Ease of Travel

In a press release, American Airlines will begin offering a Lifetime Admirals Club Membership to customers between Sept. 1 through Dec. 31, 2005. If you’re already a member, you get a $200 discount on the upgrade to a lifetime membership.

A lifetime membership for a non-member is $5,500 ($5,300 for a non-member). Seniors (65+) members pay $2,300 ($2,500 for non-members). Call up Admirals Club Customer Service, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (CDT) at 1-800-237-7971 (from the U.S., Canada, or Puerto Rico) or 1-817-963-6100.

The membership benefits include:

Access to more than 40 Admirals Club locations worldwide

Business Centers offering individual workstations, data ports, printers, copiers, fax machines, computers and complimentary high speed Internet at most locations

Conference rooms (for a nominal fee, whether traveling or not)

Many locations include a spa-like shower facility, flat-panel televisions with DIRECTV® service and a Children’s Room

Professional staff to assist with travel or business needs

CNN reports that there will be a new trans-Atlantic airliner vying for your business travel needs. The company is named Eos and has applied for approval to fly between JFK and London, Stansted. Their 757s will only have 48 seats so each traveler gets the comfort of 21 sq. ft. per person and fully flat beds. It will only fly that one route with three planes and plans to be 20 to 25% cheaper than its competitors.

“We’ve designed every aspect of the Eos experience specifically with the business traveler in mind,” says David Spurlock, founder and CEO of Eos, who is a former head of strategy at British Airways.

USAToday has reported that major airlines in the East and Southeast may shut down as a result of jet fuel shortages:

Shortages appear most severe at airports in Charlotte, Tampa, Orlando and Fort Myers, Fla. But two of the USA’s busiest airports could also be affected — Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson and Washington Dulles.

Industry consultant John Armbrust says the supply disruption could cause some airports to run out of fuel in a week or two. John Heimlich, chief economist at the airline trade group Air Transport Association, says two weeks is more realistic.

I suggest avoiding travel to the area regardless (the last thing they need are more people) of whether there is a jet fuel shortfall that causes the airports to shut down.

Hurricane Katrina’s been in the news lately, battering Louisiana and Florida and driving up the price of fuel. One of the consequences of Katrina has been its effects on airlines trying to stay above water:

The storm forced the closure of several airports and caused scores of flight cancellations throughout the Gulf Coast region Monday. It also caused a surge in oil prices, something the airlines have been battling for months with no end in sight.

The result could mean more pain for Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc., a major carrier to the area affected by the hurricane, as it continues to try to avoid a Chapter 11 filing. More broadly, the other airlines also could suffer. Like Delta, Eagan, Minnesota-based Northwest Airlines Corp. also is in danger of bankruptcy.

Check your frequent flyer miles and see what recourse you may have if either Northwest or Delta go under.

This is a huge story that I’m surprised isn’t given more press - some Alaskan residents are suing the TSA to force them to release the data they’ve collected as part of the anti-terrorism Secure Flight program. The TSA has been denying them these records and even deleting them, that is, until a district court ordered TSA to stop. One man claims, rightfully so in my opinion, that if you’re denied access to air travel you’re effectively exiled, it’s not like you can cab it from Alaska to… anywhere. Honestly, I don’t see why TSA has a problem with this unless they’re doing something illegal.

The TSA had not notified the public before contracting with a private company to add more information to the database. The expanded records included information such as full names, phone numbers, dates of birth and possibly other personal information, the lawsuit says.

The Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress, concluded earlier this year that the TSA violated the law when it did not fully inform the public about the scope and methods of its data collection.

I look forward to seeing how this develops.

In a CNN article today it was reported the Transportation Security Administration would consider dropping the ban on razor blades and small knives (as well as other recommendations). Perhaps some of the other recommendations have merit (such as removing the requirement to remove shoes, reducing patdowns, and exempting passanger categories like judges, congress-members, military, etc) is incredibly stupid.

An initial set of staff recommendations drafted August 5 also proposes that passengers no longer have to routinely remove their shoes during security checks. Instead, only passengers who set off metal detectors, are flagged by a computer screening system or look “reasonably suspicious” would be asked to do so, a TSA official said Saturday.

Why in the world would you ever allow a single knife or blade ever onto a flight? There is no reason for it to be in your carry-on (if you need it, check it) because there is no reason you would ever need it on a flight.

Some of the other “changes proposed by the staff, which also would allow scissors, ice picks and bows and arrows on flights” are equally ridiculous.

Until yesterday (Aug 10), Southwest Rapid Reward points were valid for a mere twelve months (pretty standard for frequent flyer programs that use points instead of miles). Now, they’re valid for twenty-four months which means you now have twice the time to fly enough to earn free flights. All points you current have last twelve months longer and all new ones will be valid for twenty four months. Here is what the Rapid Rewards E-Mail Update stated:

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Gerri Willis writes a daily column of five tips and today they feature things you can do in the event of bad service or a bad product, as it relates to travel. Some of these are common sense, you may already do these things, others are on that border of where you aren’t sure if it’s customary to ask or if the company will laugh at you. This covers airlines, cruises, hotels, tours, and online travel agencies (Expedia, Travelocity, etc).

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Request an auto insurance quote from American Express and score 500 Delta Skymiles, no expiration date listed.

You are being offered a chance to earn 500 miles for a qualified auto insurance quote!

We believe safe drivers should pay less. The American Express Property Casualty companies reward safe drivers for their good driving records. We have established high standards to consistently provide you with the service you can count on from an American Express company.

Delta (and Amex) are having a promotion from now until Sept 15th:

Earn a 35% Delta SkyMiles bonus when you transfer Membership Rewards points to your Delta SkyMiles account between August 1 and September 15, 2005. Transfer Membership Rewards points today and start planning your next Delta getaway.

Basically, that means you can convert one Membership Reward point into 1.35 Delta Skymiles. All the points you convert will accrue and then you get the 35% bonus according to this:

Bonus miles will be posted up to 8 weeks from the expiration date of the promotion, September 15, 2005.

Here are additional terms & conditions as well as the link to register and transfer your points.