So, Japan and the United States have finally agreed to agree on an open-skies pact after a decade of on-again, off-again negotiations. If antitrust regulators are satisfied with the deal, it will go into effect next year, opening up landing slots at major airports on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, and offer more choices for consumers.
The often-delayed agreement came about in spite of the strenuous objections of, most notably, Delta Air Lines, which inherited a number of lucrative landing slots at Tokyo's Narita International Airport when it swallowed Northwest Airlines. With United Airlines as the only other major U.S. carrier bidding for trans-Pacific trade with Delta and the big Japanese carriers Air Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines, Delta wanted to keep American Airlines and other potential U.S. rivals out of the market. The open-skies pact will let them in.
As is so often the case in the corporate world, executives in the airline industry sing paeans to the joys of competition and the glory of the free market. Then, they get some actual competition, and when that happens, they change their tune. In this case, what is bad for airlines that fear open competition is good for travelers. More flights, more carriers and hopefully lower fares should come about thanks to the coming open-skies deal, with its liberalized rules
Monday, December 14, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Read All About It: SAS Crew Guide 2010
I have written before about the SAS Crew Guide, an airline insiders' book of travel tips that's updated, coordinated and published every year by Scandinavian Airlines. Well, the latest, 6th edition of the guide, the 2010 version, is out. It's worth the 15 euros (about $22 U.S.) that SAS charges for a copy (http://www.sasguides.com/).
The Crew Guide is a compact paperback, small enough to fit into a pocket or a purse. It contains the personal recommendations of several hundred well-traveled crew members - chiefly, flight attendants, pilots and pursers - at SAS and seven other airlines, including Air Canada, Austrian Airlines and TAP Portugal. The new edition covers 22 international cities, in Europe, North America and Asia. Recommendations are bite-sized: a single sentence to a paragraph or two, and cover places to eat, shop and play (the latter usually clubs and discos). I have used earlier editions of the book on my travels and found them useful.
The 2010 edition has some new wrinkles. It starts off with top 5 picks in 20 categories - outdoor terrace, high-altitude city views, Vienna-style coffeeshops, and more - the "100 new tips'' touted on the cover. The destinations tend to closely track the SAS route structure; thus, great cities like Tokyo - which went missing this year - and good ones like Seattle, which SAS no longer serves, are no longer included. Pity. But many terrific cities are included, among them London, New York, Paris, Stockholm and next year's Olympic city, Vancouver.
I am a well-traveled fellow myself and I am a guidebook author, both of which mean I am opinionated, like the contributors to the Crew Guide. In my opinion, the Crew Guide gives far more attention than it should to New York City - 44 pages, nearly double runner-up Bangkok's 24 pages and absurdly more than Chicago's 10 and Berlin's inexcusably skimpy four. One featured destination, Canada's beautiful and enjoyable Vancouver Island, is not a city.
So, I have some quibbles. But then, as the author or co-author of five books, I well understand that no book can please everyone. This book reflects its contributors' tastes, and they have come up with plenty of good leads to entertain, instruct and guide. Besides, you have to savor a book that revels in the quirky particularity of both its contributors and its subjects:
"Absolutely the best cakes in Scandinavia,'' asserts Theis Fabech J, air host for SAS, in an endorsement of Copenhagen's Dessertdragens Kagevaerksted (http://www.dessertdragen.dk/). "Both traditional and very untraditional cakes. You can have everything from brownies to cheesecake with cucumber, depending on the day and the mood of the owner.''
The Crew Guide is a compact paperback, small enough to fit into a pocket or a purse. It contains the personal recommendations of several hundred well-traveled crew members - chiefly, flight attendants, pilots and pursers - at SAS and seven other airlines, including Air Canada, Austrian Airlines and TAP Portugal. The new edition covers 22 international cities, in Europe, North America and Asia. Recommendations are bite-sized: a single sentence to a paragraph or two, and cover places to eat, shop and play (the latter usually clubs and discos). I have used earlier editions of the book on my travels and found them useful.
The 2010 edition has some new wrinkles. It starts off with top 5 picks in 20 categories - outdoor terrace, high-altitude city views, Vienna-style coffeeshops, and more - the "100 new tips'' touted on the cover. The destinations tend to closely track the SAS route structure; thus, great cities like Tokyo - which went missing this year - and good ones like Seattle, which SAS no longer serves, are no longer included. Pity. But many terrific cities are included, among them London, New York, Paris, Stockholm and next year's Olympic city, Vancouver.
