One of the more nerve-wracking moments a traveler can ever experience is waiting for a checked bag after an airline flight, knowing that prescription medicine or a valuable piece of electronic gear has been out of your control for hours.
If that’s ever happened to you then you probably already follow Rule No. 1 for hassle-free flying: Never pack in checked bags anything that would make you ill or heartbroken if the bag isn’t returned to you immediately upon landing.
The vast majority of passengers’ bags don’t get lost, and theft from bags in transit is rare. But jewelry, iPods, PDAs, cameras, chargers and other electronics will be the first items to disappear if you’re a victim, and airlines specifically exempt them from reimbursement if they’re lost.
Important papers or electronic storage devices should be in your carry-on bag as well. Airline web sites, including those for Delta and Usairways, have big sections on baggage policies but vary in how far down you must drill to find specific information.
Here are some practices road veterans try to follow when preparing and packing for any trip:
Most people who travel for work or pleasure have patterns for using some of the array of web sites that allow you to plan trips and buy tickets or other services, such as reserving hotels or rental cars. As you might expect, each travel site promises to be better and faster than its competitors.
I have jumped around a lot over the years in the sites I check. But recently, the one I go to first is FareCompare.com. It has many similarities but also some key differences, vs. other multi-airline travel sites whose names are more familiar, including Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity.
FareCompare makes forecasts on the direction air fares are headed, so that anyone who can plan weeks or months in advance can have a better idea about the best time to buy tickets. The site also has a greater variety of information and recent news about air travel than others I’ve checked.
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One of the more uplifting experiences for a blogger-writer on a general-interest news website like myself occurs when I ask readers in a column to tell me what they think of allowing cell phone calls on an airline flight.
This the third time in about three years I’ve asked, and the response each time has been rapid and vociferous, generating at least eight to 10 times more responses than I usually get to a column.
And what do the people – or at least my people – say? They are horrified at the very mention of the idea, with some vowing to stop flying or get into physical confrontations at 30,000 feet if they are subjected to the ill-mannered around them chattering away on the phone in a cramped airline cabin. Out of 58 e-mails and phone calls so far, 56 said they’re vigorously opposed.
Here’s a typical response, this one from a business owner in Chester, Pa:
I can think of nothing that would make travel more unbearable than cell phone use on airplanes. People are loud, rude and inconsiderate in the terminal. It would be even worse on a plane.
If you feel the same way, don’t worry. The prohibition about voice calls is not about to change. But the ability to access the Internet for e-mail and texting in flight is changing, and we want to know what web workers who have to fly on business think about all of it.
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As reported on our parent blog GigaOm, this is a good day for web workers who are forced to travel by air: American Airlines has become the first domestic carrier to offer full in-flight broadband internet access. This won’t necessarily make up for all the rising costs, security tightening, and general hassles of flying these days, but at least you’ll be able to be more easily productive in the air.
The service is launching on nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and LA, and New York and Miami. Like everything else about air travel, it’s not free – but the $12.95 per flight charge should be easier to swallow than $15 to check another bag.
Glance, a screen sharing/web conferencing service that we’ve covered before, would like to offer relief for potential customers who have experienced trouble trying to fly recently.
With recent flight cancellations, airlines in bankruptcy and other issues, Glance is offering a free month’s subscription for those affected. Simply head over to Glance’s site and tell them your tale of woe to be considered for the offer.
The service is hoping rather than hopping on a plane to visit conduct a meeting, demonstrate a product, or otherwise share desktop information, you’ll instead use Glance to show clients/co-workers your on-screen presentation.
Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
