Upgraded: Crash landing with skill and aplomb
Bad news: A crash landing. Good news: No fatalities. Crash landings are no one’s idea of a good time, but when a Boeing 777 loses all power mid-air on final approach, and the plane crash-lands at London’s Heathrow, with no fatalities, that’s some fine aviating. Still way too early to know what happened, but hats off to the pilots for bringing a powerless hunk of metal to the ground without any lives lost. We can all be thankful for that.

Upgraded: Wine on US Airways
US Airways is rolling out new wine on board. The choice: Beringer. I guess it’s better than the private-labeled Chilean plonk they were pouring. (Thanks to Dr. Vino, unsurprisingly.)

Downgraded: Your tax dollars
You may have caught this a couple weeks ago, but there’s been an interesting discussion of the federal government’s “Essential Air Service” program. Bottom line: It’s not that essential, and it’s doubtful that communities are really benefiting much from this. See both Cranky and Evan Sparks for thoughtful critiques. Evan suggests that, if you’re going to subsidize air travel at all, you consider the Small Community Air Service Development program instead. “Huh?” you say? Go read the posts.

Upgraded: Air taxi and microjet life chances
The microjet concept, which I’ve been skeptical of (no bathrooms on board!), was on the rocks. Now, Eclipse Aviation, one of the leaders in this lagging field, got an infusion of fresh capital. We’ll have the microjet / very-light-jet (VLJ) concept to kick around for a few more years, it seems.

Upgraded: Merger odds
Sigh. It’s confirmed: Delta is in talks with United and Northwest, to discuss a possible merger. I continue to root against these mergers, as they’ll raise prices, create mayhem, and improve nothing except the CEO’s paycheck.

(Photo credit: Fair use is made here of a reduced-size crop from a larger unattributed image on bbc.co.uk.)

Regular readers know how frustrated I have been with inconsistent liquid-ban enforcement and the subsequent confusion over duty free purchases that ensues, like the finger-pointing contradiction-fest I experienced in Munich a while back. Travelers changing planes on multi-leg international flights (say, flying from New York to Frankfurt and on to Johannesburg) were especially hard-hit, with several different layers of regulation hitting them and their liquid cargo.

For the traveler with liquids in tow, two items may be of interest.

First, the European Commission adopted new rules for travelers changing planes in the EU member states, plus Switzerland, Norway, or Iceland. If the airport where you purchased your duty-free liquor adheres to “the two ICAO state letters (1 December 2006 and 30 March 2007), which set standards for tamper evident bags and security levels for supply chains to airport retailing,” then your precious cargo will not be confiscated by European airport personnel or law enforcement authorities. This effectively means that the European Commission now recognizes the security procedures of other airports as acceptable and adequate.

Of course, the problem is, how do you know that your departure airport fits the bill? And it may take some time before the new rules filter down to the people who enforce these rules on the ground. Still: A step forward for common sense.

Second, a reminder from Upgrade: Travel Better contributor Tyler Colman on the rules regarding duty-free limits on wine (or other alcohol, for that matter.) Very often, airport and airline staff unfortunately tell passengers about the “limits” on liquor, when in fact they’re referring only to the duty-free limits. As if the duty free limit is all you’re allowed to carry into the country. Not so!

If you’re flying back to the United States, you can carry in several cases of wine if you like, assuming 1) that you check it as baggage, packed nicely in a padded wine box, 2) that you have receipts indicating the purchase price of the wine, and 3) that you declare the wine to the customs agents when you arrive, and on your declaration form. You can bring plenty back from your travels, if you are willing to pay the taxes, but you only get very limited amounts duty-free. And how much are those taxes? 3%. THREE! That’s nothing! And travelers report that customs agents can’t be bothered to fill out the paperwork on such small amounts, so you might get off with a duty-free case or two.

Of course, carrying that much back means you’re dragging boxes through airports and possibly paying the airline an excess baggage charge. But don’t let anyone tell you you can’t take it with you.

