Airlines are even more late than the FAA thought

New York Times front page today

As if we didn't know

What to do if you are on a plane and the flight is cancelled

IMMEDIATELY, take out your cell phone and call the airline. DO NOT PASS GO, just start dialing. The airline would prefer that you rebook by phone and you will beat the pleading (always in vain) throngs at the gate when you are finally let off the plane.

NEXT STEP, call and find a hotel. If your flight is being cancelled for weather then most likely many other flights have also been cancelled. The huddled masses sleeping on airport floors that we see on TV are there, mostly, because savvy travelers beat them to a hotel room and all the hotels within 20 miles filled up. Make your own luck. Do not wait for the airline to help you. In the case of weather delays they will often not pay for the room either. Better to have a room in hand, even if you then decide to hang out and debate reimbursement policy with your airline.

Once you have taken care of these items, you now have time to harass your flight crew and burn airline ceo’s (in effigy)

I don’t believe in “faultless” flight delays and cancellations, I am paying the airlines and airports to deliver a service in the face of circumstances. Maintaining aircraft, needing adequate number of available seats and summer thunderstorms are not surprises out of the blue. If they fail to deliver then they should compensate me. Let me know if anyone gets a class action lawsuit going.

Midway Airport

Here I am at Chicago’s “we try harder” airport. I will skip the rant on the current state of the US air transport system that had me stay the night because my Delta flight to LGA was eventually cancelled because of thunderstorms in NYC. Let me just say that I am beginning to think that the penguins are actually the lucky ones in this global warming mess because, at least, they don’t fly.

Now for some news that you can use. Midway is a nice airport. The current terminal hub is very new and full of useful shops. I was picked up toiletries, socks, boxer shorts and a very stylish Calvin Klein shirt on my scramble from the plane to a hotel, racing to beat my fellow passengers to the taxi line after our plane returned to the gate last night.

The Airport will take about 1/3 less time and cost to taxi from downtown then to O’Hare and a little less hassle once you get to the airport. The flights are a little less crowded because, unlike O’Hare, it is not a hub. Your Chicago to New York plane is full of folks from Chicago not full of folks from everywhere that just happened to have to connect through Chicago.

What to do in Vegas...

I have been going to Vegas since the early '90's. Then it was for Comdex, and now because my parents retired there. Consider a few things if you are sick of the strip.

You can bowl, movie watch, play Bingo, eat decently and gamble more cheaply at the "local" casinos. The Sun Coast, in Somerlin, fifteen miles from the Strip, is a very functional suburban hotel with an excellent oyster bar and decent Peking duck in the main cafe. Even more, the tables have lower minimums, although the penny slots are all the rage. The rooms are twice as big as the one at Wynn's and have Plasma TVs. If you must have your fix of the Strip the Sun Coast offers a shuttle to/from Mandalay Bay.

I do have a soft spot for some of the paper mache themed mountains on the lower end of the strip. I think Luxor is a bunch of fun things and the Pharaoh's buffet is something to be proud of with very light lines. Hit the upstairs arcade to score with some Skee Ball.

Transit trains will scoot you to Excalibur and Mandalay Bay with the sharks.

My assault mid-strip focused on the newly expanded Forum shops at Caesars. The Venetian remains the classiest and the rooms are all suites.

Our broken airline system

Just back form a trip to Albuquerque and Las Vegas. Let me be the latest voice to emphasis the continuing unworkability of the current hub and spoke system. Check out the recent US News & World Report article for more details. The basic punch line is that flights will be more crowded and more frequently late.

Albuquerque is an exceptionally difficult place to fly into. You almost always have to connect through a hub. I thought luck had smiled on me when Continental started an 8 PM nonstop from Newark but the plane was stuck in Florida for 5 hours and the flight was cancelled.

Despite this anecdote, business travelers should do everything they can to stick to non-stops and avoid Dallas and Chicago, Thunderstorms in Texas as screwing up Houston as well as Dallas this summer.

A problem in any of the largest airports in the country ripples through the whole system. If only video conferencing worked better...

Stay away from journey-out.com

I toured with them in Italy and I thought they made too many mistakes for the money. They have a great attitude but need more competence. They got lost between two tourist destinations in Tuscany doubling the travel time. Another day, we arrived in Pisa without enough time to climb the tower. They booked us in a hotel in Rome that they already knew had many problems. The picture is demonstrating the 5 foot ceiling in our room.

BTW, if you want a fabulous hotel in Rome (and are willing to pay) I can't recommend the Aleph Hotel strongly enough.

We discovered Pimmm's and Lemonade

We lunched at the Kings hotel, which I recommend, in Chipping Campden. We chatted up the bartender who introduced us to the classic, if not cliche, British spirit – Pimm's #1. He suggested we try it with Lemonade and of course, we deferred. He promptly began chopping up some strawberries, peaches, mint and CUCUMBERS which he added to our little cocktail. I am always thrilled to see drinks made with fresh ingredients. It was a sad day when they started using Rose's Lime Juice instead of fresh limes in Kamikazes.

The drink was fabulous and a great substitute for a margarita in the summer. We picked up a few bottles at Heathrow duty free.