Tyler Cowen has a spiffy new domain name for his blog: marginalrevolution.com.
About Gary Leff
Horizon to partner with Frontier at Denver?
Frontier Airlines is looking for a new regional partner to replace Mesa, and Alaska sister airline Horizon is apparently the frontrunner.
Hilton Status Fast Track
There’s currently no free instant gold status offer with Hilton like there used to be. The best I’ve seen is free instant silver and 4 stays in 90 days for gold.
When you care enough to spend $0 to send the very best
Hallmark is giving away free cards at their stores. Just print this coupon and bring it in.
Luggage prep
Joe Brancatelli has some common sense tips about packing for trips and about checking bags.
Fundamentally interesting people
Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok have started a new blog called the marginal revolution.
Did you know you’re paying for this?
The federal government is paying out $113 million a year in airline subsidies in exchange for serving small communities that (in theory) can’t support the service based on the business they provide. Federal taxpayers are spending up to $567 per passenger to subsidize air service to rural communities that may have as few as two or three air travelers a day. Some more snippets from the piece: _ The federal cost has jumped from $22.6 million in 1996 to $113 million this year — a fivefold increase. The increase is explained in part by a growth in the number of communities served from 97 to 135 and rising expenses, such as fuel. _ The average per passenger subsidy paid to airlines nearly tripled to $229 per passenger for each flight in the 48 continental states…
Stating the obvious
The internet is displacing travel agent and airline reservation agent bookings. An interesting fact: Last year, more than 30 million people bought at least one ticket over the Internet How significant a phenomenon is this? Airlines are taking note and shifting more of their resources toward the medium to reduce the costs associated with selling seats, typically their third-largest expense, behind labor and fuel. Experts say it’s paying off. Last year, the airline industry generated about 17 percent of revenue from leisure tickets sold over the Internet, said Henry Harteveldt, senior analyst for Forrester Research, a consulting firm in Cambridge, Mass., that identifies and analyzes trends in technology. Harteveldt, who focuses on travel services, predicts that at least 19.2 percent of the revenue generated next year by the airlines will come from tickets sold over…
Treat your airline agent as you would like to be treated yourself
Keith Alexander provides a nice reminder to be nice to airline customer service staff.Make friends. Get to know them. Even give thank you gifts.Of course, offering up a gift before service is performed can be seen as a bribe. So one must be smooth in the approach. But you can always give a thank you after the fact and you can always give out gifts to employees you’ve already gotten to know.Little tokens, just like in business, can go a long way to endear yourself to agents and set you apart from the rest of the traveling public. And having airline agents on your side can be very helpful — whether it’s clearing an upgrade or getting accomodations during irregular operations.
The end (again) of Midway Airlines?
Twice-failed Midway Airlines — so named because it was originally based at Midway airport in Chicago, which it no longer even serves — may face liquidation.In its second incarnation, it became a Raleigh-based carrier. It had a frequent flyer relationship with American Airlines after American abandoned its Raleigh hub. But Midway was unable to survive.It was in bankruptcy even before 9/11. It ceased operations afterward and resumed only when the federal government handed out bailout funds.Finally it adopted a new business model as a USAirways Express carrier. The deal with USAirways requires it to emerge from bankruptcy by October 31st. USAirways holds a significant claim on assets which it does not want to give up. So Midway is having a hard time attracting the funds necessary emerge from Chapter 11, since its potential funder wants…