Cheers!

Update:
Reader Steve writes in to point out that I glossed over an important point in Dr. Vino’s post: The rules on how much alcohol you can bring into the country are also set by the state where you land. A snippet from Steve’s e-mail, with a story of zealous liquor enforcement, below:

Your posting on booze coming back into the US is true, but incomplete.

While it is true that the Feds place no restriction on the amount of alcohol you can bring in some states do (or at least used to). So if your first port of entry is NY and NY State only allows two bottle (which used to be the case) then you can be forced to throw everything out beyond that.

That is exactly what happened to me, however it was almost 20 years ago and it is likely (though not certain) that the rules have changed. But since states are still firmly in control of these laws if you intend on bringing in more than the federal limit it would be prudent to call the ABC of the state you will be clearing customs in and ask what the regulations are.

Thanks, Steve!

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-Tyler Colman

Upgraded: Kayak.com introduces alliance-based search
Aggregator Kayak.com tweaked its search tools ever so slightly, allowing you to sort by alliance (Star, oneworld, Skyteam) and not just by airline. But you can only sort it that way AFTER you’ve the basic search. (You can search preferred airlines up front, so why not alliances? Meh.) Orbitz has allowed alliance search for some time, but this is the first aggregator that I’m aware of that’s doing this.

Upgraded: Hertz’s environmentalist credibility
Last September, Hertz rolled out its “Green Collection” of rental cars and I was thoroughly unimpressed. Buick LaCrosse? Come on. Where were the hybrids? Well, it took nine months, but Hertz finally got around to buying more genuinely eco-friendly vehicles, with a purchase of 3,400 Toyota Priuses (or is that Prii?). That’s more like it.

Upgraded: Wine in coach. Viva jetBlue!
JetBlue is serving up some slightly more interesting wines than usual the usual coach fare. Thanks to a partnership with Best Cellars, the airline is giving their all-economy class passengers a slightly better guzzle. Choosing wine for coach can be challenging, since it has to be a) cheap, b) in tiny ready-for-sale bottles, unlike in premium cabins, and c) pair-able with a wider range of foods. I hadn’t thought about that last one before: After all, the wine in business and first can presumably be paired with the menu (though that’s not always obvious). But in coach, a wine demands “versatility in pairing with a wide assortment of airport meals people bring on planes, including pan pizzas from Pizza Hut and Taco Bell burritos with chicken and mole sauce.” (Taco Bell has a mole sauce? Really?) Either way, good for jetBlue, and good for their wine-imbibing passengers. (Thanks Tyler!)

Downgraded: US Airways right to serve any wine
Unlike jetBlue… US Airways, which got into trouble for selling booze without a license in New Mexico a few months ago, and which has been serving the sauce with a temporary scrip since then, was denied an extension of its license this past week. Tough break. BYOB, anyone?

Upgraded: Marriott; Downgraded: Ian Schrager (or is it the other way around?)
Look, I happen to like Marriott hotels for what they are: Consistent, clean, competent, and overall comfortable spaces to spend the night. (4 C’s!) They usually don’t have too much bling or pizazz, though some of their big-city properties have that 1980s glitz that has an odd appeal to my mid-to-late-30s, graying-gracefully, receding-hairline self. So when I hear that they’re teaming up with Ian Schrager, king of the boutique hotel, to create a new boutique-y brand, I’m skeptical. It seems like a late-to-the-game attempt to create a “W” chain within a chain. If it adds a little funk to the Marriott decor, great. (Bye bye brass fixtures, please!) But it also smacks of desperation. And isn’t Ian Schrager past this? Seems like he’s here to cash in while the cashin’ in is good.

