On April 5, we initiated a post in support of travel agents. For many of you this may have come as a surprise since we MAY have given the impression that we have a hard-on for giving it to the travel industry as a whole. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are actually, in our own way, SUPPORTING the travel industry. Hell, we’d shut down tomorrow if travelers received fair pricing and quality customer service…and airlines made a concerted effort to banish what we at Aircomplane.com like to call the Airline A-Hole Quadrangle: attitude, apathy, arrogance, and (lack of) accountability. (A quadrangle is kind of like a hole, isn’t it?)

In the posting, which you can read here later, your Spite Attendant Crew offered four significant reasons why working with a legitimate travel agent could improve your chances for a better travel experience.

And then, the most amazing thing happened. Someone posted a comment to our blog post basically plugging a Multi-Level Marketing company that, from what we can tell, is about as far from what experienced, certified, and proven travel agents do. Now, as several of you can attest, I often pull truly important comments and correspondence from within Aircomplane.com and give them top billing. After all, you are what make us relevant. So, I am going to do the same thing here while fulfilling our mission of protecting you, the traveler, further.

On July 25, 2007, Mr. Terry Zulit of “The Terry Zulit Financial Freedom Blog” posted the following comment:

“I found a way to write-off all my travel, and get my travel agent status. I then can write-off all my travel costs. I made a long post that explains it all here:
http://www.zulit.com/2007/07/24/pro-travel-network-review-to-end-all-pro-travel-network-reviews/ You might be interested in using the idea. Don’t worry about signup with me, but seriously…it works saving a ton on travel per year.

Terry”

Interesting.

First, know how fascinated we are that someone had the balls (if not the brains) to piggyback on our blog with a plug for a Multi-Level Marketing endeavor EXACTLY COUNTER to the points of Aircomplane.com’s editors. Normally we would applaud such chutzpah. This is, after all (and unless you’re on an airplane), a free country. But your Aircomplane.com Spite Attendants decided it was necessary to do a little digging into this dubious ticket to “Financial Freedom” and see what surfaced.

• Terry Zulit is proudly part of a Multi-Level Marketing (travel) company called Pro Travel Network. He must have placed some thought into his business decision because his own blog states, as of this posting, “The Internet income I make still far out weighs the Pro Travel Network income. Pro Travel Network (or PTN) is just another strong income stream for me. I’ve been a marketer for 4 years now, and I’ve looked at EVERY MLM opportunity there is on this planet. (no shit).”

• A little further digging about the Pro Travel Network revealed the following:

o  The stock for Pro Travel Network (PTVL) is at about its all-time low. As of this post, it’s trading at about $0.31 from a high of $1.75. It dropped over 40% TODAY. (This chart, courtesy of Businessweek.com basically says that a $10,000 initial investment now leaves you with less than $4,000.

o Here is some Securities and Exchange Commission filing information. Don’t stop until you read “Risk Factors.”

Well, we usually like to make three points about something, but that’s really not necessary. A travel agent named “Jay” with 17 years in the travel agency business did comment on Mr. Zulit’s comment, and you can see that here. Perhaps Jay said it best with “What are your travel credentials? Do you have any certifications, destination specialties, advanced degrees, or have you even taken a travel course of any kind? Your “fad” will last only as far as you piss off your friends with poor service and higher prices. As you continue your jaunt through our sensitive yet resilient industry, lose the title of “Travel Agent.” You are a fraud and only an agent for yourself.”

We don’t know about the fraud thing, but we’re kind of happy we don’t own any Pro Travel Network stock. And we’d like to thank Mr. Zulit for bringing the Pro Travel Network to our attention. It always helps to match a name with a craze.

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Even your Aircomplane.com Spite Attendants are reassured that they are not the only ones keystroke-happy enough to share their travel frustrations. Here is one of your fellow travelers who took the time to shed his or her special brand of sunshine in a posting on the San Diego Craigslist.org. (And congratulations, it actually made “Best of Craigslist!”)

