THIS WEEK'S JOHNNY JET 9/4/2002
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Wow! I have been traveling so much that I'm a
week behind on my stories. Last week, I left you off
in Connecticut, so we begin there. Well, actually, at the
Westport train station as we took
Metro North
into NY City to visit my sister, Carol, and her family.
After the hour train ride, we found ourselves
walking the streets
of Lower Manhattan starved. We decided to a get a quick
snack at Republic where my
brother, Frank
, found a new friend who stole some noodles right out of
his mouth as we ate outside. (No, it wasn't a wild bird so
don't go telling your friends to watch out for crazy parrots.) Later
that night
we dined
at one of my favorite family-style Italian restaurants on the
Upper East Side, Tony DiNapoli's, with our cousin AJ, his girlfriend Jamie,
and Joe Lewis. There's nothing like a nice phat meal in NYC that's
affordable. We ate like kings and the bill came out to
only $20 a person, and for NYC, that's a bargain!
Unfortunately, I wasn't in NYC long. I spent
the night in my family's apartment and our doorman called me at
4:30am to say my car service (Carmel: 212-666-6666) was 10 minutes
early. (Now there's a first!) I quickly threw on my
shirt and was at LaGuardia twenty minutes later and $30 lighter,
(same price as a taxi), for my flight to Denver. I met Amber
Airplane there, we connected to San Francisco and then later on to
LAX. Yes, it was a long day of travel, but it was fun! BTW:
It just so happened to be the TSA's (Transportation Security Administration)
first day on the job at LGA and I have to tell you, I was quite impressed.
They were all wearing white button down shirts that said TSA
on them and they looked and acted like competent human beings.
Only time will tell. The gentleman who laid my bag on the security
belt was overly friendly and thorough.
I was in L.A. for only a few days
when I got a call to go down to Orlando for a quick meeting.
I talked Amber Airplane into getting on another plane and joining
me on a non-stop flight from LAX-MCO (Orlando's airport code). The
4 1/2 hour flight went by quick, even though we sat in coach. We
dined on plastic and the
stuffed shells
for dinner weren't too bad, but the
rubber chicken
on the way back.... Now, that's a whole another story.... Yikes!
We stayed one night at the Sheraton Safari Resort which is one of Amber Airplane's (AA) favorite hotels in the Orlando area. She's so fond of it because the pool has an awesome snake slide. (Yeah, she is like a little kid, but that's what makes her so special.) I wasn't feeling too well but AA was pestering me to get up from my lounge chair and give it try . So I did. I not only went down it once, or twice, but until Amber Airplane finally said, "Ok, OKAY THAT'S ENOUGH!"
The hotel
is centrally located with Disney just around the corner
and plenty of mediocre chain restaurants, (Chili's, Shoney's, Macaroni
Grill, Sizzler...), blocks away. They also have some great outlet
shopping minutes away but, luckily, I made sure we got out of there
before AA got a chance to do some serious damage. The Sheraton
Safari Hotel
is a great place for families and costs only $79/night, but if
you're on business travel with some extra cash to burn, I recommend
the
Hyatt Grand Cypress
around the corner for $189/night.
SEPT 11: People keep asking me and our
SkyGirl
&
Guy
if we are afraid to fly on Sept 11. The answer
is a big "NO!" It's going to be a very sad day, as it always
will be. I was in Manhattan for that awful day and I witnessed
our worst and best day as Americans first hand. I had every emotion
going through my body and still do when I think about that somber September
day. But we can not let those bastards get the best of us.
Therefore, I am taking to the skies on Sept 11. In fact,
Amber Airplane is scheduled to work, so where ever she goes... I go.
I don't care if she has to fly to Sydney or do a turn, (that's flight attendant
talk for flying there and back), to New York. It will be my "Flight
Attendant For The Day" day. Anyone want to join me?
