Downgraded: American credit cards
For several years now, a pet-peeve of mine as an American traveling abroad has been the challenge of using a swipe-and-sign credit card in a country where chip-and-PIN is the norm. (Consider previous posts on chip-and-PIN challenges. I even wrote a piece for National Geographic Traveler on the issue.) Now the New York Times revisits the issue and finds that it’s getting worse, not better, for American cardholders. When will US card issuers catch up with the rest of the world? (Thanks, David!)

Downgraded: US Customs and Immigration
Did the gruff face of US immigration kill the city of Chicago’s bid for the Olympics? It was apparently a contributing factor, if reports from the IOC are to be believed: “Syed Shahid Ali, an I.O.C. member from Pakistan, in the question-and-answer session following Chicago’s official presentation, pointed out that entering the United States can be ‘a rather harrowing experience.’” Somehow, it’s not a shock that the guy from Pakistan had this particular critique of entering the US. But he’s hardly alone.

Downgraded: Cockpit decorum
When I draft my list of minimum requirements for pilot competence, I think “not getting into fistfights in the cockpit” goes unspoken, an assumed background condition for commercial travel. Apparently, I need to be more explicit with my expectations. An inflight cockpit brawl on Air India, anyone?

Upgraded: Hotel promo deals
Over at View from the Wing, read up on an ongoing Hyatt promotion “the best hotel promo I’ve ever seen.” The deal: 13,500 United Airlines miles and a free Hyatt night for a two one-night stays at a Hyatt property, including discounted Hyatt Place properties.

Downgraded: Brazilian justice
Three years ago, NYT columnist Joe Sharkey was onboard a plane that survived a midair collision over Brazil. He subsequently criticized Brazil’s fractured air traffic control system and came under nationalistic fire for refusing to go along with the official Brazilian line that the (American) pilots of the surviving business jet were solely at fault for the accident. Now, Sharkey is being sued for $250,000 for defaming the entire population of Brazil. The lawsuit is offensive and absurd. For more background on the case, see here and here.

Downgraded: Helicopter service in Manhattan
Helicopter service from downtown Manhattan to JFK, canceled? I’m shocked, shocked!

Upgraded: Electronic cigarettes on airplanes
Back in February, I posted about a report of an impending deal between an electronic cigarette manufacturer and an unnamed airline. Immediately, I thought it would be a European low-cost carrier. Sure enough, it’s the granddaddy of ‘em all: Ryanair. For €6, you can buy a pack of 10 (disposable, I assume) nicotine-vapor sticks.

Upgraded: Clear’s life chances
Clear / Verified Identity Pass, the subscription-based service that promised shorter airport security lines, before it died an abrupt and refund-less death, may be back. I was a skeptic from the get-go — frequent travelers already get shorter lines, without having to give up their personal information. I’m still a skeptic.

Upgraded: Bloggers branching out
Brett Snyder of CrankyFlier is expanding the Cranky franchise: He’s launching a new service, dubbed CrankyConcierge. For $30, he’ll help you find a low fare, track your flight status for you, look for alternatives in case of rebooking, and aid you in post-trip dispute assistance. At the same time, Gary Leff of View from the Wing is now charging $150 to help travelers book frequent flier tickets. I’m looking forward to seeing these business ideas develop. Good luck, guys!

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Budget and Avis (which are the same company, though operated as separate brands) announced that they were banning smoking in all their rental cars in North America.

Effective October 1, 2009, smoking will be off limits. If you do smoke in the car, there will be a $250 cleaning fee. The ban also applies to employees, who typically get to use a car for their personal transportation as a perk of the job.

To be honest, I haven’t noticed many smoky rental cars lately. They’ve been so rare (either because people aren’t smoking in rentals, or the cleaning process is so much better) that I’ve gotten to the point where I haven’t even thought to request a non-smoking car anymore. I can’t even remember the last time I made such a request.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see other companies follow suit. But there will almost assuredly be a company that doesn’t ban smoking, much like hotels, where some chains (e.g., Marriott, Westin) have gone smoke free, but most others have retained a mix of smoking and non-smoking offerings. (Will there be surcharges for renting a car that permits smoking, going forward?)