Be forewarned (and to the likely glee of the many Fright Attendants out there) they also take a pretty good and hilarious shot at their fellow passengers. Enjoy.

best of craigslist > san diego > RANT: Airline Travel Etiquette
Originally Posted: Wed, 28 Feb 08:31 PST

RANT: Airline Travel Etiquette

Date: 2007-02-28, 8:31AM PST

Alright people, some airline travel etiquette needs to be established. Here are a few suggestions that will make everyone’s life easier, so please… pay attention:

Rule #1 – Security. Yes, it’s a bitch. Yes, the TSA employees they hired from the nearest clinic for the terminally stupid are an insult to anybody with a hint of gray matter, but com’on. Throw the rest of us a bone here:

You’ve been standing in line for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes you finally get to the table with the little gray bins. Now is NOT the time to hold up everyone else in line while you take off your six earrings, your 20 bracelets, your necklace, your watch and anything else you KNOW DAMN WELL will set off the alarm. The time to do this was sometime during the previous 45 minutes when you were standing in line complaining about how slowly the line was moving. Take all that stuff off and throw it in your carry-on BEFORE you get to the table.

For those of you with laptops, yes you need to take it out of the bag. The 8 signs you past while standing in the aforementioned line weren’t kidding. Have it out, put it in the bin and move along.

Rule #2 – Potty breaks. With certain exceptions, potty breaks are denied within the first hour of flight. It’s your own damn fault you decided to wait in line for 15 minutes at the terminal Starbucks for your daily non-fat chi extra-tall cup-of-crap instead of taking care of business (and by therefore compounding the problem). If you’re that bad at time management, or set your priorities such that you can’t take 2 minutes out of your busy day to take a leak, then it’s your own damn fault and you can just hold it. Exceptions would include: (1) you’re in an aisle seat, (2) children, or (3) you have a baby with a poopy diaper – and yes I can smell it. Yes EVERYONE within 10 rows can smell it. Feel free to do what you got to do but PLEASE don’t ignore it.

Ladies, if you’re pregnant, insist on an aisle seat. The airlines will accommodate if you push them hard enough. Old people, if you have a weak bladder, the same goes for you.

Rule #3 – Bitch. If I’m unfortunate enough to ride bitch (aka, the middle seat) then I automatically get both armrests. It’s called making the best of a bad situation. I don’t care how much you spent on your ticket – and if you had that much money you would be up there in 1st class with the rest of the I’m-so-important-I-need-a-curtain-to-shelter-me-from-those-coach-people crowd.

Rule #4 – Assumptions. When airborne, you need to make some assumptions. For those of you seated behind me, you need to assume that I am sound asleep in my chair trying to get a little sleep before my big presentation in a few hours. This means that you are NOT to use my chair to pull yourself up out of your seat, shaking it violently as you struggle for balance. I realize there isn’t a lot of room, but the solution is simple… use your armrests, slightly turn your body, and use YOUR chair for balance. If works for me, it can work for you.

For those of you seated in front of me, you need to assume I’m feverishly working on my laptop for that big presentation and EASE your seat back, nice and slowly, allowing me to make adjustments as necessary. This means NOT reclining your seat with such fury as to crack the lid of my laptop because it caught on the tray-table latch (I’d especially like to thank the lady seated in 19B on United Flight 920 on February 21st from San Diego to Dulles for that one). I don’t care if you want to recline your seat, just GO SLOWLY.

Rule #5 – Do Not Disturb. If I’m wearing headphones, listening to my iPod, it’s code for “please leave me alone and don’t try to engage in conversation.” I don’t care how excited you are to be visiting your 19-year-old niece who lives in Santee. I don’t care how pretty she is and that she’s pregnant with her third child from as many fathers.