Upgraded: WestJet’s honesty; Downgraded: Little old ladies’ pensions
Canada’s WestJet (hearts) little old ladies. Not because they’re nice grandmas, but because they’re walking piggy banks, and the airline’s got a hammer. Consider this nugget from the airline’s president:

“There would be a little old lady coming up and she’d have a table and she’d have a chair and she’d have six or seven bags and we’d say ‘Yeah, take it on the plane. No problem.’ Now we’re actually going to charge a little bit of money for taking that table and chair and those extra bags on board. And that incremental revenue that we extract from that little old lady is very, very profitable to us. Some 85% goes to the bottom line.”

Good for him, for saying publicly what other airline executives discuss privately. So I guess the business traveler isn’t the company profit center; the rarely-traveled senior citizen is. Bank it.

Upgraded: Amputees and their TSA experience
Got a prosthetic? The TSA wants to make your security checkpoint experience kinder and gentler. Good! On the other hand…

Downgraded: Sippy cups, and TSA cinema verité
A former Secret Service agent reports that she was harassed when she accidentally carried her child’s sippy cup of water through security. Stupid enough, but it gets more absurd: The TSA actually released a silent security tape of the incident, labeled “Mythbusters,” in their own defense. Feel free to view the videos, read the incident report, review the embarrassed mother’s story, and decide for yourself.

Upgraded: Demolition
Let me make myself perfectly clear: I want to help destroy this hotel. I’ve never been to it, but I want to help Spanish hotel chain NH Hoteles wreck the Alcala Hotel in Madrid. The company is holding a contest to see who can take a sledgehammer to the joint. Only 30 lucky few will get to play rockstar-cum-wrecking ball. Let the spirit of Keith Moon guide you.

Group hug: Mergers and partnerships
JetBlue merging with Delta? Rumored, but unlikely. Brazil’s TAM and Germany’s Lufthansa? Not a merger, but a codesharing partnership. United is getting in on the hot codesharing action with TAM, too. Lufthansa also joined up with El Salvador’s TACA, already a United partner. Are the Star Alliance invitations far off? And keepin’ it Star, is Singapore Airlines buying China Eastern? They’re buying a piece, but how big will that piece be?…

Can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em?
British Airways, apparently in a response to the all-business class service from startups like Eos, Silverjet, and Maxjet, is considering rolling out all-premium service between unnamed European and American cities. Premium economy in the back, business in the front. No straight-up economy, and no first. (Thanks, Benet!)

Countdown to 7/8/07
Boeing has started assembling its first 787 Dreamliner, a plane manufactured in prefab pieces around the world and bolted together at the Everett factory. The debut is scheduled for July 8. 7/8/07… 787… har har har.

American updates website, makes it more like Southwest
American Airlines revamped their website, giving you an overview of the different fares you can book. The layout will be familiar, if you’ve ever booked on Southwest. Or Air Canada. Or Qantas. Or Ted. (Does anyone ever actually book tickets at the Ted site?)

Yapta comes alive!
Yapta, the service that tracks fares after you’ve bought, mentioned here last week, is now live.

Alaska Airlines downgrades their upgrades
If you used miles to upgrade flights on Alaska Airlines, you’ll have to buy far more expensive tickets in order to do so. Thumbs down. Gary Leff has the full scoop.

Skybus 2: What’s next, Amway?
Be careful if you try booking a “vacation package” on the Skybus website. It’s really a timeshare sales pitch. Classy.

Beats getting three toasters
In a smart marketing move, Northwest Airlines has started a gift registry. Friends and family can make payment toward air travel, such as for a honeymoon. Note that the registry funds can’t be applied to hotel, rental car, etc., as part of packages. Air only. But still, it’s surprising other airlines haven’t done this before.

This isn’t Singapore Airlines
Iris Peterson, the oldest flight attendant in America’s skies, has retired from United Airlines. She started flying in 1946 and is now in her 80s. Quite a bit of aviation history she’s witnessed, and a good number of job title changes, “sky girl” and “stewardess” among them. Congratulations to Iris! Though frankly I’m glad that she’s not flying anymore. Honestly, was she able to perform all safety duties? How productive would she have been during an emergency?

