Rumored Carry-On Charges Wean Travelers from Airlines

Newspaper poll indicates many travelers crying "uncle!" over airline surcharges

Today's Denver Post website included a non-scientific but enlightening reader poll regarding the rumor that airlines, already charging most travelers for checked luggage, might be introduce fees for carry-ons as well.

The question is, "Some airlines reportedly are considering charging passengers for their carry-on bags. Read story. If this happens, what will you do?" The as-of-now answers, which should be required reading for airline execs, are:

"I'm still taking everything in my carry-on" - 17.13%
"I'll still check bags and take a carry-on" - 26.12%
"I will wear multiple layers of clothes; no checked bag and no carry-on" - 7.28%
"That's it; I'm through with the airlines" - 49.46%

Perhaps another option should have been, "I'm only flying Southwest from now on." I flew Southwest to and from Oklahoma City last week. I was only gone for three days, so I did fit everything into a carry-on, but if I had checked bags, there would have been no charge. There was likewise no charge for non-alcoholic beverages, and every passenger on both packed-full flights was given two (2!) little bags of peanuts.

Rumored Carry-On Charges Wean Travelers from Airlines

International Travel is a Reality Check in the Name of Sanity

Despite past terrorist attacks, Europeans haven't succumbed to continent-wide paranoia

The Rocky Mountain News' Mark Brown returned from a two-week vacation overseas, where he appreciated being far removed from incessant, excessive, simplistic media coverage of politics starring "screaming talk-show hosts" and, more important from a traveler's standpoint, observed the absence of the post-9/11 fear-mongering and paranoia that has engulfed domestic travel. Despite higher air fares, reduced flight schedules and the pathetic dollar, international travel provides a welcome blast of sanity. In his column titled "Believe it or not, there's a land where cool heads prevail," he wrote:

"No one seemed to be living in fear. We were allowed to take bottles of
liquids on trains on the continent that saw bloody train bombings in 2004,
killing 191 people. We rode London's underground with unsearched backpacks and
suitcases less than three years after the July 2005 subway bombings that killed
52 people, the deadliest terrorist attack in London's history.

"No one made me take off my shoes at the airport on the continent where shoe bomber Richard Reid boarded a plane in 2001 with the intent to blow it up. Had to
take them off over here, though.

"Daily life in London means sitting next to Arabic-looking people on the
subway a couple of times a day, carrying backpacks and other items. Nobody
blinks an eye. The biggest threat to the London Underground that particular week
was a World War II mortar that was found to still be live under a main track.
Commuters were simply rerouted for a few days as it was disarmed and
removed.

"Meanwhile, back here a doughnut advertisement was pulled because the
woman in the commercial was wearing a scarf with tassels. And a fist-bump by a
presidential candidate was characterized as a 'terrorist fist jab.'

"As we seem to become more paralyzed with fear over here, life goes on over
there. It may be too late (and, let's face it, naive) to go back to a notion
that our fellow man isn't a threat but someone we need to cooperate and
communicate with for the good of all of us."

Thank you, Mark Brown, for your words of sanity. I hope that people will continue to travel beyond our tightened borders and that at least, your column is taken to heart by some of those who continue to be wrapped in fear -- but, I am "afraid" that they won't be.

International Travel is a Reality Check in the Name of Sanity

United to Drop Denver-London Non-Stop

Carrier to slash route after just seven months of operations

When United inaugurated its nonstop to London a few months ago, my husband and I jumped on the early fares and went to England and Scotland for eight days. That flight will go bye-bye on October 25, less than seven months after it started (March 30). I vowed to write some enthusiastic posts about something other than bad airline news on this blog, because I do love to travel, but find myself sucked in by one downbeat bit of news after another.

Offsetting higher jet fuel costs by eliminating some flights and charging for services that used to be free comprise United's strategy of "aggressive action to reduce our capacity, retire aircraft and eliminate the least-profitable markets from our fall schedule," the Rocky Mountain News quoted company spokesman Jeff Kovick as explaining -- again. It has become United's mantra.

United to Drop Denver-London Non-Stop

The Renaissance of an Oklahoma City Landmark

Oklahoma City's grand old hotel restored as a raving beauty. Is it still haunted?

When the Skirvin Hotel was opened in 1911 by oilman William B. Skirvin, it initially had 224 rooms in two 10-story towers and was one of the first buildings in Oklahoma City with air conditioning, then called “iced air.” I'm assuming that Oklahoma City summers were as brutal then as they are today, so iced air was welcome innovation. The luxurious hotel also had running ice water in each room, a ballroom that seated 500 and imported Austrian chandeliers that cost more than $100,000 each.

In 1930, just before the Depression really hit, the Skirvin gained a third wing and a couple of more stories for a total of 525 rooms, making it one of the city's biggest as well as one of its most opulent. The hotel was reportedly the site of one of the city's biggest scandals too. According Legends of America, it is haunted --or at least was until its renovation:

During Prohibition, "W.B. Skirvin was said to have had an affair with one of the hotel maids. According to legend, the maid soon conceived and in order to prevent a scandal, she was locked in a room on the top floor of the hotel. The desolate girl soon grew depressed and even after the birth of her child; she was still not let out of the room. Half out of her mind, she finally grabbed the infant child and threw herself, along with the baby, out of the window. The maid’s name remains unknown, but her ghost continues to haunt the Skirvin Hotel and she was nicknamed 'Effie' by former employees.

"Though the old hotel closed in 1988, former guests would often report not
being able to obtain a decent nights sleep due to the consistent sounds of a
child crying. Effie was apparently a woman of loose morals and many men who have
stayed in the hotel have often reported being propositioned by a female voice
while alone in their rooms. Others have seen the figure of a naked woman
with them while taking a shower. One man even claimed he was sexually assaulted
by an invisible entity during his stay.

