Fantastic: Reader David received this e-mail from JetBlue, begging him to book some tickets. Here’s the lead:

“Dear Mr. Soandso?” So and so?

The airline realized its rather impersonal mistake and sent a message to David shortly thereafter, apologizing…

We are so sorry. Recently we sent some of our valued TrueBlue members an email that was incorrectly addressed due to a technical issue with our database.

Please accept our apologies for this error and any offense it may have caused.

Technical issue? Yeah, sure, the computer decided to call David “Mr. Soandso.” Time to write to the CEO, David Barger:

Dear Slick,

Thanks for the e-mail, Champ. I enjoyed the personalization of your last message, Boss, and hope to fly your airline soon, Cap’n. I sure am feelin’ the love, Chief.

Hope you’re keepin’ it real, Ace!

Best regards, yadda yadda yadda,

Mr. Guy, a.k.a. Slick, Dude, Slim, Coach, El Jefe, and, of course, Mr. Soandso

Reader Jon writes in with some advice for those prepaying their car rentals…

While searching for a rental car for a trip to Portland recently, I noticed the link to EasyCar on the Upgrade: site. Investigating, I found a UK-based service providing pre-paid rentals worldwide, through various partners (Alamo in the US).

The price of their rental was $150 less than the best price I could find otherwise (including Hotwire and the best name-your-own that Priceline would accept). And, unheard-of in this country, it included CDW. I was skeptical, but when an e-mail to their customer service confirmed that a US citizen could book a car, I took a chance.

Two remarks: First, EasyCar is indeed a legit company. They’re an outcropping of the airline EasyJet. But while Jon’s story is about his experience with EasyCar, his lessons hold true for any prepaid car rental reservation.

Second, rates automatically bundling in Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) are indeed more commonplace for rentals booked from European sites than American sites. I’ve seen this on rentals from big name providers like Avis, as well as from wholesalers and agencies like EasyCar.

Anyway, back to Jon’s story:

It turned out that, indeed, I got my pre-paid rental for the agreed-upon price. There were only two small hitches: although the documentation from EasyCar clearly showed on the front page that the rental was for Portland, OR, somehow at least the return had gotten into Alamo’s computer as Portland, *Maine*, so [Alamo] tried to charge me for a one-way rental.

Po-tay-to, po-tah-to?

Further, although the contract indicated that gas might be offered as an *option*, Alamo’s computer showed it as required. After some debate with the local manager, the one-way problem was corrected, and they agreed to charge but then credit back the tank of gas.

Anyone wishing to try EasyCar should be advised to read carefully all the paperwork and bring it with them to the rental counter. Be prepared to dispute any charges that don’t belong, and be aware that it won’t be easy to contact EasyCar if there’s a problem. (Alamo said the 888- number on my paperwork didn’t work for them, and they refused to call the overseas number. Luckily, they eventually worked it out on their own.)

Glad things worked out in the end, Jon, though I’m sorry you had such a fight on your hands.

Having to break out your inner lawyer isn’t necessarily limited to EasyCar bookings, to prepaid bookings, or … well, there’s really no limit to the kind of bookings you need to watch like a hawk. But prepaid reservations require an especially watchful eye, because there are so many things that can be included, or not. Taxes, fuel, insurance, surprise fees…

Jon did the right thing in printing out reams of documentation. Print (or keep an electronic copy on your laptop of) more than your confirmation; print the FAQ’s, print the contact info, print the terms, print anything that explains what you should be getting.

Another thing to look out for, when you’re considering using a prepaid service: Pay attention to where the transaction is actually charged to your credit card. (It’s either in the terms and conditions, or on the last page of the booking, before you confirm the purchase.) Why should you care? If you’re holding an American card and the charges are issued in another country (such as the UK for EasyCar) you will most likely incur a foreign transaction fee — even if it’s not a foreign currency that’s being charged to the account. Prepaid hotel specialist GTA Hotels comes to mind — they have some good deals, but when you’re comparison-shopping, calculate an extra percent or two to cover the foreign transaction fee, as GTA tends to issue the charge from Turkey.

Prepaid car reservations can be a great (and legit) way to save money. But do your homework, and fight for your rights.

Reader Jeff writes in:

I’ve been told that there are no upgrade seats available for a flight I’ll be taking in a few weeks. But, I can see that the first class section is wide open.

