“These days, even the most hard-core fans of airline paper tickets have largely gotten used to the idea of e-tickets. Many don’t even bother bringing the receipts or itineraries with them to the airport.

Not so fast. E-ticket confirmations should be examined for some all-too-common errors. Print them out. Take a good look at names, times, seat assignments, upgrades and connections.

Without a hard copy, it’s easier to miss details, especially in an era of overflowing email in-boxes. Who has time to read everything? Even if the reservation was just confirmed by phone.

Unfortunately, as a old manager of mine once said, “If you don’t think you have time to do something, then you really don’t have time to do it over.” And some version of this definitely applies with the airlines’ e-tickets today.

Here are five examples of e-tickets issues that need careful checking:

1. Check upgrade requests. United Airlines prefers travel agents who request mileage upgrades for clients to do so by computer, basically sending a message in the record as to what you want, and “queuing” it over. (Think of it as a rudimentary email system.) Then United agents work the requests. They don’t send the record back to the agent, but once done, the record will show whether the upgrade is confirmed or waitlisted.

In this case, I sent a roundtrip request for two clients between San Francisco and Chicago, using the husband’s miles. I already knew both upgrades would be waitlisted but the clients were fine with that. I looked at the record the next day, and noticed, the return had been neither confirmed nor upgraded. The agent had just forgotten to do it.

Then I looked more carefully at the record. They were flying out on a 10:43 a.m. flight to Chicago, and the upgrade was waitlisted for the 9:51 a.m. flight. Suffice it to say, nothing good would come of that. I called immediately, and an apologetic reservations agent fixed the problem.

Now had I not noticed the issues they would have probably been told at the airport that the upgrade had never been requested. And while I would have had a computer trail proving that it had been, the clients still would have missed out on any upgrade chance.

If this were a one time incident, I would laugh it off. But the fact is, most airline reservations offices are understaffed and overstressed. Most upgrade requests are handled correctly, however I have had several upgrades waitlisted for both the wrong flight and the wrong date.

2. Look carefully at companion tickets. American Airlines earlier this year booked a free ticket for a client’s spouse to go with a paid ticket I had issued, and booked the spouse to return a day later. (The client in question had called the airline with my confirmation number, so American had the exact itinerary he wanted matched.)

3. Be wary of upgrades without seat assignments. Other little things to watch for, confirmed upgrades without seat assignments. Which might not seem that serious, but especially for travelers flying together it can be especially frustrating to have had seats together in coach, get upgraded, and then get to the airport to find no seat assignments and no seats together. ” (via .consumertraveler.com ) by  JANICE HOUGH

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here to read the rest of 5 reasons to double-check e-tickets before you fly

Sent in by one of our readers Irene.

“I was not going to write any letters while I am away but had to tell you about the experience we had in the flight between LGA and Chicago.

When we were waiting to board the plane at LGA ,there was a group of soldiers waiting to board as well. We were in the the first seats, 3A and 3B. As the soldiers came on board the people applauded them.

One gentleman that was standing next to me waiting for the people to move forward was standing between two soldiers. He turned to the soldier behind him and asked to see his boarding pass. “Where are you sitting soldier? He replied, “seat 32 A. The man took his boarding pass and said, “Thank you for serving our country and God Bless you. Please take my seat in Business Class and enjoy your flight.” The soldier, visibly moved sat down behind me and was all choked up. I turned around to see him wiping his eyes. When they announced they were serving snacks at some outrageous prices, I called the Steward over to ask him how many soldiers are on board.

I had full intentions of treating a few for lunch and asking the other business class passengers if they wanted to do the same. The Stewart told me that American Airlines flies them free and always has a meal for them as well.
Okay… I am a frequent flier on American Airlines and intend to give them my business as much as I can.

You read a lot of letters in the net and wonder if they are true about our troops. Well, I guess many of them are as I witnessed it first hand. As the plane taxied in to its slot, the Steward made an announcement wishing the soldiers a safe return. You should have heard the applause. I must say the tears streamed down my face.

Have a good day. I intend to write AA a letter thanking them for their support of our troops. Whoever that man was, I wish him well. What a wonderful gesture.

Pointswizard.com Spin: Thanks to reader Irene who happens to be a great travel agent – Her email is  ipelled.jitravel@msn.com

“MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT is a dim, crowded, low-ceilinged affair, a J-shaped belt punctuated by security zones and boutiques hawking ersatz Cuban souvenirs, with all the appeal and glamour of a shopping mall that can’t quite pay its electric bills. It is not a place where you hope to eat well.

And yet, on a layover in early November, I hoped. Though lacking in atmosphere, the Miami airport is much like Miami itself, with Cuban restaurants and cafes strewn throughout the complex. Finding an excellent specimen of the Cuban sandwich — roast pork, ham and Swiss cheese with pickles on a roll, panini-pressed into gooey, crispy deliciousness — should, I figured, be easy.

Hardly. At Bongos Cuban Café, a sleek sandwich bar owned by Gloria Estefan, the Cubano was well-pressed but devoid of flavor. At the Casa Bacardi lounge, it was inedibly dry — which was probably the point. The drier your mouth, the more Bacardi rum mojitos you’ll consume.

By the time I reached La Carreta, I was nearly in despair. Sure, this outpost of a Miami mini-chain looked appropriately shacklike, with a stand-up coffee counter and a cheap-looking backlit menu that included a host of tropical-fruit shakes. It certainly felt like Little Havana. But I’d been fooled before.