If it looks like I’m sleeping, I probably am. It might be hard to tell as I often wear sunglasses when I try to sleep on a plane, but think about this – if I haven’t moved in awhile, I’m asleep. So please, use common sense if you choose to rouse me from my slumber (ie, something catastrophic happening like a wing falling off). The flight attendant serving drinks DOES NOT qualify.

Rule #6 – Parents, control your kids. I’ve traveled all over the US as a kid and I know how incredibly boring even a short flight can be. However, a cramped airliner is NOT the place for tough-love. If your kid is throwing a tantrum, GIVE THEM WHATEVER THEY WANT – PERIOD. If your child is kicking my chair I WILL say something – and not to the child, but to YOU. The other day I ran into a local 7-11 and they had portable DVD players on sale for $60. Seems to me like a pretty inexpensive insurance policy – otherwise I suggest adding a triple shot of Children’s NyQuil to their grape juice, also available at 7-11.

Rule #7 – You finally made to your destination. Congratulations! Don’t stop. That is to say, you just walked off the jetway and are now in the terminal – KEEP MOVING. Every single airport I’ve been to in this country has signs posted everywhere, so if you aren’t quite sure where you need to go, simply walk strait ahead to the far wall and figure it out from there. Stopping at the jetway door or in the immediate vicinity creates a hellacious roadblock that the second half of the plane has to navigate around. Some of us actually have the ability to walk and read at the same time – no problem if you’re not one of them, just please don’t slow those of us down who can.

This last part isn’t really about travel etiquette so much as it is about the Airport Nazis that patrol the pick-up and drop-off area at San Diego Lindbergh. I’ve been meaning to write something… suppose this is as good a time as any.

You guys are the biggest bunch of fucking assholes I have ever had to deal with in my entire life. When I go the airport and you guys are giving me shit, I say, “see kids, that man is why you need to study hard in school and get good grades – you don’t want to end up like him, right?” I can understand ticketing someone who parked out front and walked away – fuck tow it or even set it ablaze for all I care, but what you douche-bags do is downright harassment. News flash – me driving slowly, waiting for my passenger – WHO I CAN SEE AND IS WALKING OUT OF THE TERMINAL, is not the same as being as being parked or stopped. Here’s an idea, if my vehicle isn’t moving, why don’t you go stand in front of it while you write me that ticket? Yeah – that’s what I thought.

With that said, minus the KSAN Airport Nazis, I hope you found this beneficial. Please refer back to it as often as necessary.

Thank you and have a nice day.
Location:
San Diego

it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

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“…would really be delighted if you could publish this one…

Thanks a lot !!
Paolo Tron

NIGHTMARE TRIP WITH BRITISH AIRWAYS

Before going on with my “travel story” a couple of simple considerations:

1) I am perfectly aware that as no human being in this planet can be sympathetic to every other human beings, too an overseas flight can be very pleasant or very unpleasant…

2) what happened to my son and me is very common, tragically common, but considering how facts happened, I am really keen of sparing this with you:

British Airways Flight # BA0279 London Los Angeles June 28^th 2007.

With my son, Massimiliano, we arrive in L.A.X. at 1.30 pm – one hour wait for our luggages – when no more luggages go around in the tapis roulant a B.A. guy arrived and told us: “luggages did not get here but on the external B.A. office…you need to go out and ask at the desk”.

About 20 people follow his advise, step outside that area and, with another 20 people, start the line at this B.A. office/desk, with only two employees taking care of over 40 people involved with the problem – after another two hours wait they gave us:

a) a sheet with printed a code and a 1-800 number to contact B.A. and the website to check with the future situation …of the luggages….

b) in that very moment we understand the luggages did not made it through…

c) they assure us the luggages will be consigned within 48 hours…

d) they gave us a VISA Debit Card for the amount of 150.00$ (4008 3800 1504 9620) in order to buy the very first necessary items (underwear, toothpaste etc)

We are out of LAX at 5.20 pm…

We soon find a first shop and the mentioned card is declined….oh well ….surprise surprise….with the second we spend 78.00$ and it’s ok…from that point onwards the

Card is dead….always declined…

Of course I check every day the situation of the luggages in the B.A. website with the code they gave me….no news….never ever …..

