I received the video at the bottom of this article from a co-worker and I just couldn’t help but laugh.  As a frequent business traveler, the holidays are probably one of my least favorite time to travel due to the large number of people that are traveling, but even more important than that, the number of people that are infrequent travelers that seem to make the experience even worse.

Don’t get me wrong… I have nothing against the infrequent traveler!  I just wish there was some way that they could be better prepared for the journey on which they are about to embark.   Things that would make the journey more pleasant for them as well as me.

Be prepared for Check-In. 

• If you are checking baggage know the piece count and weight limits for your airline.  Each airline has their own policies so check! 
• Have all of your bags tagged with identification tags before showing up at the airport.  Its also a good idea to put some ID inside the bag.
• Know what fees are being charged for baggage and don’t argue about paying them.
• Proper ID is required – no a credit card is not good enough and your your gym membership doesn’t count either.
• Don’t use the airport as a place to weight balance your bags so that you don’t have to pay extra fees.   Do your weight balancing at home!  Surely you have a bathroom scale that you can use to approximate baggage weight.
• Make sure liquids and gels over 3 ounces are IN your checked baggage.  This will include the jams and jellies, and the bottle of Scotch you got from your family for Christmas.

Be prepared for TSA Security Check.

• You will have to take your shoes off!!!
• They aren’t joking about the quart size bag with items of 3 ounces or less.  Don’t make them find the items you’ve tried to hide in your carry-on bag.  It doesn’t matter that you just paid $80.00 for that moisturizer if it is over the wight allowed you can plan on leaving it behind.   Make sure you have it OUT of your carry on and in a scan “bin”.
• Computers and large electronic equipment like video recorders and DVD players should be taken out of the bag they are in a placed in a separate “container” to go through the X-Ray machine.
• Hold on to your boarding pass… don’t send it through the X-Ray.  They are going to check it when you pass through the metal detector.
• Coats, hats, scarfs and sweatshirts have to go through the X-Ray machine.  Don’t make them ask you to take them off.
• Take off your jewelry, belts with metal buckles, cell phones, coins, etc… These are going to set off the metal detector.  Unless you are an authorized tester for the government you can be assured that these machines work and you don’t need to help with the testing process.
• Gather your things from the X-Ray belt quickly.  There are usually places past the belt to put your shoes, jewelry, coats, etc… back on.  The X-Ray scanner will hold up the line while you get dressed and there are other people waiting.

Be prepared for Aircraft Boarding.

• Everyone has a seat assignment (unless you are on Southwest)  Milling around the gate just slows up the boarding process as people try to get through the herd of people
• Frequent fliers get to board first.  It’s a perk for dealing with this hassle trip after trip after trip.  (If nothing else it assures us that our carry-on bags are going to have a place in the plane.)
• Most roller bags fit into the overheads lengthwise.  Depending on the plane it will be wheels out or wheels in.  The overhead doors are designed to allow for those wheels in most cases… Please try to fit your bags in this way first.
• Under the seat in front of you space should be used!!!  If you brought a computer bag and a roller bag one of them belongs under the seat in front of you.
• Wait to put your coats up into the overhead until everyone in the rows around you have had an opportunity to put their large items overhead. 
• Fragile items overhead?  I don’t think so just ship them!  You have a better chance at getting them there.  I was just on a flight where someone had a “very valuable” rolled up “poster” in the overhead.  When the passenger in the row across from them started to use the overhead space for a bag we were close to a fist fight because they might “crease” the poster.   The flight attendant made them “hold” it at their seat the entire flight and of course the customer complained the entire way – all 4 hours.  If I had to hear about this valuable poster one more time I think I might have had to “snap”.

Remember folks that those of us that do this week after week get into a routine and know the ins and outs of the process.  We get just as frustrated as you do but for different reasons.   The real trick is keeping your cool through the process.  Be pleasant, be tolerant, be understanding.

Now without further adieu the video:
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http://www.projectspossible.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/carryonluggage.mpg

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International business travel is bad enough!   Combine that with an airline that just doesn’t seem to care about customers and consistently applies policy inconsistently and I had a week of travel nightmares on WestJet.   This Canadian airline – that models itself after Southwest Airlines, in the US has an awful lot to learn about customer service and perhaps they need to take some additional looks at what and how Southwest functions because I will NOT be traveling with them again.

