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Starbucks recently changed their wi-fi provider from T-Mobile to AT&T, and a different pricing scheme is in place. But why pay, when you can get it for free?

Frequent Starbucks wi-fi user Dr. Vino sends in this tip from WiFi Net News:

AT&T says in their press release that all Starbucks Card holders, which is simply their value-storing swipe card system [edit: would it have been too hard to call it a gift card?], will get two hours of free Wi-Fi a day. No purchase is needed: you just need an active card, I confirmed with the company. Walk in, buy a $5 value card, activate it, and you’re on for two hours a day from then forward. You can also use multiple devices with a single account, within reason, Starbucks told me.

So it’s not free, since you have to drop $5 on a Starbucks card, but you can tap the value AND get free wi-fi. Until there’s free universal wi-max, it’s worth considering.

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Upgraded: Seat pitch regulation?
Chris Elliott notes that European regulators are considering rules to require minimum seat pitch, though it’s not clear what that minimum would be. Some of the ultra-cheapo carriers have legroom below 30″, which is horrendous. (Skybus-esque, for an American equivalent.) The reason for the regulation? Deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, a.k.a “economy class syndrome.” Maybe they should invest in this guy’s airline seat design while they’re at it.

Upgraded: Free wireless calling
Looking to cut down on the cellphone minutes? T-Mobile (aff) customers can sign up to make unlimited free calls with a compatible cellphone, if they’re in range of a T-Mobile wireless HotSpot or if you enable your home or office wireless router to link up with your phone. Brilliant. I’m a T-Mobile wireless customer myself, and I’ve been extremely satisfied with their service, both in terms of their network and their customer service. A few years ago, when wi-fi was less common in hotels, I sometimes traveled with a router and plugged it into the hotel jack, creating my own in-room hotspot. With T-Mobile’s new service, I’d strongly consider carrying a cellphone-linked router with me once again.

Upgraded: Paris Wi-Fi
Another city goes wi-fi. This time, it’s Paris. David Ourisman reports on the new arondissements electroniques.

Upgraded: American Airlines to London… Stansted?!
With open skies a reality between the US and Europe, airlines have been announcing new and expanded routes across the Atlantic. American Airlines announced a route from New York-JFK to London-Stansted, the airport that Ryanair made famous. This is interesting, since it’s the first (corrected below) a major network flight between the US and the more obscure Stansted Airport. (Maxjet and Eos fly there, yes, but American’s use of Stansted is big.)
Update: Joe Brancatelli writes in to point out that American Airlines has actually flown to Stansted in the past, with a Chicago-O’Hare to London-Stansted flight that launched in 1992. So now, with Maxjet and Eos eating American’s premium-cabin lunch on the London route, American makes its (triumphant?) return. Thanks, Joe!

Downgraded: Check-in? (or is that Upgraded?)
Jared Blank picks up on Spanish airline Clickair’s promise to eliminate the need for check-in. No real details, but it reminds me of train service, where you get on and have your ticket punched by the conductor. I’m too tired to figure out how it might work, but first come, first served seating is nothing new, and “shuttle” flights have existed for years, so there’s no reason this couldn’t work on heavily-traveled, high-frequency business routes.

Downgraded: Alitalia
Could Alitalia be downgraded any further? Already plagued by bankruptcy, strikes galore, and general incompetences for years, the Italian flag carrier is killing its frequent flyer program. And from its ashes will be reborn a new program, but you’ll only keep your miles if you fly the airline twice in the first half of 2008. Gary Leff has the story. I share his disdain.

Upgraded, in theory: Designer airlines that may never fly
From a Newsweek article on how the ultra-rich are finding ways to burn through their substantial cash: “Brands like Versace, under new leadership, are moving beyond red-carpet dresses into areas like interior jet and auto design. Last year Donna Karan went a step further, researching the launch of a branded airline.” Donna Karan Airlines?? Would the name of that airline perhaps be DKJFKSFO? DKDFWPHX? Yeah, sure. The ultra-rich don’t fly commercial. Good luck with that venture…

Upgraded: American Express’ Starwood card
I’ve long been a proponent of the Amex credit card that’s linked with the Starwood Hotels program. Several e-mails in my inbox have alerted me to the recently upgraded bonus offer: Get 10,000 bonus points with first purchase, and (here’s the upgrade) 15,000 bonus points for charging $15,000 in the first 6 months. Nice bonus, if you can get it. Click here for the latest bonus offer. (aff)

Upgraded: Boeing’s 787
With much fanfare, Boeing rolled out its first 787 Dreamliner yesterday (on 7/8/07, har har har). The plane has a lot of potential to revolutionize air travel, and I’m excited at the prospect of actually flying in one someday. Sure beats the regional jets I’ve sat in lately… MSNBC’s photo page of the 787 rollout is here.

