Downgraded: Toyotas in rental car fleets
Bad enough that Toyota’s massive recall is affecting so many vehicle owners. But it’s affecting rental cars, too. Enterprise, for example, has removed 83% of their Toyotas, but that leaves 17% in the fleet. If you’re given a Toyota at the rental counter — any rental counter, not just Enterprise — you may want to request documentation that the recall repairs have been completed.

Downgraded: TSA’s notion of a background check
You really can’t make this up: An applicant for a TSA job who had been convicted of robbery when he was 18 (and who omitted it from his job application) was denied a secure-access badge to the Richmond Airport in Virginia. But the TSA wanted him hired, and demanded that the airport overrule its existing security protocol to issue this man a badge. Words fail me.

Downgraded: Airline seats
Speaking of recalls, Air Canada, ANA, Continental, JAL, KLM, SAS, Singapore, and Virgin Atlantic have seats on their planes that are subject to a recall. The manufacturer, Koito, was found to have fabricated flammability tests. And when I say “fabricated,” I’m not kidding: They “manipulated computers so normal figures would appear on monitors when officials from the ministry observed the testing procedures.” But take comfort: As long as the seats aren’t set on fire, you’re fine! (Bonus: Toyota owns 20% of Koito.)

Downgraded: Sleepytime on American Airlines
American Airlines will start charging $8 to buy a pillow and blanket. Yes, yes, it’s another fee, another downgrade. But whatever. I’ll wear a sweater.

Upgraded: oneworld
Downgraded: SkyTeam
Sure enough, American Airlines and the other members of the oneworld alliance pulled it out, keeping JAL in the alliance. At first, it really looked like Delta and their SkyTeam brethren were the ones to convert the ailing Japanese carrier to their side. But no. I called this one wrong. Delta has expressed its regrets, and plans to invest in its own brand instead of other companies. Frankly, that’s probably a smart move.

It’s been a tough few weeks, but U:TB is back on the beat. Not tanned, rested, or particularly ready, alas. But back.

Upgraded: Snakes in a car
A Florida woman got in her Enterprise rental car, only to find a 3 1/2 foot long red rat snake on the dashboard. Will “snake availability waivers” be the next add-on fee? And was it a Dodge Viper?

Upgraded: Convictions of liquid bombers
Prosecutors in the UK convicted three men of conspiracy to murder, as part of the 2006 liquid-explosives threat. Prosecutors want to re-try three of the men, for whom the jury could not reach a verdict. In connection with the trial, the BBC released a video ostensibly showing a liquid bomb of the type planned by the convicts.

Upgraded: Newcastle airport
UK officials are testing liquid-explosives scanners at Newcastle airport, using a device that scans liquid containers to judge whether their contents are a potential bomb ingredient or a harmless beverage, facial cream, or toothpaste. Could the 3-ounce liquid limit be up for review?… stay tuned.

Upgraded: Singapore’s A380
Global travel is in a slump. But if you’re expecting an empty seat in coach on board a Singapore Airbus A380, guess again. People still pack the plane. Full planes don’t mean a fat bottom line, though. The airline isn’t getting top dollar per ticket, even if the public seems to like the plane.

Upgraded: Hotel deals
The average rate for hotel rooms has dropped 17% in the first half of 2009 alone, making the average room the cheapest its been in five years. Bucking the trend: rates in Caribbean, down only 2% on average. (I’m sure there’s still a lot of variation between islands.)

Downgraded: Block 37
For years, “block 37″ in the center of the Chicago Loop (the block is bounded by Randolph, State, Washington, and Dearborn) stood vacant. It’s a construction site now, with plans for a central transit hub underground. And above ground, a Loews Hotel was planned, with rights sold to the company for $1. But the hotel chain can’t (or won’t) get financing for this prime downtown location, so yet another hotel project is up in the air.

Downgraded: Continental and US Airways add international luggage fees
Following in the steps of American Airlines and British Airways, Continental and US Airways have now also added a fee for a second checked bag on international flights. US Airways also bumped up the fee for domestic luggage fees by $5 per bag.

Upgraded: Japanese car rentals
Travelers renting a car in Japan can now reserve a wireless enabled netbook for about $10 per day. The company, Oryx, includes the cost of the wireless service.