Let’s start with the outbound flight  I was traveling from my home, through Seattle to Vancouver BC on Alaska Air.  Once I got to Vancouver I had to change to West Jet.  Just like Southwest, there is no “codesharing” so once you get to Vancouver not only do you have to go through all of the hassle of Vancouver immigration (I will post a blog entry about that as well.) but you then have to go out to the ticket counter and re-check-in and GOD FORBID you don’t have your WestJet confirmation number.   I tried using their Kiosk with the credit card that I purchased the ticket with and it was unable to find my reservation.   Since I didn’t have the confirmation I had to find an agent who couldn’t look it up.   After multiple failed attempts I finally found someone that could issue me a boarding pass for my connecting flight.

When we get to Calgary – the flight was from Vancouver to Calgary and then Calgary to Regina, SK – we were informed that our outbound flight was going to be delayed due to mechanical problems.   Apparently there was a crack in the windshield.   The staff at the Calgary airport were very unorganized and they really did not keep the passengers informed of what was going on.   Since I knew there was another flight and I had all of my bags I just went to the new ticket counter and asked that agent if I could get on that flight.   They were going to charge me to make the change.  Turns out most of those that were on the original flight heading to Regina ended up on this new flight anyway.   We were delayed but it wasn’t too bad and I’d rather fly in a safe plane than one with potential mechanical problems.

Once our new flight was loaded we didn’t seem to go anywhere.  We waited and waited and finally we were told that we were waiting for other passengers that were on another flight that was delayed.  After waiting nearly 45 minutes on this plane we loaded maybe 6 or 7 passengers and then we were allowed to leave.   Now mind you I don’t have a problem waiting for people if we know they are coming.  I only bring this up as a point of reference for my return flight where they consistently were inconsistent in their application of policy.

My return was originally scheduled for a Saturday.   My business finished early so I had my travel office arrange for a Friday morning departure.  After paying the change fees and additional airfare I was good to go.   Entirely my own fault I was late getting out of the hotel in the morning and I arrived at the airport 30 minutes before departure.  I waited in the check-in line and when it was my turn I was within 20 minutes of departure.   Now in a large airport there would be absolutely no way you could make the flight.  In Regina, SK this is just not the case.   I wasn’t checking bags and their security line is virtually non-existent.    The check-in agent called the gate and the woman at the gate indicated that they would not hold for me and that I would have to make other arrangements.  As I argued with the agent about there being plenty of time, and she knew that I was there and I was on my way to the gate, etc. I ultimately had no choice but to finally pay another fee for them to get me out on a flight that was later that evening with no guarantee of connections in Vancouver, and since they don’t “codeshare” with anyone there was no way of them knowing if I could make any kind of connection on a different airline to get me back to Seattle.

I proceeded through security, and then to the gate area where I watched the gate agent load the last couple of passengers for the flight that I was supposed to be on.  I again questioned her about it and she said it was a judgement call and she didn’t think I could get through security in time for her to have an on time departure.   I was livid at that point.   Went back out through security back to the ticket counter, explained what had just happened and asked for a refund.  Of course no refunds are offered because I was “late”.   I canceled my reservation on the later flight that I had that day on WestJet and walked to the Air Canada counter next door and booked a ticket to Vancouver 1 hour later which still let me connect to my other airline and make it home.

Long story short… WestJet is NOT the airline for business travelers that will frequently make changes to their itineraries or expect at least a basic level of customer service.   The gate and ticket counter agents are rude, and for the most part unhelpful.   In this day and age of struggling airlines, customer service should be king and it is the airline that treats their customers well that is going to survive the shakedown.  Sure something can be said for price of tickets but I believe the ones that are going to survive are the ones that are competitive in price but at least friendly and courteous to their passengers.   I’m not a piece of meat to throw into a seat.  Bad move WestJet.  I will NEVER fly your airline again even if you are hundreds of dollars cheaper than the closest competition.  It’s not worth it to me!!!

Is the rule supposed to be liquids and gels?  Where do pastes fit into the mix?  When I’m not in a hurry I will keep a tube of toothpaste or a deodorant in my carry-on bag… about 50% of the time I am stopped and my bag is searched and I am told that I can’t bring a paste through security.  You can check out what is permitted at the TSA website.

I also always carry a computer through security.  We all know that our computer has to be out of the bag and scanned with no additional articles.  Again about 1/2 the time I am also asked to put my external CD/Floppy drive into a bin for scanning.  Apparently at these airports that device is considered to be in the same category as a video camera or a DVD player.  I guess the rest of the time it doesn’t matter.