I am a well-traveled fellow myself and I am a guidebook author, both of which mean I am opinionated, like the contributors to the Crew Guide. In my opinion, the Crew Guide gives far more attention than it should to New York City - 44 pages, nearly double runner-up Bangkok's 24 pages and absurdly more than Chicago's 10 and Berlin's inexcusably skimpy four. One featured destination, Canada's beautiful and enjoyable Vancouver Island, is not a city.
So, I have some quibbles. But then, as the author or co-author of five books, I well understand that no book can please everyone. This book reflects its contributors' tastes, and they have come up with plenty of good leads to entertain, instruct and guide. Besides, you have to savor a book that revels in the quirky particularity of both its contributors and its subjects:
"Absolutely the best cakes in Scandinavia,'' asserts Theis Fabech J, air host for SAS, in an endorsement of Copenhagen's Dessertdragens Kagevaerksted (http://www.dessertdragen.dk/). "Both traditional and very untraditional cakes. You can have everything from brownies to cheesecake with cucumber, depending on the day and the mood of the owner.''
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Will Registered Traveler Return?
There's nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come, but what about an idea whose time has come and gone?
This could well be the situation that registered-traveler programs - a way of fast-tracking frequent fliers through airport security checks in the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks -now face. This, despite today's announcement that the sole surviving RT provider (out of three) has agreed to partner with a corporate and government biometric ID provider that will allow consumers to enroll in an RT program at places other than airports, starting in January.
Pasadena's FLO Corp., that self-same survivor, struck a deal with Chantilly, Vir.-based Cogent Systems to use Cogent's 1,000 physical locations to enroll travelers in FLO's RT program. FLO claims in a Dec. 10 press release that 200,000 people signed up at $100 to $200 a pop, per year, "over the last several years ...'' The release doesn't say where those 1,000 new locations are, and a visit to Cogent's Web site hasn't turned up their locations, either. I haven't seen any flashing neon signs reading "RT enrollment here,'' so this is still a matter of some interest. Cogent does business with numerous U.S., state and local government agencies, and with corporations, providing palm-and-fingerprint electronic reads to establish a person's identity.
Registered traveler, which took several years to barely get off the ground after 2001, nearly vaporized in June 2009, when the largest RT vendor, Verified Identity Pass's CLEAR, ran out of money and shut down. Only a handful of U.S. airports participated in any version of RT, so in theory providing 1,000 new places to enroll - wherever they are - and accelerating FLO's efforts could speed RT's return.
But then again, maybe not. All this begs the question of whether travelers want RT, and are willing to pay for it. Originally conceived as a way of whisking trusted fliers past airport security hassles with a minimum of muss and fuss (after they passed background checks and provided their biometerics), the programs evolved - or did they devolve? - from security nets to concierge services. Commercial RT programs took paying members to the front of the security line, but did little else. Members still had to remove their belts, take out their laptops, take off their shoes and do everything other travelers have to do at stressful U.S. airports.
Moreover, much of what an RT program does is done already by many airlines for premium customers - and at no extra charge. For instance, when I departed Mumbai airport last month on Egyptair, I was walked right up to the check-in desk and whisked through airport security in a separate line because I was flying business class. A similar thing happened to me in September at San Francisco International Airport, when I departed for Hong Kong aboard Cathay Pacific Airways, again in business class. A Cathay employee walked me to security, hoisted my luggage onto the conveyor belt at the X-ray machine, helped me re-pack on the other side of security, then walked me to the business lounge, chatting pleasantly.
RT programs may yet revive in the U.S. and make a go of it as some kind of "bespoke'' customer service, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Most people see them as costly and superfluous, and there's a good chance that perception will hold.
This could well be the situation that registered-traveler programs - a way of fast-tracking frequent fliers through airport security checks in the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks -now face. This, despite today's announcement that the sole surviving RT provider (out of three) has agreed to partner with a corporate and government biometric ID provider that will allow consumers to enroll in an RT program at places other than airports, starting in January.