Forget Smintair, the (still-grounded) airline for smokers. An electronic cigarette alternative called SuperSmoker, which delivers nicotine through a heated tobacco-flavored mist, is trying to get permission to allow its product in airplanes. They’re allegedly negotiating with an unnamed airline to allow their product onboard.

The product’s typo-filled website argues: “Because it isn’s [sic] a real cigarette and there isn’t real smoke, this electronic device can’t be placed under the smoking prohibition.”

Uh huh. Sure, there aren’t burning tobacco leaves, but there’s visible smoke, even if you look at their own ads. I’m sure nonsmoking passengers will love having burning-tobacco scented vapor surrounding them for hours.

So, any guesses as to which airline would enter into negotiations with this product’s manufacturer? I’m smelling a European low-cost carrier… but which one?

A cheesy promotional video for the SuperSmoker is below, if you want to see what these things look like in practice (though not on a plane…)

The tide continues to turn against smokers at North American hotels. Sheraton and Four Points, both part of the Starwood group, are the latest to ban smoking at all properties in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean, much as their corporate cousin Westin did a few years earlier.

This isn’t just about the market responding to a smaller population of smokers, or a kindly gesture designed to improve your longevity. It’s also a way for the hotel to cut costs, since cleaning a smoky room is more time-consuming and expensive than cleaning a non-smoking room. And minimizing the variation between hotel rooms, by eliminating an entire class of rooms, makes it easier to manage inventory.

Nonsmokers are celebrating. Smokers are inevitably planning their boycott.

Related:
- Nicotine jitters: Another hotel chain goes non-smoking
- Smoking prohibitions: Hurdles and tradeoffs
- Marriott hotels to eliminate smoking in all its North American brands
- The captain has turned on the smoke-’em-if-you-got-’em sign…

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The TSA has ruled that lighters will once again be legal to take onto airplanes, effective August 4. Not Zippo lighters or other “torch” lighters, just “common” lighters.

Amazing. Bottled water is still illegal, but a container containing a flammable liquid is permissible. That’s freedom, baby.

And why the two week delay? Do lighters’ magical terrorist powers somehow expire at midnight on August 3?

Sounds like a big step forward in the expansion plans of all-smoking airline Smintair!

Speaking of Smintair, the tobbaco-laden German/British airline with the absurd claim that its air will be healthier than nonsmoking airlines’, looks like it’s actually making headway. They recently put up a timetable (pdf) that has them flying Dusseldorf to Tokyo and on to Shanghai starting October 28. The countdown is on.

The Smintair website remains one of my favorites, for sheer comedy. Everything from the poorly translated English, to the 1970s porn-esque styling, to nuggets like this line from the employment page: “Allergics to any kind of smoke or aviation specific conditions, militant Anti-Smokers, or people with other social deficiencies are kindly asked to not apply.”

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Nicotine addicts, be warned. Your hotel options are decreasing again.

First Westin went 100% nonsmoking worldwide in the US, Canada, the Caribbean, Scotland, Australia, and Fiji. Then Marriott went smoke-free across all its brands in North America. Now, Comfort Suites, part of the Choice Hotels group, is going smoke-free as well.

Already 10% of the chain’s hotels are non-smoking. The remainder of the properties will ban smoking by the end of April.

Comfort Suites will still offer a designated smoking area somewhere on the property, so smokers won’t be as shut out as they might be at other hotel chains.

It’s interesting that Choice Hotels is opting to go non-smoking in this particular brand alone. (Econolodge might have been an even bigger surprise…) Comfort isn’t their top tier, and it’s not a newly launched brand like Cambria, where they’d be starting from scratch.

Update 2/21/07: Reader Alex writes in to correct a small but important error in the description of Westin’s smoke-free policy. It’s not worldwide: “Westin did not go smoke-free worldwide. I know this is true since I’m currently in the Westin Bangkok and enjoying a quick puff in the bar. (sorry )” Heh. You’re right, Alex. I’ve corrected the post above to reflect the policy, as stated on Westin’s website: No smoking at hotels in the US, Canada, the Caribbean, Scotland (not even all of the UK!), Australia, and Fiji.

