Consumer Traveler Today: March 9

Consumer Traveler Today: Now elite status gets you free Internet (sometimes) with Marriott
 
 
Now elite status gets you free Internet (sometimes) with Marriott
The low airfare that vanishes in a click
What we’re reading: Planet Hollywood wants clubs to pay rent or leave, US airlines bid for Tokyo routes, SWA’s Kelly talks about expansion
Consumer Travel Alliance — United Airlines tries to shift credit card fees
JetBlue’s “classy and professional” move for disabled passenger in need
Now elite status gets you free Internet (sometimes) with Marriott
Posted: 09 Mar 2010 05:28 AM PST
One of the most irritating hotel surcharges for many travelers is for Internet access. (And, as has been discussed on Consumer Traveler before, sometimes needing to pay twice for two-computer families.)
       

The low airfare that vanishes in a click
Posted: 09 Mar 2010 03:15 AM PST
When you’re airfare shopping, attractive prices can vanish in a split second. Just ask Jim Doll, a systems engineer in Atlanta, who recently tried to buy a ticket to San Francisco on AirTran Airways’ Web site. He found a one-way fare for just $130, but by the time he’d toggled over to Orbitz.com to see if he could do better there and then clicked back, the price had changed.
       

What we’re reading: Planet Hollywood wants clubs to pay rent or leave, US airlines bid for Tokyo routes, SWA’s Kelly talks about expansion
Posted: 09 Mar 2010 03:00 AM PST
Harrah’s to clubs: Pay past-due expenses at Planet Hollywood or leave Harrah’s, the new owner of Planet Hollywood, wants the clubs to pay past due rent or leave. The new owner of the Planet Hollywood resort in Las Vegas has been pressuring the bankrupt Privé and Living Room nightclubs there to either pay their past-due rent and [...]
       

Consumer Travel Alliance — United Airlines tries to shift credit card fees
Posted: 08 Mar 2010 08:30 AM PST
In late summer, United Airlines announced a new program where a select number of travel agents would no longer be allowed to use the airline's merchant account to process ticket purchases. This maneuver was an obvious attempt to save the three to four percent credit card processing fees. The Consumer Travel Alliance saw a more ominous outcome — the possible loss of important consumer protections.
       

JetBlue’s “classy and professional” move for disabled passenger in need
Posted: 08 Mar 2010 07:30 AM PST
Penny Parrish’s niece bought a roundtrip ticket to Florida to visit her ailing father late last year, but when he died and she asked to return home early, JetBlue Airways charged her a ticket change fee. Parrish’s niece is deaf, so she suspects there may have been a communication problem at the airport. That’s when she discovered a rarely-used list of JetBlue contacts on my site.