The Crazy Traveler

Southwest Airlines Blog - Nuts About Southwest

If you haven’t checked out Southwest Airlines Blog then you should today. They have the best blog of any airline and one of the few blogs put out there by an airline. I actually wrote about there blog on my personal site back in September which you could read here, but I will post a portion of it below.
                  
Here’s a disclaimer. I fly American Airlines 95% of the time. The reason is because I travel internationally and the have the best service for me when it comes to international travel. However, when I need to get some where really quick and affordably, I will fly Southwest. I flew them as a kid and when I traveled in a band.

Most musicians flying out of Nashville fly Southwest for  couple of reasons. Most of the time if you book in advance, the ticket costs are low. When it comes to being on time, they do it better than any other airline, and finally...they have a 3 bag allowance instead of the typical 2 bag allowance on other airlines like American.

My Crazy Travelin’ Rock Star Friends

I have a lot of traveling friends that are musicians, writers, speakers, authors, comedians, and some travel just because they can and are sought out as people who influence influencers like my friend Randy Elrod. Are they all actually rock stars? Some actually are, but the rest are just rock stars in my eyes and since it’s my blog...I can call them whatever I want.:)

From time to time I’m going to be posting blogs written by these friends because even though we all travel, we have all experienced crazy circumstances that would drive a person to go completely insane. The greatest thing is we have all come out alive and with lessons learned.

I’m looking forward to posting these blogs as I know some of these stories will entertain you and teach you some thing you should know about travel.

Car Rental Cos. Expand Toll-Payment Technology

Why is this important to know? It's a little added feature so you can  bypass having to stop at each toll booth and dig for change for the toll booth. You can have this feature and use the express lanes at all the  tool stops.

Under The Hood: Car Rental Cos. Expand Toll-Payment Technology

By Michael B. Baker

Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group and Avis Budget Group both have expanded the availability of their electronic toll-payment tools. After launching its electronic toll-payment program in the Northeast last year (BTN, March 20, 2006) and Chicago earlier this year, Avis Budget this month announced that it has expanded the service to Puerto Rico, will expand it to Florida this month and to Colorado later this fall. The tools in all three locations list toll charges and daily fees for the service separately from the car rental rate on the payment card. Vice president of product and program development Michael Caron said Avis Budget has more vehicles equipped with toll transponders than any other car rental company. Meanwhile, Dollar Thrifty's prepaid Pass24 toll service, already available in Houston and Dallas, now is available at Dollar Rent A Car and Thrifty Car Rental's metropolitan Denver locations. For an $8.95 daily fee that includes all toll charges, users gain unlimited use of toll express lanes, and charges are included as part of the car rental receipt to ease expense reporting. "Our stellar results in Dallas and Houston validate the convenience and value of the Pass24 prepaid toll solution," Rick Welch, president and CEO of technology supplier Rent A Toll, stated. "As word gets out, we will continue aggressive expansion into additional U.S. toll markets."

HT: Business Travel News Online

Frequent Flier Miles, Hotel Points and Reward Points

All of these terms mean relatively the same thing but are very specific to there grouping...ei...frequent flier miles are for flights. Hotel Points are for...you guessed it...Hotels. Now that we got that out of the way...Let's get you one step closer to having the red carpet rolled out for you when you travel.

                  

Before you plan that next vacation or business trip, let me encourage you to do this before you go any further. Take some time and get online and sign up for the reward programs for all the airlines you fly and might fly. Do the same with hotels and car rentals. IT'S FREE!!! Any time you don't take advantage of this free service, you are giving up the potential for free hotel nights, flights and car rentals. If you are consistent with it then you will gain the points and miles you need for free flights, hotel night and car rentals. It just takes time. Here's some ideas below to hep get you started.

Travel Troubleshooter: Forced to upgrade my rental car

Here's a great article from CNN.COM. The writer is Christopher Elliott from Tribune Media Services. This is a great example of how to handle your next bad encounter with a rental car company. The company in question here is Hertz, who I use every time I rent a car. I think they have it together, but...not every company is perfect and as most problems occur, they are usually due to human error. Read below.