Related:
- Marriott hotels to eliminate smoking in all its North American brands
- Smoking prohibitions: Hurdles and tradeoffs
- The captain has turned on the smoke-’em-if-you-got-’em sign…
- Smoking chimpanzee can’t kick cigarette habit (CBS News)
- Comfort Suites (aff)

Downgraded: Food on Alaska Airlines
Well, the food is the same, but it’ll cost you $5 starting August 1.

Upgraded: First class food on Singapore Airlines
Flying up front on Singapore? Consider the thali. Do they have a tandoor in first class? This I gotta see.

Upgraded: Smokers’ inflight nicotine fix
Stuck on a long flight (and not flying all-smoking Smintair), or sitting inside a smoke-free Westin or Marriott? Crack open an ice-cold NicLite — the bottled water with the nicotine kick. You’ll soon be able to buy it at LAX, and possibly other airports.

Downgraded: Delta’s online booking bonus
Book a flight online at delta.com, only get 500 bonus miles instead of the usual 1000. American has already done this for less than top-dollar fares.

Upgraded: AA’s Online Check-In
Same-day round-trip American Airlines flyers rejoice: You can now check in online for both the outbound and the same-day return flights. Convenient for out-and-back trips, as well as mileage runners.

Downgraded: Varig. Upgraded: Varig
Brazilian airline and Star Alliance member VARIG, long in bankruptcy court, was sold for a mere pittance to VarigLog, the cargo arm of the airline that had been previously spun off. The new owners immediately cancelled all flights except the lucrative Sao Paolo-Rio de Janeiro shuttle, leaving many international travelers scrambling for alternatives. Brazilian regulators subsequently forced the airline to resume international flights, but the carrier only has 13 planes that aren’t either repossessed or grounded due to lack of maintenance. Where she stops, nobody knows.

Downgraded: Canadians and permanent residents
If you’re Canadian or a green-card holder, you’re more likely than a US citizen to be a criminal. That’s the only conclusion I can draw from efforts to expand fingerprinting requirements. My opinion: Either fingerprint everyone, or no one.

Downgraded: My opinion of South African airport security
Reporters walked through security and onboard aircraft carrying razor blades, knives, mace spray, and other prohibited items.

Some further observations on the Marriott smoking ban, which is still making the rounds, hitting the front page of the Washington Post yesterday.

Christopher Elliott suggests a potential problem in executing this strategy: Marriott’s website still lists smoking rooms for dozens, if not hundreds of properties. I’d add that this has two ramifications: an IT problem, and a customer service problem.

The IT problem is simpler to solve, though not without its costs or hassles. The customer service problem is harder, but could have bigger payoffs: Does the company contact each person who reserved a smoking room? If so, do they offer to “walk” the guest to an equal or better property that offers smoking rooms? A refund? A free night? They might lose the smoker’s business in the future, but doing something will be necessary for the smoking ex-guests to keep any positive feelings toward the chain. And treating them nicely might actually lead to some positive word-of-mouth — among the nonsmoking crowd. (”Well, they kicked me out because I smoke, but they gave me a room at the Hilton.” “Oh, really, how nice of Marriott! They’re all-nonsmoking AND have good service?…honey, let’s book a room!”) Failing to find a replacement room for the customer on the other hand could lead to some cranky postings about Marriott in TripAdvisor.

On the other hand, meeting and convention business might be more at risk, as Sue Pelletier has suggested. I would wager that largely American-audience meeting clienteles might not be affected much, but international groups might balk at a Marriott meeting. Or maybe they’d just contract a separate hotel for the smokers. Perhaps Marriott itself would subcontract a portion of the block to a local rival, sending them all of the smokers. Though competitors should consider the possiblity that an influx of smoking guests might a Trojan Horse: As I suggested earlier, it may not be in any property’s interest to be known as a smoky hotel.

