Anything to Declare?

Anyone traveling from Canada to the U.S. by plane knows that at some Canadian airports passengers pre-clear U.S. Customs prior to boarding their flight. It makes things easier once you land and saves time in case you’re trying to catch a connecting flight.

As the bureaucrats see it, once through U.S. Customs in Canada, you have technically entered the U.S.

But what happens if you’ve done all of the above, got on your plane, but it never leaves the ground? Are you considered to still be in Canada or in the U.S?

That’s a question that came up last week on an Air Canada flight between Toronto’s Pearson Airport and New York’s Laguardia. The flight stayed on the tarmac for nearly an hour before being cancelled due to weather and air traffic control issues.

But the passengers weren’t immediately let off the airplane. It would be hours before they could get off. Each was then rebooked on either a later flight that evening or another flight the following morning.

But why the delay? It seems that U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Candian Border Services Agency were in talks trying to decide whether the flight had actually left Canadian soil and whether the rebooked passengers had to go through pre-clearance again.

The answer, it seems, was yes to both questions.

Those who decided to fly the next day were forced to go through Canadian customs and answer questions such as “How long were you away” and “Where have you been.” Even though they never took off, they were considered to have left Canadian soil.

Those rebooked on later flights were marched through U.S. Customs pre-clearance again and  asked similar questions as above.

Your tax dollars at work.

The full story can be found in the Globe and Mail.

Should You Trust Tripadvisor?

I admit it, I rely on the reviews on TripAdvisor when choosing a hotel.

But now, I’m not so sure if what I read is legit.

Peter Cook, the PR guy for the Asia-Pacific region of Accor Hotels, has admitted to posting over 100 reviews on TripAdvisor most of which are positive for Accor Hotels and negative towards the competition. He claims these were his personal observations and have nothing to do with his job—especially since they were posted under an assumed screen name.

Cook only admitted to posting the reviews after a firm working for TripAdvisor found the connection between him and the alias he was using online. (It seems this PR expert, or Director of Propoganda as he likes to call himself,  wasn’t clever enough NOT to link his Trip Advisor alias to his personal Facebook account.)

Accor Hotels isn’t laughing. They’ve placed Cook on a leave of absence saying he abused their social networking policy.

I’m still going to use Trip Advisor only a little more carefully in the future.

What about you? Still trust them?

Hong Kong Duck Deflated

On May 2, I reported on the 54 foot inflatable duck bobbing in Hong Kong harbor.

Well, I’m sad to report that the duck was found Wednesday morning somwhat deflated.

The question on everyone’s mind iis whether the deflation was part of routine maintenance or was it “fowl” play?

Unusual Sighting in Hong Kong Harbor

You don’t see this every day in Hong Kong:

(Photo courtesy of PA)

No, it’s not Photoshopped. It’s real. The duck is a 16 meter/54 foot artist rendering of the bathtub toy and is making its way around the world.

Imagine getting up in your hotel room, opening the drapes, and seeing this. I’d quit drinking for awhile.

Frontier Airlines To Start Charging Some Pax for Carry-On

Frontier Airlines becomes the third airline to charge for carry-on bags. But unlike Spirit and Allegient, the other two carriers who have this fee, Frontier’s will be limited to one type of customer.

Any passenger purchasing the “Basic” fare, only available on third party websites, will be charged between $25 and $100 depending on where they check in. The cheaper cost is if they check in online. If they book their tickets on Frontier’s website, there will be no charge.

Personal items that fit under the seat will still be allowed and are free.

The airline says that space in the overhead bins is getter harder and harder to find and they want to make sure their loyal customers get that space.

How they’re going to enforce this is your guess.

Additionally, anyone booking in “Basic” or “Economy,” the lowest fare offered directly by Frontier, will also begin to be charged for beverages on board. On the plus side, if you order a soft drink, you’ll get the entire can and if you order coffee, refills are free. Wow, just like in first class.

Let the nickel and diming continue!!!!

How to Earn Millions of FF Miles

Ask any frequent flier, especially those trying to maintain elite status, and they’ll tell you anything is fair game when it comes to earning miles.

End of the year mileage runs,  use of mileage earing credit cards for every penny spent, and taking advantage of every bonus offer including miles.

But one inventive fellow came up with an idea that got him nearly 4 million FF miles.

Brad Wilson, author of the new book, “Do More, Spend Less,” saw, a few years ago,  that the U.S. Mint was trying to get one dollar coins in circulation. To do so, they were offering to sell coins direct to consumers at face value, include free shipping and accept credit cards.

Wilson starting buying coins using his American Express Rewards Card that gave him one bonus point for every dollar spent. He would buy the coins, deposit them in his bank account, and then pay his credit card bill with the money deposited in that account. He was essentially using the coins he bought to pay off his credit card bill for the coins.