Pasadena's FLO Corp., that self-same survivor, struck a deal with Chantilly, Vir.-based Cogent Systems to use Cogent's 1,000 physical locations to enroll travelers in FLO's RT program. FLO claims in a Dec. 10 press release that 200,000 people signed up at $100 to $200 a pop, per year, "over the last several years ...'' The release doesn't say where those 1,000 new locations are, and a visit to Cogent's Web site hasn't turned up their locations, either. I haven't seen any flashing neon signs reading "RT enrollment here,'' so this is still a matter of some interest. Cogent does business with numerous U.S., state and local government agencies, and with corporations, providing palm-and-fingerprint electronic reads to establish a person's identity.
Registered traveler, which took several years to barely get off the ground after 2001, nearly vaporized in June 2009, when the largest RT vendor, Verified Identity Pass's CLEAR, ran out of money and shut down. Only a handful of U.S. airports participated in any version of RT, so in theory providing 1,000 new places to enroll - wherever they are - and accelerating FLO's efforts could speed RT's return.
But then again, maybe not. All this begs the question of whether travelers want RT, and are willing to pay for it. Originally conceived as a way of whisking trusted fliers past airport security hassles with a minimum of muss and fuss (after they passed background checks and provided their biometerics), the programs evolved - or did they devolve? - from security nets to concierge services. Commercial RT programs took paying members to the front of the security line, but did little else. Members still had to remove their belts, take out their laptops, take off their shoes and do everything other travelers have to do at stressful U.S. airports.
Moreover, much of what an RT program does is done already by many airlines for premium customers - and at no extra charge. For instance, when I departed Mumbai airport last month on Egyptair, I was walked right up to the check-in desk and whisked through airport security in a separate line because I was flying business class. A similar thing happened to me in September at San Francisco International Airport, when I departed for Hong Kong aboard Cathay Pacific Airways, again in business class. A Cathay employee walked me to security, hoisted my luggage onto the conveyor belt at the X-ray machine, helped me re-pack on the other side of security, then walked me to the business lounge, chatting pleasantly.
RT programs may yet revive in the U.S. and make a go of it as some kind of "bespoke'' customer service, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Most people see them as costly and superfluous, and there's a good chance that perception will hold.
Heads Up: Two Air Fare Flash Sales
If you are interested in holiday and winter travel, there are some good deals out there for flights within the United States and across the Atlantic - the latter in business class. But you'll have to move quickly to take advantage of them.
Up until midnight EST on Thursday, Dec. 10, American Airlines is pushing a short-lived economy-class fare sale on its U.S. domestic network. One-way fares based on a round-trip purchase include fares such as: Philadelphia-Miami from $64; Chicago-New Orleans from $89; Los Angeles-Orlando from $129. Tickets must be booked on the airline's Web site, aa.com. What does 'from' mean? It means listed fares don't include taxes and fees, which will boost the total a little. Also, the lowest listed fares apply only to designated days: Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. Fares have been lowered on other days, too, just not as much. The sale is good for travel through March 10, 2010. There are blackout dates, namely: Dec. 18-20, Dec. 22-30, Jan. 2 and 3, Feb. 12 and 13, Feb. 15 and Feb. 20 and 21. For more info, go to www.aa.com.
Leading German carrier Lufthansa has also got a brief - i.e. flash - sale on offer. It is discounting trans-Atlantic business-class fares until Friday, Dec. 11, and the informative bargain-hunting site Travelzoo says fares have been slashed by as much as 70 percent on selected routes. Sample one-way fares include: Boston-Lisbon, $782; Detroit-London, $1,069; Miami-Amsterdam, $1,082. I have flown Lufthansa in business class (and in economy class, as well), and while it doesn't have all the latest bells and whistles of the premium Asian carriers, it is comfortable and well-run. For details, go to www.lufthansa.com. Travel dates in this sale is for departures from Dec. 23 to Jan.1, with returns by Jan. 9.
These two quickie sales sound good to me. But, as always, conduct your due diligence and read the fine print. And if you do book, happy travels.
Up until midnight EST on Thursday, Dec. 10, American Airlines is pushing a short-lived economy-class fare sale on its U.S. domestic network. One-way fares based on a round-trip purchase include fares such as: Philadelphia-Miami from $64; Chicago-New Orleans from $89; Los Angeles-Orlando from $129. Tickets must be booked on the airline's Web site, aa.com. What does 'from' mean? It means listed fares don't include taxes and fees, which will boost the total a little. Also, the lowest listed fares apply only to designated days: Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. Fares have been lowered on other days, too, just not as much. The sale is good for travel through March 10, 2010. There are blackout dates, namely: Dec. 18-20, Dec. 22-30, Jan. 2 and 3, Feb. 12 and 13, Feb. 15 and Feb. 20 and 21. For more info, go to www.aa.com.