Marriott Hotels in North America are going smoke-free in September. Last year, Westin, part of the Starwood chain, banned smoking in all its rooms and public spaces and began to impose fines on violators of the ban.

The Marriott move goes further by extending the ban to all brands under the corporate umbrella. That means Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Courtyard, Fairfield, etc. Westin’s policy affected 77 hotels. Marriott’s policy affects 2300. That’s huge.

Smokers are bound to be miffed. But hotels are private property, and the move is a market decision. I also don’t think there will be an all-smoking hotel chain coming down the pike, like the all-smoking airlines that have been proposed. Consider that 85 to 90 percent of hotel rooms at mid- to upscale chains are already nonsmoking. The market for smoking rooms is small and shrinking, despite the smoking population being larger than 10%.

As a non-smoker, I’m all for the ban. (Here come the angry e-mails!) I haven’t been stuck in a smoking room for several years, but if this reduces my odds of getting stuck in one, then all the better. But the more noticeable change will be in the public areas, such as lounges.

Smokers will still be allowed to go outside for a drag. Or they can stay in another hotel.

I predict that other chains will follow suit. If smokers migrate to another brand, then those brands might develop a reputation as being “smoky.” That, in turn, could drive away the larger non-smoking market. So expect other Starwood brands, Hyatt, and Inter-Continental to eliminate smoking as well. Smoke-filled rooms may all but disappear at major chains, except for the lower-end brands. (If Motel 6 or Econolodge go smoke-free, I’ll be surprised.) In any case, thumbs up to Marriott for the change.

“Hotel” rooms gone to the dogs
Some unscrupulous New York apartment managers are listing their units as “boutique hotels” through online booking agencies. Angry tourists find such “amenities” as a foldout sofabed that can’t fold out, because the room is too narrow. Sweet. Folks, we’ll say it again: Don’t book a hotel room, especially one you’ve never heard of, without looking it up on TripAdvisor first. Research!

Dogs gone to the hotel
Marx and Lenin would cite this as proof that capitalism has reached its highest and final stage: Hotels such as the James in Chicago, the St. Regis in Aspen, and the Loews Coronado Bay in San Diego are offering room service for pooches, with a full array of luxury spa and resort services. Some of the dog food menu items made my mouth water, which either says bad things about my tastes or amazing things about their pet menus.

Free food and wine, maybe even for your dog
Why pay the $75 fee for a puppy snack when you can eat and drink free in your hotel? HotelChatter mentions the Banks Mansion of Amsterdam, where the minibar is free, snacks and drinks are always available, and the breakfast is complimentary. While other hotels might use the economistically logical technique of lowering the room rate and then hitting you with the extras later, the Banks includes it all in the base rate. Did I mention free wine?

Light up my life
Smokers are no longer a security threat (though you may want to give them their own airline): TSA officials recommend that lighters be allowed back on board. Maybe they’re just tired of disposing of the 30,000 lighters they confiscate EVERY DAY.

Airline security komedy hijinx
The Onion: “Baggage-Handling Mixup Sends Dirty Bomb to St. Louis”

I can’t drive 55
The United States’ interstate highway system turned 50 years old yesterday. Chicago-based drivers celebrate on the Edens Expressway with a 55-minute drive from Lake Cook Road to the junction, blasting Sammy Hagar all the way.

Make you sweat ’til you bleed
Self-serving deodorant-maker Old Spice names “sweatiest cities in America.” In a shocker, Phoenix comes out on top, despite its legendary “dry heat.” Phoenix mayor Skip Rimsa received a year’s supply of deodorant as a consolation prize. But with three of the top ten cities in the desert, charges of foul play should be afoot. Reports of bribery, focusing on the Washington, DC judge, are unconfirmed.

Paging Mr. Freeze
Maybe the people in sweaty cities should just invest in an air-conditioned shirt. Hopefully you don’t have the get the freon recharged too often.

Free fallin’
Old news — from 1972, in fact — but still… Flight attendant falls from 33,000 feet (without parachute) and survives. If she’s not already there, Vesna Vulovic should be in the flight attendant exhibition at the International Women’s Air & Space Museum in Cleveland.