Sex over service? Airlines try vixen pitch with passengers

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It’s no secret that airline customer service is generally perceived to be as pleasant as a root canal. I was thinking about this over the weekend, as I walked home from Penn Station, after catching Amtrak’s Acela back from Boston. I had a fantastic trip (up and back) and was hung up on the contrasts to air travel.

Later that night, I met a friend for a glass of wine and talked through the issue, particularly the airline side of it. It feels like most of the major carriers aren’t making an effort to repair public exception, with notable exceptions like JetBlue. In almost any other industry, routine public perception being so low would trigger a crisis-caliber response.

Not the airlines, though …

I got my answer today, with a story that passed through my Twitter stream: sex sells. Instead of trying to build and maintain a solid image, an airline could just give up, and try to win new passengers the old fashioned way. And indeed, it is the old fashioned way, as anyone who remembers National Airlines’ 1971 commercial with flight attendant Cheryl Fioravente’s invitation: “Fly me.”

[Image credit: Flickr/Rachel Kramer Bussel]


Cathay Pacific isn’t going to that extreme, but it is making an effort to seduce passengers with shots of eye-candy that has yet to hit The Big 3-0. The flight attendants, uniformly hot in uniform and not, pose alongside quotes that could read from a customer service manual or a personal ad: “I just like to listen more than talk” and “Nothing beats a smile for turning strangers into friends.”

Who wouldn’t want to hear that at boarding?

The Wall Street Journal notes that this is a departure from the advertising of the past few decades, in which airlines have sacrificed the sensual in favor of the practical: “comfort, convenience, low fares and fine in-flight dining.”

Of course, that approach hasn’t really been working too well, especially the comfort and convenience aspects. In addition to dealing with an abysmal image, the industry has to contend with tighter market conditions as a result of the post-financial crisis recession. There isn’t as much disposable income to go around, and passengers have to choose between flying and other forms of recreation. Business travelers can be more discriminating, when destinations permit.

Cathay Pacific isn’t alone: Air France has headed into sexier territory with its latest ad campaign, which the WSJ describes as having a “blonde model wearing a pink corset, its strings apparently being loosened by a miniature plane taking off.” The U.S. carriers aren’t there yet, but the overseas trend nonetheless makes me wonder if the approach should be on their radar.

It’s pretty clear that something needs to change for an industry that struggles to make a right move in the public’s eye, even in cases where such ire is unwarranted. Maybe it is best to stop trying to look good … and focus on superficial beauty instead.

Travel Trends: Train travel in the USA

by Gadling Staff on

Paul Theroux, the great American travel writer, once said, “Almost anything is possible in a train” — and that still holds true today. While the U.S. has not embraced rail travel as a primary means of transportation for several decades, a resurgence is growing. Passengers frustrated with airline delays and rising costs, the high cost of gasoline and road construction are beginning to give train travel another look.

These Aren’t Your Parent’s Trains
Without a lot of fanfare, Amtrak, which operates most of the passenger rail system in the U.S., has quietly been making small improvements. While capacity and routes have actually decreased since 1985, today’s passenger trains tout high-speed wireless access (on some routes), no baggage fees for up to three checked bags and the ability to bring golf clubs, bicycles and ski equipment. Some business class seats also have electrical outlets, conference tables and complimentary newspapers.

On longer routes there are dining and sleeping cars offering first class dining and turn down service. An Auto Train which runs from Lorton, Virginia to Sanford, Florida allows passengers to bring their vehicle along for the ride. It is arguably the longest passenger train in the world and is pitched as a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly alternative to driving for families on the East Coast heading down to Disney World.

Improvements for 2010 and Beyond
According to Bruce Richardson, President of the United Rail Passenger Alliance, “Even if train travel evolves at lightning speed over the next 10 years, it will still not be at the same point in North America it was in 1956.” The U.S. is severely behind other nations in providing high speed rail infrastructure and Americans are just now beginning to consider it as a mode of transportation again.

In looking at statistics provided by the Federal Railroad Administration, rail travel has fairly consistently increased over the past 25 years (see below). While there are no federally-approved forecasted numbers for 2010 and beyond, the expectation is that passenger rail travel will continue to increase every year. (For the purposes of this article, Gadling forecasted passenger traffic for 2010 and 2011, as shown in the graph below.)