Speed round of Upgrades and Downgrades
Upgraded: Zeppelins! (Beware if Christopher Walken is on board.)
Downgraded: Airport showers at LAX.
Upgraded, as much as possible: Regional jets.
Upgraded: Latin America; Downgraded: Easter Island.
Downgraded: Traveling bulldogs.
Downgraded: Business class meals at the hands of a NYT food critic. Shocking.

Upgraded: Onboard pizza delivery
If you’re stuck on a plane for eight hours, the pizza is free! (While supplies last.) Yes, another airline incident, again on American Airlines, with passengers trapped on board the plane for hours on end. Been there, done that. It happened on April 24th, when a Dallas-bound 757 was diverted to Midland, Texas, but it took weeks for the news to trickle out, not even making real headlines anymore. (So when is that Passengers’ Bill of Rights making its way to the Congressional floor for a vote?…) But the reporting of the story contained this nugget that demonstrates the absurdity of the event: “Pizza was delivered, but only 50 to 70 slices, along with 30 bags of chips.” People weren’t allowed off the plane, but it was okay to order takeout?! And whom do we blame for messing up the order? Were they taking requests? If I were onboard and called in an order for barbeque, could I have had that delivered as well?

Upgraded: Ryanair’s pricing
Euroskinflint Ryanair took a consumer-friendly step in the right direction this week: The airline started quoting their prices inclusive of taxes. Considering the number of mandatory fees and taxes that are added on, that’s a significant change in policy. Good for them!

Downgraded: jetBlue’s CEO and his many apologies
JetBlue founder and CEO David Neeleman, who took a beating for the way his airline kept passengers stuck on board its planes for hours on end back in February, may have won some sympathy for his incessant apologizing after the incident, but his board of directors fired him anyway. “Sorry” doesn’t pay the bills, I guess.

Upgraded: Hotel wi-fi…for hotel management, not you
Next time you check in to a hotel, your minibar may get better internet access than you. Hotel managers are rolling out new features that link their back office to your room via wi-fi, as well as creating in-house wi-fi powered walkie-talkie systems for staff members. In other words, yes, they’ll use wi-fi to keep tabs on your minibar, but they’ll continue to charge you $10.95 a day for you to access your e-mail from your room. Lovely.

Upgraded: Deodorant
If your armpits have that certain je-ne-sais-quoi after you lug your rollaboard around for a few hours, then the TSA may soon try to register you in a database of travelers’ odors. I’m not entirely kidding. Wired reports that the federal government’s Technical Support Working Group is soliciting proposals for a system designed to collect human scents and record them in a database “for future use to track a specified target.” For civil libertarians seeking to avoid detection, the solution is simple: Start dousing yourself with other people’s sweat. “Freedom sweat,” anyone?

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Two hotel-related research items to point you toward:

First, HotelChatter rounds up the best hotel brands for wi-fi access. It’s not always free access, but preference is given to those brands that make the wi-fi gratis, especially in the rooms, and not just the lobbies. Check it out.

Second, Chris Elliott digs deep into the numbers of Hilton’s recent sleep survey. While the press release touts the 93% of guests who say they slept well on the road, 96% of guests report sleeping better at home. With all those pillow-top mattresses, fluffy duvets, and more pillows than any person could ever need, what’s keeping the hotel bed from besting the bed at home? What makes or breaks a good night’s sleep?

A third of respondents mentioned noise. Regular readers know what’s coming. My longstanding pet peeve: Loudly clicking and slamming hotel doors that let in 80% of the sound from the hallway. The bed wars may be over, but the door wars have yet to be fought.

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Your newspaper smells delicious, did you stay at an Omni?
Hotels’ “scent programs” and aromatherapy trends may have just jumped the shark. In a cross-promotional marketers’ fantasy come true, Omni Hotels have started slapping berry-scented stickers advertising Starbucks muffins on copies of USA Today. And the Wall Street Journal is considering adding scents to their advertising pages. Hopefully these odors won’t interfere with the whiff of lemongrass and green tea that’s being pumped into lobby spaces at the chain. What’s next, pay-per-view Smellovision?