"Other strange noises and occurrences were reported by staff and
guests including things seemingly being moved around by themselves, such as the
maid’s cart being pushed down the hall when no one was there."

There is even a Skirvin footnote to 20th century American political-social history. Skirvin’s daughter, Perle Mesta, later became ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, a traditional plum ambassadorship for those with more social standing than diplomatic credentials, and later nicknamed Washington’s "Hostess with the Mostess." She was so prominent that she was featured in a Time magazine cover story in 1949. Her life was the basis of the hit Broadway musical, "Call Me Madam."

The hotel was listed on National Register of Historic Places in 1979, closed in 1988 and stood empty for nearly 20 years. It's back now, and it is glorious. Reopened in 2007, for the State of Oklahoma's centennial year, the hotel gleams, thanks to a $56.4 million restoration that included the original exterior, historically appropriate windows, guest rooms reconfigured to today's standards, a truly beautiful lobby (center right), restaurants, state-of-the-art meeting rooms, a fitness center and all the other accoutrement's demanded of a luxury hotel in the 21st century. Wherever possible, historical elements such as moldings, tiles and ceiling treatments were incorporated into the design. Each bed includes a custom coverlet with the story of the Skirvin and its city on it.

Doug Dawgz blog, one of several that focus on Oklahoma City history, wrote an illuminating post back in 2006 about the Skirvin with more background and also some wonderful historic photos.

People who believe in ghosts spectulate that the hotel might still be haunted. In my experience here, Room 1109 (lower right after evening turndown service) isn't haunted -- or I don't believe it is. Still, there was a voice message from the front desk when I returned to my room once evening asking whether "everything in my room was all right." Everything seemed just fine, but who knows?

The Skirvin Hilton is at One Park Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73102; 405-272-3040.

The Renaissance of an Oklahoma City Landmark

Airline Woes Could Cripple US Economy, Study Shows

Bad news and dire predictions continue for air travel

"Oil-fueled catastrophe in the airline industry would cripple US economy and eliminate US jobs, study reveals" is a ponderous title for an Internet post, but it is the gist of a feature on a travel site called eTurbo News. It cited a Business Travel Coalition study equally ominously and equally ponderously called "“Beyond the Airlines’ $2 Can of Coke: Catastrophic Impact on the US Economy from Oil-price Trauma in the Airline Industry" that predicted the domino effect of rapidly rising oil prices on jobs, the supply chain for the manufacturing that still exists in this country, lower tax revenues, American competitiveness, communities, and tourism. These, according to the article, "are just some of the predictable results from airline liquidations that could happen as early as the second half of 2008 as a direct result of unsustainable fuel prices."

As a global community and as a nation, we continue to use oil at an undiminished rate. Public transportation ridership is up in this country, but for many people, it is not an option because it simply does not exist. So people still drive around -- often one per vehicle -- in cars that are considered to get "good" gas mileage if they approach 30 MPG.

"The study expands on the analysis released on June 13, 2008 by AirlineForecasts, LLC and BTC and points to the real news about the airlines’ fuel problems: how multiple liquidations at legacy US airlines – now a serious possibility – would have a wide-ranging impact on many facets of the US economy," wrote eTurbo News.

But what we can do as individuals -- whether we drive less, carpool more, ride our bikes, cancel our vacations or simply fork over 15 bucks to check a bag or $2 for an inflight soda -- pales compared to the government's fuel consumption. Oil Change International, which is promoting the "separation of oil and state," reports that the Department of Defense (or shall we return to its old name, the Department of War?) is the country's single largest user of oil -- 1.6 million gallons a day. And every gallon that is pumped into a heavily armored HumVee (4 MPG), a mine-resistant tank (6 MPG), a helicopter (a 1,500-pound Bell Ranger reportedly burns 65 gallons in four hours; a big troop carrier way more than that) or a military jet is unavailable for civilian aviation, automobiles, buses, taxis or to heat homes in Maine and New Hampshire next winter.

The monetary cost is staggering -- $153 million for the 1.2 million barrels of fuel the armed forces use each month at $127.68 a barrel, which only seems trivial in comparison to the $10.3 billion a month America's Iraqi adventure is costing. The total so far is something on the order of half a trillion deflated US dollars, according to the Congressional Research Service. Politics, morality and even economics aside, the environmental cost is staggering. The US military burns more fuel and leaves a greater carbon footprint than the greening of the travel industry and the home-building industry combined.

Airline Woes Could Cripple US Economy, Study Shows

Centennial for Canada's Splendid Empress Hotel

Victorian landmark in Victoria, BC, celebrates its 100th anniversary this year

Victoria on the south end of Vancouver Island is a totally captivating city. Whenever I've been there I've thought that I could easily live there -- or at least spend a few nights in one of the Fairmont Empress Hotel's 476 rooms. It is one of Victoria’s most distinctive and beautiful landmarks, and another time, perhaps I will. Meanwhile, I have strolled through the gardens, wandered through the lobby and had a drink in the Bengal Lounge, where the word "colonialism" is a quaint and picturesque theme rather than an administrative system that is way out of favor these days.

I was just leafing through a 10-year-old copy of Victorian Homes magazine, which featured Victoria and noted that the Empress Hotel was then 90 years old. It was built in 1908, when the British Empire was the world's most widespread and powerful. By then, Canada, was already evolving from colony to independent nationhood, but English influence was still potent in Victoria. The Parliament building overlooking the Inner Harbour would not look out of place along the Thames in London, and neither would the nearby Empress, a splendid and opulent example of late Victorian/Edwardian colonial architecture.