Leading German carrier Lufthansa has also got a brief - i.e. flash - sale on offer. It is discounting trans-Atlantic business-class fares until Friday, Dec. 11, and the informative bargain-hunting site Travelzoo says fares have been slashed by as much as 70 percent on selected routes. Sample one-way fares include: Boston-Lisbon, $782; Detroit-London, $1,069; Miami-Amsterdam, $1,082. I have flown Lufthansa in business class (and in economy class, as well), and while it doesn't have all the latest bells and whistles of the premium Asian carriers, it is comfortable and well-run. For details, go to www.lufthansa.com. Travel dates in this sale is for departures from Dec. 23 to Jan.1, with returns by Jan. 9.
These two quickie sales sound good to me. But, as always, conduct your due diligence and read the fine print. And if you do book, happy travels.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Why Open-Skies Should be Good for Travelers
Japanese and U.S. negotiators are beavering-away this week in Washington, D.C., trying to nail down the final details of an open-skies agreement between the United States and Japan. Travelers should hope they succeed. An open-skies agreement would liberalize the rules governing aviation between Japan and the U.S., potentially benefiting passengers.
New rules would allow greater access to trans-Pacific routes and give U.S. and Japanese airlines access to more airports, offering travelers more choices of airlines, flights, destinations - and, in theory, lower fares.
Under rules written shortly after World War II, Japan's erstwhile national flag carrier, Japan Airlines, and its major rival, All Nippon Airways, have been granted access to selected U.S. airports. Delta Air Lines (by buying Northwest) and United Airlines (by buying old Pan American Airways routes) control lucrative landing slots at Tokyo's Narita International Airport. They are the only two U.S.-based passenger airlines legally permitted to operate there in a big way. Open-skies would allow more airlines to become major players and increase competition.
A far-reaching pact could also clear the way for antitrust immunity for global airlines that want to hook-up and forge code-share arrangements, fly customers on each other's planes, use each other's airport lounges and send people onward on each other's routes. This would, for example, permit an American business traveler to fly to Tokyo Narita airport on-board American Airlines, then onward into the hinterlands of China on AA partner airline JAL.
This can all get a little technical and wonky, to be sure. But if an open-skies pact is signed - media reports predict a deal as early as this week - a more-seamless travel experience on both long-haul routes over the Pacific and short-haul flights within Asia and the U.S. could result. Any open-skies deal will have to be struck by government officials, as governments - not airlines or airports - write the laws governing international aviation.
While the deal-makers haggle in Washington, the airlines, too, are busy trying to tweak the system. With most nation-states casting a cold eye on trans-border airline mergers, for reasons of national prestige and national security, bilateral competition between airlines is evolving to become a competition between the world's three major airline alliances.
JAL, for example, is a member of the oneworld alliance, which also includes American Airlines and British Airways. Oneworld greatly values JAL, as the Japanese carrier has superb connections in fast-growing Asian markets. Rival airline alliance SkyTeam has offered a billion-dollar (U.S.) aid package to JAL to lure the airline to SkyTeam, led by Delta and Air France/KLM. Star Alliance, the largest of the three global airline alliances, counts Japan's ANA as a member. Fellow Star member United is seeking anti-trust immunity from U.S. and Japanese authorities so it can work more closely with ANA.
So, the wheeling and dealing is intensifing in both the private and the public sectors, all at once.
JAL is key to how all this plays out. Once government-owned, JAL is now a private company. It is struggling due to the downturn in the global economy and staggering under enormous debt and pension obligations. Media reports in Japan say the Japanese government is considering giving a financial aid package to JAL, to keep the carrier flying, and that the package approaches $8 billion (U.S.). Like open-skies, this deal isn't done yet. Should Tokyo come up with an aid package, it will be the fourth time since 2001 that the Japanese government has funneled public funds to JAL.
New rules would allow greater access to trans-Pacific routes and give U.S. and Japanese airlines access to more airports, offering travelers more choices of airlines, flights, destinations - and, in theory, lower fares.