Downgraded: Blaming the victim
A Stamford, Connecticut franchisee operating under the Marriott name stupidly and offensively blamed one of its customers, saying she “‘failed to exercise due care’ before she was raped at gunpoint in front of her children in a hotel parking garage.” Stay classy, Stamford Marriott! Now, the Marriott mothership is distancing itself from the words (and legal strategy) of its franchisee.

Upgraded: JetBlue-Lufthansa partnership
It took a while — I blogged about the possibility of an alliance partnership back in December 2007 — but JetBlue and Lufthansa are finally talking about codesharing. The consequences will be interesting. I’m particularly interested to see if Lufthansa will be selling JetBlue segments on tickets to destinations served as well by Star Alliance members United and US Airways.

Downgraded: SkyEurope
SkyEurope, a European (duh) discount airline, has ceased all operations. This was the airline that at one point offered to pay its customers to fly with them. R.I.P.

Downgraded: Enterprise Rent-a-Car
Rental cars typically don’t have a great reputation, and this doesn’t help: Enterprise saved money on its rental fleet by requesting that GM delete safety features — features that were otherwise standard. The savings per vehicle: $175. 66,000 Chevrolet Impalas without side curtain airbags were rented out, and then subsequently sold as used vehicles.

Upgraded: Weird contraband found at airports
Downgraded: Pigeon welfare
The NY Daily News has a set of photos of items found by customs agents at airports. Most are drug related, but my favorite has to be this image of a man with pigeons wrapped up and kept in his long underwear:

“Sir, your pants are cooing.”

Downgraded: Priorities
A new film being made with George Clooney in the lead role is apparently based on the premise of a man seeking to collect 1 million frequent flyer miles. I would rather see a film devoted a person seeking to spend 1 million frequent flyer miles…

Downgraded: “Good luck” cards for illegal immigrants
Staying on the customs-and-immigration theme… A Mexican man attempting to enter the UK, with the intention of overstaying his visa, was flagged as a probable immigrant, rather than a tourist, when a card was found in his luggage containing the sentiment, “Good luck in your new life in the UK!” The UK Border Agency trumpeted that they were sending him “back.” But the man flew to Manchester from Los Angeles… I wonder what his return ticket read.

Upgraded: Advantage Rent-a-Car revived, in death
Bankrupt Advantage Rent-a-Car’s assets are being bought by competitor Enterprise, assuming the courts approve. But with the ongoing slump in the rental market, I’m surprised Enterprise would even want more cars or offices!

Upgraded: Northwest and Delta mileage accounts
I realize I’ve been negligent in not mentioning this before: You can merge Northwest WorldPerks miles into an existing Delta SkyMiles account and receive a 500-mile bonus for doing so, if you do it by April 15, 2009. The miles will instantly transfer over, but the bonus will take a few weeks to post.

Downgraded: Spirit Airlines charging fees again for buying tickets on their own website
I have to say, part of me loves the gall that Spirit Airlines has. Last year, they instituted a “passenger usage fee” of $4.90 for buying tickets on their own website. If this sounds familiar, it’s because it is: The airline tried this last summer, but retracted it within a few days. In the WSJ, Scott McCartney has this summary:

Spirit tried charging a $7.90 passenger usage fee last year, along with a $2.50 “natural occurrence interruption fee” (to cover storm-related costs) and an $8.50 “international service recovery fee” to pay for some taxes and fees the airline pays to foreign governments. But the DOT stepped in and ordered the airline to stop; federal rules require airlines to include airline-imposed charges that all customers must pay in advertised fares.

Spirit was fined $40,000 but remained undeterred. Since then, the airline has been negotiating with the DOT to find an acceptable way under department rules to charge the passenger booking fee. “We will be reintroducing it in a way the DOT is comfortable with,” Mr. Baldanza says.

Offended? Complain. Here and here.

Downgraded: Missing a flight
Downgraded as well: Airline staff who film passengers
A passenger who flipped out when she missed her flight to Hong Kong, and was caught on cameraphone throwing a huge tantrum, has received an apology from the airline that kept her off the plane. Not because she didn’t board, but because the embarrassing video was made by a Cathay Pacific employee. (Notably, they claim the employee wasn’t the one to have uploaded the video to YouTube, but that’s hardly a vital distinction at this point.) I didn’t post the original video when it started making the rounds, because it seemed to be everywhere at the time, but I’ll include it here for context.