Over the course of eight months, he bought $3 million dollars in coins earning him 3 million points. He then transferred those points into his airline FF account.  AMEX converted each point into 1.25 FF. So, he now had just  3.75 million FF miles.

I’m only sorry I didn’t think of it. By the way, in case you were thinking of trying it, the dollar coin circulation program is no longer offered.

For the full story, and more money making ideas from Brad Wilson, check out this article in Daily Finance.

(Full disclosure: If you purchase his book from the link above, this website gets a small commission but there is no extra cost to you.)

Name Change For The International Herald Tribune

I started traveling before the days of the internet and 24 hour international English language news was non-existent. If we wanted news in English, we had two choices: bring along a shortwave radio and try to pick up the BBC, or buy a copy of the International Herald Tribune.

Published for over 125 years, the International Herald Tribune, or IHT as it is referred to by many of its readers, was a constant in my travel life. Every morning on my way to breakfast, I would stop and pick up a copy. It was my information link to the world. Regardless of where I was, or what language was being spoken, the IHT helped me to feel connected to the rest of the world and in my own language.

By the time I started reading it, the paper was co-run by the New York Times and the Washington Post. The writing and reporting were excellent.

Ten years ago, the New York Times took over full ownership and very little changed.

At least with the paper. With the advancement of wifi and smartphones, newer travelers don’t rely on the paper as much as they do technology. They might be more apt to read their hometown newspaper on a tablet while outside the U.S. than they are picking up an actual international newspaper.

And the folks at the New York Times area realizing it. But they’re not doing away with the paper, just making some changes.

The big change, starting this fall, is with the name. No longer will this “journal international” be called the IHT. Instead, it’s new name will be the  International New York Times. The owners say the name change will help promote their core product, the New York Times.

Call me overly nostalgic, but for me, it will always be the International Herald Tribune.

Anyone else have fond memories of the IHT?

Bye Bye to Nude-O-Scope

The TSA has announced that all body imaging machines, that show nude pictures of the people going through them, will be removed by June of this year.

That’s when the Congressionall rule goes into effect mandating all scanners be the non-imaging Automated Target Recognition software that only shows a generic outline of the body.

Rapiscan, the makers of the body imaging machines to be removed said they would not be able to convert theirs by this June. In response, the TSA has cancelled its contract with the company.

TSA believes that using the newer technology machines will speed up security lines.

Briggs & Riley Names Their Favorite Travel Websites

Briggs & Riley Travelware today named their 20 favorite travel websites for 2012. Can you guess who’s listed at number 12?  I’ll give you a hint—it’s us.

Thank you Briggs & Riley.

Is This The End For the London Black Cab?

London’s Black Cab’s are probably the best known cabs in the world. Their distinct style, comfort and notoriety make them as synonymous with London as Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London and Harrod’s.

 

But those famous cabs may soon disappear.   The company that makes those popular vehicles has gone into insolvency and stopped both sales and manufacturing.

Let’s hope someone steps in and gets the company rolling again.

TSA Removes X-Ray Machines

The TSA has started  to remove x-ray machines, known as Backscatters, from some larger U.S. airports. They will be replaced by millimeter wave machines.

The x-ray machines came under fire because they not only emitted radiation, which at high doses can cause health problems, but also because they displayed a “nude” image of the passenger being screened.

The newer machines are deemed safer than the x-ray and produce a cartoon like image of the passenger rather than a nude photo.

The TSA says the reason the change is occurring is that the newer machines can process people faster and that will shorten wait time.

The x-ray machines removed from the larger airports are being redeployed to smaller ones.

Don’t think the TSA is ruling out x-ray backscatter technology. Recently, it awarded three new contracts for newer model machines, one of which uses the backscatter technology.

Did I mention that the European Union has banned this type of machine because of health concerns?

Are Travel Fees Getting Ridiculous?

Everyone is familiar with airlines now trying to  charge for everything except a seat—and even that is some cases. But now hotels and rental car companies are getting into the act.

Are there any fees you’ve encountered that were not mentioned in the article?

Lufthansa Design Contest

I got an email from Lufthansa management the other day alerting me to a contest they are holding. The airline is looking for new ideas when it comes to:

1) Improving the hand luggage process

2) Designing the next cabin suitcase

If chosen one of the winners, you’ll get a free 2 day trip to Frankfurt, get a go on their Airbus A380 simulator, and given an opportunity to present your ideas to the Lufthansa management.

For more information, go to the following website:

https://innovation.lufthansa.com/info.php?ID=59

When in doubt, ask a third party

Normally, on this website, I don’t mention aircraft accidents as it normally doesn’t have anything to do with one bag travel. Occasionally I’ll mention an issue that may affect a fleet of aircraft, but rarely an individual accident—especially one involving private aircraft.

As a former private pilot, journalist and aviation enthusiast, I am interested in this subject and even covered some accidents.

But I digress.

