A Buddhist monk walks onto a plane, returning home from a gathering of monks from around the world. There are many participants from the gathering on this plane but they are seated throughout coach class with only a handful having seats next to one another.

This monk is pleased that he has his requested preference of an aisle seat. But he struggles with his Buddhist practice as he slightly cringes about the woman seated next to him, in the middle seat. She is overweight, sweating, and clearly uncomfortable with the impending flight and her middle seat.

The Buddhist monk tries to be patient, understanding and compassionate. He offers her his aisle seat, despite his personal preference. He doesn’t want to be attached to it (non-attachment is the foundation of Buddhism, after all) and suggests that perhaps she would be more comfortable seated on the aisle.

Though she’s grateful, she declines, explaining that she’s uncomfortable in most seats and that even an aisle wouldn’t help.

The monk is slightly relieved, yet his patience is tested as the woman’s arms spill over into his seat and she continues to shift uncomfortably as more passengers board and the plane is preparing to depart.

It’s then that the monk realizes he has a solution to both of their problems. He has friends scattered throughout the plane and immediately begins looking for one seated just behind the bulkhead.

He finds a colleague who is fine with swapping for a middle seat to be next to his friend.

He returns to the woman who is delighted to have the chance to sit in the bulkhead where she will have more room.

And the monk is equally delighted to be sitting next to his friend AND to have provided a solution to an uncomfortable situation.

*****

Traveling is generally not comfortable for any of us. And it’s easy to be judgmental in the confined quarters of an airplane, where people regularly carry more luggage than they can lift into the overhead bin, stand in the middle of the aisle while others are trying to board and are just generally slovenly when they aren’t responsible for cleaning up the mess they leave behind.

Since hearing this story, (told to me BY that Buddhist monk), I’ve learned to approach air travel with a bit more patience. I’m pretty certain that someone’s given me the eye for accidentally hitting their knee with my carry-on bag, or for waking them because I just had to get to the restroom from my window seat.

Though it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to provide such a perfect solution to a problem like my monk-friend could, we all have plenty of opportunities to practice patience and compassion while we’re on the road.

Travel Well!

Beth

Related links:
Papua New Guinea – Off the Charts
The Google Factor – Ethical Travel
Airport Safety = Security Theater?

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Photo Credit: Laughing Buddhas – Swami_Stream
Photo Credit: Airplane Seat – Robert S. Donovan

A bit of background…

1. On Christmas Day, a Nigerian man tried to ignite an explosive on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. He was thwarted when passengers stopped him.

2. Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, read a statement on December 26 suggesting that passengers be “observant and aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious behavior…”. In effect making YOU Big Brother. Oh, and there was her line about security measures working properly because the bomb didn’t go off. Apparently she didn’t know it was passengers and NOT airport security that actually stopped the would-be bomber’s efforts.

3. On December 27, a TSA Security Directive was leaked to a couple of travel writers, including Steven (Fish) Frischling and Chris Elliott. Both posted the directives on their websites.

The Directive gave power to the pilots on many fronts including prohibiting passengers from getting up out of their seat beginning one hour prior to landing and preventing passengers from having pillows, blankets or personal items in their lap during that one hour. Some airlines limited the number of carry-on bags to just one.

4. On December 29, Federal Agents appeared at Chris’ and then Fish’s door, demanding access to their computers to find out who sent the leaked Security Directive. Chris denied their request and called his lawyer while Fish allowed them to make a copy of his hard drive. The agents returned the next day, took his computer, and then returned it damaged later that day.

5. The subpoenas against Fish and Chris were dropped on New Year’s Eve.

6. Finally, on January 3, the TSA released a new statement regarding security measures for international flights. The statement? It consists of one paragraph with few details:

“Because effective aviation security must begin beyond our borders, and as a result of extraordinary cooperation from our global aviation partners, TSA is mandating that every individual flying into the U.S. from anywhere in the world traveling from or through nations that are state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest will be required to go through enhanced screening. The directive also increases the use of enhanced screening technologies and mandates threat-based and random screening for passengers on U.S. bound international flights.”

*****

There’s been increased talk about adding full body scanners at airports, a likelihood after this most recent incident. According to CNN Travel, as many as 150 have already been purchased and an additional 300 units are expected by 2012.

Sure, the TSA folks have a hard job. But throwing higher-end technology at the problem won’t solve everything.

I have often (absent-mindedly) gone through a screening checkpoint having forgotten to pull out my quart-size bag containing liquids. No one’s noticed a thing. How thorough is THAT?

The Department of Homeland Security is using smoke and mirrors to give the impression that we are all going to be safer. Unfortunately, the problem is systemic. Throwing vague security directives at us does no good. Using the Christmas Day incident as reason to implement body scan machines (virtual strip searches) is ridiculous. Strong arming travel writers and bloggers into silence is pitiful.

Bad people are always going to find ways to do bad things. And while there are measures that can be implemented to help avoid catastrophes, being on a U.S. watch list (as our Christmas Day bomber was in the U.K.) would have averted this whole situation.

