Posted by Seth on December 3, 2009 under News | 
Well today was the big day. About six weeks after filing the claim against British Airways for their decision to cancel my holiday plans in India it was time to meet them in court. And despite a 4:30am wake-up call after only three hours of sleep and a flight (DCA-JFK) and train to get to the courthouse I was there, bright-eyed and ready to go. They were not. At least not right away.
They did, however, have a representative show up eventually. Interestingly enough the woman who showed up late sat down next to me and started asking me questions like if she was really late and what she missed. Being a nice guy I answered all of them. Only 15 minutes later when they called the roll again did I realize she was actually my arch-nemesis (ok, a bit of hyperbole is fun). And being an attorney from a real law firm, she had requests to make of the court. Specifically, she asked for a postponement of the case.
According to the Clerk of the Court – a pretty good guy from my limited interactions with him – the request for a postponement is pretty much a non-issue the first time around. I couldn’t really object to it. But when she suggested the end of March as the new court date I had absolutely no qualms about protesting the delay. Eventually we agreed on the end of January, two weeks after the first available date.
Also interesting was that she claimed at one point to not know anything about my case and that she was just standing in for someone else who couldn’t make it in this morning. Then, two minutes later she knew the exact amount of my claim and the reason cited on the notice of service. I was not particularly amused.
Or maybe I am. After all, British Airways is actually paying their attorney to come hang out with me in court. That is somewhat entertaining to me.
The major disappointment, however, is that the postponement severely limits my ability to actually plan for this vacation in advance. That won’t necessarily stop me from from taking it and it certainly won’t stop me from pursuing my claim. Really it just riles me up more.
Posted by Seth on November 30, 2009 under News |
I briefly mentioned the ruling from the Department of Transportation (DoT) last week with regards to the British Airways sale/mistake fare to India. The story has picked up a bit more coverage over the weekend and is now being reported somewhat widely. That’s great news for calling attention to the despicable behavior that British Airways has displayed on this issue. The bad news is that most folks are congratulating the DoT and claiming that this ruling should serve as a deterrent against future similar actions. Oh how wrong they are.
I was somewhat reserved in my judgment last week when I read the initial ruling. It looks like there was good reason for me to be concerned. As currently written it seems that the ruling does shockingly little for the vast majority of customers who were affected by BA’s actions. In fact, only folks who immediately booked other tickets, hotels or other tours right after the initial booking are really eligible to get reimbursed. And then the reimbursement will be in the form of covering those expenses, not in the form of BA actually agreeing to fly the customer to India as initially contracted.
I am quite happy to see Nicholas Kralev’s column this week covering the issue and pointing out these holes in the agreement. Sure, it may be too little too late, but it is nice to see others stepping up and acknowledging that the idea of “making [consumers] whole” isn’t really being adhered to by British Airways.
I’ve contacted the DoT again and asked for further clarification on the ruling. And I’m still going to court on Thursday. Maybe not everyone will be made whole but I am going to do everything in my power so that I am.
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Posted by Seth on August 24, 2009 under Uncategorized |
I love postcards. Really, really, really love them. I love sending them and I love receiving them. Sadly, however, it seems to be a dying art.
I seem to be alone (or in a rapidly shrinking population) in my love for the post card. They seem to still be readily available in some places but impossible to find in others. In Norway we were able to find (rather expensive) cards in the over-touristed town of Geiranger but stamps were another endeavor entirely. The hotels all simply have postage meters now rather than real stamps. The card will arrive just the same but it isn’t as much fun.
In Hong Kong I actually struggled to even find post cards. I asked at several hotels and looked in the various stores I passed as I wandered the island. None had cards. Once I finally found cards there was the next adventure – finding stamps. It wasn’t quite as difficult as in Norway, but it certainly wasn’t simple. Fortunately the cards all found their way to the intended recipients.
In India we had quite the adventure getting our post cards home. The post offices there are quite efficient normally and we actually weren’t too troubled with lines or even figuring out how much postage we needed to add to the cards. But the stamps apparently had no glue on the back of them like we’ve come to expect. We did our best with saliva and I’m honestly not sure how they actually made it back to all our friends, but they did. And we came out of it with a great story of wandering Goa and licking (and re-licking) stamps for a couple hours to get them on the way.