As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Federal Government allocated $8 billion for high-speed and intercity passenger rail (HSIPR). In addition to that, the HSIPR Program includes an additional $92 million from an existing state grant program (see below for the allocation of money by state).Unfortunately, most of this money is going to a backlog of rehabilitations and upgrades of old Amtrak routes that have been needed for years — rather than to new routes — and some of the money is being spent on new maintenance facilities as well as IT projects. But still, improvements are being made:

  • In California, the Pacific Surfliner Route which runs from San Diego to San Luis Obispo with stops in Los Angeles is getting $51 million to build a new track between Fullerton and Commerce to ease congestion and upgrade the speed to 110 mph.
  • A whopping $590 million is allocated to the Cascade Service route which goes from Eugene, OR to Seattle, WA with routes to Portland, OR. Infrastructure improvements will allow for 2 additional round trips from Seattle to Portland (there are currently 4).
  • A few new routes are in the works. The Hiawatha route from Milwaukee to Madison, Wisconsin will be extended and have 3 new stations in Brookfield, Oconomowoc and Watertown. A new 3C Route in Ohio will go from Cleveland to Columbus to Dayton and Cincinnati.
  • Other existing routes are getting signals, stations and other infrastructure type improvements.

So where do these improvements leave us? We’re still way behind where we need to be for Americans to consider rail travel as a cost effective, first-choice of transportation. Existing routes need to be extended, more daily frequencies added and new long distance routes implemented. Amtrak routes that were discontinued in the 1990’s such as the Sunset Limited, which ran from New Orleans to Orlando, and the Desert Wind route between Chicago and Los Angeles need to be put back into operation to give travelers enough choices to ride the rails.

Data sources:

See more Travel Trends.

3 Earth Day travel discounts

by Amy Chen on

With all the pressure to be green these days, travelers can benefit from Earth Day-themed discounts. Here’s a trio of deals that will help you save a little dough — and perhaps help save the planet as well.

Ride the Rails with Kimpton Hotels
Save 15 percent off the best available rate at more than 30 participating Kimpton properties if you show your Amtrak ticket stub at check-in.
Details: To qualify for the Ride the Rails discount, enter the promo code RAILS when booking. You then must ride Amtrak to your destination and show your ticket as proof that you ditched your car for the trip. Participating hotels are in New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Portland, San Diego, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Dallas, Alexandria, Arlington, and Cambridge. Starting prices vary by property.

Car-free discounts in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Save 20 percent off an adult Amtrak ticket to or from Santa Barbara County on Amtrak Pacific Surfliner or San Joaquin trains. With both the beach and a burgeoning wine country nearby, Santa Barbara is often overlooked as a travel destination. For example, the Pacific Surfliner train can take you from Los Angeles (Union Station) to Santa Barbara in about 2.5 hours; a regularly-priced coach ticket starts at $24 each way. And for anyone who has seen the movie Sideways, yes, you can sample all the pinot noir you can handle — you may end up being grateful that you didn’t drive.
Details: After registering at www.santabarbaracarfree.org, you will receive a link to the Amtrak site, where you can then redeem the 20 percent discount. A three-day advance purchase is required; this deal isn’t valid for tickets purchased by phone or at any Amtrak stations. The discount is good for travel to and from the nine participating Amtrak stations in Santa Barbara County: Santa Barbara proper, Goleta, Carpinteria, Solvang (the charming Danish village), Buellton, Lompoc (not far from wineries on the edge of Santa Ynez Valley), Surf, Guadalupe, and Santa Maria.
Other Perks: If you show your Amtrak ticket stub with the current date stamp, many businesses in Santa Barbara will give you additional discounts. Examples include 20 percent off the regular rates at many hotels and inns, as well as 10 percent off several walking, kayaking, whale-watching, and wine tours. Downtown itself is very walkable, so you won’t need to rent a car.
When: Travel by Dec. 16, 2010. Some blackout dates apply.

D.I.Y. housekeeping in New York City
At the Marmara Manhattan hotel on the Upper East Side, the Green Rate discount knocks $20 off your nightly bill if you request housekeeping every three days instead of every night. A minimum stay of three nights is required to qualify for this discount.
Details: You must book directly through the hotel reservations desk. Studio suites typically start at $169 per night, or $507 for three nights. With the discount, starting rates drop to $149 per night, or a total of $447 for the required three-night stay. Every suite at the Marmara Manhattan hotel comes with a fully-equipped kitchen, which can help you save even more if you prepare simple meals.
When: Valid until the end of the year.
%Gallery-66991%

%Gallery-15983%

Escape from New York: Five tips for leaving the city when flights fail you

by Tom Johansmeyer on

New York is no stranger to tourist and business travel. We get lot of guests here, and eventually, their trips must come to an end. When the weather turns harsh, this can be problematic. Spring may be close, but March and April snowstorms happen, and there are always spring showers to make getting off the ground at JFK or LaGuardia a pure living hell. Whether you’re traveling in the northeast corridor or need to get to a different airport to get home, there are options.

