As someone who makes a living—or at least pays the technology hobby bills—partly as a tech journalist and partly as a consultant to startups, extensive traveling is just part of the job.
Along with travel—including significant international travel—comes the requisite gaggle of gadgets, wires, chargers, and receptacle adapters.
For years, I've traveled with a laptop, trading up and down in size (and operating system) to find the perfect balance of power and compactness. From early 10" Sony Vaio laptops, to Apple Powerbooks, to 15" MacBooks and, finally, to the 13" MacBook Air, I've tried it all.
I've even done a few product reviews along the way, testing the use of a widescreen laptop in economy class to see just how much work can be done while staring down at a screen balanced on my ample tummy while trying to peck at the keys. Sometimes it works, at least when fingers fit between the screen and keyboard, until the passenger in front of me decides to kick back and sleep.
One of the last trips, to West Africa, proved the MacBook Air's worth: its thin wedge-shaped front lip could be stuffed down between piles of dirty clothes, virtually disappearing in to a roller-board suitcase during the never-ending stops (where local militia search vehicles for "bombs" or "explosives" while at the same time begging for money).
Could there be an even better approach, though, one that would include a tablet that could be separated from the physical keyboard, allowing for even greater flexibility (or better hiding places) while on the road?
That question, and the sale of my Apple MacBook Air just before last month's worldwide developer's conference, coalesced in to the perfect opportunity to try out the new iPad (iPad 3 for those of us who keep track) as the sole computing device.
Stay tuned in a few days for the outcome of week one of a four-week trip.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
This is progress! Accurate pricing
Received an email today from Southwest that shows progress towards accurate pricing.
"As a valued Rapid Rewards® Member, we would like to make you aware of the Department of Transportation's new price advertising rule and the steps that we are taking to be in compliance. This price advertising rule affects all airlines and requires that advertised fares include all government-imposed taxes and fees that the Customer is being asked to pay.
When you visit southwest.com®, the fares displayed will now include all government excise tax, government segment fees, September 11th security fees, and airport passenger facility charges."
If only the airline industry in the United States had policed itself, including the online travel agent sites...but it didn't and now the government steps in to right the sleight of hand that some sites were pulling.
It won't be easy to do, from a database standpoint, and it may lead to price increases, but it's the right thing to do.
Kudos to Southwest for getting out in front of it.
"As a valued Rapid Rewards® Member, we would like to make you aware of the Department of Transportation's new price advertising rule and the steps that we are taking to be in compliance. This price advertising rule affects all airlines and requires that advertised fares include all government-imposed taxes and fees that the Customer is being asked to pay.
When you visit southwest.com®, the fares displayed will now include all government excise tax, government segment fees, September 11th security fees, and airport passenger facility charges."
If only the airline industry in the United States had policed itself, including the online travel agent sites...but it didn't and now the government steps in to right the sleight of hand that some sites were pulling.
It won't be easy to do, from a database standpoint, and it may lead to price increases, but it's the right thing to do.
Kudos to Southwest for getting out in front of it.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Delta FAIL or "when does the day end?"
The Points Guy blog has a great thing going, often providing the service of pointing out ways to transfer miles and gain bonus points.
One of the most recent involved a 100% mileage bonus for mileage transfers on Delta.com that ran through the end of the day (11:59 CST to be exact) on December 16. Yet anyone going to the Delta link after 7 PM EST on December 16 are greeted by the fact that the 16th has already passed into oblivion:
Twenty minutes on the phone with the Delta web support, from 10:40 PM - 10:59 PM EST was not enough time to convince the tech support person that we were still living in December 16, even though the tech rep read off her time correctly at 10:54 PM EST.
Major FAIL on Delta's part.
One of the most recent involved a 100% mileage bonus for mileage transfers on Delta.com that ran through the end of the day (11:59 CST to be exact) on December 16. Yet anyone going to the Delta link after 7 PM EST on December 16 are greeted by the fact that the 16th has already passed into oblivion:
Twenty minutes on the phone with the Delta web support, from 10:40 PM - 10:59 PM EST was not enough time to convince the tech support person that we were still living in December 16, even though the tech rep read off her time correctly at 10:54 PM EST.