One of the current iPhone commercials these days is showing off their “app for that” for sending postcards. They have a picture of Paris and some “wish you were here” text and the person taps and it is sent. That just isn’t the same. Sure, at least one of those services (shootIt!) actually prints and sends a physical post card, not just something electronic, but you don’t get the fun of the random stamp, trying to figure out how much postage you need, the cool postmark from a foreign land and the anticipation of waiting for the cards to arrive at their destination. The fact that postcards generally arrive well after the trip is over actually adds to the fun for me.
There was also the discussion we had with the others in our group as we were on the fjords in Norway. Someone mentioned something about simply sending a text or SMS message when they’re abroad. There’s no sense of place from such an action. I’m not a fan at all.
I’m a huge fan of many things digital. I live online in many ways, both for work and leisure. But when it comes to travel there is still one bit that I’m happy to keep offline: my postcards.
Want to receive a random post card from somewhere around the world? No guarantees, but drop me a line and I’ll see what I can wrangle.
Posted by Seth on November 19, 2008 under Uncategorized |
I have to admit that one of the little luxuries I will treat myself to on occasion is to have a car waiting for me at the airport upon arrival. Especially in a foreign country where negotiating the taxi ranks and negotiating a fare is traditional I just don’t want to have to deal with that sort of situation, especially after a long flight. Plus, there is really something quite wonderful about showing up and having someone waiting there with your name on a sign, even if it is a driver that you’ve paid to do that.
In Bangkok the cold towels and water bottles in the car were a very nice touch. In India I still fondly remember my mother-in-law’s company driver knowing my name and handing me a note with a phone number to call for further instructions. Slightly surreal and very entertaining in retrospect. In Vietnam it was a shoddy van that barely had benches inside, much less seat belts or a decent suspension. I paid $2 extra for that “luxury” but it meant not fighting the taxi driver on the fare or having to explain directions and that was well worth my money.
And then there is the joy of actually being met by someone who you know at the airport. The opening and closing scenes of Love Actually capture the emotion rather well, and I have fond memories of similar events in my life.
But I’ve never gone to an airport to welcome random strangers to their destination. These folks did.
They actually went to the airport with signs, gifts, flowers and balloons and “welcomed home” a bunch of random strangers. They leveraged the NYC black car drivers to get names and then staged impromptu welcome parties for complete strangers. Sure, it is a little creepy to have a group of 20 random strangers welcome you home, especially in NYC, but it also seems like a much better welcome than a grumpy driver. And it makes for a pretty entertaining story to share.
Posted by Seth on October 13, 2008 under Uncategorized |
After struggling to get their international routes launched (BLR-SFO) and profitable (BLR-LHR), and facing off with the Indian aviation authorities on the routes served, it looks like Kingfisher will now partner in some way with Jet Airways in order to survive.
Kingfisher recently balked on the purchase of the five Airbus 340-500 planes that they were going to use for their non-stop operations to the United States, so that’s off the table. And they’ve run in to trouble with the locals on operating less profitable, public service routes that Indian carriers are required to do. Plus, Jet and Kingfisher are also both still dealing with previous mergers within India.
There is no indication on what this will do to the current alliances that the carriers are working towards (Kingfisher seems to be moving towards SkyTeam and Jet Airways seems to partner with just about everyone). And there has been no equity exchange at this point between the two carriers.
More info here.
Posted by Seth on June 19, 2008 under Uncategorized |
Flying to and from the New York City area I’ve become rather familiar with weather and air traffic control delays over the years. I was delayed coming out of Vancouver on Thanksgiving weekend because they had to figure out if the plane was OK to fly without a little piece of plastic to cover the button in the cockpit that drains the lavatory. But I am happy to say that I have never been delayed due to jackals.
That’s right – jackals. And lizards, porcupines and various other animals.
It is monsoon season in India, and the heavy rains are forcing much of the local fauna to seek high ground while their homes are flooded. Apparently airports are a great place for that, especially the runways. And they don’t seem to understand that when the really big planes come in to land they should get out of the way. The animals are causing many flights to be delayed or canceled while animal control officers attempt to keep the runways clear.
“The monitor lizards — they look frightening but they are harmless animals,” Kartick Satyanarayan of the conservation group Wildlife SOS told CNN. “But they can grow about three to four feet long. And at the velocity a plane lands, the [lizards] can still cause damage.”