DHS – please don’t ask us to do your job. We’d feel safer if you would talk to other countries and share watch lists. Talk to other agencies and share info about potential terrorists. And when a father calls the authorities to alert them that he thinks his son is a terrorist? Listen.

Travel Well,

Beth

Related links:
Security Alert – Peanut Butter is Spreadable
Airport Safety = Security Theater?
Where Have all the Clunkers Gone?

Photo credit: security line – kalleboo

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I remember when one-way tickets could easily cost as much as the price of the entire round trip ticket. When I mentioned this to a group of women at my travel class at the Rick Steves Center last week, they all said, “Oh yes, one way tickets are much cheaper.” I must have missed the memo, but I don’t want you to!

To test my new theory, I checked on a few fares out of Seattle on multi-city trips. I chose non-holiday travel to make it a fair search and in addition to Expedia, I checked Orbitz. Keep in mind that this all took place within about a 30 minute time period. Here’s an example of what I found:

Seattle-Denver-Washington, DC – Seattle was $350 on Expedia

The one way tickets to these destinations added up to $295 on Expedia. I then went over to Orbitz to see what they could come up with and found:

Seattle-Denver-Washington, DC – Seattle was $292 on Orbitz

Here’s the kicker:

When I went back to double check the cost on Expedia, it had dropped to $298 after I checked Orbitz. Got that? The price on Expedia dropped less than 30 minutes later and only after I checked Orbitz. While I’m not saying that Expedia knows what I’m doing on other booking engines, I’m suggesting you check and recheck all of your options before finalizing your purchase.

Whether you’re searching for a roundtrip, multi-city or one-way fare, flights right now are cheap cheap cheap. Book as soon as you know your travel dates (prices will usually only go up the closer you get to departure, particularly for busy seasons like holidays).

Consider this:

• If you can be flexible, plug in days before and after your ideal travel dates to see if you can save some dough there. Alternately, some booking engines allow you to choose a “flexible dates” option.
• When flying multi-city, consider several one-way tickets.
• See my post about booking engines and check at least several options before clicking the buy button.

Plane tickets are expensive. Use the same judicious decision-making process you would for any large purchase and you should be able to find yourself a deal in these times when the airlines are clamoring for your business.

Travel Well,

Beth

Photo credit: Boarding Pass – Alex-s

Related links:
The American Travel Ethos
Flight Booking Engines – What Works?
What Makes a Travel Hotspot?
Unplugging While Traveling
Airport Safety = Security Theater?
Pretty Young Thang
How Not to be a Trashy Tourist

I asked one gentleman, who was obviously quite traveled (a lot of shaking of the head throughout my talk was a dead giveaway) how frequently he and his wife travel. He rattled off a long list of destinations and said that they leave the country at least once a year for at least a month. Spoken like a true foreigner.

Sure, his slight accent gave him away, but his travel habit made it obvious to me that he was not American (he was South African, by the way). Even though he has his own practice as a periodontist, he makes time to get away from his business for extended periods of time and readily admitted that this was quite unusual for Americans.

A 2009 survey from Expedia found that 1/3 of employees don’t take all of their vacation time. While this speaks (to a certain degree) to how individuals make personal choices, there might be something else underlying our reluctance to hit the road.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research calls the U.S. the No Vacation Nation. In a 2007 study, they determined that the U.S. is the only advanced economy in the world that doesn’t guarantee paid vacation for employees. That means you can take a job, work your 40 (or more) hours a week, and it’s considered a bonus to be given paid vacation time.

But when we are blessed with vacation time, what keeps us from taking the time off we earn and deserve? According to the Expedia survey, people who don’t take their vacation time do so for several reasons. They hope to receive compensation for unused time, they have a hard time planning ahead or their partner can’t travel during the same time period. What’s worse? One in five respondents admitted to canceling a vacation because of work. Ugh.

Are we really doing ourselves a favor by not giving ourselves a break from the 9-5?

I think not.

My own personal study says taking a break from our regular routine is extremely important in keeping our sanity. A person simply cannot “go” for 52 weeks at their demanding job without a bit of down time. And I mean more than a weekend. If you don’t take some time off, both your work and your personal life deteriorates.

Have you ever (gasp) canceled a vacation because of work or because your partner couldn’t join you? Would you prefer some cash from your employer rather than time off? What’s keeping you at home these days?

Travel Well,

Beth

Photo: Flag – kangotraveler
Photo: Sleeping Woman – ingorrr

Related links:
Flight Booking Engines – What Works?
What Makes a Travel Hotspot?
Unplugging While Traveling
Airport Safety = Security Theater?
Pretty Young Thang
How Not to be a Trashy Tourist

• When booking your next flight, book directly with an airline or with a trusted travel agent.

• If you do choose to book through a booking engine, don’t buy trip insurance.

My Reasons
I was on the edge of my seat a couple of weeks ago reading WanderMom’s account of her family’s flight to the U.K. being canceled. I felt really bad for WanderMom and her family but considered their experience to be an anomaly.

You see, I’ve been reluctant to jump on the bandwagon to say that the airline industry is a mess.