Major FAIL on Delta's part.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Has Luxor lost its luster?
15 years ago, Luxor was the talk of Vegas. These days, it feel a bit foreboding, tired and threadbare.
Choosing Luxor over several other hotels, for the annual Consumer Electronics Show that makes up the first week of January, used to make good business sense: clean, comfortable and yet removed from the mass craziness of the mid-Strip locations.
Checking in yesterday for CES 2011, though, I was struck by the guest-mill model: a single bed is an upgrade from two beds; the resort fee covers Internet, but from a cord in a cabinet that stretches nowhere close to a flat, horizontal surface, or a power outlet.
Then there's the threadbare and tired part: after navigating the casino maze to get to the furthest elevator (inclinator in Luxor-speak), the room turned out to have a tiny old-school TV and a bathroom not much bigger than a Howard Johnson's bathroom, circa 1976.
All that could be forgiven, but the grossness of multiple water stains on the drapery, chairs that were losing their stuffing, a toilet that wouldn't flush properly and what looked and smelled like mold in the bathroom and entry area means the hotel is in much worse shape than its 15-year-old age belies.
Bathroom wall
Water stain 1
Water stain 2
Water stain 3
Stuffing falling out of one chair.
It really is too bad, as the fitness center's decent and this used to be a great place.
Management must know it's on its knees, as there are people stationed around the casino offering discounts on one's next stay.
Unless I see a different side of Luxor in the next two days, it's off the list.
iPhoned
Choosing Luxor over several other hotels, for the annual Consumer Electronics Show that makes up the first week of January, used to make good business sense: clean, comfortable and yet removed from the mass craziness of the mid-Strip locations.
Checking in yesterday for CES 2011, though, I was struck by the guest-mill model: a single bed is an upgrade from two beds; the resort fee covers Internet, but from a cord in a cabinet that stretches nowhere close to a flat, horizontal surface, or a power outlet.
Then there's the threadbare and tired part: after navigating the casino maze to get to the furthest elevator (inclinator in Luxor-speak), the room turned out to have a tiny old-school TV and a bathroom not much bigger than a Howard Johnson's bathroom, circa 1976.
All that could be forgiven, but the grossness of multiple water stains on the drapery, chairs that were losing their stuffing, a toilet that wouldn't flush properly and what looked and smelled like mold in the bathroom and entry area means the hotel is in much worse shape than its 15-year-old age belies.
Bathroom wall
Water stain 1
Water stain 2
Water stain 3
Stuffing falling out of one chair.
It really is too bad, as the fitness center's decent and this used to be a great place.
Management must know it's on its knees, as there are people stationed around the casino offering discounts on one's next stay.
Unless I see a different side of Luxor in the next two days, it's off the list.
iPhoned
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
SNAFU revisited - Delta Medallion Qualifying Segments
Readers will recall a blog posting that noted Delta's SkyMiles online system SNAFU in that it's showing Medallion (frequent flyer) members a different set of miles and segments than what they've actually flown.
Delta's response to the blog post, in part, reads like a textbook for bad management:
I can assure you we'd like nothing more to have a few things to do and only activate them when they actual worked. Regretfully, this cannot happen and even though the new platform technology is quite awesome, there will be the 'bugs' and 'hiccups' to work out with these growing pain.
Translation: we're too busy to be bothered by our customers, while we work to provide customer service. In other words, too much to do without customers getting in the way . . .
The response went on to say:
At this time our technology team is aware of the problems you describe in your blog, due to the system integration. Regretfully, we do not have a timeline on when the issues you describe will resolved on delta.com. We have been advised the fixes probably will not happen until after the merger is complete sometime early in 2010. However, please know that your feedback will be forwarded to the technology team.
This response misses the issue, since I'd been told before writing the initial posting, that the tech team was fully aware but that management had not committed the resources to fix an issue that's been in place for well over two months now.
For me, personally, it's not worth flying an airline that had a perfectly good system prior to integration - and even had a good system for a month after the integration started - but that can't seem to understand that customer comfort extends to not having to frequently check up on the airline's performance and accuracy after EVERY SINGLE FLIGHT.