Red, white and drunk all over NYC
Got 36 hours to spend in New York? Does a bar crawl feel a little too college for you? How about a wine crawl? Alright then. Dr. Vino shows the way.

On top of the world, pissing down on creation
When you’re done with that wine tourism, you might need to hit the WC. For the gentlemen, why not seek out a urinal with a view?

Car rental by the hour goes mainstream
Hertz and other big rental car firms must be feeling some heat from Zipcar, Flexcar, iGo, and other regional short-term rental companies. The big guys are increasingly offering hourly rates for their cars. Unlike hotels, hourly rates are a good thing, especially for business travelers doing same-day hit-and-run visits to cities.

Downgraded: Lavender
Update: The controversial and lame American Airlines website for women got a minor redesign, as Meg at the Consumerist noticed. See the before-and-after screenshots above. The criticism must have gotten to them. Gone is the lavender flight search box, though it’s still a dumbed-down version with fewer options than the main search page. Is this progress?

Upgraded: US Airways, Downgraded: Southwestern temperance
The booze is back in the Land of Enchantment! US Airways is once again serving alcoholic drinks on flights to and from New Mexico. Recall that they got busted for serving liquor without a license. Tipple with impunity.

Downgraded: Late night arrivals at Detroit; Upgraded: Odds of a PBOR
It happened again. Passengers were stuck on a plane for hours, bathrooms had no water, etc. A late-arriving Spirit Airlines flight from Cancun couldn’t be processed after landing (at 11 p.m.), because Homeland Security’s Customs/Immigration agents had gone home for the night. It took until 4 a.m. the next day for passengers to be let out. Update: Or the plane landed early! And Customs’ computers were down. And passengers left the plane at 12:30 a.m., if you believe Customs. Or later, depending on who’s telling the story.

Upgraded: Lufthansa first class seating
No preview images yet, but Lufthansa is upgrading their first class cabins, beginning with winter 2008. The new seats were meant to debut with the A380, but given the delivery delays, they’re just rolling them out anyway.

Upgraded, potentially: Baggage screening
Assuming the bill survives a veto threat from President Bush, airports across America could receive new equipment that supposedly screens baggage faster and more accurately than previous versions. Why the veto threat? The bill also contains a provision permitting TSA agents to unionize.

Downgraded: Flights from LAX
United Airlines and Los Angeles World Airports are having a spat about the rent. United says the rent hike is a violation of the lease agreement, but until the dust settles, they’re charging passengers who board a flight at LAX an extra $10 to cover the difference, even though the actual costs to the airline are allegedly a lot less. Now Delta and US Airways have followed suit and raised fares out of LAX by the same $10. Lovely.

Upgraded: Baltimore!
Layover at BWI? Grab a glass of wine at the newest branch of Vino Volo, the chain of in-airport wine bars. Other locations include Washington Dulles, Sacramento, and Seattle. (Via Jaunted)

Upgraded: Hotel lobbies
Luxury lockdown! “Why should they be leaving the hotel and hanging out at the nearby Starbucks?” So Starwood and others hope to tempt you to stay within the compound by creating “internet lobby lounges.”

Upgraded: Japanese wine; Downgraded?: JAL wine lists
JAL, aka Japan Air Lines, is bringing a Japanese wine to the sky. Aruga Branca Clareza 2005, made from the indigenous Japanese Koshu grape, will be available in business class. Interesting, to be sure, but has anyone ever had it? Is it any good? Reviews are pretty sparse.

Upgraded: Flying Squirrels
Paging Rocky and Bullwinkle! Stowaway squirrel causes emergency landing on an American Airlines 777 bound from Tokyo to Dallas.

Upgraded: Ease of booking a private jet
Paging Charles Dickens! It may be the worst of times for many coach travelers, but it’s never been easier to book a private jet. There have been discounted (but not cheap) private jet repositioning flights for some time, but aggregator SideStep is now offering a search function for private jets.