The grandiose Empress is now part of the Fairmont group. The public rooms, which are all I have seen, have been immaculately restored. Many of the original features are still in place, including beautiful leaded glass, 12-foot windows and some dozen ornate chandeliers hanging from the high carved-mahogany ceiling.

The Bengal Lounge carries out the theme of India in the days of the British Raj. The Empress Dining Room is an elegant restaurant serving contemporary British Columbia cuisine, including wines from a commendable list.

I have only sat down in the Empress for a drink, but many day visitors come for afternoon tea. In fact, I read somewhere that more than 100,000 guests do so each year, nibbling on small crust-off sandwiches of various sorts, freshly baked scones, house-made preserves, thick Jersey cream and a cornucopia of other pastries, and sipping on the Empress's custom-blended tea from Royal Doulton cups. There is a suitable dress code and such 21st-century tattiness as ripped jeans, short shorts or running clothes are not seen.

I don't know which day, week or month during 2008 has been designated for the official centennial celebration (and being so English in flavor, I am guessing there must be an official celebration!), but there is a Centennial Bed and Breakfast package that includes the hotel's famous afternoon tea, breakfast in the Empress Dining Room and a new commemorative edition of The Empress, a book tracking its glorious 100 years in words and pictures. Rates begin at CDN$199 per person, single or double occupancy, and is offered all year -- with the usual "based on availability" caveat that hotels are so fond of. If you just want to have tea, a special Centennial Tea will be presented every Friday afternoon through the end of September. The cost is CDN$100 for a memorable tradition.

The Fairmont Empress, 721 Government Street Victoria, BC V8W 1W5, Canada; 250-384-8111.

Centennial for Canada's Splendid Empress Hotel

United and Continental Expect to Be Bedfellows

Rivals are vowing cooperation -- and Southwest is implementing next-generation air-traffic efficiencies

The on-again, off-again romances, courtships, engagements and miscellaneous liaisons in the American air transportation industry are positively dizzying. The latest announcement involves a planned linkage of former rivals United and Continental in a bilateral agreement for domestic and international cooperation, in reality a cost-cutting measure by two struggling legacy carriers that have invidually trimmed costs and tapped new revnue sources, largely by charging passengers for services that were until recently free.

The new relationship, which is yet to be approved by regulators, is described as a "partnership" and not a merger. It is supposed to include code-shared domestic flights and also reciprocity between United's MileagePlus program and Continental's OnePass program, enabling to earn miles when flying on either airline and redeem awards on both carriers, including accruing miles toward elite status -- though whether they will be any easier to redeem is yet to be seen. Similarly, members of Continental's Presidents Club and United's Red Carpet Club will have access to both.

Continental has also been invited to join the Star Alliance, which has announced an "enhanced transatlantic partnership of the two U.S. airlines and Star Alliance member carriers Air Canada and Lufthansa" -- whatever that will turn out to be. This latest venture into airline togetherness is supposed to be implemented sometime in 2009. Forgive me for being a tad skeptical, but when it comes to airline coopration, several similarly optimistic plans have unraveled.

Meanwhile, go-it-alone Southwest seems to be stepping in to the tune of $175 million to help implement Required Navigation Performance technology that "allows the aircraft to fly more precise, direct, and accurate paths, allowing more 'lanes' to be built into the same limited airspace," an airline press release quoted executive vice president and chief of operations Mike Vande Ven as explaining. Within six years, Southwest expects to have RNP at the 64 airports it serves. Southwest calculated that every single minute of time saved on each flight, would reduce carbon emissions by up to 156,000 metric tons annually by 2015 and result in $25 million in fuel savings per year.

Southwest has partnered with Naverus, a leader in RNP development, and the Federal Aviation Administration since May 2007 to train the airline's pilots on RNP, equip the airline's fleet to be RNP capable to and to produce RNP-charted procedures. In other times, the FAA might have taken this responsibility upon itself, but Southwest appears to have provided the impetus to get fuel-saving and green procedures underway. Southwest's goal is to begin flying with RNP procedures in place by fall 2009 and have the entire fleet under such operations by 2013.

United and Continental Expect to Be Bedfellows

Road Tripping in the Rockies

When it comes to driving in the mountains, it's always something

Winter driving in the Rocky Mountains often provides such challenges as slick roads, temporary avalanche-control closures, longer closures when a slide hits the highway, SUVs that slid off the road and caused rubbernecker delays, jackknifed 18-wheelers, trucks waiting to pull into chain-up areas and meanwhile blocking traffic lanes, just plain heavy skier traffic (I-70 west of Denver means epic traffic jams, winter weekend after winter weekend), etc.

Summer is roadwork season when highways and local streets in mountain communities are repaired, resurface or at least repainted (winter sanding can erase the white and yellow lines. Bridges are rebuilt. Exit ramps are widened or reconfigured. Cone zones prevail. Give yourself some leeway if you need to get somewhere at a certain time.

Road Tripping in the Rockies

TSA Screeners Get New Uniforms and Badges

Transportation Security Agency screeners -- 48,000 strong -- will be dressing more like law-enforcement officers

If a royal blue shirt and badge communicates "police" to you, screeners at the nation's airport checkpoints who are going to start wearing police-style badges are projecting an intentionally misleading image. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is outfitting its screeners with 3-inch-by-2-inch, silver, copper and zinc badges to be worn on "police blue" shirts after just two days of procedural training, including how to communicate with the flying public in a non-confrontational manner.

