The $10 airline peak “surcharge” is here to stay

by Scott Carmichael on

Last week, we reported on a new money making scheme concocted by the airlines. In a nutshell, they are raising fares by $10 on the busiest days of the year. The scheme started as a fee from one airline on three days around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then other airlines followed, turning it into an industry wide scam scheme.

Well, apparently the bean counters at the various airlines loved it – because they have expanded it to a whole bunch of other dates.

Farecompare.com has the dates listed as:

  • November 29 – November 30, 2009
  • December 19, 2009
  • December 26 – December 27, 2009
  • January 2 – January 3, 2010
  • March 14, 2010
  • March 20 – March 21, 2010
  • March 28, 2010
  • April 11, 2010
  • May 28, 2010

That’s right – when you need the airlines the most, they’ll make the most money off you. Some airlines were smart, and hid the $10 surcharge in their fares (American Airlines is a good example of this), others simply tack it on top of the other fees and surcharges added to your ticket.When the first wave of “peak surcharges” was added, you could opt for a different airline, but as is often the case in the airline world, most airlines have copied American Airlines, so it’s going to be one of those times when the airlines win. In other words – get used to these new fee generating methods.

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(Via Walletpop)

Frustrated passenger beats up airline “employee” – breaks its screen

by Scott Carmichael on

A passenger at Bismarck airport was apparently having some issues getting a Delta Airlines check-in kiosk to accept his information.

So, instead of yelling at it, like any normal frustrated passenger would do, he beat the poor thing up.

His anger caused $15,000 in damage to the kiosk, and in addition to being taken into custody and being charged with a felony, both the airport terminal authority and Delta Airlines have barred him from any contact with them.

So, let this be a lesson to anyone that thinks the check-in kiosk does not have feelings that can be hurt – that may very well be true, but beating it up will still land you in the slammer.

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Man threatens to explode bomb at SFO, gets one-way ticket to jail

by Jamie Rhein on

If you have a problem with your plane ticket, do not, I repeat, DO NOT do what Oregonian Mark Field did this past Tuesday at San Francisco International Airport: He threatened Philippine Airlines‘ staff by waving his cellphone and saying, “I’m going to press this and blow up the plane.”

Mention a bomb in an airport and you’re in BIG trouble as Field quickly discovered. It doesn’t matter how hopping-, spitting-, head-about-to-burst-mad you are. It also doesn’t matter that you don’t actually have a bomb.

Evidently, the problem started when Mr. Field tried to check in for an international flight and discovered he was being charged for a round-trip ticket even though he only wanted a one-way ticket. No matter how much he argued with staff, they weren’t budging, and the situation heated up until … Field finally snapped.

Once the word “bomb” spewed from his mouth, in rushed the bomb-sniffing dogs. After it was established that Field didn’t have a bomb after all — just a trigger mouth — he was arrested for making a false bomb threat. Now, Field sits in jail with a hefty $50,000 bail and a one-way ticket to a court date on October 19.

If convicted, Field could remain in jail for up to one year.

As Sargent Sergeant Wesley Matsuura of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office explained, one-way tickets aren’t normally sold for international flights due to security issues. That’s why the airline staff wasn’t giving in to Mr. Field’s complaints. Too bad for him he didn’t understand this.

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Clear speedy security lanes may be back by Christmas

by Scott Carmichael on

We have been covering Verified Identity Pass and their Clear security service for some time now – first discussing how it helped passengers speed through the security checkpoint, then discussing their demise, and most recently, talking about how the service was treating the personal information of their customers.

Today, a team of investors have made the news with their attempts at reviving the service. The current plan is to have the service back in operation by the Holiday season, and part of the recovery includes offering former Clear subscribers the option to continue their membership with the “new and improved Clear”.

To me, the most interesting part of this, is whether or not a new Clear will require members to go through the sign up procedure again. As a reminder, this is what Clear said when they closed up shop:

“Personal information is safe – all airport kiosks have been wiped clean, and Lockheed Martin (the IT provider for Clear) has started wiping all the databases containing Clear customer data. No customer data will ever be sold, and once the cleaning process is done, there will be no traces of personal information left.”

The new investor had the following to say:

“If the former members choose not to sign up, their personal information will be destroyed.”