Under rules written shortly after World War II, Japan's erstwhile national flag carrier, Japan Airlines, and its major rival, All Nippon Airways, have been granted access to selected U.S. airports. Delta Air Lines (by buying Northwest) and United Airlines (by buying old Pan American Airways routes) control lucrative landing slots at Tokyo's Narita International Airport. They are the only two U.S.-based passenger airlines legally permitted to operate there in a big way. Open-skies would allow more airlines to become major players and increase competition.
A far-reaching pact could also clear the way for antitrust immunity for global airlines that want to hook-up and forge code-share arrangements, fly customers on each other's planes, use each other's airport lounges and send people onward on each other's routes. This would, for example, permit an American business traveler to fly to Tokyo Narita airport on-board American Airlines, then onward into the hinterlands of China on AA partner airline JAL.
This can all get a little technical and wonky, to be sure. But if an open-skies pact is signed - media reports predict a deal as early as this week - a more-seamless travel experience on both long-haul routes over the Pacific and short-haul flights within Asia and the U.S. could result. Any open-skies deal will have to be struck by government officials, as governments - not airlines or airports - write the laws governing international aviation.
While the deal-makers haggle in Washington, the airlines, too, are busy trying to tweak the system. With most nation-states casting a cold eye on trans-border airline mergers, for reasons of national prestige and national security, bilateral competition between airlines is evolving to become a competition between the world's three major airline alliances.
JAL, for example, is a member of the oneworld alliance, which also includes American Airlines and British Airways. Oneworld greatly values JAL, as the Japanese carrier has superb connections in fast-growing Asian markets. Rival airline alliance SkyTeam has offered a billion-dollar (U.S.) aid package to JAL to lure the airline to SkyTeam, led by Delta and Air France/KLM. Star Alliance, the largest of the three global airline alliances, counts Japan's ANA as a member. Fellow Star member United is seeking anti-trust immunity from U.S. and Japanese authorities so it can work more closely with ANA.
So, the wheeling and dealing is intensifing in both the private and the public sectors, all at once.
JAL is key to how all this plays out. Once government-owned, JAL is now a private company. It is struggling due to the downturn in the global economy and staggering under enormous debt and pension obligations. Media reports in Japan say the Japanese government is considering giving a financial aid package to JAL, to keep the carrier flying, and that the package approaches $8 billion (U.S.). Like open-skies, this deal isn't done yet. Should Tokyo come up with an aid package, it will be the fourth time since 2001 that the Japanese government has funneled public funds to JAL.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Cash is King - Still
When you live in my part of the world - urban North America - it's easy to believe that the long-promised cashless society so beloved of futurists has arrived. I can charge a $4 latte at Starbucks with a credit card in the United States and Canada, so I half-believed I could travel without cash - well, with some cash, but only a little - when I went around the world recently.
Mistake. Cash is king - still - in much of the world. Credit cards, even debit cards, are still not used or really trusted in many places, even some places in western Europe, where globalization and modernity reign most of the time. Not fully understanding that millions of the world's merchants still fervently believe in metal and scrip, I withdrew just $300 U.S. from my bank before embarking on my 28-day trip to four continents. That's plenty, I reckoned.
Things started out fine in New Zealand and Singapore, where plastic and digital numbers flashing on a screen are standard-issue legal tender. But they started going downhill fast in India, then in Eygpt, and even in Rome, Barcelona and Lisbon, where it was cash, baby, and don't try to tell me that little rectangular piece of plastic in your wallet is money.
Cab drivers were especially resistant to credit. A cabbie in Barcelona pretended to swipe my American Express card, then my Visa card, and wouldn't let me do it when I saw he was faking it, pretending the cards didn't work A taxi in Barcelona was plastered with credit-card decals but when I proferred a credit card to pay the fare, the driver wouldn't take it. Ditto in Lisbon, where multilingual signs in my taxi assured passengers we could conveniently use our international credit cards -then the driver told me his reader was "broken.'' In a cafe, also in Lisbon, a waiter called over the manager when I pulled out my credit card and he produced a card-swiper, then seemed not to know the difference between a credit card and a debit card when we half-talked, half-pantomimed in English and Portuguese. I dug into my pocket for euros to pay the bill.