The TSA's idea is to convey an image of authority to passengers, who, understandably, are weary of arbitrary and inconsistent screening procedure. The TSA blames the public for harassing and being disrespectful of screeners, occasionally even pushing or punching, according to reports. The TSA probably prefers to believe that their screeners treat passengers even-handedly and politely, but anyone who flies more than occasionally has had less than pleasant experiences. And some airport police are not thrilled that the screeners might be, to put a snarky spin on it, impersonating officers.

Extending this, the Transportation Security Agency has had a high employee turnover rate since it was created as part of the post-9/11 Department of Homeland Security. According to the TSA's own Employee Retention Report released in July 2007, the agency "had an attrition rate of 17.6 percent in 2005 and 14.6 percent in 2006, according to the report. TSA says that decrease is evidence of an attrition rate that continues to fall. The administration said its turnover rate is 16.5 percent, higher than 2006, but still a 13.6 percent reduction since 2005." Even if it were falling comparably to, say, 10 percent, that's still somewhere around 4,800 former TSA screeners every year. Given the efficiency of other Department of Homeland Security agencys (FEMA comes to mind), who knows what happens to all those very official looking badges. Will the agency require and track their return?

Airport police officers are armed and have the power to arrest, which screeners do not. Some are concerned about confusion that can cause unforeseen problems. Other agencies,including some stationed at airports, also give badges to their employees.

TSA Screeners Get New Uniforms and Badges

"Air Contrarian" Chooses Growth in Difficult Economic Times

While other airlines are cutting back, low-fare AirAsia intends to keep on growing

The travel news is full of service cuts here, airline bankruptcies there, airlines folding completely elsewhere, and surcharges and extra fees all over the map. So it came as a surprise (to me anyway) to read a piece called "Strong Expansion is the Best Way to Cope with High Fuel Prices, AirAsia Exeuctive Says" on a travel trade site called eTurboNews. Tony Fernandes, CEO of AirAsia, described as Asia's largest low-cost airline with a 60-city route network that includes Southeast Asia, China and Australia, spoke to eTurboNews Stephan Hanot:

Q: How fuel is affecting your strategy?
A: Fuel is becoming a massive problem as it went up from US$36 in 2003 to
over US$170 for jet fuel today. And they are only two ways to deal with this
burden to cut costs. The first, chosen by many airlines, is to reduce the
network and adapt capacities. It works but it will also affect considerably
travel patterns and could lead to a cycle of further route network’s adjustment…
The other way is still to grow up. This is the way AirAsia choose. We have to
fill up aircraft as more passengers are the best way to compensate for the
burden of high fuel prices. We will also continue to look at ways to reduce our
costs.

Q.This means: no cut in your network, including domestic routes?
A. That is correct. More revenues can make up for the deficit we could
record because of the fuel crisis. In fact, I speed up the opening of new
routes. We will out of Malaysia open between June and July up to four new lines
[routes]...

Q. Does it then mean that AirAsia low cost model turn its back from
traditional point-to-point markets?
A. We have seen indeed an increasing number of passengers in transit at our
main bases...I anticipate a further development of our transfer activity in the
future.

Q. Will you increase fuel surcharges?
A. We try not to pass the burden to consumers with additional fuel
surcharges. We rather look at other ways such as paying a minimal fee to use our
various services. We recently introduced fees for check-in luggage for
example...

Q. How about your environmental credential? AirAsia seems to be far behind other airlines in terms of initiatives such as carbon footprint compensation.
A. Asia is generally behind developed nations in Europe, America or
the Pacific...Our fleet is one of the youngest in the world and is extremely fuel-efficient as we put more seat per aircraft than most or our competitors. We also try to accelerate the replacement of our ageing Boeing 737-300 by more fuel-efficient Airbus A320. However, we are looking now to introduce a scheme for carbon dioxide (CO²) footprint compensation. We look at ways to see how this CO² credit would be at best used. I expect that we could come up with some program by early
2009....

Can AirAsia keep it up? I don't know, but it operates on an aggressive model. Founded only in 2001 as a no-frills, low-fare, fequent-flight carrier that currently flies to 60 destinations, it was named named 2007 CAPA Airline of the Year. AirAsia managed an on-time record of 89 percent in May, and even in challenging times, seems to be continuing various promotions and fare sales to fill seats.

Contrast this to a front page story in today's Denver Post called "Fares Adding Fuel to the Flier," which reported that base fares for domestic flights from Denver are up 7.5 percent since June 2007 -- plus the add-on fees that did not exist a year ago. Competition does put the reins on increases a bit, with the greatest fare increases on routes with the least service. The phrase," The airlines have those passengers over a barrel" comes to mine -- a barrel of oil, perhaps.

AirAsia's slogan: "Now everyone can fly." What a contrast to many US carriers -- Southwest seemingly being an exception -- that seem to being instituting the slogan, "Now no one can fly anymore."

"Air Contrarian" Chooses Growth in Difficult Economic Times

Low Cabin Pressure Forced Plane Back to Denver

Oxygen masks did not deploy, and six United passengers seem to have decided to go to the hospital

Tonight's 10:00 o'clock news included a report about a plane that returned to Denver late this afternoon due to low cabin pressure. According to "Pressurization Issue Forces Plane Back To Denver" from Channel 7, United flight 591 took off from Denver International Airport for Seattle shortly before 4:00 p.m. but soon returned to Denver because of what was described as "a pressurization problem." The Boeing 737 landed shortly after 5:00. Of the 121 passengers aboard, six went to the hospital -- they "opted to go to the hospital," according to the report. There were also three flight attendants and two pilots on board.

What makes this all seem to weird is that despite "the pressurization issue," the oxygen masks did not deploy. According to Channel 7, United Airlines spokeswoman Megan McCarthy, said "the situation was not one that would warrant the masks to drop."