I try to call the 1-800 number, expressly indicated to us ….it’s an automatic number…

with in the end “press 3” to talk to an agent…..NO WAY !! Never !!

NEVER EVER …..one day I have been waiting 68 mins….uselessly….and that was

during B.A. office opening hours….

In our luggages, besides the usual stuff, antibiotics that my son had to take for an epidermic infection under his left armpit …(he is 17) and he got very nervous when he understood he could not continue his cure – I could not find similar antibiotics around there… none with the same charachteristics….

Apart from that, in the luggages, 800 flyers, expressly realized for the San Diego Fitness Convention I had to attend…..

At the B.A. desk, fortunately (considering the complete lack of contacts) I gave a Hotel address near San Diego where they could, eventually, deliver the four luggages. This happened the 9^th day of our stay in California.

I rushed to this Hotel in Solana Beach to get my luggages.

They were all totally wet – most probably they were left in London under heave rain.

Nothing inside was usable. Not clothes. Not the antibiotics.

Not the flyers…all destined to the garbish and the clothes to a laundry….

The day of our return arrives.

When approaching the B.A. Check-In desk in LA, I ask, nervously, some informations regarding all I went through… my vehemence was not appreciated.

I did not like that, either…..

My frustration was really to the limit.

A couple of B.A. guys made an effort to listen to me and said:

“ohu….you were very lucky…only 8 eight days, some other travellers got their luggages after three weeks….oh oh ah ah uh uh“….

Not nice to see someone laughing at you after all that….what do you think?

These persons at the B.A. check-in desk were unkind (not me), they never apologized to me, none of them tried to give me some information regarding a possible refund, they probably all forgot THEY made the mistakes and that I was the customer … it seemed I was asking for an ice-cream in the Sahara…

In the end, the manager of the check-in B.A. area, very upset for my frustrated attitude, handed me a card and said: “write to the Customers Service in London”….point !!

I must confess I was waiting for another behaviour from B.A….

In the end, I am a bit ashamed to share with you this “common” story….but I needed to write this, for future travellers who need to be a lot more careful than me and need to insure their luggages…..above all if they fly with B.A. …

Apart from that, I would like to know if there is a specialized lawyer among you, who could help me out for some refund….and some excuses….

In case please contact me to: info@tronpaolo.it

I thank you so much for your kind attention and I apologize for my poor English and for robbing some of your precious time for such un-interesting things.”

Paolo Tron – Milano

…would be really deligthed….if you could publish this one….Many thanks !!

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It occurred to us that certain businesses, attorneys, product manufacturers, and services might be interested in sharing sponsorship space with us during our launch and growth. This effort is entirely self-funded through the private investment capital of a team that excels in writing, blogging, new media, new technology, public and media relations, and marketing. Oh, and our team is no stranger to the many horrors that make up today’s airline travel experience.

Blogging is free, and it should be. But if you are looking for more exposure, being a visible sponsor of Aircomplane.com™ is simple. We have two main levels of sponsorship, and we promise our treatment of you will be professional, timely, and humane – which is more than the airlines can guarantee.

First Class – Sponsor a column as a “Contributing Editor” and have your own blog “category.” Use the link on your website or in your own marketing materials, business cards, voice mail, etc. Give advice, direct people to your business and show off what you know or offer. Appropriate for anyone from physicians treating stress to attorneys representing wronged passengers. All of you car rental, luggage, aspirin and sleep mask companies…this is the place to make yourselves known! Unlimited space, inventorying of posts and comments, inclusion in the initial public and media relations campaign as a contributing author (if committed in time before the Wednesday, November 20 launch), and online support and training as necessary to get you comfortable with your new editorial role. Rates effective through March 1st, 2006.

