TravelCommons

Category: Podcasts

  • Podcast #59 – Trains to Planes; Renting a Rambling Wreck

    Recorded in the TravelCommons studios outside of Chicago in the middle of the one week a year I refuse to travel — Thanksgiving Day week. With environmental and economic reasons to reduce unneeded car trips, how easy is it to take a train to and from the airport? The answer is mixed and it doesn’t look to get any better… Continue Reading →

  • Podcast #58 – Who Raves About Their Airline; Powering Up in Airports

    Recorded in the Gaithersburg, MD Marriott outside Washington, DC at the end of an intense week of travel that had me flying from the East Coast to the West Coast and then back east again… on four different airlines. With many airlines’ plummeting customer satisfaction scores, we ask the question “Who raves about their airline?” Recent trips allow me to… Continue Reading →

  • Podcast #57 – Making Time for Local Fare; What’s Standing in the Way of Fixing Our Airports

    Recorded in the TravelCommons studio outside Chicago, I’ve been bi-coastal since the last episode, bouncing between New York and San Francisco. A side trip down to Philadelphia yields a great street-food breakfast when I take the time to walk outside my hotel. Delays in my flights between O’Hare and LaGuardia airports cause me to dig for the FAA’s latest airport… Continue Reading →

  • Podcast #56 – Lines Around the World; Shedding Some Electronic Weight

    Recorded in the San Francisco Airport Marriott, a recent city-a-day business trip through Europe allowed me to do a first-hand comparison of the European air travel experience to the much maligned state of US air travel. We also update our thoughts on the state of mobile computing devices. Is it possible to travel “PC-less” yet, or are we still one… Continue Reading →

  • Podcast #55 – True Cost of Connecting; See More With The Family

    Recorded in the Marriott Courtyard in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the current “blogstorm” about United Airlines’ poor customer service provides the data to calculate the true cost of connecting flights. A recent combined business and family trip to New York City makes me realize that my family isn’t a burden in my travels, but instead an eyeopener. Listeners comment on… Continue Reading →

  • Podcast #54 – Traveling Injured; How Bad Is Travel Experience Really?

    Recorded in the Grand Geneva Resort and Spa, the former Playboy Club, in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, I talk about the travails of “playing injured” — traveling while sick. A listener comment makes me wonder if I’m exaggerating the state of the US travel experience. We get a good suggestion on how to wrestle with charging all those electronic devices we… Continue Reading →

  • Podcast #53 – Wanting the Red Carpet; Family Travel Technology

    Recorded in Marriott Courtyard in San Francisco‘s SoMa district, I confess to some base emotions — my inner child has been throwing tantrums now that American and United Airlines have taken away some of the special treatment they used to give their mid-tier status fliers. I also had a bit of an awakening while on vacation with my family in… Continue Reading →

  • Podcast #52 – Flying Friendless Skies; Latest Speed for the Road

    Recorded in the TravelCommons studios outside of Chicago, we talk through some of the problems that have made United Airlines‘ skies less friendly than their ads would like you to believe. This has definitely been the winter of United fliers’ discontent. I also follow up on last episode’s travel technology upgrade topic. I’ve now found a use for the 3G… Continue Reading →