"Five things travelers aren't grateful for"

Friday, December 28, 2007

Five things travelers aren't grateful for
Courtesy has declined as travel becomes more commonplace
By Christopher Elliott
Cable News Network (CNN)
     

Air travel is affordable. The nation's roads have never been safer. And
hotels offer more amenities than ever.

Given all that, you would think travelers would be a grateful lot.

They aren't.

Check out the latest customer surveys, and it's clear that people are
profoundly ungrateful when it comes to their travels. They give the airline
industry worse grades than the Internal Revenue Service, they complain about
traffic, and they gripe about high room rates.

So at a time of the year when everyone else seems to be giving thanks, the
contrarian in me wonders: What are we not thankful about?

Inconsiderate travelers

They cut in line. They talk loudly on their cell phones. They travel with
bratty children in tow. Where do these rude passengers come from? 

"They shout into their cell phones and talk loudly and are demanding to
in-flight crews with gimmees," says Leonard Hansen, a writer from
Bellingham, Washington. His theory is that airline deregulation, which made
air travel more affordable, precipitated the "onslaught of the great
unwashed," which led to a sharp decline in civility among travelers. I think
he's right. 

These inconsiderate travelers are also likelier to complain for no good
reason, says Gail Richardson, a nurse practitioner from Atlanta. "They feel
that travel rules do not apply to them. They show up at the airport late,
complain if they miss their flight, grumble about long security lines," she
says. "I am not thankful for them."

Avaricious airlines 

While it's true that on average, airline ticket prices are remarkably
affordable, it isn't always the case. Airlines still price their tickets
according to demand, and when a lot of people are flying, fares can really
take off. 

"Even supposedly low-cost JetBlue is charging more than $600 from Los
Angeles to New York for the holidays," gripes Steve Surjaputra, a technical
support representative for an automobile software company in Los Angeles. "I
found a cheaper fare -- about $360 -- on Delta."

But wait, it gets worse. Business travelers who have to buy their tickets at
the last minute or who don't stay over a Saturday night sometimes get
charged double or triple what everyone else pays. All that, for the same
seat. Those kinds of pricing games make airline passengers like Surjaputra
cringe. There ought to be a law ...

Resorts and their silly, silly, silly fees 

Just as airlines can be shifty with their ticket prices, so, too, can hotels
with their rates. And at times, even shiftier. Consider the experience of
James Salter, an analyst for the state of Minnesota in Minneapolis. A year
ago, he stayed at the Radisson Hotel and Suites Sydney, where high-speed
Internet access was included in his room rate. He liked the resort so much,
he booked a room for next year. But wait! "Now there's a $24.95 per day
charge for Internet access," he says. "I've contacted corporate Radisson to
find out why, and they say they've opened a file."

Maybe instead of opening files, they should buy a clue. Internet access is
widely considered a utility, like running water or power. Guests expect it.
Charging for items like Internet access, the use of the exercise rooms,
mandatory gratuities, and the like, are something no one is grateful for.
Can I hear another "silly" please?

The Transportation Security Administration ... 

Forget, for a moment, that there is no proof this $4.7-billion agency has
protected us from terrorists, hijackers and bombs any better than the
rent-a-cops that preceded them. And never mind that more than half a decade
after 9/11, the agency can't seem to detect explosives at its own airports.
No, what troubles most airline passengers is that the TSA can't seem to be
consistent.

"TSA screening is different no matter what airport you go through,"
complains Kathleen Vigil, a human resources manager for a telecommunications
company in Aurora, Colorado. "Do TSA screeners want shoes on, shoes off, or
they don't care ... you choose! When you go through the metal detector, do
you hold your boarding pass and identification in your hand where they have
a visual, put your boarding pass in your pocket, or do they not care?" The
answers are on the TSA Web site
(http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/). Thanks, screeners, for
taking the time to read it. Or not ...

And what it's turned us into

You can't really blame the TSA for this next one, at least not entirely. No,
we probably did this to ourselves. "We've been reduced to quaking, shamed,
fearful, cowardly sheep while traveling," says Carole Jonas, a retired
consultant from Whidbey Island, Washington. "Because if you even look cross
or angry and you're confronted by our esteemed TSA or airline employees, you
could be branded as a troublemaker or purported terrorist, hauled away from
your flight, questioned, harassed, tormented, perhaps handcuffed, arrested,
or worse." 

She makes a valid point. Travel -- and air travel, in particular -- used to
be fun. It isn't anymore. In fact, people dread traveling for a variety of
reasons -- the intrusive screenings, the airline crewmembers that are often
on a power trip, the lack of basic amenities. Jonas traces a lot of it back
to 9/11. "We've all become terrorized while traveling," she says. "Thanks,
terrorists, you've done your job well -- mission accomplished."

It doesn't have to stay this way. I can remember a time not so long ago,
when travel was a pleasure. If you're having trouble remembering, or are
just too young, check out the Northwestern University library collection of
transportation menus
(http://www.library.northwestern.edu/transportation/digital-collections/menu
s/) which features 400 menus from 54 national and international airline
carriers, cruise ships and railroad companies, from 1929 to the present. Ah,
foie gras economy class. Meals served on real china. It illustrates how far
we've fallen in such a short amount of time.

There's hope, though. I think travelers can be grateful once again -- if
they have something to be grateful for. All they want is to travel with a
little dignity. They don't want to be afraid of their crewmembers or TSA
screeners or fellow passengers. They don't want to be hit with extra fees
when they check out of their hotel.

Is that asking too much?


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