Once again coming to you from the West Coast, this time the Newport Beach, CA Marriott. After a week off the road, I’m bouncing again between San Francisco and Orange County. Listener feedback from a hotel chain accountant on the hotel add-on charges and from an ex-Northwest Airlines loyalist. We have a travel story about the unique view from the front of the airplane and a suggestion about how to load your iPod with new music. Here’s a direct link to the podcast file.
Here are the show notes from TravelCommons podcast #39:
- Intro music — Warmth by Makkina
- Recorded at the Newport Beach, CA Marriott
- Triangulating again (still?) between SF and LA
- High airline occupancy leads to some digging to find the right flight to the Bay Area
- Bridge Music — La Tra (basephunk mix) by Omar Sosa
- Doug give the hotel’s view of increasing number of add-on charges discussed in T/C #36
- A long loyal Northwest Airlines customer begins the defection to Sun Country
- Thanks to Ray Medina for setting up the TravelCommons Frappr group
- Bridge Music — All Around by Jel
- Looking out the window while landing in Ireland is always a visual treat — the bright green against the grey grabs your eyes
- Mis-tagged passenger luggage leads to a long delay on a BA flight from Shannon to London-Heathrow
- I end up in the cockpit telling the luggage’s sad tale while we descend into Heathrow
- The view from the front of the plane is such a completely different visual experience, I have a hard time getting through the story
- Bridge Music — Various Stages by Great Lake Swimmers
- Traveling involves a lot of time staring and waiting
- I often use the time to sift through the massive music downloads from the South By Southwest (SXSW) Festival in Austin, TX
- Direct Link to the 2006 SXSW page with links to the BitTorrent files with the music and a short primer on using BitTorrent
- Bridge music from the IODA Promonet
- Please pass along any suggestions for our 1-year anniversary show
- Feedback at comments[at]travelcommons.com, the comment board on podcastalley.com, or right here in the comments section below
- Direct link to the show
7 comments on “Podcast #39 – Looking Out The Front Window, Scoring New Music”
Comments are closed.
Really enjoyed the ‘looking out the front window’ segment. It is a nice view.
I’m jealous of your view. Pre-9/11, they’d often let first-class passengers take a quick peek, but that was a simpler time…
I really enjoy your podcast. Keep up the great work.
In response to the Hotel Chain accountant justifying the add-ons…he implied that it was necessary to nickel-and-dime us because today’s advanced hotel travel-search sites put pressure on rates. Am I crazy, or haven’t hotel costs risen faster than inflation for the past 5 years (unlike airfares)? I’m not begrudging them their right to make money, but please don’t insult my intelligence by implying that because of Expedia, et al, this is just your way of staying in business. As for his example of paying “tens of thousands of dollars a year in Internet access fees”, is that for one property, or the whole chain? My guess is it’s for the latter. Pardon me for not shedding a tear if a chain like Hilton or Marriott’s TOTAL guest Internet access bill hits five or six figures. All you need for each property is one cable modem line (I pay $45, so maybe the commercial rate is, what, triple?) and a wireless router that runs you $70 at Best Buy. If this charge is so necessary, then how come this is provided FREE at Courtyard, Residence Inn, Springhill, etc. but is a $10/night charge at Marriott/Renaissance? Why do the higher priced prpoerties within the same chain charge for the access? The answer is the same as that of an indelicate joke about dogs, the punchline of which is “because they can.”
Bellybones, I agree last week I’m in Montgomery AL staying at the Embassy Suites $148.00 per night before taxes etc….. Internet $10.00 per day I’m a Hilton Diamond member & they still charge me.
This week again Montgomery AL staying at Fairfield $80.00 per night FREE internet & I’m only Marriott Silver.
What gives?
We are so dependant on high speed internet that we pay it, I don’t even know if my modem in my laptop still works.
Mark,
Enjoyed this week’s podcast.
Your rant (and the Minneapolis commentor) on current airlines “fun” resonates with me. I recently got back from a trip to Israel and I took NW aka “Northworst” (and yes, I grew up in MN) from my local area through DTW to JFK. I was appauled by a new NW online check-in “convenience.” To get a seat, I had to pay an additional $15!!! I went to check in for my flight online, as requested by the airline, and saw that it wouldn’t assign me a seat. On the website was a statement that said something like “book your seat now, don’t wait for the rush at the gate as your seat will not be guarenteed.” The only seat available was an additional $15. I purchased my ticket a month before, was not permitted to get a seat then. What is up with this??!! I asked a NW rep at the gate about it who basically told me “you don’t have to pay for the seat, we could have ticketed you here, except we are usually oversold and don’t have enough seats, so it is good that you paid the money.” What? Sheez. What will they think of next.
Well, now that I have ranted at NW, cudos to El Al. Both flights were on time or early, the staff was nice and accommodating, the food was good and the seats pretty comfortable for economy. I was traveling for work and was unable (long story, not El-Al’s total fault) to pre-reserve my vegetarian meal. On the flight there, the flight attendant put together all but an entre (and by the way, El Al uses real silverware and dishes, even in coach) and on the flight back, they were able to find me a full meal.
Well, that is enough of a comment for now. I’ll keep listening.
As long as we’re talking about Northwest, frequent travelers (and Gold Elites) may have noticed fewer free upgrades since they’re booking to higher capacity and the platinums are grabbing what’s left. But that’s not the point of my comment. I was fortunate to grab and upgrade on a Memphis to Milwaukee leg, and I noticed they served no drinks prior to takeoff, something they had been doing for quite a long time. Then, once in the air, instead of offering a plate full of snack bags from which we could take what we wanted, the flight attendant asked if we wanted nuts or pretzels and then was given one bag of what we requested.
Now maybe it was just this flight crew, but how could they think the savvy traveler doesn’t pick up on these nickel and dime measures? Just how long will it be before all first class becomes is just a larger chair?
I downloaded the 900+ SXSW songs – I’m working through them, although daunting it’s great to find new acts. I reccommend it, with the warning that it is a long download even with SXSW servers or something helping along with BT.