Until the time that I hear it's resolved, I've begun booking flights on another airline. Given the uncertainty on Delta's part, maybe I'll make the same level of status with the other airline before Delta resolves this unacceptable issue.
Delta's response to the blog post, in part, reads like a textbook for bad management:
I can assure you we'd like nothing more to have a few things to do and only activate them when they actual worked. Regretfully, this cannot happen and even though the new platform technology is quite awesome, there will be the 'bugs' and 'hiccups' to work out with these growing pain.
Translation: we're too busy to be bothered by our customers, while we work to provide customer service. In other words, too much to do without customers getting in the way . . .
The response went on to say:
At this time our technology team is aware of the problems you describe in your blog, due to the system integration. Regretfully, we do not have a timeline on when the issues you describe will resolved on delta.com. We have been advised the fixes probably will not happen until after the merger is complete sometime early in 2010. However, please know that your feedback will be forwarded to the technology team.
This response misses the issue, since I'd been told before writing the initial posting, that the tech team was fully aware but that management had not committed the resources to fix an issue that's been in place for well over two months now.
For me, personally, it's not worth flying an airline that had a perfectly good system prior to integration - and even had a good system for a month after the integration started - but that can't seem to understand that customer comfort extends to not having to frequently check up on the airline's performance and accuracy after EVERY SINGLE FLIGHT.
Until the time that I hear it's resolved, I've begun booking flights on another airline. Given the uncertainty on Delta's part, maybe I'll make the same level of status with the other airline before Delta resolves this unacceptable issue.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
SNAFU - Delta Medallion Qualifying Segments
[Update: apparently the word is out that Delta's activity information is errant. Must be that the Skymiles retrieval system is also hosed, since each representative I talked to called me by a different first and last name, so I had to give my account number to each rep. Was funny for the first two, but after three separate names, it made me wonder what's happening to the "new" Delta.]
[Update 2, January 2010: Apparently Delta is willing to put technology into place that doesn't fully work. See follow-on blog post for more details]
For those of us who don't live at a major Delta hub (Atlanta, Cincy, JFK, Salt Lake City, etc) one fact of life is the need to fly through a hub to get to another location.
For instance, if I want to fly from Asheville, NC, to New York's Laguardia (LGA), I either have to fly through Atlanta or Cincinnati. This means one short hop (typically less than 500 miles) and one longer leg (typically longer than 500 miles) for a total of two legs or segments.
The downside is a significant amount of flying in small planes that act as feeders to larger planes.
The upside is that Delta's Medallion status can be achieved by segments, rather than just by miles. Called MQM segments or MQ segments, the allow someone living at a smaller airport has the chance to achieve a Medallion status equal to those who might fly direct flights from a hub city.
There was a controversy a few years ago when Delta scrapped segments and only used miles for Medallion qualification, and the company admirably came around when it realized it was losing customers in smaller cities to competitors, adding the MQM segments and MQM miles to the mix.
Now, however, Delta's completely hosed its Delta.com online activity viewing. This problem occurred about three weeks ago, more than a month after Delta and Northwest merged their frequent flyer accounts.
The problem started when Delta added a column that is called MQ Segments Earned. It was compounded when Delta chose to combine segments together for the feeder and long-haul flights.
The end result is a snafu that's eliminating the ability for the frequent flyer to view his or her flights and segments. Here's an example:
This example is from November, where four flights were taking - two short hop and two long hauls - with the 500 mile MQMs (Medallion Qualifying Miles) being listed correctly, but the segments showing as zero. Is Delta doing away with MQM segments?
To add confusion to the mix, it is no longer possible to view each flight segment. Dropping down into the monthly view, here are the flights that match the miles for the first two flights:
Notice that it shows TWO flight segments departing SFO on back-to-back days (not impossible but highly unlikely) and are differing lengths (500 and 2139 miles, respectively). In reality, one flight left SFO on the 19th and flew for 2139 miles to Atlanta, arriving on the 20th; the second flight left Atlanta on the 20th of November and arrived at TRI that same day.