Over the weekend, two single engine aircraft collided over northern Virginia. The pilot and passenger of one plane was killed and the pilot of the other aircraft was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

Normally, a regional NTSB investigator would be assigned and that would be it until the a report was issued on the cause.

But this  time it’s different. The owner of one of the planes worked for the NTSB and the owner of the second plane worked for the FAA. (Both were privately owned aircraft and neither flight was government related.) While the NTSB is technically in charge of accident investigations, they work closely with the FAA. Would an investigation under these circumstances be fair or would one agency try to prove the employee of the other was at fault?

What to do?

Surprisingly, senior officials from both of these agencies got on the phone and agreed the best course would be to ask a third party to investigate. 

Canada is sending a team of their own investigators to take charge.

This is a rare case where two bureaucratic government agencies actually got together and decided to do the smart thing.

U.S. Asks Canada To Investigate Aircraft Collision

Pay to Carry-On?

Now that Allegiant Air is the second U.S. based carrier to charge for carry-on bags—at least those that go in the overhead compartments—the talk on the internet is whether or not this will be a trend. Can we expect to see this on all airilines?

My initial response: I doubt it.

Let’s look at what’s been going on so far. Two airlines, Spirit and Allegiant Air, charge for carry-ons. Both of these airlines cater to the leisure traveler and especially those who want to buy cheap tickets.

The major airlines, the legacy carriers, rely much more on business customers, those who are willing to fly at the last minute and pay for the privilege. They want to carry on because they don’t want to waste valuable work time at the baggage carousel.  They don’t want to be told they must pay to carry on their bags. Do this and these same customers may jump to another airline.

Most airlines will tell you, customer loyalty can mean the difference between profit and bankruptcy. So if not charging for carry-on bags, or even looking the other way if a carry-on is slightly too big, keeps their most loyal customers loyal, that’s the practice they’ll continue to practice under. Discount airlines, on the other hand, know their customers are buying mostly due to low ticket prices, will keep their prices low and add on as many additional fees as possible.

Just In Time for St. Patrick's Day

Top of the morning to ya……almost everyone headed to Dublin is looking to parch their thirst with a good pint. And Dublin has no shortage of pubs. But which one to choose?

There’s now a website for just that reason. Publin.ie let’s thirsty travelers search for pubs by various means as well as rate them.

 There will soon be apps available for both apple and android.

 Just thinking about a perfectly poured glass of Guinness makes me feel warm all over.

9/11

Today marks the tenth anniversary of one of the worst days in American history. 

May we remember those who unnecessarily lost their lives on that day and commend ourselves for not giving in to tyranny. 

As travelers, our lives changed dramatically. It’s no longer easy to go from point A to point B but we continue to do so. We don’t let fear, rhetoric or threats stop us from embarking on our journeys. 

I wish everyone here safe travels wherever you may go.

(Frank II)

New rules to help fliers

New rules took effect on Tuesday that will benefit the airline passenger:

1) Passengers involuntarily bumped from oversold flights will get more compensation. Under the new rules, busmped passengers can get up to $650 if the airline can get them to their destination with one or two hours of their originally scheduled arrival time for domestic flights or up to $1300 if they are delayed longer. 

Previous limites were $400 and $800 respectively. 

The new amounts will be adjusted every two years for inflation.

2) Current rules state that any domestic flight delayed more than three hours must allow passengers to get off the plane or face fines. International flights were exempt.

Now, international flights must abide by the same rules except they area allowed up to four hours before they must comply.

Exceptions are allowed for safety, security or air traffic control-related reasons.

3) If you pay to check a piece of luggage and the airline loses your bag, it must now refund the bag fee. This is in addition to them compensating passengers for lost or damaged baggage.

(Frank II)

Nein to body scanners

The German police are not impressed:

Body scanners being tested at Germany’s Hamburg airport have had a thumbs down from the police, who say they trigger an alarm unnecessarily in seven out of 10 cases, a newspaper said Saturday.

The weekly Welt am Sonntag, quoting a police report, said 35 percent of the 730,000 passengers checked by the scanners set off the alarm more than once despite being innocent.

The report said the machines were confused by several layers of clothing, boots, zip fasteners and even pleats, while in 10 percent of cases the passenger’s posture set them off. - AFP via Google News

(Brad)

Would you pay for a better airport security experience

Would you be willing to pay a $100-150 annual fee and go through a background check in return for expedited, risk based screening at major U.S. airports?

The U.S. Travel Association, which is lobbying TSA to start a trusted traveler program similar to the one operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, surveyed 1000 travelers and asked that same question.

The responses to “very/somewhat likely” were:

All travelers—45%

Frequent Leisure Travelers—61%

Frequesnt Business Travelers—75%

An earlier survey also showed that with less hassle at the airport, respondents said they would take up to 2-3 more trips per year. 

(Frank II)