Am I missing something when I wonder about the purpose of oxygen masks if not to deploy when cabin pressure drops? Or is United's latest revenue source going to be pay-to-use masks, perhaps like an oxygen bar? Of course, the aircraft was taken out of service until mechanics could inspect it fully. I can't wait for a followup to this story explaining what happened to cause pressure to drop in the first place and then why the oxygen masks not to drop. When the former drops, I would have assumed that the latter is supposed to drop as well.

Low Cabin Pressure Forced Plane Back to Denver

Weak Dollar, Strong Euro Change Travel Patterns

Europeans, Brits and Canadians find US a bargain; Americans pinched overseas

When my husband and I visited Britain six weeks ago, we were shocked by how little the dollar buys there. A bus ride between two London railroad stations was $5. The least expensive three-star hotel we stayed at was $100 a night. Every amount in pounds on the right side of the menu had to be multiplied by two to convert it into dollars. We tried to be frugal, but it was difficult, and I don't know how students will fare overseas this year -- especially since the British pound is weaker than the euro.

Earlier this week, one of our former German exchange students and his wife came through on part of their 16-day road trip through the American west, starting in Denver, ending up in Seattle and including several national parks. This was a good year to visit, they said, because gas is "only" $4 a gallon, Hertz was charging "only" $195 to drop their rented-in-Denver SUV off in Seattle and the American artwork they hoped to buy would be a real bargain, even including shipping it back to Germany.

At this point. about €0.65 buys US$1.00. In late 2000, US$1.00 bought about €0.90. The US dollar used to be worth considerably more than both the Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc. Now they are about at par. What a flip during the first decade of the 21st century -- a flip that benefits international travelers coming here.

Canadians are coming south. Europeans and Brits are flying west. They travel, the eat, they shop. And Americans, increasingly, are staying home -- wondering what went wrong.

Weak Dollar, Strong Euro Change Travel Patterns

United to Charge for Each Checked Bag

United joins American and US Airways in charging non-premium passengers for all checked bags

Following American's ballsy lead and US Airways' recent copycat move, United Airlines obnoxiously announced "two changes to its domestic checked bag policy. The service fee to check one bag for domestic travel will be $15 each way and the fee to check three or more bags, overweight bags or items that require special handling will increase from $100 to $125 or from $200 to $250, depending on the item." What isn't stated is whether the first checked bag will now be $15 and the second remain $25, or whether the first two bags will cost $15 each -- but I'm betting if United has a chance to collect $40 instead of $30, it will do so.

These charges apply to non-premium-status, back-cabin flights within the US and to/from Canada, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands for flights beginning on August 18, 2008. The $15 service fee does not apply toUnited First or United Business or who have premier status customers with United or Star Alliance.

“With record-breaking fuel prices, we must pursue new revenue opportunities, while continuing to offer competitive fares, by tailoring our products and services around what our customers value most and are willing to pay for,” said John Tague, executive vice president and chief operating officer, according to United's press release.

Consumer advocate Christopher Elliott isn't buying it. He wrote: "When fuel prices come back down — as they are almost certain to — just pay close attention to all the new extras that have sprung up in the last few months...Does anyone think airlines will back off when times are better? Of course not. Airlines have been waiting for an excuse to charge us for anything that isn’t bolted down on the plane....No, none of these fees are going to go away...No doubt, it’s far more difficult to make a buck in the airline business than it was just six months ago because of sky-high oil prices. But that’s not the whole story. Airlines have always wanted to add these fees, and in that sense, the higher fuel costs are nothing more than a smokescreen. They are not giving us what we want, as United Airlines disingenuously claimed when it announced its new surcharges yesterday. They are giving us what they want."

Just yesterday, I recommended a chart on comparing extra fees that domestic airlines socking to passengers. Now, FareCompare's Rick Seaney is going to have to modify the chart.

United to Charge for Each Checked Bag

Website Compares US Airline Fees, Features

Eye-opening fee comparison helps budget-conscious travelers plan their flights

Rick Seaney's incredibly useful, majorly consumer-oriented website, FareCompare, recently did all air travelers a great big time-saving favor with a chart comparing add-on fees levied by 16 domestic airlines. He documented the fee for talking to a real human being to make a reservation (free to $20 per person), checked bags (free to $15 for the first checked bag; free to $25 for the second), charge for preferred seating including extra leg room (not offered to $109); snack packet (free or not offered); beverage (free to $4 for selected non-alcoholic beverages), meals none or free to $11), alcoholic beverages ($1 to $6), oversize bag fee ($29 to $360), overweight bag fee ($29 to $150), pets ($35 to $359, or not permitted), unaccompanied minor (free, or $35 to $100), curbside check-in (free to $3) and change fee for non-refundable tickets (free to $150). Seany includes asterisked conditions, so you can really figure out how much you'll be paying for such "extras," many of which were once not extras at all.

Sometimes, travelers don't have much of a choice or airlines, and other times, they do, and this chart will help separate more customer-friendly carriers from those that are less so. Thanks, Rick.

Website Compares US Airline Fees, Features

OpenSkies Set to Take Off

Enhanced-service airline to begin flying New York-Paris

With airlines folding like a loser's poker hand, OpenSkies, a new British Airways subsidiary, is set to inaugurate flights between New York's JFK International Airport and Paris's Orly Airport beginning on June 19. Not only is this remarkable in light of the currently ailing airline industry (all-business-class, transatlantic MaxJet being among the recent casualties), but because an airline's legal ability to fly between two foreign countries without stopping in its own country is a relatively recent development in the global transportation industry. The agreement permitting this type of routing is known as Open Skies -- hence the name of the new airline.

