10/10/2008 – The Weekly Round Up : Loyalty Can Save You Money : Stay Safe In New Places : TSA Thief Busted : Securing Checked Bags :Meals Goes Green

Web: www.fishfoto.com -- E-Mail: fish@flyingwithfish.com

10/10/2008 – The Weekly Round Up : Loyalty Can Save You Money : Stay Safe In New Places : TSA Thief Busted : Securing Checked Bags :Meals Goes Green

This week Flying With Fish has significantly been dedicated to staying safe while traveling. The common thread between Tuesday and Wednesday was not intentional; however with the single largest bust of a TSA Screener for theft lead me to stay on this topic.

Traveling with valuable items can be challenging and my goal this week has been to keep the readers of Flying With Fish informed on how to stay safe. These topics included working in an unfamiliar environment, staying informed on a TSA screener creating a one-man crime spree, and how to ensure your locked baggage stays locked when traveling with valuable items. Just be aware that the Lightsaber iPhone 'App' is not a viable option for protecting yourself on the road.

Before diving into this weeks weekly round up, I like to stick a reminder in that the Get Up & Fly Single Day Boot Camps scheduled for November 7th, departing early in the morning from JFK Airport and November 13th late in the evening from LAX, both still have space available. The cost of the Boot Camp is $1250 and includes all airfare expenses, an over priced airline snack box on the daytime flight, and a Mountainsmith Tour waist pack (which you'll receive before the Boot Camp to pack it up and bring it with you). For more detailed information please visit www.comeflywithfish.com

Not addressed this week on Flying With Fish is why I think American Airlines' new 'unbundled' fare structure will ultimately work against the airline. You can read excepts of my opinion exclusively on AeroChannel in this article a: http://aerochannel.com/features/4891678

..............now onto the week in review!

This week kicked off with a suggestion for flyers to choose a frequent flyer program and stick with it. With the rising cost of travel, loyalty to an airlines frequent flyer program can save you as much as 5%-to-7%. You don't even need to fly the airline of your frequent flyer program; you can fly any airline within the alliance and gain miles, and in the process reduce your travel expenses. To learn more about saving money through frequent flyer loyalty check out: 6/10/2008 - Save Money By Being A Loyal Frequent Flyer

Working in new and unfamiliar places is fun and exciting. The world is out there for you to explore and you should pack up and go! Working in an unfamiliar place can also cause you to stop paying attention and put you at risk for becoming the target of a thief. You can pick up some tips on ways to stay focused and reduce your chances of being the object of a thief's attention in this post: 7/10/2008 - Staying Safe In An Unfamiliar Environment: Don't Be A Lost Tourist

The big news this week on Flying With Fish was the reporting of the US Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General making the single largest theft bust in the Transportation Security Administration's six-year history. My reporting of this story has been picked up and reproduced in a number outlets, both travel and photography. Including Popular Photography and AeroChannel. To find out how many cameras were found in the TSA screeners house when it was raided visit : 7/10/2008 - Airport TSA Security Screener Busted For One-Man Theft Ring

Following the single largest theft bust in the TSA's history, surprisingly allegedly carried out by a single TSA screener, I detailed a last resort tactic for travelers (ONLY when traveling domestically within the United States) to securely lock their valuables in checked baggage when the need arises. You can find out what you can do here: 8/10/2008 - Protecting Your Sensitive Valuables In Checked Baggage: A Last Resort

This week's iPhone 'App' Of The Week is just pure whimsy. The 'App' Of The Week is Lightsaber. What does this iPhone 'App' do? Turns your iPhone into a Lightsaber. This may not be great for protecting your baggage, it probably won't help you be more productive while traveling, but so what? This 'App' will help you pass the time, and have some fun. Check it out in this post (you know you want to!): 9/10/2008 – iPhone 'App' Of The Week: Lightsaber

What can China Airlines do to help reduce its carbon emissions and create a smaller carbon footprint for its self? It can change its in-flight menu! This alternative thinking is brilliant. Curious how a changed menu can reduce China Airlines carbon footprint? Check here: 10/10/2008 – China Airlines Reduces Its Carbon Footprint In A Unique Way

Remember; for random updates on travel-photography, and travel in general, related information follow my Twitter. There is no social networking and new personal updates on Flying With Fish's Twitter. For my purposes, only snippets of information relevant to the topics discussed on Flying With Fish are sent out via Twitter. You can join in at www.twitter.com/flyingwithfish

Thats it for this week!

Happy Flying!

Save Money By Being A Loyal Frequent Flyer

Web: www.fishfoto.com -- E-Mail: fish@flyingwithfish.com

6/10/2008 - Save Money By Being A Loyal Frequent Flyer

Did you know that loyalty to an airline, or airline alliance, can save you 5%-7% in travel expenses?