To add even more confusion, the most recent issue is a retroactive combining of flights under a single flight number. Here's an example from October:
Notice the repeat of "air activity" between Midway and Richmond with two separate mileages (500 and 590 miles) but a single flight number (Delta Flight 1044). What isn't listed is Delta 1711, which is the flight from Midway to Atlanta, which then changes to Delta 1044, from Atlanta to Richmond.
Confused? You should be, since most frequently fliers don't have time to send in every single ticket stub for every single flight, nor to call or email after every single flight.
Confusion also reigns for Delta representatives, including those at the web assistance desk. The most frequent response I got when talking to five representatives from the Medallion, Skymiles and Web desks was:
"Hmm, it must be that you stopped at an airport along the route of your trip."
This means it's up to the frequent flyer to explain what's happened, without the benefit of flight numbers (unless someone remembers to keep their ticket stubs for almost multiple months).
It also means that Delta's got a real issue on its hands at the end of the year, especially for those of us who may be close to gaining another level of Medallion status but don't have the time to go back through every single one of our flights for the year to confirm mileage/segments.
Management at Delta.com was not available for comment, even after repeated requests, and those I spoke to continued to say they have made repeated requests to have this addressed yet have received no timeframe for a fix.
One knowledgeable representative did say that over 4,000 emails have been received by those who are requesting confirmation of their yearly flights / status levels. Makes one wonder if it would be easier to move to another airline than have to constantly babysit an errant frequent flier activity account.
[Update 2, January 2010: Apparently Delta is willing to put technology into place that doesn't fully work. See follow-on blog post for more details]
For those of us who don't live at a major Delta hub (Atlanta, Cincy, JFK, Salt Lake City, etc) one fact of life is the need to fly through a hub to get to another location.
For instance, if I want to fly from Asheville, NC, to New York's Laguardia (LGA), I either have to fly through Atlanta or Cincinnati. This means one short hop (typically less than 500 miles) and one longer leg (typically longer than 500 miles) for a total of two legs or segments.
The downside is a significant amount of flying in small planes that act as feeders to larger planes.
The upside is that Delta's Medallion status can be achieved by segments, rather than just by miles. Called MQM segments or MQ segments, the allow someone living at a smaller airport has the chance to achieve a Medallion status equal to those who might fly direct flights from a hub city.
There was a controversy a few years ago when Delta scrapped segments and only used miles for Medallion qualification, and the company admirably came around when it realized it was losing customers in smaller cities to competitors, adding the MQM segments and MQM miles to the mix.
Now, however, Delta's completely hosed its Delta.com online activity viewing. This problem occurred about three weeks ago, more than a month after Delta and Northwest merged their frequent flyer accounts.
The problem started when Delta added a column that is called MQ Segments Earned. It was compounded when Delta chose to combine segments together for the feeder and long-haul flights.
The end result is a snafu that's eliminating the ability for the frequent flyer to view his or her flights and segments. Here's an example:
This example is from November, where four flights were taking - two short hop and two long hauls - with the 500 mile MQMs (Medallion Qualifying Miles) being listed correctly, but the segments showing as zero. Is Delta doing away with MQM segments?
To add confusion to the mix, it is no longer possible to view each flight segment. Dropping down into the monthly view, here are the flights that match the miles for the first two flights:
Notice that it shows TWO flight segments departing SFO on back-to-back days (not impossible but highly unlikely) and are differing lengths (500 and 2139 miles, respectively). In reality, one flight left SFO on the 19th and flew for 2139 miles to Atlanta, arriving on the 20th; the second flight left Atlanta on the 20th of November and arrived at TRI that same day.
To add even more confusion, the most recent issue is a retroactive combining of flights under a single flight number. Here's an example from October:
Notice the repeat of "air activity" between Midway and Richmond with two separate mileages (500 and 590 miles) but a single flight number (Delta Flight 1044). What isn't listed is Delta 1711, which is the flight from Midway to Atlanta, which then changes to Delta 1044, from Atlanta to Richmond.
Confused? You should be, since most frequently fliers don't have time to send in every single ticket stub for every single flight, nor to call or email after every single flight.