Forced To Upgrade My Rental Car

By  Christopher Elliott
Tribune Media Services

(Tribune Media Services) -- The rental car that Earnest Hoenck reserves from Hertz isn't available when he arrives in Hamburg, Germany. He's offered two choices: A smaller car that won't fit his luggage, or a bigger car for an extra 10 euros a day. He picks the bigger car, but when he returns the rental, he finds that his bill is even bigger than he expected. What can he do?

Q: I'm having some trouble with my car rental bill, and hope you can help me. I recently reserved a midsize car for about a month through the Hertz Web site. I was offered a rate of 946 euros. But when my wife and I arrived at the rental counter in Hamburg, Germany, an agent told me that the car wasn't available.

We were offered a smaller car at a reduced rate or a bigger car for an extra 10 euros per day. I asked why the larger car was not given as a complimentary upgrade, since the car I reserved was not available, and was told that the upgraded car was in the "wrong class" and wouldn't be an option.

Because cost was a concern for us, we opted for the smaller car. But our luggage wouldn't fit in the trunk, so we returned to the office and asked if we could come back later to pick up the car we had requested. The agent said "no."

I had no choice but to take the larger car at 10 euros more per day. In the end, my rate seemed even higher than the one I had agreed to pay -- it came to an extra 357 euros. It was a terrible start for our vacation, and I feel as if the sales person used a bait and switch tactic to make us pay more.

I have rented from Hertz many times and I have come to expect a much higher level of service from the company than I received. I contacted Hertz and was offered half of the money back, but I think they should refund the entire 357 euros. What do you think?

-- Earnest Hoenck, Charleston, South Carolina

HT: CNN

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! The leaves have changed colors and the Macy's Day Parade is in full swing on this thankful day. Friends and families are together and in full swing for some great eating today. The morning brings Turkey Trot 5k's and fun runs all across the country. Enjoy your day and be thankful.

Remember that if you are flying home this weekend that Sunday the 25th and monday the 26th will be two of the busiest travel days to grace our airports. Be prepared. Be simple. Be early to avoid the hassle and be prepared for delays. If you have a delay be patient because good chances are that many airlines will be delayed and flight connections will be delayed as well. I will cover how this work in a later post.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Traveling for the Holidays? SimpliFLY

This is info from our friends at the TSA. This info below is not only good for holiday travel, but great for travel through out the year.

Traveling for the Holidays?  SimpliFLY

Air Travel

       

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TSA's SimpliFLY Video

Click here to watch how to SimpliFLY.
Read the transcript.

As the busy holiday travel season approaches, TSA would like to help you get through the security checkpoint quickly and have a safe flight to your destination. Our Transportation Security Officers will be working around the clock to provide an efficient security process. We're asking you to become an active partner in your security experience by knowing the rules and carefully packing your carry-on bags.

Pack smart to get through faster. Keep luggage organized by layering items; this will increase visibility for the security officers. When approaching the checkpoint, be prepared. Boarding pass and ID should be ready for inspection, outer garments and shoes must come off, any loose metal items should be placed in your carry-on, and all liquids must come out of bags. All liquids must be kept in the 3-1-1 format unless needed for special medical purposes.

HT: TSA

Welcome To The Crazy Traveler!

Welcome to The Crazy Traveler! This blog site is in the process of becoming your online source for tricks and tips to get you through the crazy world of travel. My name is Spence Smith and I created this blog for travelers. Whether you are a business traveler or you only travel a few times a year, this blog is for you. I travel over 100,000 miles a year all over the world and have learned a lot about how to make travel easy and how to get through some very difficult and confusing situations.
               
My friends are always asking me what to do in certain situations when it comes to travel, so I will be posting information  on the latest news in travel and also what you should do to get from point A to point B with little trouble if any.

I will leave you with this as we get into the Holiday travel season. Just remember that some delays are weather related and some delays are human error. Either way, there's not much you can do to change it, but there is a lot you can do to get around it. Most importantly is patience goes a long way.

If you are the type of person that tends to loose their cool when talking to costumer service reps, then know they are going to be less likely to help you and get you where you need to be. The more patient you are and the nicer you are helps them get you where you need to go during the busy holiday travel.