By the time I got to London, my cash on hand was nearly nil. There are plenty of international automated teller machines there, of course, so withdrawing more cash is entirely possible. But Londontown loves plastic, so I was able to charge most anything, even 5 pound (about $8 U.S.) repasts at the fine fresh-cut sandwich and salad chain Pret a Manger. Ditto in Manhattan. At New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, when I arrived curbside, my cabbie told me his card-reader wasn't working. I had $60. I handed it to him and walked to Departures with less than a buck in my pocket, which is what I had when I arrived home in California.
The moral of the story: Take enough cash with you, and make sure you have ready access on the road to ATMs you can readily access, because cash is king. Even now. Even in the 21st Century in much of our shrinking world.
Mistake. Cash is king - still - in much of the world. Credit cards, even debit cards, are still not used or really trusted in many places, even some places in western Europe, where globalization and modernity reign most of the time. Not fully understanding that millions of the world's merchants still fervently believe in metal and scrip, I withdrew just $300 U.S. from my bank before embarking on my 28-day trip to four continents. That's plenty, I reckoned.
Things started out fine in New Zealand and Singapore, where plastic and digital numbers flashing on a screen are standard-issue legal tender. But they started going downhill fast in India, then in Eygpt, and even in Rome, Barcelona and Lisbon, where it was cash, baby, and don't try to tell me that little rectangular piece of plastic in your wallet is money.
Cab drivers were especially resistant to credit. A cabbie in Barcelona pretended to swipe my American Express card, then my Visa card, and wouldn't let me do it when I saw he was faking it, pretending the cards didn't work A taxi in Barcelona was plastered with credit-card decals but when I proferred a credit card to pay the fare, the driver wouldn't take it. Ditto in Lisbon, where multilingual signs in my taxi assured passengers we could conveniently use our international credit cards -then the driver told me his reader was "broken.'' In a cafe, also in Lisbon, a waiter called over the manager when I pulled out my credit card and he produced a card-swiper, then seemed not to know the difference between a credit card and a debit card when we half-talked, half-pantomimed in English and Portuguese. I dug into my pocket for euros to pay the bill.
By the time I got to London, my cash on hand was nearly nil. There are plenty of international automated teller machines there, of course, so withdrawing more cash is entirely possible. But Londontown loves plastic, so I was able to charge most anything, even 5 pound (about $8 U.S.) repasts at the fine fresh-cut sandwich and salad chain Pret a Manger. Ditto in Manhattan. At New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, when I arrived curbside, my cabbie told me his card-reader wasn't working. I had $60. I handed it to him and walked to Departures with less than a buck in my pocket, which is what I had when I arrived home in California.
The moral of the story: Take enough cash with you, and make sure you have ready access on the road to ATMs you can readily access, because cash is king. Even now. Even in the 21st Century in much of our shrinking world.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Award-winning Airlines, Zagat Department
There are but a handful of more over-used words in the English language than "award-winning.'' I'm award-winning, you're award-winning, we're all award-winning. Still, there is undeniably a feel-good factor in winning an award, and some awards do mean something: The Nobel Prize, the Man Booker Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, a MacArthur 'genius' grant, and some others.
In the travel and entertainment fields, the Zagat Awards mean something - along with awards from Conde Nast Traveler, Travel and Leisure, Global Traveler and a few others. Starting out by publishing grassrootsy dining guides written by ordinary people, Zagat in effect anticipated the user-written reviews now found everywhere on the Net. In the meantime, Zagat has grown into something of a media empire - an empire that gives out awards, of course.
All of which brings us to Zagat's 2009 Airline Survey of passengers and travel agents. The results were recently announced, and the winner is - the envelope, please - Singapore Airlines, which won for best international carrier, as well as for best premium class and best economy class. No surprise; Singapore wins a lot of awards, partly because the airline is indeed very good and partly because it carries a halo effect and voters automatically think of Singapore.
Cathay Pacific Airways and Emirates Airways tied for second in premium class, with Emirates also winning second for its economy class service. Virgin Atlantic Airways and Air New Zealand deadlocked for third in premium class, with All Nippon Airways, Air New Zealand and Thai Airways bunching up at third for economy class.
"The 2009 Airline Survey ... covered 73 international airlines and 16 domestic U.S. carriers, rating premium and economy classes on a 30-point scale, covering factors such as comfort, food, in-flight entertainment and luggage polices,'' Zagat said in a statement.