Each year there are nearly a dozen business travel forecasts I read. These annual travel forecasts vary widely and I am often left wondering if these analysts are looking at the same data to make their decisions.

This year, looking at the 2009 business travel forecast, there is one constant I am seeing. This one common cost increase is related to the 'unbundling' of services. Unbundling includes cost increases, such as the much talked about additional charges for checked baggage. The newly unbundled fees can increase the costs of airline travel by as much as much as 5%-7% (if you travel with extensive photographic equipment it can be more than a 50% cost increase on some routes).

Checked baggage fees bring significant revenue to airlines. Northwest Airlines reports a revenue of more than US$300,000 daily in checked baggage fees.

So what can loyalty to an airline, or an airline alliance, do to reduce your travel expenses? It can save you fees on your checked baggage, in some cases completely eliminating these fees.

The following are some US airline checked baggage fees, for domestic travel each way:
United Airlines : $15 - first bag / $50 - second bag / $125 - third bag
US Airways: $15 - first bag / $25 - second bag / $100 - third bag
Delta Airlines: $0 - first bag / $50 second bag
Northwest Airlines: $15 - first bag / $25 - second bag / $100 - third bag
Continental Airlines: $15 - first bag / $25 - second bag
American Airlines: $15 - first bag / $25 - second bag / $100 - third bag

For flyers who earn Star Alliance Star Silver or Star Gold ; SkyTeam Elite or Elite Plus ; OneWorld Ruby, Sapphire or Emerald can have some, or all, of these baggage fees can be waived.

Elite status with the above airlines begins at only 25,000 miles.

25,000 miles is equal to five round-trips between New York and Los Angeles; two and a half round trips between Washington-Dulles and Honolulu; three and a half round trips between Boston and Amsterdam; one round trip between Newark and Tokyo via Singapore.

For those who fly often and don't sort out the value of your loyalty, you may want to look at your estimated travel for the next year and sort out what airline, or airline alliance, may be best for you to pick up your elite status.

There are other perks to being a frequent flyer, but with the cost of living rising, many flyers are more interested in saving money that catching upgrades.

Happy Flying!

I Love The Smell Of Jet-A Fuel In The Morning

Web: www.thetravelstrategist.com -- E-Mail: fish@flyingwithfish.com

29/09/2008 – I Love The Smell Of Jet A Fuel In The Morning

Periodically I am asked the question of "What gets you up and motivated in the morning." The question has been asked dozens of different ways, but overall it is the same question of what motivates me to do what I do. I can give a few complex answers, some sentimental answers, but I'd prefer to leave you with the first answer that tends to pop into my head when I am asked this question...........

Robert Duvall has a famous line in the movie Apocalypse Now, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning." I have not personally smelled napalm, nor do I think I'd enjoy the smell of napalm, but I can say this, "I love the smell of Jet-A Fuel in the morning."

The distinct smell of 'Jet-A' reminds me that people are moving, planes are flying, and there are places out there waiting to be visited and explored. Whether I am bouncing through the world or helping others travel around the world, I am inspired by that distinct smell of 'Jet-A.'

As I continue to work with flyers, be they photographers or corporate business travelers, I keep an eye on the airline industry. I watch trends, I follow schedule and route changes, play close attention to the stability and instability of airlines and I have recently turned my focus to a different direction with The Travel Strategist.

The newly created additional direction of The Travel Strategist is consulting directly with airlines on how they can better service their passengers. Airlines are losing money hand over fist due to a variety of reasons, the cost of 'Jet-A' topping the list. As the airlines lose money, more passengers seek out a 'race to the bottom,' in search of the lowest airfare. With the race to the bottom airlines need to pick up the slack and start aggressively seeking out how to attract their 'premium passengers,' and retain a loyal base of frequent business travelers.

Airlines have known for a long time that it is better to retain someone who flies 50+ last minute segments per year than market heavily to the couple who flies once a year from a cold destination to a warm destination during a peak travel period. Some airlines are currently shedding loyal flyers due to their 'anti-customer' tactics. These tactics may work for generating income from the infrequent traveler, but in the end will cost these airlines a steady stream of high-revenue passengers. These new practices by some are airlines are forcing many frequent business travelers to start looking for a 'new home.' With many high revenue passengers looking for 'new homes,' there is a lot of potential revenue up for grabs and the airlines shouldn't miss their potential for seeking out these potential long term frequent business flyers.

When an industry is in turmoil only the strong survive. As travelers it is on our best interest to keep as many potential options available. When airlines collapse we all lose when it comes to our potential travel options.

Maybe we'll get lucky and some airlines will think outside the box, work with some low cost high reward options and make their potential future customer base happy.......giving all of us travelers one more airline on the road to stability, ensuring more potential options exist as we make our travel plans.

Happy Flying!