- Tom

Tom, let me set the record straight for you. Low-fare airlines do not offer the lowest fares. Over the past two weeks I have been on five round-trip flights. By booking my flights directly on one of the three top airlines, I saved $23, $25, $9, $13, and $7 respectfully over the lowest fares available on Southwest. In addition, while I had a direct flight in most cases, Southwest made at least one-stop in all cases. Into the bargain, on every flight segment I was upgraded to first class.

As far as the government bailing out the major carriers – it isn’t.

The ATSB has issued six loan guarantees totaling $1.56 billion.

Frontier Airlines – $63 million

World Airways – $27 million

US Airways – $900 million

Aloha Airlines – $40.5 million

American Trans Air – $148.5 million

America West Airlines – $380 million

This list of airlines receiving loan guarantees hardly seems to be a compilation of network carriers.

By the way, recently United Airlines was denied a $1.6 billion loan guarantee.

I know not everyone shares my value system, but I’m willing to pay more for better airline service, and that includes the FF program. I take maybe 30-40 round trips a year on AA, I’ve flown about 4M miles on AA, and I can’t think of a time in the last 15 years when AA has not upgraded me to first. I don’t want to pay more than I have to, but I frequently pay 50-100% more to fly AA than ATA or Southwest or Continental or whoever. Comfort is more important to me than price.

Why is this so hard for some people to understand? Why doesn’t everyone buy Yugos, why does Lexus stay in business?

- Doug

Luxury has different meaning to different people – a lot of travelers have recently been telling me that the most luxurious place they can travel to is somewhere without cell phone coverage.

I agree that value of comfort ranks high.

I read your June 6 column on low cost airlines with great interest. Many of the writers today seem to wax poetic about “low cost” airlines. You aptly discussed the other side of the coin! I am very price-driven in my selection of which airline to fly, and depending on circumstances, like you I find that the majors will often beat the fares for their low cost brethren. But don’t forget the reason for this is the very being of the low cost airlines!

Without Southwest and Jet Blue, I shudder to think how high the fares would be today. The majors have to stay competitive because of the price standards set by Southwest et al. And this works to all our advantage.

Funny how like you, I still find myself flying the majors more often than the low-cost airlines, but I am always thankful for the Jet Blues of the world for giving us that choice.

Great column, and thanks for listening.

You’re right, we can be thankful for a competitive marketplace and those zealots who through their inconvenience, hassles and added stress are subsidizing our comfort and convenience.

You’re half right. The large carriers serve a very important function of having substantially more coverage than the low-cost carriers. For all the hype, low cost carriers, except perhaps Southwest, have very limited routes.

Take JetBlue. I live in San Jose. To take JetBlue from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, probably the busiest business route for West Coast business people, entails a 50-mile drive to Oakland, fly to Long Beach, drive 30 miles to Los Angeles. That’s an additional 80 miles each way for a such a common route.

American Airlines flies out of San Francisco, and San Jose to Los Angeles.

Similarly, American has a first class which a large person like myself appreciates as well as the Admiral’s Club – large seats and couches.

You’re mostly wrong regarding the plane issue. In many markets, the larger carriers use small one-size, one-class regional jets. My route of SJC-LAX is one such route. The Super-80′s and 737-800 by American were replaced and moved to other routes. We now have little American Eagle crop-dusters which among other things require that at LAX we land at the remote terminal and be bused to the main terminal. It’s not bad on the incoming trip, but leaving LAX, you must factor that additional trip into your arrival time at LAX. Just my thoughts.

- Carver

You make an excellent point regarding regional jets on short air-routes.

Although not fallible, the convenience and added value such as the Admiral’s club, that comes from developing loyal relationships with the larger airlines outweighs the occasional inconveniences. Far too often consumers take a shortsighted approach towards their travel purchases failing to realize the long term benefits by pursuing a smart travel strategy.

If you will pardon my French, you’re full of caca.

I, too, am a “road warrior”, traveling 40 to 48 weeks of the year. AND, the big airlines just haven’t gotten it and never will.

As an aside, which of the big ones do you work for???

- Dennis

I don’t know French, although I do know travel. I recommend that you take a closer look at what I wrote…you should then see the inherent wisdom.

Incidentally, I don’t work for any airline – I just know how to travel.

You failed to point out that those cheap fares on the big ole airlines simply would not be around IF the low fare guys were not around. Period, end of story.

By the way, which major airline do you or did you work for?

- Larry

You failed to read the story.

I clearly write that low air fares are directly correlated to the existence of economy carriers. This does not mean that I have to give up preferential service and fly them. But thank you for flying them. You’re keeping the fares low for me and readers of my book, while we’re in first class.

I have to say I that I have never read as ill-formed and simply inaccurate story as your column on JetBlue versus American Airlines. It is so wrong, in fact, that I have copied the editor of the website where your column appeared because he or she should be aware of how little you know about airlines.

For starters, you seem not to know the most basic fact of all: JetBlue did not “encroach” on American Airlines on the New York-Long Beach route.

JetBlue pioneered that route and American Airlines started service after as a way to try to harass JetBlue. So your entire point is totally destroyed since you don’t know that. There’s be no nonstop flights between New York and Long Beach AT ANY PRICE if it weren’t for JetBlue launching the service in the first place. And I doubt American will be at Long Beach for long. It already dropped flights to Oakland and never even launched flights to Ontario. If you want to fly those routes nonstop from JFK, you have to fly JetBlue because American dropped its competitive flights, which were ALL launched AFTER JetBlue pioneered the routes.

You are a sad excuse for a columnist.