The top U.S. carrier? Continental Airlines, though it scored only 15 points on the 30-point scale. I recently flew from London to New York with Continental. I liked the airline, but its relatively anemic Zagat score shows - accurately, I think, due to aging fleets and flawed customer service - just how far even the best U.S. carriers have fallen compared to the world's best.
In a statement announcing the airline awards, Tim Zagat, CEO of Zagat Survey, sought to explain the low scores of Continental - and lower scores by other U.S. carriers - thusly:
"The newer airlines continue to do well in the survey. Being less expensive to operate, they can therefore afford to provide better service.''
With all due respect to Tim Zagat and his company's accomplishments, I don't think so.
Being new isn't the reason for success - as shown by the overall winner. Singapore Airlines traces its roots to 1947. It became known by its present name in 1972, when it hived off from Malaysian Airlines. The carrier is nearly 40 years old by the most conservative estimate.
Cathay Pacific? Founded in 1946. ANA? Almost as old. Virgin Atlantic? It's been flying since the 1980s. Air New Zealand is not new, nor is Thai. The only young carrier in the winners' circle is Emirates, and Emirates is unusual because it is owned and subsidized by the government of Dubai and fueled by petrodollars - hardly a common business model.
No, the reason some airlines please customers much more than other airlines do has little to do with age. It's because they want to please customers. They make customer service a priority and they work at it. Having adequate funding always helps, to be sure, but staff training, staff attitudes and management priorities shape airlines - and every other business.
That's the secret of success in the travel field - and it's an open secret.
In the travel and entertainment fields, the Zagat Awards mean something - along with awards from Conde Nast Traveler, Travel and Leisure, Global Traveler and a few others. Starting out by publishing grassrootsy dining guides written by ordinary people, Zagat in effect anticipated the user-written reviews now found everywhere on the Net. In the meantime, Zagat has grown into something of a media empire - an empire that gives out awards, of course.
All of which brings us to Zagat's 2009 Airline Survey of passengers and travel agents. The results were recently announced, and the winner is - the envelope, please - Singapore Airlines, which won for best international carrier, as well as for best premium class and best economy class. No surprise; Singapore wins a lot of awards, partly because the airline is indeed very good and partly because it carries a halo effect and voters automatically think of Singapore.
Cathay Pacific Airways and Emirates Airways tied for second in premium class, with Emirates also winning second for its economy class service. Virgin Atlantic Airways and Air New Zealand deadlocked for third in premium class, with All Nippon Airways, Air New Zealand and Thai Airways bunching up at third for economy class.
"The 2009 Airline Survey ... covered 73 international airlines and 16 domestic U.S. carriers, rating premium and economy classes on a 30-point scale, covering factors such as comfort, food, in-flight entertainment and luggage polices,'' Zagat said in a statement.
The top U.S. carrier? Continental Airlines, though it scored only 15 points on the 30-point scale. I recently flew from London to New York with Continental. I liked the airline, but its relatively anemic Zagat score shows - accurately, I think, due to aging fleets and flawed customer service - just how far even the best U.S. carriers have fallen compared to the world's best.
In a statement announcing the airline awards, Tim Zagat, CEO of Zagat Survey, sought to explain the low scores of Continental - and lower scores by other U.S. carriers - thusly:
"The newer airlines continue to do well in the survey. Being less expensive to operate, they can therefore afford to provide better service.''
With all due respect to Tim Zagat and his company's accomplishments, I don't think so.
Being new isn't the reason for success - as shown by the overall winner. Singapore Airlines traces its roots to 1947. It became known by its present name in 1972, when it hived off from Malaysian Airlines. The carrier is nearly 40 years old by the most conservative estimate.
Cathay Pacific? Founded in 1946. ANA? Almost as old. Virgin Atlantic? It's been flying since the 1980s. Air New Zealand is not new, nor is Thai. The only young carrier in the winners' circle is Emirates, and Emirates is unusual because it is owned and subsidized by the government of Dubai and fueled by petrodollars - hardly a common business model.
No, the reason some airlines please customers much more than other airlines do has little to do with age. It's because they want to please customers. They make customer service a priority and they work at it. Having adequate funding always helps, to be sure, but staff training, staff attitudes and management priorities shape airlines - and every other business.
That's the secret of success in the travel field - and it's an open secret.
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