OpenSkies fuel-efficient Boeing 757 aircraft are configured with three classes of service but only 82 seats total -- remarkable because most airlines cram as many as 200 passengers into this type of plane. That in turn might make it a tad more fuel-efficient, though I'm not sure what weighs more -- an average passenger plus his or her baggage or one of those fancy seats -- and OpenSkies are fancy indeed. The top class, called "biz" (trademarked and lower-case theirs), has 24 seats that offer 78 inches of legroom, enough for an NBA star, and convert into 180-inch flat beds. Meal and beverage service will be personalized, a lot like hotel room service -- or so it seems.

The 28-seat mid-level cabin, called "prem plus" (and sometimes written "prem+"), features comfortable reclining seats with footrests and 12 inches more legroom than most airlines offer premium-economy passengers. Both offer universal plug-ins for laptops and other electronic devices. The economy cabin, called "economy," has just 30 leather seats, coat hooks and, like the costlier cabins, a personal entertainment system with more than 50 hours of audio and video programing. Biz and prem plus passengers can check three pieces of luggage free, while economy flyers can check in two.

One thing that the airline's website neglects to mention (or at least I couldn't find it) is whether OpenSkies passengers can accumulate or redeem British Airways frequent-flyer miles. Fares reportedly begin at $554 one-way in economy and $1,746 one-way biz. When BA president Willie Walsh announced OpenSkies in January, industry observers speculated that other airlines would follow with similar-format spin-offs flying between the US and the UK. Now, who knows?

OpenSkies' toll-free number is 866-581-3596.

OpenSkies Set to Take Off

Bar Wars

Which cell phone providers offer service where is important for road trippers -- but how can you tell?

While driving through eastern Colorado not long ago, my husband and I occasionally opened our cell phones and compared how many bars we had. Mindful of tedious television commercials that I've seen about coverage, this seemed like an informative diversion. I assumed that a specific number of bars means the same thing on all phones and with all providers.

Not so, reports technology reporter Tom Simonite in a blog posting on New Scientist. He wrote that there are no industry standards for signal bars, and one bar, two bars, three bars, etc. don't always mean the same thing, as we found out. In La Junta, my husband's cell phone showed an impressive array or bars, while mine displayed just one. Yet I received a call -- in a restaurant where we stopped for lunch. Simonite has some ideas on how to improve the system, as do some of the visitors to the New Scientist blog. It makes for an intersting technie read.

Bar Wars

C Lazy U Breaking Out of Guest Ranch Mold

Ownership and management changes herald new direction of old guest ranch

The C Lazy U Ranch entered Colorado's dude and guest ranching picture back in 1946. Its history reveals a series of owners, some who stayed aboard for decades and some who flipped the now-2,000-acre ranch near Granby after just a few months. Clark and Peg Murray of Kansas City discovered the ranch on a Colorado vacation in 1958 and purchased it 30 years later -- talk about patience. More recently, they have been joined in a multi-family ownership group that includes Don Bailey and Leslie Stanford of Denver, Linda and Bill Jacobs of Chicago and Tucson, and Adrienne and Dean Singleton of Denver (think "newspaper publisher"). Singleton became involved with the transformation of the neighboring former Hudler Ranch as as vacation home development called CLU Preserves.

This is a long lead-up to the news that DeNapoli Capital Partners, a hospitality acquisition, development and management company, is now operating the C Lazy U. As the Wall Street Journal reported two years ago, the dude ranch's role in the hospitality industry has been changing, with fewer guest ranches in absolute numbers, fewer that remain not only family-owned but also family-run, fewer that have resisted the temptation of subdivision into ranchettes and more that have been transformed from classic equestrian-focused ranches to a broader resort format. DiNapoli, based in southern California, has been involved in such high-profile luxury hotel and resort brands as Four Seasons and Hyatt, and in Denver, it owns and manages the classy, theatrically themed Hotel Teatro.

At its peak, the C Lazy U achieved Mobil's Five Star ranking for 25 years in a row as well as Four Diamonds from AAA -- unusual in the relatively rustic world of guest ranches. The Four Diamond Teatro, which opened in 1999, has recently renovated its guest rooms with obligatory flat-screen televisions, iPod docking stations, sybaritic new bedding and a passel of other upmarket facilities and services. Some of that polish is being applied to the C Lazy U, which is getting the Hotel Teatro-style treatment. The Kevin Taylor Restaurant Group, which operates the fine-dining Restaurant Kevin Taylor and more casual Prima Ristorante in the Teatro, is consulting on modernization of the C Lazy U's menus. And the ranch, which is probably going to provide shorter alternatives to the standard mandatory one-week stay, is also getting such Teatro-style room enhancements as those iHome docking stations, Beverly Hills Black Edition beds and beautiful linens.

It makes me think, ironically, of the '60s TV comedy called "The Beverly Hillbillies," in which the backwoods Clampetts began shaking up the southern California social scene. Things have come full circle with southern California hotel standards that are going to shake up expectations of dude ranch guests at the venerable C Lazy U.

C Lazy U Ranch, P.O. Box 379, Granby, CO 80446; 970-887-3344. Hotel Teatro, 1100 14th Street, Denver 80202; 888-727-1200 (reservations) and 303-228-1100.

C Lazy U Breaking Out of Guest Ranch Mold

TED is Dead

United's no-frills carrier the latest casualty of the world airline crisis

United Airlines' TED, launched with great fanfare five years ago to compete with such low-fare carriers as Southwest and Frontier, will fly into the sunset by early 2009. Seventy planes (15 percent of the fleet, including less fuel-efficient 737s) will either be retired or retrofitted as mainline United planes, including a first-class cabin that will theoretically produce more revenues. United is expected to cut 1,100 jobs as well. Bloomberg, which tracks financial data, reported that while United's stock has been the worst 2008 performer among 14 publicly traded airline stocks, it rose 61 cents to $9.14 yesterday. Leave it to Wall Street to find cheer in other people's misery.

