Nobody Asked Me, But ...
I'll Tell You Anyway
I'll Tell You Anyway
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2022 --
Nobody asked me, but ...
The fall of Hertz, from business travel standard-bearer to clownish also-ran, has been breathtaking. But nothing can explain the company's callous decision to repeatedly have customers arrested and jailed for Hertz's own paperwork snafus. This week's settlement--$168 million to erase 364 claims--hardly seems enough.
On the other hand, news that five Hertz vehicles rented by President Biden's Secret Service detail burst into flames at Nantucket Airport seems oddly hilarious. And it make a mockery of President's Circle, an elite level many of us were gifted via our American Express Platinum cards.
Nobody asked me, but ...
Chinese officials are abandoning the mindless "zero Covid policy" and loosening restrictions, but that may obscure an ugly reality: It could be another winter of travel discontent on the Coronavirus front. Brazil has once again imposed a mask mandate on flights and at its airports. And Spain has reaffirmed that it will require masks on public transportation--including flights--until March.
On the other hand, several German states have finally lifted their public-transit mask rules and Taiwan this month finally lifted its requirement to wear a mask in outdoor public places. Meanwhile, Japan has lifted its once-draconian Covid rules, but several JoeSentMe members report the paperwork is still a bureaucratic nightmare when you enter the country. If you're headed to Japan in the near future, make sure you can navigate your way around the labyrinthian Visit Japan Web system.
Nobody asked me, but ...
Airline labor relations have never been a walk in the park--and squabbles between United Airlines and its pilots have been legendary. Their strikes were particularly nasty. But I don't ever think I have seen a bigger diss than this week, when United employees literally turned their back on chief executive Scott Kirby when he tried to greet them on an informational picket line in Houston.
And, no, business travelers probably shouldn't have a rooting interest in this. United management is a collection of asshats. The United pilots are a collection of asshats. I don't root for asshats.
Nobody asked me, but ...
The Department of Homeland Security, which includes the TSA, is "celebrating" its 20th anniversary. There is no less efficient, confused and confounding operation in the government. It was a disaster at creation and a disaster now.
Case in point: Homeland Security has again delayed the effective date for Real ID drivers licenses. The bill creating Real ID--a useless and ineffective security measure--was passed in 2005. It called for Real ID to kick in back in 2008. Homeland Security has repeatedly delayed implementation in two- or three-year tranches ever since. Most recently, Real ID was supposed to be standard at airport checkpoints beginning in March. Now it's been reset to 2025. As David Danto explains this week, there's no reason to think Real ID--which requires drivers to spend more and submit more paperwork--will ever actually happen.
Nobody asked me, but ...
Speaking of absolutely useless federal agencies, there's always the TSA. Created in haste after the 9/11 attacks and bumbling along into 2022, it is important to remember that the agency's goal was to stop weapons getting on planes. The 9/11 hijackers used box cutters. Last month, a Frontier Airlines flight was forced to divert when box cutters were found on the plane. I think the term you're looking for is: You had one job.
Speaking of Frontier, it has eliminated customer service telephone support. If this makes you angry, why are you flying Frontier in the first place? But long term, expect other airlines to follow suit. And let's be honest: When was the last time you didn't wait forever for an overworked telephone agent who couldn't fix your problem? Hell, I chat with Amazon and Walmart--and even my doctors--via the Web. I think we'll survive a world without phone support for plane tickets.
Nobody asked me, but ...
The Beatles' Revolver has gotten the super box set treatment and interesting documentary treatments from places like The Beatles Channel on SiriusXM. It also reminds us that Revolver is now considered the Fab Four's finest album, surpassing even the once-revered Sgt. Pepper. Listen to Revolver again. It predicts everything to come in pop music after its 1966 release: acid rock, heavy metal, country rock, everything.
"Eleanor Rigby," Paul McCartney's masterpiece from the album, has been blessed by any number of brilliant covers. But I defy you to find a better one than Göran Söllscher's version. He uses an 11-string Alto Guitar and it seems like he's playing lead guitar, rhythm guitar and bass all at once.
Nobody asked me, but ...
The niece of former New Jersey governor and former Trump apologist Chris Christie was arrested at New Orleans Airport on Thanksgiving Day. She injured six cops in a scuffle after being ejected from a flight to Newark because she kept asking Latino passengers if they were drug mules.
This may or may not be related: New Orleans has the 7th cheapest beer prices among the nation's airports. At about six bucks a serving, that's less than half the price of the nation's most expensive airport, New York/LaGuardia.
Nobody asked me, but ...
The Iranian man who gained a kind of fame by being a man without a country stuck at Paris/DeGaulle Airport, died last month. After 18 years in legal limbo at CDG, Mehran Karimi Nasseri was eventually resettled in a shelter. But he returned to the airport weeks before his death because it had become his home and he relied on the kindness of airport workers and travelers passing through CDG.
