John Gilmore’s fight against airline ID requirements is gaining momentum. He has been joined by the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the Electronic Privacy Information Center in challenging the requirement that passengers identify themselves with government documents before being permitted to travel. Though his case is a long shot, it raises some important questions. Gilmore is claiming that the airlines’ often contradictory demands for ID before they let you fly—connected to federal mandates that are so secret the Justice Department’s lawyer wouldn’t even tell them to the judge in Gilmore’s original suit—constitute a violation of his right to travel, peaceably assemble, and be free from unwarranted searches and seizures. He further argues, among other things, that the secret directive violates due process and is inherently void due to vagueness.…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for August 2004.
USAirways Meets the Cockroaches
Keith Alexander, whose Washington Post “Business Class” columns are generally quite good, writes today about a recent meeting between USAirways executives and a group of frequent flyers who call themselves cockroaches. USAirways revealed that they aren’t getting rid of first class sections of their cabins, even as they try to transform themselves into a low cost carrier. At the same time, they have already reduced the number of first class seats on some planes and their heavy use of regional jets limits the flights that have those cabins now. Unfortunately, USAirways isn’t bringing back real glasses to replace plastic cups in first class. And the dirty state of some of USAirways older planes goes unmentioned. The article also includes the first public call I’ve seen from Randy Petersen to burn rather than earn USAirways miles.…
Air Marshalls Face Tough Travel Departments, Too
Air marshalls overnight at hotels on special discounts, often below standard government rates, but are concerned that they’re required to identify themselves as air marshalls (giving up their anonymity) in order to claim the rate.Marshalls stay at a small list of designated property, so once a marshall has been identified, it’s likely that other marshalls will be there on a regular basis.
United Offers Reduced-Mileage Short Haul Awards
United announced new 15,000 mile coach awards for flights under 750 miles book at united.com. First class awards on these routes are available for 30,000 miles. Flights are currently available for travel from September 1 through December 31. American made a similar announcement earlier in the month.
Double Car Rental Miles with Northwest
Northwest’s Mileage Accelerator is back, doubling car rental miles from September 1 through November 30, 2004. Registration is required.
USAirways Building New Mini-Hub at Ft. Lauderdale
USAirways is establishing a mini-hub at Ft. Lauderdale. Some of the cities they’ll be serving will be Cancun, Mexico; Guatemala City, Guatemala; Panama City; Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic; Kingston, Jamaica; and San Salvador Long-term this makes strategic sense: they’re serving a growing market. They’re going up against American, which dominates the region, but little else. Ft. Lauderdale is a good alternative to Miami, and Miami lost its major United service. USAirways has been building up its Carribean operations across the board, so their branding is strong as are their operations on the ground.The problem is that USAirways hardly has time to operate a route until it gets profitable. And new routes generally start off slowly. So this could be an initial money-loser that USAirways can’t afford, even if the routes are in its long-term…
It’s So Much Better ‘Cause It’s Free
I received my free iPod mini in the mail this past week. Finally got a chance to play with it yesterday afternoon – very cool!
Passed along without comment
Via Chris Elliott, Priceline and Ramada have settled with New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer and agreed to invest in making their websites accessible to the blind. In one of the first enforcement actions of the Americans with Disabilities Act on the Internet, two major travel services have agreed to make sites more accessible to the blind and visually impaired. Priceline.com and Ramada.com have agreed to changes that will allow users with “screen reader software” and other technology to navigate and listen to the text throughout their Web sites, according to New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Although the software and other devices, including a vibrating mouse that lets the blind “feel” boxes and images on the computer screen, have been available for years, Web sites must have specific coding that allows the equipment to…
Ted Kennedy on No-Fly List
Big news over the last couple of days is that Ted Kennedy faced substantial scrutiny boarding flights because of a similar name on the government’s no-fly list. It took three weeks to clear the matter up, but Homeland Security (the agency name still gives me the willies) Secretary Tom Ridge personally called to apologize. Or was it a mistake considering his criminal activities. And since they involve alcohol, perhaps he was considered a risk for air rage? [Tongue Planted Firmly In Cheek, For Those Lacking Imagination.]
First restaurants, then an airline, and now a Las Vegas Hotel
Hooters has taken over and is renovating the old San Remo hotel just off the strip in Las Vegas. Hooters Casino Hotel will appeal to a decidedly down- to-earth crowd, the partners promise. Hooters girls, in trademark orange and white, will stride the casino’s floors serving cocktails. Outside, at the resort’s poolside Hooters Beach Club, Hooters girls in slightly sexier outfits will serve customers to the sounds of reggae in a Key West setting, Droste said. Other entertainment concepts inside the resort will include a traditional Hooters restaurant and a Pete & Shorty’s grill restaurant, which is a small restaurant concept the Hooters founders also developed. Hooters Casino Hotel will have one upscale restaurant, Dan Marino’s Fine Food and Spirits. However, in general, “We’re not going after the rich guys, the high-end guys,” Hessling said.…