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German WhaleJet to beach on American shores
The Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger airplane, will make its American debut on March 17. Lufthansa is flying the plane from Frankfurt to New York’s JFK, in part to test the plane on long-haul routes, and also to show the behemoth off to VIPs. The plane flies onward to Hong Kong as well.

I hope he wasn’t riding commando
Hans Jurgen Oskar von Naguschewski, a German (obviously) traveler, going through the security checkpoint at Manila airport, took off his pants, seemingly in protest. He was arrested, and could face jail time of six months to six years. Maybe he’s accustomed to flying Naked Air.

‘Tis the season for blog awards
The Travvies aren’t the only web awards going on right now. In the wide world of wine blogs, they’re picking their faves right now, too. Lots of good blogs to consider, but I personally cast my ballot for the aforementioned Dr. Vino, friend-of-the-blog. (Ok, admittedly, this last item isn’t about Germany or Germans, but sometimes these blogs might debate German wine…)

Auctioning meals isn’t entirely new, but it’s usually been limited to gift certificates. (Several years ago, my wife and I won an eBay auction for a gift certificate to Charlie Trotter’s restaurant in Chicago. Saved around $150 on that meal. Whoo!)

PriceYourMeal takes it a step further, by letting you bid for a set number of diners’ meals, or for a specific menu. Sometimes wine or drinks are included. The company also offers “buy-it-now” options to prepay a meal at a discount to the menu price.

Occasionally, hotel-sponsored dinner/room/breakfast packages appear, like a “Ramada Jarvis – Hangover January Party and room” package in Gourock (£50.00 starting bid).

80 restaurants participate in Glasgow, with Edinburgh coming online this month. London is next, with the goal to cover all major UK cities.

Whenever I travel, I always end up browsing the local supermarkets. It starts with a need, but it ends up being a form of tourism. Some people visit monuments, I visit food stores.

Ever the lush, I tend to drift toward the liquor department, and there are sometimes interesting (though not necessarily good) finds. I’ve got a guest post up at Dr. Vino’s wine blog on Californian wine in German supermarkets and the mystery of the Sierra Valley.

Browse on over and check it out.

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Now, according to a growing message board thread on FlyerTalk, United Airlines staff at LAX has apparently been refusing to allow wine in checked luggage.

This is absolutely ridiculous.

While airlines are legally within their rights to impose tougher restrictions on passengers than the TSA demands, it is completely arbitrary to prohibit wine transport in checked luggage, and only at one airport in America. You’re not allowed to carry wine onboard in your hand luggage, so checked luggage is the only legal means. And other airlines clearly don’t have the same restrictions. (Consider these tips for packing and shipping wine when you travel.) Further lesson: Don’t “declare” that you have wine if checking in at United in LAX. And if you’re only carrying one or two bottles, be sure to pack them tightly.

(As an aside, I’ve had surprisingly good experiences shipping fragile/breakable liquids in checked luggage: Flying from Germany to the United States a few years ago, I transported multiple bottles of beer and a couple jars of jam in my suitcase. I had packed it well, using bubble wrap and newspaper. I cleared customs and connected in Detroit, where I had to re-check my suitcase. The TSA opened everything up and shifted the suitcase contents around. But to their great credit, they not only returned the beer and food to the suitcase — they lovingly wrapped things even more, using clear packing tape, and an artfully-placed single band of “TSA inspected” label tape. Photo above.)

As the Cranky Flier rightly suggests, the wine prohibition at LAX demonstrates one of the biggest problems in the relationship airlines have with their customers: Inconsistency. Whether the rules officially vary from airport to airport (e.g., check-in times, luggage policies…) or are seemingly invented by front-line employees (e.g., lounge privileges, wine transportation…), the customer still comes away feeling frustrated. Not a great way to make friends and influence people.