TRAVEL NEWS: The big news in the travel industry is these lame
two questions: "Has anyone unknown to you asked you
to carry an item on this flight?" and "Have any of the items
you are traveling with been out of your immediate control since
the time you packed them?" that the agents have been asking us for
the past sixteen years have
been nixed
. That's right no more looking into the gate agents eyes without
trying to smile while saying "No, and No". I was flying
the day this rule got dropped and the following days after.
All the gate agents that I spoke to, were so relieved that they didn't
have to ask them anymore. FYI: Our neighbors to our north
(Canada) have chosen not to drop the questions and don't plan to. That
day I just so happened to be traveling from San Francisco to Vancouver
and to my surprise the gate asked me the two security questions (even though
he wasn't supposed to, but did because his supervisor hadn't told
him to stop). But get this: When I left Canada the gate agent who
WAS supposed to ask me didn't... He must've forgot. Now how
ironic is that?
POSSIBLY MORE GOOD NEWS: Guess what I hear from one of our travel
buddies?
David Rowell
reports "The TSA may soon 'review' the process of random passenger
screening at airport gates." Now if we can get that changed
from random to profiling, then travel for me would get a whole
lot better.
MORE TRAVEL NEWS: The other big news is about USAir's
new ticket policy. I not going to comment on this because I couldn't
say it any better than
Joe Brancatelli
.
MEDIA ALERT!!!
READER AIR-eMAIL
Next Week:
Vancouver
WHAT'S NEW IN
JOHNNY JET
JET CAPTAINS
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Are
you in favor of arming Captains with Guns?
SKYGIRLS
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Are you flying on Sept 11, 2002? If so was it
by choice? Are you afraid? Should I be?
SKYGUY
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
Are
you flying on Sept 11, 2002? If so was it by choice? Are
you afraid? Should I be?
Travel Celebrity Q&A:
With The Consumer Advocate: Clark Howard
Guest Writer:
This is the perfect weekend to visit
with us at Turf Valley….
*****************************************************
Share Your 9/11
Travel Tales
Were you traveling
on Sept 11th last year?
Do you have an
interesting story about your experience
during those uncertain days?
How did you get
back home and how long did it take?
Please send us your
stories to
Johnny@johnnyjet.com
GOOD TO KNOW!
Why One Airplane Can Hold Passengers Paying
Dozens Of Different Fares (From Bestfares )
The difference between being the passenger who
paid the lowest fare for a particular flight and the passenger
paying the highest fare comes about by several factors.
In addition to basic class of service variances
and the difference in fares by advance purchase time lines, airlines
can change fares as many as three times a day in each and every category.
A fare can be reduced in an effort to compete with (or send a message
to) a competing airline or through a sale. One first class passenger
can be flying on a full fare ticket while another is flying on a
free or low-cost upgrade. One last-minute flyer may have paid a high-dollar
price for a walk-up fare while another booked a bargain last-minute
Internet fare. Passengers staying over a Saturday are likely to have
paid a small fraction of the fare paid by a traveler without a Saturday
stay.
Even within one coach fare category, variables
abound. The price can go down if you purchase from a discounter
or an agency that has a discount deal with the airline. It can go
down with a senior discount (though this is becoming very rare).
The situation gets even more complex when you
consider flights on the same route, but at different times, days
of the week and seasons. The first flight of the day is sometimes
cheaper than a same route flight leaving just 30 minutes later. Domestic
fares are often cheaper for travel on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
or Saturday. Fares go up when demand is high (the summer and Christmas
travel seasons, for example) and go down when demand is low (winter,
non-holiday travel to Europe, for example).
If you purchase a ticket in advance only to see
the fare drop dramatically, you can "downgrade your ticket" --
exchange it for the lower fare -- if you meet the requirements of
the new fare, including having the required advance booking period.
You'll pay a change fee (usually $100) but if the fare has dropped
by $200, the exchange is one worth making. There are some cases where
you cannot downgrade a ticket (Internet sale fares can be examples),
so check your ticket terms (existing ticket and proposed new ticket)
before you make your move.
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