But I’m now convinced that it is. And booking-engines-as-middle-men are not helping.

I happened to take a peek at my April itinerary from Seattle to Bangkok (which I booked through Travelocity in December). I noticed that my layover in Taipei was 26 hours. 26 HOURS! My first thought was that I really screwed something up when I booked the ticket. Then I looked at the itinerary that I printed out right after making the reservation (thank goodness I’m so methodical) and saw that the original layover was just over 2 hours.

I discovered this on a Friday morning and I immediately got on the horn with Travelocity to find out “whassup”. (As a side note, I give all the customer service people I spoke with a lot of credit. Despite my rising concern, voice and anger, they all remained very calm and professional.)

And, one little piece of advice to Travelocity: please don’t try to mask the fact that you’re outsourcing your customer service to India by asking your employees to take on English names. This is simply insulting to me, as if I can’t hear their accent. (And folks, don’t call me racist, I wrote about a book about travel to India–I love the country and people–which is probably exactly why I don’t want to be misled about where exactly I’m calling.)

Without going through the full transcript, here’s the gist of what happened:

Friday morning
“Ben”, at Travelocity, told me that my original flight had been canceled and that I had been put on a flight the next day. I explained that it was unacceptable for me to arrive a day late. “Ben” said that all other flights that day were full and he tried calling EVA Airlines to confirm that they would refund my ticket so I could rebook on another airline. He said the phone connection to EVA was bad and he couldn’t get through. It wasn’t until later that I realized he was in India, trying to call EVA in Seattle — where I was calling from — and he couldn’t get through. He took my number and told me someone would get back to me in 4 to 8 hours (not 48). Absolutely someone would call me back. 35 minutes on the phone.

Saturday morning
No one from Travelocity called me back on Friday so I called again. I explained the issue to another agent (didn’t catch his heavy-Indian-accented-name) and remained on hold as he tried to decipher the issue. Got disconnected after about 25 minutes.

I called again and was helped by “Bond”. He told me that no one called me back on Friday because they never got through to EVA Airlines. And now EVA was closed for the weekend. It was his recommendation that I trust that EVA would give me a full refund and that I go ahead and book another flight to Bangkok through Travelocity.

I countered, “What if EVA doesn’t refund my flight and I book with you. I’ll have 2 flights then.” “Yes, good point, madame, maybe that’s not a good idea. Wait until Monday to rebook after we’ve confirmed the refund with EVA airlines.”

I asked, “What about the trip insurance I purchased when I booked my ticket? Does that guarantee my refund?”

“No.”

Apparently, if the airline cancels your flight, your SOL with the trip insurance you purchased. It doesn’t cover the cancellation and you don’t get a refund if the issue is with the airline!

My only option was to wait through the weekend and call on Monday morning to see about the refund from EVA on the ticket. Oh, and it would take 2 – 3 months for the refund to show up on my credit card. 25 minutes on the phone

Monday morning
I called again and this time spoke with “Kevin”. I explained that I was told to call back on Monday morning to confirm my full refund through EVA so that I could rebook my ticket for a more suitable flight. He was attempting to sort out the issue and get EVA on the phone. After about 40 minutes, I got tired of waiting and, while I was on my landline phone on hold with Travelocity, I called EVA directly on my cell phone.

I immediately was connected with a woman who was able to book me on a flight that leaves 30 minutes after my original flight out of Taipei. She wanted to know if it was OK that I would get in a half hour late into Bangkok? A HALF HOUR? You mean as opposed to the 26-hour layover in Taipei? Uh, yeah! That works for me.

On the other line, “Kevin” finally had gotten through to EVA where they offered the same flight that I had just re-booked directly. “Kevin” was kind enough to stay on the phone with me until an email arrived with my new itinerary. 1 hour on the phone (2 phones, actually)

Thursday morning
Thinking I should request seating assignments and vegetarian meals through the EVA site, I logged back into Travelocity to find out my ticket number. When I did so, I noticed that my itinerary had been reduced to: Taipei to Bangkok with a return the very next day back to Taipei. HUH? What happened to Seattle to Taipei?

Back on the phone. I spoke with “Michelle” to find out what the problem was. “Don’t worry… I will help you.” Really!? No one has apparently helped me yet.

She had to get EVA back on the phone to confirm the flights. For some reason it was not showing up properly in the Travelocity system but it was OK on the EVA site. Another 25 minutes on the phone

Total phone time – more than 3 hours.

It’s no secret that airlines are canceling and consolidating flights like crazy in order to fly as full as possible. I’m OK with that. I really am.

But if I have to spend 3+ hours on the phone and potentially lose my added trip insurance if the flight gets canceled, hmmm, I’m a not-so-happy-camper.

Until the airlines stabilize, the best advice I can give is to book directly whenever possible so you’re dealing directly with the company that can fix the problem or work with a travel agent whom will work on your behalf.

I’ve got many more flights I’ve yet to book this year. I’ll keep ya posted on how THAT goes!

Travel Well (and definitely, despite the hassles, keep on traveling!),

Beth

Photo Screamer: salvis.are

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