A Golf Blog

One Last Goodbye

Friday’s the day I turn in company property – ID badge, PC and accessories, and company calling card. It’s also my last day ‘in the office’ (an HR term, I think) which unceremoniously translates to my various accesses (Sabre, campus, networks, etc.) being revoked. I really didn’t know what to expect but you’d think that after almost 30 years I’d feel something other than relief.

I really hoped that Sabre would have a public facing blog by now; so far, it's internal. I'm told that one will be coming so stay tuned. When it's there, you will read about it here.

I’ve met lots of great people and there are some that I will stay in touch with. Likewise, there are some that I won’t.

I’ll continue to write about the travel industry and its infrastructure. It will be interesting to see who’s flexible and can adapt to changes and who struggles.

TypePad Online Again

Hat tip to the folks at SixApart's TypePad team. Glad to see they're back online.

Hire the Disadvantaged

Looking for an opportunity for the disadvantaged? This might fit the bill.

Southwest to Serve DFW – Sort Of

Southwest will soon have a link to DFW. Yesterday, they announced a code share agreement with ATA, a low cost carrier that flies between DFW and Chicago’s Midway Airport. So, passengers originating at DFW on ATA and willing to connect at Midway to Southwest will now have service to all the cities that Southwest serves from Midway. Some of the possibilities include Buffalo and Albany, NY, Manchester, NH, Omaha, NE, and Raleigh, NC. Both portions of the ATA and Southwest flights will count toward frequent flier miles in the Southwest system.

Hey Star Telegram

Isn't it about time you get on the bandwagon?

Travel Alternatives

Was invited to an open house last night – my neighbor had a few friends over for chili and a tour of their new motor home. Now I really don’t know much about RV’ing but I could give it a go in this 40 foot luxury cruiser. There are about 35 RV’ers where I live and they are gone four or five times a year for two or three weeks at a time.

I suppose they could just as easily find a cheap fare to get them where they wanted to go, but who would trade a ride in this to sit in a middle seat on a crowded two hour flight?

It’s All About Price

Today, price rules when choosing an airline. The traveling public has spoken by demonstrating that even a $3 to $5 difference in an airlines fare will influence a purchase decision regardless of the compromises in convenience of choice or amenities. It amazes me that someone would chose to save $5 on a ticket that requires an off hour flight or a connection versus a prime time departure on a non-stop flight.

It’s all about being competitive and I suspect that’s one of the reasons that American Eagle will start charging for soda on their service into and out of Los Angeles. The test is supposed to kick-off next month. I don’t blame them – it is almost impossible for them to compete with the carriers that are enjoying protection under the bankruptcy laws.

What I don’t understand is what was Air Tran thinking when they teamed with Wendy’s in a promotion that rewarded pop drinkers with free flights. That’s right, purchase 32 20oz or larger sodas and get a free one way on Air Tran. Don’t you just know that dumpster diving at your local Wendy’s is going to pick up?

Beginning of the End....

...of the Wright Amendment? Perhaps, consider this.....

The skirmish has begun – Southwest and American will be going head to head now that Missouri is open to direct flights from Dallas’ Love Field. American will start service from Love on March 2 with flights to St. Louis, Kansas City (Mo), Austin and San Antonio. Southwest already has 36 non-stops to those cities from Love including 8 to Missouri that started on Tuesday.

This comes at a price for travelers accustomed many choices at DFW – AA is cutting service from DFW by almost 30% to St. Louis, Kansas City, Austin, San Antonio, College Station, Cincinnati, and Tyler.

The real losers though are cities that are losing all American’s daily service. AA is saying goodbye to Long Beach, Providence (RI), Lima, Peru, Toledo, Green Bay, and Rochester, Mn. If more restrictions are lifted at Love, expect deeper cuts in the less popular smaller markets.

That doesn’t sound like a good thing to me.

EU GDS Deregulation

Not so long ago, I wrote about the EU bundling GDS deregulation with other legislation.

Now, C-Fare (Coalition for Fair Access to Reservations in Europe) has upped their involvement to prevent total GDS deregulation in Europe because it is possible that it could be voted on before Christmas.

According to C-Fare, total deregulation will unfairly favor Amadeus and their airline owners; Lufthansa, Air France, and Iberia.

At stake here are all airlines equally participating in all GDS’ – at least they don’t have to worry about the DOT intervening.

Wow Customer Service

The day before yesterday, via email, I received an ad for The Golf Warehouse and since I’d been putting off a purchase, I took a few minutes to make the buy. That was just a few minutes shy of 8pm. Then, last night at 7:20pm I got another email that said they’d shipped complete with a tracking number.

Guess what, in less than 12 hours after UPS picked up the package in Wichita, KS it’s on a truck out for delivery today in Denton, TX. I know it’s less than 400 miles but when you think about the infrastructure that is required to make it happen so quickly, it’s really quite remarkable.