And, for travelers, there's more probably more misery to come. Bloomberg also noted that US airlines have already announced 5 percent capacity cuts, but quoted Ray Neidl, a securities analyst with Calyon Securities, as saying that airlines "need" to cut 20 percent to achieve some kind of industry--wide financial stability, given the current price of fuel. That's going to leave a lot of travelers scrambling for fewer seats, paying much more to fly, taking the train (Amtrak is already seeing record passenger loads), Greyhound, filling our tanks with increasingly expensive gas or staying close to home.

Addendum on June 6: Today's New York Times ran a business analysis called "Big Airlines Rush to Go Small." Reporter Micheline Maynard's piece began, "With fuel prices almost double what they were a year ago, airlines have switched strategies from expansion to downsizing." And she proceeded with a laundry list of which big airlines are becoming smaller and in what way, also noting, "For passengers, it all means a system that made flights cheap and plentiful is slipping away." And that's pretty much what I have concluded.

TED is Dead

Guidebook for Rock-Climbing Families

Climbing routes and much more make this book an excellent resource for climbers of all ages

My husband is a former rock climber, so we have shelves full of climbing guidebooks. I don't ever look at them, because they are way out of my universe. When he and I first met and he enthused about climbing, I took a one-day class and learned very, very basic climbing and rappelling. I enjoyed it enough to wish that I had learned to climb when I was younger -- much younger. Tristan Hechtel, now just graduated from high school here in Boulder, is one lucky young climber who did start when he was very young. He probably can't even remember when he didn't go climbing with his mother. Sibylle Hechtel's engaging new book, Fun Climbs Colorado: Best Family Climbing Vacations, is based on her first-hand experiences.

I don't have a young child anymore, but if I did, I'd want this book because it includes not only well-researched and achievable routes but also other useful information for any family trip. The climbing information is very clear and includes everything I imagine parents would want to know: How easy each climbing area is to reach. What the approach is like. Type of rock. What gear that is needed. The recommended age range. Camping options. Whether there is cell service. Whether dogs are permitted. Even (should an emergency arise) the location of the nearest hospital. I also like her assessment of the pros and cons of each climbing area. These might include ease or difficulty of the approach; accessibility; crowds; convenient camping or not.

And of course, there is detailed information on each climbing route, including grade rating (a standard numerical system), plus key spots along the route described, numbered and keyed to a photograph. She also gives one to five stars to routes in the book. One star means "not that great, included for completeness" to five stars for routes she deems "absolutely fantastic climb, worth doing several times."

For any vacationing family, the additional travel tips are great -- perhaps if the weather is not conducive for family climbing, in case youngsters want a break from climbing, to accommodate any non-climbers in the family or as add-ons while a family is in the vicinity of a recommended climbing area. Hechtel has scouted out where to buy groceries and supplies if camping, hotels/motels if not camping, restaurants and "What Else Can We Do That's Fun?"

Clear maps, excellent graphics and comprehensive contact information for all resources make this an invaluable guide for climbing families -- and, come to think of it, also for climbers without kids who want more peripheral details than most climbing guidebooks include. Fun Climbs Colorado: Best Family Climbing Vacations sells for $22, 15 percent of which is donated to the Access Fund, national advocacy organization for climbers and the preservation of climbing sites.

Guidebook for Rock-Climbing Families

US Streamlines Visa-Waiver Program

Online registration good for two years coming up for visitors to the US

Currently citizens of 27 counties (mostly in western Europe plus Australia, Brunei, Japan, Singapore and New Zealand) are permitted to enter the US without visas for stays of 90 days or less but must fill out forms en route that federal agents look at on arrival. When flight attendants on a US-bound international flight ask passengers whether they are US citizens and give one Customs form to citizens and two to "aliens," that's the second form. I've never actually read one, so I don't know what information it asks.

A refinement of this process will soon require travelers to submit "biographical details" to the Department of Homeland Security online at least three days before traveling. Optional online registration for visa-waivered travelers begins in August and becomes mandatory on January 12, 2009. As it stands now, the program will require visitors to register online once every two years rather than fill out forms each time they travel.

US Streamlines Visa-Waiver Program

Airline Losses Predicted to be HUGE

IATA's gloomy forecast spells continuation of surcharges and higher fares

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is projecting that the global airline industry will lose $2.3 billion (that's billion with a B) worldwide in 2008 -- assuming an average oil price of $106.50 per barrel. That's a big assumption. If oil prices remain at a lofty $135 a barrel, those losses could be as much as $6 billion worldwide. Just this past March, when oil was at about $85 a barrel, IATA foreaw an industry-wide profit of $4.5 billion based on an average crude oil price of $86 per barrel.

At current oil price levels, IATA predicts that airlines' cumulative fuel bill will be around $176 billion, more than one-third of operating costs. Compare that to 2006 ($136 billion for fuel, representing 29 percent of total operating costs) and 2002 ($40 billion for fuel, 13 percent of operating costs).

No wonder airlines are charging for checked bags and doing away with the peanuts and pretzels -- and of course mothballing planes, cutting underperforming routes (in the US, anyway) or going out of business altogether.