So, once again it has become obvious that the personal information of Clear members was not destroyed as promised, and assuming Clear goes to a new owner, their information will have been sold, breaking every promise Clear made.

Don’t get me wrong – I hope a new Clear does succeed, and I think it is very important that someone picks up the pieces of what is left of Clear, I’m just concerned how the personal information of subscribers is being dealt with, and who is actually in charge of all that information at the moment.

Dim Sum Dialogues in Thailand: Ko Samui

by Stephen Greenwood on

My ears are still ringing from the stacks of speakers that exhilarated Haad Rin all night. The lack of sleep is making my eyes heavy, but the lurching of the ferry refuses to let my body sleep.

I’m departing Ko Pha Ngan and am en route to Ko Samui – the largest island in the Surat Thani province, and the third largest island in Thailand. It’s a forty minute ride from the beaches of Haad Rin, and when we arrive, there is another entourage of taxi drivers and hotel workers with signs and suggestions for lodging.

The island was first inhabited by Malay and Chinese settlers, the name is thought to have come from a degeneracy of the Chinese word Saboey, which translates in English as “safe haven”. A welcome thought for those looking to escape the aftermath of a full moon party.
With a population of 50,000 people over an area of 228 km2, Samui is considerably more developed than Pha Ngan, and lacks the quaint charm of the smaller island.

Riding on a scooter through the town of Baan Chaweng, it’s easy to see that tourism is the island’s main source of income – especially in this area, which is known for attracting rowdy backpackers.

The streets are an overwhelming barrage of polychromatic signs that advertise hostels, restaurants and luxury beach resorts. I dodge a few bikini and boardshort-clad tourists, weave past tuk tuks congesting the road, and inhale the sharp scent of thai food being grilled up near the street.

I park the scooter near the sand and walk past countless oceanfront resorts. The establishments are guarded by sun-beds and banana-leaf umbrellas in neat rows. Older couples lie stretched out in the sunshine, eager to work on their tan. They thumb through paperback books, only to lay their head on the sun-bed and close their eyes.

There are fancy swimming pools. Security guards. Valet attendants. Buffet lunches. There are families here. It’s a vacation destination – a different vibe than the island across the channel.

But it wasn’t always this way. Until the 1940’s, there were no roads or cars on Samui. There was no outside influence. The inhabitants traveled everywhere by foot or by boat. Then, in the 1970’s, backpackers began to access the island by way of coconut boats. A handful of bungalows were created and travelers on the island began to increase.

By the 1990’s, ferries of passengers were arriving on the island, and investors began to build five-star resorts in order to compete with Phuket as a tourist destination. Once Bangkok Airways committed to fund and build the island’s only airport, Samui’s fate as a tourist destination was sealed.

It’s a great tourist destination at that. Beautiful, large beaches. Several waterfalls. Plenty of day-hiking & trekking. Golfing. Kayaking. Boxing. ATV’s. Elephant riding. Paintball. The list goes on – there is no shortage of things to do on the island. It’s just not the low-key hippy haven that it once was.

Parts of the island reminds me of Phuket – pockets of upscale resorts are interspersed with areas containing cheap bars and a more rowdy atmosphere. But my general feeling is that Samui is cleaner, less tacky, and more family friendly than Phuket. The beaches are just as beautiful, and Samui will still be less developed in 5 years than Phuket is now.

If I were forced to choose between the two for a week long vacation, there is absolutely no doubt that I would head to Samui over Phuket.

After a little over 36 hours on the island, I have to catch a flight back to Bangkok. As much as I would like to stay, I’m also looking forward to one more night in Bangkok, and on the Khao San.

I step into the welcome area of the tiny tropical airport, and any last doubts that I have between Phuket and Samui are completely gone. The airport is a beautiful, well laid out, and very easy to access from almost anywhere on the island. The waiting lounges feature comfortable couches under large wooden ceiling fans. There is live news broadcast on brand new TV’s. Free coffee, juice, chocolate rolls, and WIFI. After a long week of questionable toilets, ferries, buses, and train transit – it’s heaven…or in the least, a safe haven.

If you’ve missed the previous articles in this series, be sure to check out the entire Dim Sum Dialogues column for more on the road from Bangkok to Ko Pha Ngan.