- Elizabeth

JetBlue has not pioneered anything. I hope you don’t think that JetBlue is the first airline to fly into Long Beach from the East Coast.

They offer a decent product but certainly as I have noted they have their shortcomings.

My column was in reference to how the majors matched the fares of so-called economy carriers. As illustrated with the JFK to LGB route-nothing about encroaching.

I suspect if you consolidated your travel purchasing to one airline and reap the benefits of loyalty you might not be so cranky.

It’s OK to critique me, just get your facts right.

Interesting column and undeniable. But you do not mention the long-term downside of patronizing the old-line airlines when low-fare pretty-good-service airlines come to town. The old-line airlines are reducing their fares only on competitive routes, and only as long as necessary. It’s just a temporary marketing strategy. If they succeed in driving the newcomer out of town, the fares and their many hostile restrictions will return.

- Eric

Not to worry, there will always be a steady flock willing to fly the economy carriers. Part of it is ignorance – many travelers simply do not know that you get better value with the legacy carriers. A signed copy of The Penny Pincher’s Passport to Luxury Travel will be on its way to you.

Your article is shows how shortsighted many passengers are. It is exactly why in years past, so many low-fare carriers went bust. Thankfully, folks are waking up to this and forgoing the miles and perks. Otherwise, as you are aware, those low fares ALWAYS disappear when the big guys run the little guys out of a market. As for me, I make it a point to fly whoever was first with a low fare or sale. Period.

- Larry

It’s good to see that you have loyalty towards a carrier. Value has different meaning to different people.

Travel providers – airlines included – are a business. It is naive to think that any business is not going to seek competitive advantage, market-share, and if possible pricing power. Yes, left unfretted airlines, hoteliers, cruises lines, any business model will charge the highest sustainable price. That is the basics of a free and competitive market. Fortunately, open markets promote competition, which the economy carriers represent in the airline industry.

The result of economy carriers are lower airfares across the board – not only with economy carriers. It has also forced the majors into a new strategic transformation that eventually will supersede the business models of the economy carriers because unlike the economy carriers the majors will create added value.

The biggest challenge for the legacy carriers has been to align costs with their shrinking revenue. But over the last few years legacy carriers out of necessity have cut costs, streamlined operations, and introduced quality customer service initiatives.

American Airlines, the world’s biggest airline, is fighting its way back and is expected to turn a profit. For decades, the airline had operated with a burdensome and expensive structure designed to capture business travelers.

But with that market becoming intensely price-sensitive, American is changing the way it operates by trying to replicate discount airlines. The ubiquitous $2,400 round-trip fares paid by business travelers – and on which American survived – have all but vanished. Today, a flexible business ticket between Los Angeles and New York can go for as little as $666 – and often these tickets are upgraded to first class.

Likewise, pilot productivity at United Airlines has improved by 61 percent since entering bankruptcy. One airline analyst estimates that United’s pilot cost per available seat mile (at .91) is lower than all other airlines except AirTran (.90) and JetBlue (.56). Southwest exceeds United’s cost by 2 percent, and this is projected to widen when pay raises for Southwest pilots come into effect later this year.

As the legacy airlines are transforming their business models, the cost or competitive advantage enjoyed by economy carriers are diminishing and these low fare airlines are morphing into the type of airlines they once bitterly opposed. A key determinate of the future structure of the economy carriers is the extent to which they can successfully extend on a sustainable basis beyond their dense, short-haul markets, and constrain labor costs.

The traditional cost savings model of economy carriers is increasingly becoming similar to the new and improved models of the legacy carriers.

For example:

Economy carriers have cherry picked prime markets. Eventually, economy carriers will be forced to increase routes and the challenges related to this growth will increase their operating costs.

On average, economy airlines operate with approximately 85 employees per aircraft, versus an average of 120 for a legacy carrier. While the employee/aircraft ratio for legacy airlines is likely to decrease, at best, the ratio for economy carriers will remain static or most likely increase.

Economy carriers sell roughly 95 percent of their tickets on-line. As full-service carriers are shifting their distribution towards their own Internet sites, offering incentives such as bonus miles and low price guarantees, legacy carriers will bring distribution cost in line with their economy counterparts.

Low-cost carriers generally avoid expensive foreign flights. Market growth and expansion will dictate that economy airlines expand service. Reportedly, JetBlue is already considering a foreign route.

The average captain for an economy carrier earns $115,000 a year, while a legacy captain earns $225,000 a year. As legacy carriers renegotiate high labor agreements, labor cost will decrease. Conversely, economy carriers are facing tougher labor negations and increased labor costs.

Economy airlines have succeeded by flying one type of aircraft while legacy carriers often fly as many as 15 types. As legacy carriers consolidate aircraft type, they will reduce labor cost, training cost and operational cost, bringing their cost in-line with economy carriers. On the other hand, economy carriers such as JetBlue and Independence Air, are increasing their fleets, introducing additional maintenance, training and operational costs.

Economy airlines have a younger workforce which earns less in salary and benefits than the older workforce of legacy airlines. As time moves forward, the older workforce of the legacy carriers will retire, while the workforce for economy carriers will age causing upward pressure on wages.

Since all economy carriers are similar, they will eventually cut into each other’s markets. While legacy carriers will flourish by offering added value.

Despite the economy airlines rapid growth there remains numerous large markets where the economy airlines have not yet gained a competitive foothold. Traffic growth in new markets that economy carriers have entered since 1995 is relatively low compared to market segments in which low fares service was firmly established in 1995.

Increasing cost pressures particularly on the labor front will ultimately bring the operational models of economy carriers closer to the transformed models of legacy carriers.