I came face to face with this problem around six years ago. I was trying to get back to Boston, where I lived at the time. I was in New York every week on business and by Friday wanted nothing more than to get home. I stepped outside at 2 PM and saw snow accumulating on the street, even despite the city traffic. I checked Delta‘s website and saw that nothing had been canceled. So, I high-tailed out to LaGuardia hoping for the best. After a two-hour cab ride, I hit the Marine Air terminal only to find that the website wasn’t being kept up to date.

I needed some options and the thought of another two hours of taxi rides in a blizzard didn’t thrill me. Back in Manhattan, I figured I could pick up a train on Amtrak from Penn Station (which wound up working out). Along the way, I learned some tricks that can help anyone traveling the northeast or looking for an alternative airport when hope appears to be lost.1. Don’t fear public transportation
There’s no subway to LaGuardia, but there are buses. Catch the Q48 from the main airport or the Q47 from Marine Air (if you’re taking the Delta Shuttle). Get off at Roosevelt Ave in Queens, where the F or 7 train will get you back to Midtown. From there, it’s easy to hit Penn Station (New Jersey, Amtrak) Grand Central Station (Connecticut and New York) or the PATH train (if you want to try your luck at Newark). From JFK, you can catch the Skytrain to the subway, but brace yourself for a very long ride – the fastest I ever made it to Midtown was around an hour and a half.

2. Rental cars are risky
First, when flights aren’t taking off, there will be no shortage of people with the same idea. So, supply will be limited. Also, nasty weather makes for nightmarish driving conditions. You’ll be extremely unhappy behind the wheel, a situation that’s likely to be made worse by traffic. If you want to try driving, take public transportation out to the ‘burbs and use a rental agency out there (call first to make sure they can help you out).

3. . Be mindful of the other side
Getting out isn’t enough: you also have to think about where you’re going. If bad weather’s pounding New York, there’s a pretty good chance the situation in Philadelphia, Newark and Boston is also pretty ugly. If you’re having someone pick you up, call ahead. Arrange for a taxi or town car in advance. Definitely check the situation on the ground if you’re trying one of these airports instead. During my trek to Boston during the blizzard a few years ago, I called a local taxi service and asked to be picked up at South Station – and requested that they ask for my name before letting anyone into the cab. Sound arrogant? Well, it saved my ass. I saw the driver turn at least four people away as I pushed through the crowd, and I have no idea how many people tried before I got there.

4. Giving up may not be an option
Sometimes, it’s tempting to quit and just get a hotel room for a night (or a few, depending on how severe the storm is). Depending on what’s going on in the city, however, this may be a pricey alternative. As with rental cars, you won’t be the only person to think of this. Also, a busy night or weekend can cut available rooms down to nothing fast. If you are able to score some digs, you could wind up paying a fortune. If you do decide to stay in the city, hunt for the boutique hotels that y may never have noticed otherwise: they’re your best bet.

5. Draft your friends and family
During my escape from New York, I called my wife and asked her to book my train ticket for me. Handheld computing has come a long way since then, but it’s still inconvenient to hunt for alternatives on an iPhone or Blackberry. If you have someone who’s sitting in a warm office or home, hit him or her up for a hand. They’ll be able to find hotels or other travel arrangements easier than you will. By the time you get from the airport back into Manhattan, you may have a plan that only needs to be executed.

Hell train hits Chicago 19 hours late

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy


The passengers who got stuck in the Channel Tunnel recently had an awful situation, but was it worse than what the passengers who just pulled into Chicago endured? Those who endured the Eurostar incident were stuck for 15 hours without food, water or information. The passengers on Amtrak‘s California Zephyr reached Chicago 19 hours late. One called it “the train from hell,” with local news outlet WMAQ saying the passengers hit town “tired, hungry and stinky.” Severe weather was among the problems that caused the delay, with a pass between two hills in Nebraska suffering from snow drifts more than two stories high. Also, the train hit a pickup truck that got in the way in Iowa.

Food were in short supply on the train, and some of the passengers were pissed that the information from Amtrak flowed about as readily as the water on the train (there wasn’t much). And, it seems goodwill still remains scarce. Though Amtrak is offering hotel rooms to passengers who need them, refunds will only be paid on a case-by-case basis.