There but for the grace of whatever God we believe in go we all ...
The fall of Hertz, from business travel standard-bearer to clownish also-ran, has been breathtaking. But nothing can explain the company's callous decision to repeatedly have customers arrested and jailed for Hertz's own paperwork snafus. This week's settlement--$168 million to erase 364 claims--hardly seems enough.
On the other hand, news that five Hertz vehicles rented by President Biden's Secret Service detail burst into flames at Nantucket Airport seems oddly hilarious. And it make a mockery of President's Circle, an elite level many of us were gifted via our American Express Platinum cards.
Nobody asked me, but ...
Chinese officials are abandoning the mindless "zero Covid policy" and loosening restrictions, but that may obscure an ugly reality: It could be another winter of travel discontent on the Coronavirus front. Brazil has once again imposed a mask mandate on flights and at its airports. And Spain has reaffirmed that it will require masks on public transportation--including flights--until March.
On the other hand, several German states have finally lifted their public-transit mask rules and Taiwan this month finally lifted its requirement to wear a mask in outdoor public places. Meanwhile, Japan has lifted its once-draconian Covid rules, but several JoeSentMe members report the paperwork is still a bureaucratic nightmare when you enter the country. If you're headed to Japan in the near future, make sure you can navigate your way around the labyrinthian Visit Japan Web system.
Nobody asked me, but ...
Airline labor relations have never been a walk in the park--and squabbles between United Airlines and its pilots have been legendary. Their strikes were particularly nasty. But I don't ever think I have seen a bigger diss than this week, when United employees literally turned their back on chief executive Scott Kirby when he tried to greet them on an informational picket line in Houston.
And, no, business travelers probably shouldn't have a rooting interest in this. United management is a collection of asshats. The United pilots are a collection of asshats. I don't root for asshats.
Nobody asked me, but ...
The Department of Homeland Security, which includes the TSA, is "celebrating" its 20th anniversary. There is no less efficient, confused and confounding operation in the government. It was a disaster at creation and a disaster now.
Case in point: Homeland Security has again delayed the effective date for Real ID drivers licenses. The bill creating Real ID--a useless and ineffective security measure--was passed in 2005. It called for Real ID to kick in back in 2008. Homeland Security has repeatedly delayed implementation in two- or three-year tranches ever since. Most recently, Real ID was supposed to be standard at airport checkpoints beginning in March. Now it's been reset to 2025. As David Danto explains this week, there's no reason to think Real ID--which requires drivers to spend more and submit more paperwork--will ever actually happen.
Nobody asked me, but ...
Speaking of absolutely useless federal agencies, there's always the TSA. Created in haste after the 9/11 attacks and bumbling along into 2022, it is important to remember that the agency's goal was to stop weapons getting on planes. The 9/11 hijackers used box cutters. Last month, a Frontier Airlines flight was forced to divert when box cutters were found on the plane. I think the term you're looking for is: You had one job.
Speaking of Frontier, it has eliminated customer service telephone support. If this makes you angry, why are you flying Frontier in the first place? But long term, expect other airlines to follow suit. And let's be honest: When was the last time you didn't wait forever for an overworked telephone agent who couldn't fix your problem? Hell, I chat with Amazon and Walmart--and even my doctors--via the Web. I think we'll survive a world without phone support for plane tickets.
Nobody asked me, but ...
The Beatles' Revolver has gotten the super box set treatment and interesting documentary treatments from places like The Beatles Channel on SiriusXM. It also reminds us that Revolver is now considered the Fab Four's finest album, surpassing even the once-revered Sgt. Pepper. Listen to Revolver again. It predicts everything to come in pop music after its 1966 release: acid rock, heavy metal, country rock, everything.
"Eleanor Rigby," Paul McCartney's masterpiece from the album, has been blessed by any number of brilliant covers. But I defy you to find a better one than Göran Söllscher's version. He uses an 11-string Alto Guitar and it seems like he's playing lead guitar, rhythm guitar and bass all at once.
Nobody asked me, but ...
The niece of former New Jersey governor and former Trump apologist Chris Christie was arrested at New Orleans Airport on Thanksgiving Day. She injured six cops in a scuffle after being ejected from a flight to Newark because she kept asking Latino passengers if they were drug mules.
This may or may not be related: New Orleans has the 7th cheapest beer prices among the nation's airports. At about six bucks a serving, that's less than half the price of the nation's most expensive airport, New York/LaGuardia.
Nobody asked me, but ...
The Iranian man who gained a kind of fame by being a man without a country stuck at Paris/DeGaulle Airport, died last month. After 18 years in legal limbo at CDG, Mehran Karimi Nasseri was eventually resettled in a shelter. But he returned to the airport weeks before his death because it had become his home and he relied on the kindness of airport workers and travelers passing through CDG.
There but for the grace of whatever God we believe in go we all ...