The telephone agent (Continental Airline) said that I should keep calling as an upgrade seat might open up.

What’s the best strategy here? When is the best time to call to try to snag an unsold first class seat and get an upgrade using my miles?

Your frustration is understandable. You look at the seating chart, and there are unreserved seats, so you think you’re “in.” But no dice. Not so fast.

As you found out, empty seats on a chart don’t always correspond to seats available for upgrades. There are several reasons.

Empty seats on the chart doesn’t mean there are unsold seats. The airline may have already sold first class tickets, but not assigned seats yet.

More likely: Their inventory managers know the sales history for a particular flight, and similarly “know” that a last minute rush for first class tickets always magically appears on that flight. They could be holding back upgrades, hoping to sell those seats for cold, hard cash.

Or, sure, they might just be screwing with you.

The bottom line is this: There’s no magic bullet, and you’ll have to keep trying. Upgrades will open up when inventory managers throw in the towel on cash sales. Since you can’t book miles-based upgrades online with Continental, you just have to keep calling.

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Reader Joe writes in:

I live in Ventura, California, and I was looking at a flight to Philadelphia. But the fares don’t make sense. It’s cheaper for me to fly from Santa Barbara to LAX to Philadelphia than it is to fly nonstop LAX-PHL. I don’t get it. It’s cheaper to connect at LAX??! I’m flying further, so why is it less? About $80 less, too. Why??

Ahh, airline economics. Use more of a resource, pay less! But believe it or not there’s sometimes a logic to it.

In fact, this is quite common. I recently faced a similar thing when buying a ticket. It was cheaper to fly from Greensboro to Charlotte, and onward to San Diego, that to fly nonstop from Charlotte to San Diego. Adding the Greensboro to Charlotte leg actually caused the price to drop about $70.

Two important things to remember:
1) Pairs matter. Distance doesn’t.
Fares won’t necessarily depend on the route you fly. Fares are based on city pairs — the departure and destination city.
2) Supply and Demand.
Supply and competition for a particular route will generally trump other economic factors like distance flown.

Airlines price flights based not only on the costs they incur, but also on the demand for the route and the amount of competition for the particular city pair. In your case, Joe, the LAX-Philadelphia route may have seen hefty sales already, selling out the cheaper seats on that route. But the Santa Barbara-Philadelphia city pair may have seen only light sales, so the cheap seats could still have been available.

And don’t forget fare sales: If a competitor is driving prices lower on the Santa Barbara-Philadelphia route, then prices are likely to drop. This is especially noticeable when a new, cheaper competitor starts service from a city. (The “Southwest Effect” is a common phrase to describe the effect of fares on a city when Southwest starts service in a market.)

[As a sidebar: Given the fact that you'll have to change planes, thereby risking a misconnection and spending more time in airports, is it really worth saving a few bucks to increase your inconvenience? You might also be paying a nonstop premium, which could easily be worth it. I realize your question was about why the price difference exists, but the lower price may still be a bad value.]

Bottom line: If you’re trying to make sense of an airfare, ignore distance. Ignore where you’re changing planes. And ignore superficial logic. Focus on price for the explanation.

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Reader J writes in, with the excellent subject line “Sidestepping government buffoonery”:

So I was wondering if you know if it’s possible to get a temporary PO box or a similar thing in order to mail your shampoo, cologne and other liquids to yourself at your destination city ahead of time to make sure you know it’s there before you even step on the plane. Are there such services?

Why yes!

You’ve got a few options, actually, and as long as you’re packing well and not mailing things that violate postal service regulations, then this could be a great way to avoid checked luggage, avoid the theatrics of the TSA war on moisture, and avoid having to buy stuff at your destination, all in one swoop!