Predict the next threat? A TSA-inspired contest
Bruce Schneier is running a contest to conceive of an absurd, fictional terrorist plot that would cause the TSA to start banning yet another product from airports. The more ludicrous the product, yet oddly plausible the threat, the better. Why? “The purpose of this contest is absurd humor, but I hope it also makes a point. Terrorism is a real threat, but we’re not any safer through security measures that require us to correctly guess what the terrorists are going to do next.” Partially-digested food, tooth-fillings, and zippers are front-runners in my book.

Enterprise Rent-a-Car buys Alamo and National
Enterprise is buying Vanguard Car Rental, the parent company of Alamo and National. The combined company would have over a million cars on its lots. Will rentals at Enterprise become more automated, like at Alamo/National? Will Alamo/National start doing the long walkarounds, hard-sells on CDWs, and secretly-negotiable rates?

Wi-fly
After the shutdown of Boeing’s Connexion satellite-based inflight internet service, other companies have been slow to start up service, which was promised nearly a year ago. Scott McCartney checks in with possible providers, and we’re still not there. But it’s coming “early next year.” And rest assured, Skype calls won’t go through. They’ll be blocked, so your fears of cellphone conversations can be kept at bay. Onboard wi-fi — which is already approved for service by both the FCC and FAA — will cost around $10 per day, and packages that link with existing services like T-Mobile HotSpot, Boingo, and iPass will be available. No word on which airlines will be the first to bite.

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Upgraded: Electric power at JFK Airport
More power, Scotty! Through an agreement with the Port Authority, Samsung will be installing electrical charging stations in each terminal of New York’s JFK Airport. Each of the 50 8.5-foot poles will have four separate outlets, suitable for charging your laptop or cellphone. (via NewYorkology)

Downgraded: Hilton Suites Phoenix
Opera soprano Alison Trainer is suing Hilton Hotels for subjecting her to a week of bedbugs at the Hilton Suites in Phoenix. “She looks like a piece of wood that has been attacked by termites,” said Trainer’s attorney, Kenneth J. Glassman. But why would she stay in the hotel — or even in the room — for a full week once she started noticing she had multiple bites in the morning?

Ms. Trainer’s roommate at the Hilton Suites Phoenix

Downgraded: Loyalty card kickbacks
Ron Lieber of the Wall Street Journal runs the numbers for his 2006 spending and loyalty point earnings. He values his rewards at $4,850. And that’s DOWN 78% from his previous year’s earnings? Yowza, nice work! But the takeaway: In the past year, it’s gotten harder to get a solid “return” on your credit cards, with banks less and less likely to give 5% rebates on everyday purchases.

Upgraded, I guess: Palmdale, California
Palmdale, 70 miles from Los Angeles, it has added “LA” to its airport name. I always think this renaming of airports to employ the big city’s name amounts to deceptive practice. (”Chicago Rockford International Airport”? Sorry, folks, Rockford isn’t Chicago. It’s 90 miles away.) But the plan seems to have worked, if the goal was to attract airline service and/or reduce load on LAX. (See here for a skeptical account of Palmdale’s chances.) Delta and United are both hoping to start service to the airport.

Upgraded: Avis rental cars; Downgraded: Private time
Avis is working with Autonet Mobile to create in-car mobile wireless hotspots. For $10.95 a day, a unit in the car creates a local hotspot for use with regular wi-fi cards. The signal, in turn, is transmitted along a cellular network to hit the big pipes on the internet. It’s a nice service, if you’re going to be using your laptop from your car. But jeez, do we really need to be THAT accessible?

Downgraded: Snowglobes
Sure, liquids are prohibited. But don’t forget, that includes snowglobes. Sigh.

Downgraded: Flour, sugar, eggs, Philadelphia
Hot tip: If you really need to transport flour through airports, don’t carry it in a condom. But if you DO arrest someone for carrying flour through an airport in condoms, don’t keep her in jail for three weeks, like Philadelphia did. The flour “mule” will sue. And you’ll pay her handsomely. (Thanks to Benet Wilson)

Upgraded: This blog?
Voting for the Bloggies is open. Vote early and often for your favorite blogs, as long as you vote by January 10. Shameless self-promotion aside: May the best blogs win!

