Commentary

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Renting Cars Off-Airport

by Gary Leff on April 20, 2005

Apr 20 2005

Business Travel News carries a piece on corporate travel departments pushing travelers to rent cars from off-airport locations in order to save on skyrocketing fees associated with airport rentals (hat tip to Tripso Daily). While the piece documents the high taxes, some at truly bizarre heights, it mentions only a couple of companies pushing travelers to rent off-airport in a couple of circumstances — which seem to me about as much as convenience than cost savings, or at least both married together. The trend that bothers me most is airports with ‘on-airport’ car rental facilities that are really off-airport, where you have to take a shuttle bus off the airport facility to a car rental facility. As long as off-airport rental companies pick you up at baggage claim as frequently as on-airport buses, or at…

Star Alliance Status Matches Available to U.K. Residents

by Gary Leff on April 15, 2005

Apr 15 2005

Residents of the U.K. are invited to receive elite status on the Star Alliance carrier of their choice (excluding Singapore) by filling out a form and faxing a copy of a frequent flyer statement that shows elite status with a competing airline. For general discussion of elite status matching and instructions for receiving matches with several airline programs, see “The Status Match Master Thread” — a Flyertalk discussion I started in October 2003.

When it ALMOST makes sense to pay the higher mileage award level for a flight

by Gary Leff on April 13, 2005

Apr 13 2005

Joel Widzer claimed a premium level first class award on a domestic flight from LA to Dallas. While that strikes me as a little crazy for a midcon flight, I can’t criticize him too much. For the very first time I recently claimed a premium first class award on a domestic flight. It was a last-minute transcon, I was paying out of my own pocket, and the flight would have cost about $1500 in coach. Plus I knew I wouldn’t get an upgrade. I had to fly on one specific return flight, and there was only one first class seat left for sale. Claiming the premium award allowed me to pull a seat from revenue inventory and take that last first class seat. Still, it was a questionable use of miles defensible only based on…

I was going to write…

by Gary Leff on April 11, 2005

Apr 11 2005

But I’m sick and most of what comes out of my keystrokes makes little sense. See you tomorrow!

Two articles on tipping

by Gary Leff on April 10, 2005

Apr 10 2005

Joel Widzer thinks tipping should be quid pro quo for service. Tyler Cowen points out that this isn’t how tipping generally functions. Apparently there is generally “little relationship between quality of waiter service and size of tip,” tips go up in sunny weather, and waitresses (but not waiters) can increase their tips by drawing a smiley face on the check. Joel’s advice makes intuitive sense to me, but clearly doesn’t mesh with existing norms and customs. In fact, why should Joel’s advice work at all — making it clear to a service person that they’ll be rewarded with a tip? What’s the enforcement mechanism? Once good service has been rendered, why does the strategic tipper need to follow through at all, unless there’s an expectation of iterative interactions? When tipping comes after service, why do…

Diners Club: on the Comeback Trail?

by Gary Leff on April 9, 2005

Apr 09 2005

Colloquy says that the comeback of Diners Club continues, noting that US Diners Club cards will benefit from the global acceptance of Mastercard. They do note the devaluation of Diners Club Club Rewards points vis a vis Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards tickets: Diners Club’s effort to make the card easier to use puts it squarely in the sights of competing card issuers and their airline partners. Southwest Airlines has already raised the number of Diners Club points required for a free ticket: Previously, Diners Club customers had to spend just $16,000 to earn a free Southwest ticket; now they will have to spend $24,000. By contrast, it takes $19,200 in spending on Southwest’s own Bank One credit card to earn a free ticket on the airline. The piece doesn’t mention the devaluation for Priority Club…

Overflowing Toilets Require Colonoscopy?

by Gary Leff on April 4, 2005

Apr 04 2005

Via Tripso Daily, passengers are suing the Holland America cruise line because toilets overflowed during their trip and they saw crew members with prostitutes while in Ecuador. The complaint says that it took several hours to clean up the mess from the toilets, and that there was a stench. If accurate, some sort of shipboard credit should have been offered. Still, the compensated demanded seems a little much: The Oltmans said they expected to be compensated by Holland America for pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of earnings, legal fees and medical expenses, including a colonoscopy and hemorrhoid surgery, the lawsuit said. (Emphasis mine.)

Change to Mailing List Version of View from the Wing

by Gary Leff on April 2, 2005

Apr 02 2005

Well over a thousand people currently receive each day’s postings by email. I can’t tell you how great it makes me feel that so many folks opted for that. This site is a labor of love and I really appreciate all the great feedback that I get. I hope that you like the new format of the website. I really do, and appreciate the work that the tech folks put into it. I find it much more readable, and also easier to work with. One consequence, though, of moving from a home grown system to Movable Type is that I no longer have the ability to send out each day’s content by email. Everyone has still been getting the content because I’ve manually been double-adding the entries into the old system in addition to the…

IRS To Tax Foreign Pilot and Flight Attendant Wages

by Gary Leff on March 27, 2005

Mar 27 2005

The IRS is apparently seeking to tax Latin American airlines for wages paid to flight attendants and pilots during the time they spend working over US airspace. (Link via Today in the Sky.) Critics of the move point out that other countries might respond by doing the same to U.S. airlines. Anyone with thoughts on why the IRS is focused on Latin American carriers — and not European or Asian carriers — feel free to offer them in them in the comments.

Completely off-topic: committing a crime with impunity in a small part of Idaho

by Gary Leff on March 27, 2005

Mar 27 2005

I just an an really interesting piece to be published in the Georgetown Law Journal (shocking itself, it’s also a good read) that argues there’s a 50 square mile area in the U.S. where felonies can’t be prosecuted: the portion of Yellowstone National Park which is in the state of Idaho. The Constitution’s 6th Amendment requires that juries be picked from the same district and state in which a crime is committed. Federal law sets the district governing all of Yellowstone as Wyoming — logical, as the park is 91% in the state of Wyoming. The districts of Montana and Idaho exclude the park.So juries must be chosen from the District of Wyoming to prosecute crimes committed in the park. However, if the crime is committed in that part of the park that is in…

Commentary

Renting Cars Off-Airport

Star Alliance Status Matches Available to U.K. Residents

When it ALMOST makes sense to pay the higher mileage award level for a flight

I was going to write…

Two articles on tipping

Diners Club: on the Comeback Trail?

Overflowing Toilets Require Colonoscopy?

Change to Mailing List Version of View from the Wing

IRS To Tax Foreign Pilot and Flight Attendant Wages

Completely off-topic: committing a crime with impunity in a small part of Idaho

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