Airline execs (those still employed anyway), gathered at IATA's 64th annual meeting in Istanbul, resolved to ask governments to step in and take actions that would help stabilize the airline industry with six specific calls to action:

1) Governments must eliminate archaic rules that prevent airlines from
restructuring across borders.
2) In view of existing fees and charges, governments must refrain from imposing multiple and additional punitive taxes and other measures that will only deepen the crisis.
3) State service providers must invest to modernise air transport infrastructure urgently, eliminating wasteful fuel consumption and emissions.
4) Business partners, in particular monopoly service providers, must become as efficient as airlines are now. If not, regulators must restrain their appetite with tougher regulation.
5) Labour unions must refrain from making irresponsible claims and join the effort to secure jobs in aviation and indeed in other industries.
6) In the interest of the global economy and the flying public, we urge authorities to enforce the integrity of markets so that the cost of energy reflects its true value.

I'm not seeing any calls for the international community to pressure oil producing countries and oil companies to roll back or at least stabilize oil prices ("integrity of markets" is a pretty wimpy phrase for what is supposed to be a call to action), and I'm not seeing any calls for executives to make the same salary and bonus sacrifices that union workers have been required to make. I don't know how executive compensation at foreign airlines compares with that of US carriers, but it would seem to be worth putting into the cost-cutting and revenue-raising equation.

More than a year ago, Washington Post reporter Del Quinten Wilber wrote about pay cuts for employees concurrent with big bucks for bigwigs in "Turbulence Over Executive Pay" about just this subject. Just a couple of months later, "Bill Moyers Journal" on PBS covered the same subject on "Payday! CEO Salaries." Part of Moyers's report:

"Northwest is the last of four major carriers to come out of bankruptcy after the 9-11 terror attacks. But it is not the first airline to use bankruptcy to keep operating while it cut costs, convinced creditors to exchange debt for equity, and rewarded executives after wringing concessions from the rank and file.

"When US Airways emerged from bankruptcy in 2005 CEO Doug Parker was awarded almost six million dollars-worth of stock and cash. Employees got pay cuts of up to 53 percent:
Pilots' top salary is $120,000.
Mechanics earn at most $48,300.
And flight attendants' top salary is just over $34,000.

"When United Airlines came out of bankruptcy in 2006, CEO Glenn Tilton was
awarded stock options and awards that, over four years, would earn him almost
$40 million dollars. More than the airline's $25 million dollar profit that year.
Employees, on the other hand, got pay cuts of up to 50 percent:
Pilot's top pay is $158,200.
Mechanics earn at most just over $52,000.
And flight attendants at most $37,600.

"Only Delta Airlines CEO Gerald Grinstein didn't follow the Wall Street
script. When Delta climbed back from bankruptcy this past April … it's
employees took pay cuts of up to 40 percent. And Grinstein actually turned down
10 million dollars in compensation."

As I noted, neither oil prices directly nor executive compensation was part of IATA's six-point proposal for rescuing the airline industry. How low-fare airlines will survive is another issue entirely. They have been able to succeed with efficient operations, but there's no way to trim fat off an already lean product when oil is $135 a barrel.

Airline Losses Predicted to be HUGE

Vail Deals a Blow, Takes a Hit

Vail Resorts pulls out of Colorado Ski Country USA and loses 2013 World Championship bid

Shock waves hit Colorado, the ski industry and specifically the Colorado ski industry when Vail Resorts Inc. announced that it would not renew its membership in Colorado Ski Country USA, the marketing, promotional and lobbying organization that in 2007-08 counted 26 member ski areas. With the the withdrawal of VRI and its four Colorado resorts (Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone and Breckenridge, each counted separately on the membership roster), there will be 22. CSCUSA , a not-for-profit organization, will have a fiscal challenge to make up for the loss of VRI's contributions to the budget. CSCUSA was established in February 1963, ironically the same year that Vail opened for skiing. What a way for both to "celebrate" their respective 45th anniversaries.

“We had hoped to be a catalyst for positive change, but unfortunately, a number of the other members did not agree with our vision, and we were unable to resolve these differences,” said Robert Katz, CEO of Vail Resorts, was quoted in a much reported and not really convincing press release in the way of explanation of VRI's departure.

For its part, CSCUSA must still be reeling, because the media/news section of its website still does not mention withdrawal of one of its biggest, most powerful members, though very subtly the four VRI resort names have been removed from member list at the bottom of the website. This is not the first shocker Katz gave Colorado skiing. Shortly after he took the helm at VRI, he moved the corporate headquarters from the mountains to an office park in suburban Broomfield. Culture shock indeed.

CSCUSA's annual meeting, which will take place June 11-13, will be a doozy. Not only will the organization have to deal with the ramafications of VRI's departure, but a replacement needs to be named for Rob Perlman, Ski Country president, who resigned to join Intrawest, owner of Copper Mountain, Winter Park and Steamboat and also resorts outside of Colorado.

In what might be considered international comeuppance for Vail, the International Ski Federation (known by its French initials, FIS) denied Vail/Beacer Creek's bid to host the 2013 World Alpine Ski Championships, a biennial men's and women's competition that its previously hosted in 1989 and 1999. Schladming, Austria, was selected not only over Vail/Beaver Creek but also over Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. All four are Alpine skiing powerhouses that previously hosted World Championships and/or Olympic Winter Games.

When it comes to resort positioning, hosting a major ski event is not to be trivialized in the international skiing world. When the extremely snowy '89 World Championships in Vail and Beaver Creek were telecast in snow-hungry Europe, European ski snobs took a new interest on skiing in North America. My favorite story involved an enterprising German who managed to find the home phone number of George Gillett, then the owner of the Vail resorts, to book a ski vacation. World Championship and even World Cup media exposure has, in the pastm, been good for international business to Vail and Beaver in particular, to Colorado in general and to the Rockies even more generally. If the euro continues its strength against the dollar, American resorts will maintain their lure for European skiers. Too bad that Vail won't benefit from that exposure four seasons from now.

Vail Deals a Blow, Takes a Hit