Luke Mellor argues that hotels shouldn’t give internet access away for free, since doing so reduces their incentives to actually service the connection. I wholeheartedly disagree.

Unless upscale business hotels want to emulate some European ultra-discount airlines by offering a completely a-la-carte model for the provision of every hotel amenity, they should include such basic provisions as internet in the base room rate. Paying for wi-fi is fine at, say, a Motel 6, but not at, say, a Sheraton. (I know, the irony is that the lower-quality motel is more likely than the luxury hotel to offer the free amenities like phone calls and wi-fi.)

Which is why this following nugget makes me shake my head and mutter “unbelievable.” Shel Holtz recently paid $12.95 for wi-fi access at the Renaissance Toronto Hotel Downtown, only to be bombarded with banner ads that forced themselves onto his screen. He offered a rant on the subject on his blog.

Bad enough. But the real “crime” appears in the followup comments. Not only did these ads appear when Shel fired up the internet in his room. The ads similarly appeared the next day when he ran a wifi connection in the meeting room:

I’m in a meeting room doing a workshop. Here, I pay $25 per day for the wireless connection AND THE SAME DAMN ADS SHOW UP, which means my audience—people who paid to attend the workshop—have to see them. Unbelievable. Is anybody from Marriott paying any attention at all?

Unacceptable. In a business setting, after paying that kind of cash for a single day’s internet access (ridiculously high, by the way), there is no way you should be seeing ads.

I’m even willing to accept ads on a free internet connection, the same way I install NetZero on my laptop as an emergency backup ISP. (I admit, I haven’t used it in years, but it’s there, and I’ll put up with ads for the connection in a pinch.)

The Renaissance in Toronto, part of the Marriott chain, is not alone in this. It’s also not a chain-wide policy. The local franchisee apparently decided to milk a little more revenue out of the megabytes running through the hotel’s wires.

But forcing all paying customers to view ads for online poker while they’re conducting business in a public setting is out of line. Is it time for a Hotel Wi-Fi Hall of Shame Wiki ?

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Upgraded: Coach Seats on Cathay Pacific
You don’t hear much about economy class seats improving much. Sure, there’s lots of talk about upgrading business and first class. But it’s good to see the back of the bus being considered for upgrades. Cathay Pacific of Hong Kong, considered by many to be one of the best rides in the sky, is installing new seats that function much like business class pods: hard-shell seats that recline within the shell, not by pushing back into the space behind you. The tinkering extends the legroom without technically increasing the seat pitch. Sounds great! (via RoadGladiator)

Upgraded: Economy Snacks on American Airlines, at a Price
American Airlines will start testing a new program this week — and ONLY this week — to sell snacks in flight. Flights between Dallas and LAX, Dallas and Miami, and JFK and San Francisco are included in the test. Klondike Movie Bites ice cream, Otis Spunkmeyer Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Lay’s Stax Crisps or Twix ‘4 To Go’ candy bars will run you $3. Dannon bottled water (how many ounces??) will be $2 per bottle. Cookies, etc., fine. I wonder if the $2 bottle of water was devised before the latest airport security rules were relaxed. Not sure how many people will bite. Can’t you just get a cup or two poured for you for free?

Downgraded even more: The Ryanair Experience
Sensory overload! Ryanair is adding advertisements on the underside of the tray tables, so you’ll be staring at the ad for the duration of the flight. Yay. It just keeps getting classier. (via The Cranky Flier)

Upgraded: Continental’s Reputation
Boston’s Logan Airport wanted to make a buck by providing wi-fi access and charging everyone for it. Problem was, Continental’s clubs already provided wi-fi for free. The airport tried to shut down the free connection, but Continental resisted, took it to the FCC, and won. Hats off to Continental for defending the interests of their customers. (And if you want free wi-fi, hang out near the Continental Presidents Club and try to pick up a signal…)

tags: travel | airlines

The folks at TravelPost.com have compiled a handy directory of wi-fi providers and pricing at U.S. airports. It’s a good list.

One thing that’s missing is the wi-fi that’s provided by airline lounges. Continental’s President’s Clubs usually have free wi-fi, Red Carpet Clubs have a contract with T-Mobile HotSpot, etc. So if you hang out close enough to the club, you can pick up their wi-fi signal. Now you just need to find a power outlet… (see here for that.)