Confusion also reigns for Delta representatives, including those at the web assistance desk. The most frequent response I got when talking to five representatives from the Medallion, Skymiles and Web desks was:
"Hmm, it must be that you stopped at an airport along the route of your trip."
This means it's up to the frequent flyer to explain what's happened, without the benefit of flight numbers (unless someone remembers to keep their ticket stubs for almost multiple months).
It also means that Delta's got a real issue on its hands at the end of the year, especially for those of us who may be close to gaining another level of Medallion status but don't have the time to go back through every single one of our flights for the year to confirm mileage/segments.
Management at Delta.com was not available for comment, even after repeated requests, and those I spoke to continued to say they have made repeated requests to have this addressed yet have received no timeframe for a fix.
One knowledgeable representative did say that over 4,000 emails have been received by those who are requesting confirmation of their yearly flights / status levels. Makes one wonder if it would be easier to move to another airline than have to constantly babysit an errant frequent flier activity account.
Monday, November 9, 2009
SNAFU - Delta credit only meals
Remember when airlines cut out meals on flights on short-hauls, followed by long-haul domestic flights?
Imagine what would happen if you weren't able to eat on a flight, even if you had low blood sugar, for the singular reason that you forgot your credit card. . . .
Imagine what would happen if you weren't able to eat on a flight, even if you had low blood sugar, for the singular reason that you forgot your credit card. . . .
Delta's decided to do away with cash on all domestic and select international routes (including Mexico, Canada and the Bahamas). So if you don't have a credit card, or if your credit card is declined, you won't eat.
The idea sounds good, but the practicality is somewhat different. Let me use an example from my own recent experience.
I fly Delta. I fly Delta frequently.
I fly Delta frequently enough that I'm what they consider a Platinum Medallion, which means that I'm in a position to often get upgraded to First Class on most coast-to-coat domestic flights.
Yet, in this particular instance, I would have been subjected to the inability to eat from LAX to ATL, at least a four-hour flight.
I ended up in LA without my credit cards, but didn't notice it until I landed on my flight from Atlanta, mainly because I was bumped to First Class and didn't have to reach for my non-existent wallet to buy a meal.
After being on the ground for three days, two of those over a weekend, I was unable to get a replacement credit card before my return flight. I also needed to subsist on what I had in my pocket, until Monday morning, when I could visit a bank branch and verify my identity (with my passport, of all things).
The return flight from LA to Atlanta was full enough that I didn't end up in First Class, so I had to use the last $8 in my pocket to buy food on the plane (I'd withdrawn what the bank would let me, but had to pay for a hotel, etc.)
If that event had taken place anytime after December 1, 2009, I would not be able to even buy a meal.
That would not have been acceptable for reasons of both well-being and health.
Think, Delta, think! Do you want to lose frequent fliers just because you choose to disengage from cold hard cash?
The idea sounds good, but the practicality is somewhat different. Let me use an example from my own recent experience.
I fly Delta. I fly Delta frequently.
I fly Delta frequently enough that I'm what they consider a Platinum Medallion, which means that I'm in a position to often get upgraded to First Class on most coast-to-coat domestic flights.
Yet, in this particular instance, I would have been subjected to the inability to eat from LAX to ATL, at least a four-hour flight.
I ended up in LA without my credit cards, but didn't notice it until I landed on my flight from Atlanta, mainly because I was bumped to First Class and didn't have to reach for my non-existent wallet to buy a meal.
After being on the ground for three days, two of those over a weekend, I was unable to get a replacement credit card before my return flight. I also needed to subsist on what I had in my pocket, until Monday morning, when I could visit a bank branch and verify my identity (with my passport, of all things).
The return flight from LA to Atlanta was full enough that I didn't end up in First Class, so I had to use the last $8 in my pocket to buy food on the plane (I'd withdrawn what the bank would let me, but had to pay for a hotel, etc.)
If that event had taken place anytime after December 1, 2009, I would not be able to even buy a meal.
That would not have been acceptable for reasons of both well-being and health.
Think, Delta, think! Do you want to lose frequent fliers just because you choose to disengage from cold hard cash?
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