There are essentially three options:

1. Your hotel
   Where you stayin’? Call the hotel, ask if they hold mail for guests, and what the restrictions are. In all likelihood, this will be the most convenient and most reliable way for you to receive packages. Tip: Be sure you include “hotel guest” after your name when you address the package.
2. Post office
   The magic words: “Poste restante,” or “general delivery.” Poste restante is an old fashioned mail-pickup service that most countries’ postal services still provide. Mail is addressed to a person, but in lieu of an address for delivery, the mail is sent to a post office branch, where you pick it up. You’ll usually address mail to Name, Poste Restante, the specific name of the post office (usually the main, central office), that branch’s street location, city, postal code, and country. Of course, you need to KNOW the location you’ll be picking it up from beforehand. Check the website of your destination’s postal service before you ship things off. FYI: The USPS’s sparse info page for general delivery is here.
3. American Express
   American Express cardmembers and travelers’ check holders can have mail sent to an American Express Travel Services office anywhere in the world. I took advantage of this once, and it worked great, but it’s been a while (1994). See here to find an office. Call them before sending them mail, and ask if they receive and hold Amex client mail. Not every office will do it.

In all of these cases, underline the addressee’s last name for good measure, or write it in all caps. It can’t hurt to put a statement like “Hold until (date)” on the front of the envelope or package, too.

There may be some restrictions, such as weight. Take New Zealand’s poste restante rules, for example: Packages under 2kg are stored at no charge. Over that weight, and you’ll pay a fee to pick up the goods. Be sure to check with your destination’s post office rules before you ship stuff off poste restante.

Locations holding your mail won’t hold it forever, either. 30 days in the norm, but it’s not universal. (In Mexico, for example, it might only be 10 days.) When in doubt, call ahead.

And even if you mail things to yourself at your destination, be sure you’re not mailing something you’d be upset to lose. Mail can be slow, or can disappear. If you care about the contents, insure.

So the bottom line: Yes, you CAN mail things ahead of time. But at the end of the day, which is the bigger hassle? Dealing with the TSA, or dealing with the post office?

Related:
- Update: TSA compresses 100ml to 3.0 fluid ounces
- Airport Security: TSA Re-Allows Lighters on Board; Non-Flammable Water Still a Threat to Safety
- Rescuing your prohibited carry-on items from the trash
- Japan and China introduce liquid-explosive detectors: Why can’t the US?
- American Express (aff)

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Reader Anton asks:

How do you search for Premium Economy fares? Many airlines (trans-Atl, trans-Pac) have them but NONE of the travel sites/search engines allow you to look for them?!

You’re absolutely right, Anton: You’ll be hard-pressed to find a website that let’s you search for premium economy fares in a way that compares apples to apples.

“True” premium economy is typically a separate mini-cabin on long-haul international flights, and compared to regular economy, it usually offers some combination of wider seats, more legroom, more recline, and better food and drink. Better than coach, but not quite business class. As Dave Demerjian noted in his recent roundup of premium economy options in Business Traveler magazine, some airlines also let premium economy customers check in with the (shorter) business class lines at the airport.

Airlines that feature true premium economy include Air New Zealand, ANA, British Airways, EVA, JAL, SAS, Singapore (ultra long-haul flights like Newark to Singapore only), Thai, Virgin Atlantic. (Acronymic airline names apparently increase the likelihood of a premium economy cabin!)

While that list is not authoritative, there’s one glaring (and intentional) omission: United’s Economy Plus. Economy Plus, at the front of United’s cabin, only offers extra legroom, but none of the other features or services typically associated with premium economy.

Fares for true premium economy can vary widely, but they are rarely cheap, making a search engine for these fares especially desirable. When there’s a sale, fares might be a tiny smidge above regular economy, and thus a great deal. Or, they could run above full-fare economy rates, which is muscling into business class fare levels. At that point, you’re overpaying.

So far, there hasn’t been an aggregator or online travel agency that has created a tool that searches for premium economy fares. And travelers — and, I’d argue, airlines too — have lost out.
UPDATE: Reader Brian in comments notes that Expedia’s UK site does let you narrow your searches to premium economy. But you may run into trouble if you need to book a connection (in regular economy) to the long-haul flight in premium economy. But it’s a start!

So why is it so hard to find these fares? Each airline has a proprietary economy fare basis code for premium economy. And because that code is in the economy fare-class universe, search engines can’t parse it out from regular back-of-the-bus economy class tickets in fare searches.

So you’re left hunting and pecking, browsing over to each individual airline’s website and check the prices. Or doing the same thing by phone. Perhaps you could find a travel agent, too. But honestly, there’s got to be a way to solve this problem. FareCompare? Kayak? I’m looking at you guys!

Related:
- Demystifying premium economy
- Space by Space Basis (Business Traveler Magazine)