Not this time. The roast pork was juicy, garlicky and chock-full of real roasted flavor, and the cheese tasted as if it had actually been produced from the milk of a cow. La Carreta’s was a Cubano I would happily eat “off-campus,” as airline employees refer to the world outside the airport, even though the bread was oddly chewy and I wanted more pickles. Then again, I always want more pickles.

No one likes to eat in airports, but eat in airports we must, since we’re spending more time there than ever. Around one in four air passengers experienced trip delays averaging an hour and 54 minutes in 2007, according to a report from the Center for Air Transportation Systems Research at George Mason University. And it only gets worse during the holidays, said Lance Sherry, the center’s executive director, since airlines are running at maximum capacity and therefore can’t easily recover from delays and cancellations.

“Small delays will have a big impact,” he said.

At the same time, he added, the airports “perversely” benefit from the delays. By offering cheap leases to airlines, he said, the airports have to make money somehow, and they do so through concessions. Which is why that ice-cold turkey sandwich costs $9, the bottle of water is $3, and the delays never seem to get any shorter.

“They’re incentivized to keep passengers longer,” Professor Sherry said.

Still, there are bright points. In October, JetBlue opened a striking new food court in Terminal 5 of Kennedy Airport in New York (more on that later), and with another holiday season approaching, it seemed appropriate to see if good restaurants might exist in other American airports, perhaps overshadowed by the Cinnabons and Sbarros but producing honest, edible food nonetheless. And so, over the course of four days, I flew between some of the nation’s biggest hubs — Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, Dallas-Forth Worth, Los Angeles and, in New York, La Guardia and Kennedy, which together accounted for about 400 million passengers in 2007, according to Airports Council International, an airport trade group — and tried to discover food worth eating. But what to seek out? And how to find it?

First, I wanted to ignore the big chains and focus instead on local food. Each of these cities has a strong, distinctive food culture, and I hoped this would come through in the airports. Plus, I reasoned, local employees might have a greater connection to the local cuisine and thus a certain pride in seeing it done right.

By this measure, Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport was exemplary, with not one but three Texas-style barbecue joints, all branches of off-campus stalwarts. Cousin’s Bar-B-Q was easily my favorite — the brisket had just the right balance of meat, fat and chewy, charred burnt bits — while Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, whose brisket was watery and ribs dry, made an intriguingly spiced hot link. Only Railhead BBQ disappointed, perhaps because I was already stuffed and had to save my chopped-beef sandwich for a cold midnight snack.” ( via travel.nytimes.com  ) by MATT GROSS

Pointswizard.com Spin: Click here to read much more of Grabbing a Bite Between Flights

“Barack Obama’s neighborhood was Sam Tanaka’s first stop on his first visit here.

After arriving on a long flight from Tokyo and sleeping for four hours, the banker, 51, wanted to see Obama’s house on Greenwood Avenue before his business meetings Wednesday. “My family will be so proud,” he says. “I feel like I am a part of this big moment in American history.”

Tanaka didn’t actually see the president-elect, and security barriers prevented his taxi from driving past the house, but he got close enough to snap photos. “This is Chicago’s most famous landmark now,” he says.

The brick home and nearby businesses Obama and his wife Michelle patronize haven’t surpassed the Sears Tower or Wrigley Field in popularity yet. Still, traffic on the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau Web site, www.choosechicago.com, is up 30 percent since last month, the Gray Line bus tour of the area is a hot ticket, and even the barbershop Obama has patronized for 14 years is a tourist attraction.

“People just want to come in and be associated with Obama in some kind of way,” says Ishmael Alamin, owner of Hyde Park Hair Salon & Barber Shop. “They want to see the chair.” Several visitors from Boston came in Monday to take photos, he says. “It’s great for the neighborhood. It’s buzzing right now.”

Obama’s house, which he bought for $1.65 million in 2005, is in the Kenwood neighborhood, which is adjacent to Hyde Park, where he once taught at the University of Chicago Law School.

There are grand old homes in the area, but reminders of the challenges Obama will face as president are nearby.

About four blocks from Obama’s home, a blinking blue light on a tall pole identifies one of the police cameras that survey the city’s high-crime areas. A few blocks from there, about 30 people lined up Wednesday morning, waiting for a state unemployment office to open.

Obama’s presence in a busy urban neighborhood has caused some changes for people who live nearby. ”

( via  www.honoluluadvertiser.com) by By JUDY KEEN (USA TODAY)

Pointswizard.com Spin: Read more of Obama’s haunts in Chicago now popular attraction for tourists

“Tie the knot in one of the Caribbean destinations served by Air Jamaica and you can get a free Business Class airline ticket.

To qualify for the airline’s new Executive Business Class, the bride and groom must book a minimum of 22 seats (including themselves) through Air Jamaica’s group sales office at (800) 523-6805, or groupsales@airjamaica.com.

The Business Class airline tickets are processed once the entire group is ticketed. Air Jamaica provides 300 non-stops weekly, from Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New York (JFK), Orlando, and Philadelphia in the United States.

Also Toronto in Canada; and from London in the United Kingdom to Montego Bay and Kingston.

Air Jamaica also offers daily non-stop service between New York/JFK and Barbados, and direct service between JFK to both St. Lucia and Grenada.

It offers intra-regional service with flights between Jamaica and the Bahamas, Barbados, Bonaire, Cuba, Curaçao, Grand Cayman and St. Lucia.” (via flightbliss.com)