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1) Leaderboard: 728 x 90 IMU. $550 a month. Currently available along bottom area of website only.

2) Full Banner: 468 x 60 IMU. $300 a month. Currently available along bottom area of website only.

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Other sizes may be available. Please inquire atinfo@aircomplane.com, thank you.***Aircomplane.com™ reserves the right to reject any advertising it deems inappropriate.***

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Secure your space now!Aircomplane.com™ provides advertising and sponsorship space on an availability basis but will make every attempt to accommodate interested parties. Inaugural rates reflect the limited amount of time Aircomplane.com™ has been in the blogosphere and are effective through March 1, 2006. Effective 2007, tracking and site visitation information will be available.

A deposit of at least one month is required to secure your space and additional months are to be paid prior to the month purchased. PayPal is available (please use “Buy Now!” buttons above). Please indicate which package most interests you. Upon receipt of your deposit, we will contact you immediately with full support and instructions. Also, in order for us to reach you, please provide an e-mail address and phone number when sending the payment. Thank you!

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Welcome to Aircomplane.com™(www.aircomplane.com). If you think you have never blogged before, you are wrong. You already started. Reading a blog is part of blogging, and you’re doing that now.

A blog is really just a website that is interactive. Blog stands for Weblog…web-log.
Much of the navigation on a blog is intuitive. When your curser tells you a link is there, unless it’s an advertiser or one of our sponsors, it’s a page within the blog. Because blogs can grow so large so fast, information is categorized in two primary ways:
1) By category — these are the links you see. They tell you what that section is about.
2) By month — these “archives” allow you to check back on previous postings. On December 1, for example, all of the November postings will go into that section.
After you read an entry and if it interests you and you have something to contribute, comment! Simply click on the “comment” box at the bottom of a particular posting/opinion, and a self explanatory box will come up. Write your comment, a screen name you want to use, and an e-mail address. Comment to a blog posting or comment to a comment. Or, comment to a comment about a comment. That is the magic interconnected-ness of blogging, and you will be doing it shortly.
Many bloggers use random Yahoo!, Gmail, or other e-mail addresses here to protect their identities. This is sometimes a good idea since many companies have policies about blogging. So as much as we and other blog hosts would love to know who you really are, we realize that that is not entirely in the culture and we have no real way to enforce it. What we CAN enforce is blatant, overtly tasteless comments and language, certain offensive words or terms, or anything overly cruel and demeaning.

We will delete the personal information of any airline employee or other information and WE WILL ALLOW NOTHING THAT NEGATIVELY RELATES TO OR COMPROMISES THE SECURITY OF PASSENGERS, OUR AIRPORTS, OR THE UNITED STATES.

Yes, Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) may not be perfect, but complaints related to security issues will not be tolerated here. Lines may be longer, shoes may come off, but lives are saved. Complain about something else. This is the United States of America, and it is by the Constitution of this country and the freedoms it provides that we are able to voice our opinions on blogs like Aircomplane.com™.
And finally, bookmark us, place us in your feed (need help with this? email us!), and tell your friends, family and colleagues about Aircomplane.com™.

Individual passengers have very little recourse when it comes to being unjustly treated by an airline. Who among us hasn’t screamed “Well, I’ll just take my business elsewhere!” only to have the fright attendants snigger as you walk away fuming. Well now, we have a voice, a group, a movement. Join us and help. Thank you!
Now, click here to get to the home page and get started!

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This may be slightly off the subject, but interesting nonetheless.

We recently got a congratulatory e-mail from an old friend of ours named Howard Gartenhaus, ofGartenhaus Financial Services near Washington, D.C. Howard is the mastermind behindwww.lowstressinvestments.com, a novel financial approach that reduces the stress normally associated with investing…Great idea huh? If only the airlines could think of something so simple. After all, we could all use a little less stress in our lives …Thanks, Howard.

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