At many airports on the initial screening (when they check your ID and boarding pass) I simply show them my boarding pass and id and I am pushed through.  Other airports the screener is writing stuff on my boarding pass.  I can only assume that the boarding pass marks are to keep people from bringing their 3 ounces of gel through screening, then leaving and bringing 3 more ounces and leaving, etc…

Other things I’ve noticed… 

• Very different procedures / processes for doing a manual check.  I’ve only had my “zipper cleared” in one airport.
• Settings on the metal detectors vary from airport to airport and within airports.  I’ve learned at my local airport which are more sensitive and will require me to take off my belt and which ones will not sound if I leave my belt on.
• Jackets and sweatshirts – some airports make you take them off, others will let you keep them on.
• Do they want my boarding pass AND id after I go through the metal detector?  Some yes on both, others yes on just the boarding pass.
• Corkscrew… I’ve had one in my computer bag for months… On my last trip an airport screener asked me to check it or surrender it.  You can take scissors as long as the blade is no longer than 4 inches…
• Sports Equipment… you can’t take a hockey stick on a plane but a cane or an umbrella are allowed.  Go figure!

Have you found consistent inconsistencies?

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My weeks in the park were predominately spent watching the geysers… for hours on end I would sit at the same thermal feature and watch the subtle changes that led up to the eruption.  And with each year and with each thermal feature I would learn something new and notice changes in behavior from prior years.     I think it was my wife that told me that it was boring and didn’t understand how I could watch a hole in the ground with boiling water for hours in hope and anticipation of an eruption.   Over the years and after meeting many other “geyser gazers”  it became quite apparent to me that we come in all shapes, sizes, colors and commitments… There are gazer purists where everything is “black or white” and intervals and durations are tracked to the closest second.  There is also the other extreme with the casual observer who thought the eruption was pretty cool and if he happened across another one he would sit and wait.   I would guess that most “gazers” are somewhere between the two extremes.

When I can’t be in the park I rely on what others have to say about the features and their observations.   The Internet has helped this tremendously with websites like GOSA (Geyser Observation and Study Association) , and email lists that keep me updated.  I have also found the webcam to be invaluable… You can see below the first image is what we’ve had for many years… clicking on it will bring you to the page that updates every 30 seconds or so…. but if you have the bandwidth I recommend you click on PLAY in the media player… A live image from the boardwalk at Old Faithful will begin.   I’m not sure who has control of this camera but it has incredible zooming capability and they can zoom right up to the boardwalk at Lion…they can also direct this camera down basin so you can see the steam clouds of Daisy, Grand, Giant, etc…

 Enjoy and if you have other links that might be of interest or comments let us know!!!

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Old Faithful Web Cam
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 Alaska Airlines has, in my opinion one of the best if not the best mileage plans in the industry.   They have a number of partners that I fly, so at the time it seemed to make the most sense to me to accumulate my airline mileage in their plan.  Over the years I have booked 100s of thousands of miles with Alaska Airlines and its partners… (predominately Delta, Northwest and Continental)

Over the past couple of years I have tried to use my mileage on Northwest Airlines.  On 3 separate occasions, one with over 1 year advanced purchase notification I could not get tickets at any time (I had the reservation agent search 30 days plus or minus my desired travel date) on Northwest Airlines because there were no available ”mileage” seats to their HUB city of Minneapolis.   I could connect out of Minneapolis to virtually any city I wanted to go to but getting from Spokane to Minneapolis was impossible even if I chose to go through other destinations like Seattle, Los Angeles, or Salt Lake City.  

The moral of this story for me is to absolutely stop flying on Northwest.  I would also suggest that everyone else stop flying Northwest as well.   Alaska Airlines should dump them as an airline partner.   It is one thing to accumulate mileage but that is only 1/2 of what the program is about… You need to be able to use the mileage as well.    

Other problems I have personally experienced with the Alaska / Northwest program…

• first class upgrades are non-existent to partners even if you have certificates for them.
• no preferred boarding at the airports unlike other Alaska partners
• club access problems

 I’ve decided Northwest Airlines isn’t worth the trouble…  I’ve complained to Alaska MVP Gold Customer service about them as well… Are you going to jump on the bandwagon?  What has been your experience?