Related:
- FREE T-Mobile HotSpot access for 30 days
- Free stuff! Hotel stays, wi-fi, even wine…
- Power sockets, sponsored by Chase
- New site roundup

tags: travel | airports | wi-fi

Free hotel stays
Want to be a hotel inspector for Small Luxury Hotels of the World? You get one free night’s stay, but you have to get to the hotel on your own dime. Kitty Bean Yancey of USA Today links to the application for the “job” of hotel inspector. You’ll need to fill out a form detailing your lodging habits, and obviously not every applicant is accepted.

Free wi-fi
Yesterday I posted a link to get free T-Mobile wi-fi access. Reader Jeff passed on another great link: A list of airports with free wi-fi, without any introductory offers, etc. Just plain old free. Thanks, Jeff!

Free wine
Answer all 10 questions about wine correctly, and you’re in the running for a free mixed half case of wine, courtesy of Dr. Vino, the site devoted to “wine picks and politics.” Click here to take the quiz. Check out the recommendations for cheap-but-good wine, too. (update: quiz ends midnight tomorrow - Thursday, Sept. 7)

Free SuperBowl tickets
Another sweepstakes, courtesy of Southwest Airlines. Enter by buying a Southwest ticket with your Visa card, or by sending in your name. Details here.

tags: travel | free stuff | wine| wifi| hotels

Now through December 31, 2007, you can use this link to get 30 days of FREE T-Mobile HotSpot wi-fi access within the United States. Use it in most Starbucks, Borders, FedEx Kinko’s, Hyatt hotels, Red Roof Inns, and the airline clubs of American, Delta, United and US Airways. A full list of locations is here. Depending on the plan you choose at signup, you may need to call back to cancel. (You could choose the pay-as-you-go plan, which would incur no further charges, unless of course you use the service beyond the 30-day window.)

tags: travel | T-Mobile HotSpot

Coalition of conservative groups rewards porn-free hotels
Anyone who’s ever worked behind the scenes at a hotel will tell you that the pay-per-view pornography is a profit center. Now a coalition of conservative groups in the U.S. is targeting hotel porn, charging that it violates a range of local obscenity laws, and trying to get the FBI involved. They’re also publishing a list of porn-free hotels. I’d rather see an investigation of obscenely-priced minibar items. Or how about fighting for quieter doors?

JetBlue rewards one flyer a free t-shirt (in exchange for his civil liberties)
It’s not just British passengers who are afraid that brown-skinned passengers are all terrorists. Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi architect and blogger living in the United States, was treated to absolutely moronic security treatment at JFK airport a few weeks ago. Wearing a shirt with Arabic and English lettering, his shirt apparently bothered people enough to warrant an intervention by JetBlue and unnamed security officers. They insisted he change his shirt. After much wrangling, and after JetBlue bought him a NYC souvenir t-shirt, he succumbed and got onboard. Ughh. See here for an interview and here for a photo of him in the shirt, as well as his firsthand account of the events at JFK.

TSA rewards passenger’s fear of his mother with a cavity search
Advice: It’s better to be embarrassed and admit you’ve got a penis pump in your suitcase, even in front of your mom, than to say it’s a bomb.

Delta rewards well-dressed flyers
Dress spiffy on Delta, and you might get a prize. Really.

Europe rewards all flyers…with a fingerprinting
Coming soon to all European airports: all travelers will be required to submit to iris-scans or fingerprinting.

Banks reward loyal clients by refusing them access to cash overseas
Calling your bank before leaving the country, notifying them you’ll be traveling abroad, is always a good idea, so they don’t place a lock on your accounts. But apparently, that may not be enough. Some banks are blocking all ATM transactions in certain countries. See here for the story, and check with your bank.

Sherman’s Travel rewards U.S. postal service by going offline
The travel-deals website is going old-media, with a new magazine targeting readers interested in “luxury value.” Sounds a bit like this blog’s motto, no?

Reward thieves by using public wi-fi
Not much of a surprise, but public wi-fi, including that offered by hotels, is not very secure. Use a VPN or other security service whenever possible.

Second-mover advantage? ASiQ possibly rewarded by Connexion’s demise
Inflight internet over the oceans may soon be shut down, but ASI Entertainment claims to be stepping in with their inflight internet product. If it works, it would only be a quarter of the speed of Boeing’s soon-defunct Connexion. But if papa needs an internet fix…

(image: theimacguy)
tags: travel | JetBlue | airport security | hotel porn | ATM | hotels | airlines