Image By: Fasyah Halim via Unsplash
The original article can be found here.
Anyone who’s tried to book an air ticket lately knows the pain of feeling that air travel is back in full force. It’s cheaper for me to fly from New York City to Nairobi this summer (on points, with a 12-hour stopover in Doha both ways, but I digress) than to Europe. And my efforts to secure a ticket to China last week in the Hong Kong Airport Authority’s overhyped ticket draw catapulted me into a Dantesque circle of hell—not unlike a Nike SNKRS draw.
When an email to enter the draw arrived from Cathay Pacific Airways, I clicked on the link and went into a queue that promised an 18-minute wait. When I got through, I was directed to a link that said “Book Ticket.” Instead of getting a code, I was charged $2630.95. for which I immediately requested a refund. Of the 17 people I know who entered the draw, who registered and followed the campaign for months, none got a ticket. [A Cathay spokesperson wouldn’t confirm how many people entered the US draw but, of the 500 000 tickets being given away, only 4 445 were allocated for Cathay Pacific tickets from the U.S. and Canada.]
All hail the Chinese traveler
The campaign allowed a territory that’s been battered by Covid and anti-government protests to bask in months of free publicity worldwide. Never mind that a nonstop economy-class ticket from New York in late June now costs more than $5 000. Cathay’s future will rise or fall on how well it serves the burgeoning population of mainland Chinese travelers—which may explain why recent allegations of discrimination prompted immediate action and a public apology from CEO Ronald Lam. I love Hong Kong and will likely get back there as I often do: on Japan Airlines.
As for the rest of us lamenting the cost of air travel? The message from airline carriers: suck it up. Ryanair, the Irish discount carrier that once tried to charge people to use the toilet, has been racking up healthy profits through higher prices and fees.
Here’s a recent interview that I did with former United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz, who famously had a heart attack 38 days into the job, went on to have a transplant and was celebrated as an inspired leader during a difficult time.
And check out the interview above with U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is pushing for American air travelers to have more rights and compensation when things go wrong. “Our goal is that by the end of this term, we’ll be able to look back and say that this Administration brought in the biggest expansion of passenger rights and enforcement of passenger rights since deregulation decades ago,” says Buttigieg.
Image By: Sergey Zolkin via Unsplash
Fly me to the moon
On a more positive note, that 22-hour flight between Sydney and London is likely to be reduced to 2 hours in the next decade, according to a new report. This will be achieved through sub-orbital earth-to-earth space flights. (More proof that we should cheer the efforts of Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Elon Musk to leave the planet!) To achieve this, passengers will apparently feel a g-force of 4 Gs for 30 seconds. If you’re a roller coaster junkie like me—note that the world’s tallest roller coaster is in New Jersey—you know that’s typical for most rides. But those drops usually last 3 seconds, not 30. Medical authorities are studying how much acceleration the human body can take.
In the meantime, there are other ways to take a holiday a summer. The much-maligned cruise industry is having a comeback. Here’s an interview with Carnival Corporation President & CEO Josh Weinstein, who talks about the cruise line’s restart and refresh since the lifting of Covid restrictions.
You can also jump in a car and drive somewhere–though Florida might not be in your plans since the NAACP issued a travel advisory. When asked if this is just a stunt, as Governor Ron De Santis has charged, NAACP chair Leon Russell told my colleague, Rosemarie Miller: “That’s Bullsh*t.” He went on to explain why, as you can see here.
The perils of third-party bookings
Another friendly warning when it comes to renting cars—or anything else—through third-party sites. I rented a Hertz car through Priceline at the Los Angeles Airport a few weeks ago, only to have the price hiked more than $100 when I got to the counter.
When I showed the agent the booking, she said it was a special code that no longer applied. Priceline later told me that was incorrect, which Hertz confirmed, and the charge was reversed. Having covered travel and aviation earlier in my career, I know that you need to shrug off such hassles but also be vigilant. When it comes to pricing mistakes, the odds rarely seem to go in the customer’s favor.
But with a plethora of new places to explore, is there anything better in life than to experience the rest of the world?
