http://www.gadling.com/2011/06/02/fortnighter-launches-providing-customized-e...

I go back and forth on travel agents. We used one once for a trip to
Belize and I don't think we got anything beyond what we could have
done ourselves. We have also had a few mediocre experiences when
self-booking. Not many since my wife digs in, reads a lot, and works
through a ton of issues.

$100 isn't much for a one week vacation which might cost a few
thousand dollars. I notice JetSetter (get the iPad app and enjoy the
dream of being wealthy) is offering a similar service. I'd like to try
both next time we have vacation dollars and time... which won't be
soon after moving back to the US but hey, I can dream too!

Not bad, not bad. Since I am a frequent flyer they let me into the fasttrack line which is always nice. What isn't so nice... when you are entitled to fasttrack but for some reason you aren't allowed to. I never know why that happens, what the difference is. And since my French is rudimentary I certainly cannot argue the point very well.

Any vignettes from the first security check of the day? Well I did get stranded behind the older couple. Who were wearing five or six layers of clothing and appeared to be surprised when they were asked to remove their coats. At this point the line came to a grinding halt as these people would remove a coat, ask if they needed it on the belt, then acted surprised. I want to have enough money when I get that old so one of my kids can fly with me and assist with whatever is going on then.

And then there was the woman with her two kids who decided to bring yogurt, fruit juices, etc. through. Sure, I understand there is no real danger from yogurt and fruit juice. But c'mon, this liquid restriction isn't new. And it's not like it was a single bottle a kid forgot, or a yogurt snack. She had boxes of the stuff.

We'll see how it goes at LHR today. I can't recall a time when someone didn't really struggle there. It's usually jewelry which is the problem but I have also seen a variety of sharp things, "oh you mean *this* knife cannot go through security..." as well as the usual junk like a water bottle tucked into a pocket and forgotten, etc.

Oct 30 2010: we're having breakfast in a B and B in Waterville, Ireland. We had booked a trip out to the Skellig Islands but the weather was too nasty. So we discussed what we'd do for the day in this tiny town. Kellen pipes up with "we could just spend the day in a pub". True, true. Made me smile.

I received a new response from British Airways today in my "saga". The gist of this response I think is:

1. It's a silly policy, but it's *our* policy
2. I understand you spend tens of thousands of euros with us annually
3. We're tired of you doing so, please give that money to another carrier

Below is the actual response. Simply put when I book a rewards flight with miles my family does not benefit. Frankly I'm astounded. BA is deciding to lose thousands of euros for a 100 euro service fee. And yet airlines moan all the time how they lose money. Perhaps it's poor customer service like this for their best customers?

Dear Mr Steckler Thank you for coming back to us. I am sorry that you are unhappy with our response, which was well reflecting your concern about your family not being able to select seats. Our seating policy is in place since 2009 but you may not have realized it as as a Gold Member you were still entitled to a free seat selection for your personal travels. I understand you remain unhappy and I will certainly pass on your comments to our Management Team to let them know your impressions. Thank you again for contacting us and for giving me an opportunity to look at your case again. I hope our decision will not deter you from flying with us in the future. Best regards [name deleted] British Airways Customer Relations Your case reference is:[case reference deleted]



I fly a lot. I fly long-haul from Europe to the United States at least 8 times each year, often more. For an airline that is nice money. And when I fly I tend to fly British Airways. Why? It's a little longer and I need to transfer through Heathrow but overall the level of service aboard is better than what I find on Air France or Lufthansa. SAS is no longer flying the route I want so that is sadly out.

After accumulating hundreds of thousands of air miles I decided to take my family on a trip. And here is where the problems start.

1. There are no flights available. But hey, we are flexible and rather than fly to Seattle we will fly to Vancouver and drive down.
2. There are no business class seats available. Well darn. I have a lot of miles and wanted to treat my family to the upgrade experience. But okay, coach it is.
3. What's that? In order to select seats for my family I need to spend 25 euros per person each way? Huh?

So I called BA. I asked about issues 1 and 2 but really, I can't get that excited about this. Next time I will book a little earlier. But issue 3? You are seriously going to nickel-and-dime me on this? I spend loads of money on flights each year, certainly even skipping one flight with BA will cost them more than they will ever earn from this pathetic surcharge. As a business I expect BA to have a customer support team and they do. So I write. And get essentially a form letter back explaining that BA instituted this cool new feature so people wanting seats could pay for them. Hello? Did you read my email where I explained that according to their own rules as a Gold card member I don't have to pay for this? Or I don't know, did it occur to anyone that perhaps this is my last flight on BA and will now switch to Air France which is overall more convenient? In my response today I pointed out that this is penny-wise, pound-foolish. Do you think they will care? Do you think anyone will even notice as they lose a valuable customer? I await their next response to see how bad their customer support is.

For our anniversary this year we cycled 80 km from Paris to this lovely chateau. This is a place I have never heard mentioned before. I think for non-locals it's just far enough away that a trip to Paris wouldn't justify the time in a car. For locals perhaps it's too close, if you have a weekend you can get to the beach or the coast. But for an overnight trip, especially on bikes, this was lovely.

Couple of photos from a trip to Cassis. I had to work and so couldn't make it but the family looks like they had fun. Best part had to be K playing his guitar along the seawall.

Small delay getting out the door today. We're off to explore the beaches of Normandy with Bill & Sharon. Should be perfect weather: cold and rainy! Just like a family from Seattle usually holidays:-)

One of the best things about Piegaro... Playing foosball. Because there isn't much to do and that's the way we like it.

We drove to Burgenstock* yesterday which is near Luzern. This is a lovely day-trip from Zurich. Burgenstock itself is a glamour resort (apparently). It opens in late March so everything was closed when we got there. I suspect in the real season very wealthy stroll about and enjoy the views which are spectacular. The image below is from the top of the mountain. The structure is an elevator which goes all the way to the lake (you can catch a ferry to and from Luzern).

It's not a wilderness hike, it's not quite as rugged as we were looking for. But on a lovely spring day when we had no plans it fit the bill nicely.

Here is the map (surprisingly Live maps found something in Switzerland. That is a first!)

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* How do I get umlauts in Live Writer? Alt+0252 should do the trick but Writer misinterprets this. So does Word of course which has it's own key combination which I can never remember. In Word you type Ctrl+Shift+:,  then the letter and voila, umlauts. This doesn't work in Live Writer though.