One of the oldest tricks in the money-saving book has been to rent a car in an area that’s not as heavily taxed. For example, it’s often cheaper to rent downtown, rather than at the airport, to avoid the airport “concession fees.” But the city of Chicago is fighting back and taxing renters in ways that can be called “creative,” at best. And it’s landing the city in court:

Enterprise Rent-A-Car has sued the city of Chicago for trying to tax car rentals outside city limits, including far-reaching suburbs.

The St. Louis-based car rental giant filed the suit last week in Kane County after Chicago’s Department of Revenue decided that all car rentals in the Chicago suburbs are subject to the city’s 8 percent “transaction” or leasing tax.

To be excused from the tax, Chicago is requiring rental companies to photocopy customers’ driver’s licenses and obtain a sworn affidavit that they won’t be spending more than half of their time driving in Chicago with their rented car.

Sworn affidavit? That’s just ridiculous. And, may I add, unenforceable.

The city has a history of extra-jurisdictional taxation. When I lived in Chicago, I bought a car at a suburban dealership (in Schaumburg, just west of O’Hare, for those keeping score.) And much to my dismay, I had to pay the higher Chicago sales tax rate, instead of the lower Schaumburg rate, because the tax was based on the zip code of registration, not the location of the seller.

The move to tax rental cars is most likely targeting those suburbs near O’Hare Airport. Drivers there would be nailed with both airport fees and Chicago tax rates if they rented at the airport, and the city wants that revenue. Much like the Washington Airports Authority is trying to nail hotel shuttles with fees, this is a case of the city shifting the goalposts when the rules aren’t working out in its favor.

I don’t think Chicago’s taxation policy will stand up in court. It’s not only logically questionable to have a city taxing services in another city, but it’s an undue burden on both drivers and the rental car companies who have to collect the fees. I think Enterprise will win this case.

In the mean time, watch out for Chicago taxes outside of Chicago. And if you see such a fee on your rental agreement, then your bottom line is simple: Sign the affidavit. Then drive in Chicago with impunity.

A couple of weeks ago, Sean O’Neill of Budget Travel pinged me with some news of more hybrid rental cars hitting the lots: Enterprise was adding 5000 hybrids to its fleet (totaling 7000 nationally), and sister company Alamo/National was bumping their hybrid fleet to 2000 vehicles.

Agencies are reporting more and more hybrids on their lots. But this growth story is being countered by reader reports that they weren’t able to actually rent the hybrid they reserved. Reader Steve reported that his reservation for a hybrid (at Hertz) was substituted for a different class when he showed up at the airports (two separate airports in California).

Then Tyler Colman of Dr. Vino, when renting from Fox Rent A Car at Oakland Airport, was told that hybrids were being cut back at the company “because the transmissions kept dying at 30,000 miles.” Hmm. Seems fishy.

I asked for comment from Fox Rent-a-Car, to see if this was actually a company-wide decision, or if this was just a big talker at the front desk. I still await their response.

Transmissions or not, the deck is stacked against hybrids in rental fleets, given the way rental cars are actually purchased. Sean’s post sums it up well:

Why are there so few hybrid rentals? I posed that question to Neil Abrams, president of the rental car consulting and research firm Abrams Consulting. He explained that rental car companies do not have an advantage with volume pricing buying power. Hybrids are so popular that car dealerships can get bigger margins selling directly to retail customers instead of rental car companies. Meanwhile, automakers are willing to offload lots of standard engine cars and below-market prices to rental car companies— to clear their inventories. So a rental car company can buy (to pick a random example) a Mercury Sable for, say, roughly $12,000. They can rent it for a year. Then they can re-sell it as a used car, and make money off the resale. This is far more profitable to them than buying a hybrid car, which might cost $20,000. They’ll have to charge far higher daily rates to customers to try to recoup the cost. But in an era of under-$2-a-gallon gas, not enough customers may rent the hybrids at the premium prices.

Indeed. And that’s more likely the better explanation for hybrid shortages at California airports. In this climate, it’s frankly surprising that any rental car company is adding hybrids to the fleet, period.

Enterprise’s expansion of the hybrid supply is unlikely an act of altruism. Perhaps they’re making a bet on the future direction of fuel prices. Let’s just hope the transmissions hold up.

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