Posted by Seth on June 14, 2008 under Uncategorized |
Towards the south of India, a bit southwest of Bangalore, the town of Mysore is a great destination for any visit to the south of the country. The region was incorporated as a kingdom as long as 600 years ago and settled thousands of years ago, meaning that there is plenty of history there to view. Plus there is a great view of the main town area from the temple at the top of Chamundi hill, just on the outskirts of town. The temple can be reached either by driving up to the top, or by hiking up the 1,000 steps along the side of the hill.
On our tour of India we decided to visit Mysore as a day trip from Bangalore. The drive was about 2-3 hours each way, but should be shorter now as they were in the midst of re-paving the roads during our trip, and they should be done by now. We arranged the tour with the front desk of the hotel and they made sure that our driver was waiting for us bright and early that morning. He didn’t speak a lot of English, but that seemed OK since he had clearly done the “day trip to Mysore” tour previously and knew where we were supposed to go. The fact that we wanted to skip some of the temples and other things on the road in to Mysore didn’t really seem to phase him – we stopped at them anyway due to the language barrier. Eventually we made it to Mysore and drove up to the 12th century temple of Chamundeshwari at the top of the hill. The views were phenomenal as we expected and the temple itself was quite nice overall.
Outside the temple there were a number of merchants set up. Some were kids offering to guard our shoes for us during our visit in the temple (no shoes allowed inside) or various other things that they were selling. There were also a number of folks selling stuff to offer up to the gods in the temple and various other foodstuffs in the plaza outside the temple.
We decided that we would walk down the 1,000 steps, rather than up the steps, during the car ride to Mysore. Unfortunately, we had a bit of trouble explaining that to our driver. He was all set to drive us on to the next stop on his itinerary, but we weren’t ready for that yet. I tried sign language. I tried pointing to pictures in the guide book. Nothing was working. Fortunately one of the local merchants came to our rescue, speaking to our driver and explaining to him our plans. And, it turns out that he was selling fried dough of some sort. So in addition to working as a translator he also provided us with some great nourishment for the hike down. As a small aside, it seems that every culture has a fried dough meal of some sort, and they are universally delicious. When in doubt, fried dough should always be consumed.
Fully nourished, we began our descent of the hill. It was at about this point that I started to realize that perhaps the indigestion I was feeling was a bit more than just a bad breakfast. Still, with this being our only chance to tour the Maharaja’s Palace and the other sights in Mysore I pushed on. And I’m really glad I did.
A few hundred steps down from top of the hill is Nandi, Lord Shiva’s Bull. The bull stands ~15 feet tall and is quite an impressive sight. On the day we were there a number of folks were out offering prayers. In addition, apparently it was bath day for Nandi; an number of men were up on scaffolding surrounding the statue washing it down, one bucket at a time.
The rest of the climb down was relatively uneventful, except that my legs started to give out on me towards the end. We did encounter a few others headed up the steps, including this woman:
Our driver was waiting for us at the bottom of the hill and took us to a restaurant where we had lunch. Actually I merely tried to have lunch, as I couldn’t really stomach any food. At this point we had to cut the trip short and return to the hotel in Bangalore. The bad news was that the hotel was a few hours away, and we had a very hard time explaining to the driver that we wanted to skip the rest of the trip, much less why we needed to return. Fortunately we eventually made the point clear enough. I spent the next couple days lying on the couch, waiting desperately for the cipro to kick in and clear up my stomach bug. It did, and hopefully next time I will remember to not lick my fingers when eating street food in India.
We didn’t get to see the palaces, the gardens, the market or a number of other things we intended to do during the trip. Now we have a(nother) good reason to go back to India.
More on Mysore and the 1000 steps here and here.
PS – These notes are based on my trip from November 2005, so things may have changed a bit. But considering the thousands of years of history and the slow pace of change of things in India, I’m guessing that things are pretty much the same these days.
Posted by Seth on April 7, 2008 under Uncategorized |
The Indian government and their tourism board are looking at ways to make travel to their country a bit easier. No, they cannot make the flights any shorter, and it doesn’t seem that they can reduce the traffic on the roads from the airports to the cities, but at least getting a visa may no longer be such an ordeal. The government is considering implementing a Visa-on-arrival program, with such a change possibly going into effect at Mumbai and Delhi airports as early as 2009.
Getting a visa to visit India today is a rather entertaining ordeal. One can either mail off the application and passport and get it back a while later, or take the application and passport in person to a local processing facility. I did it in NYC a couple years ago when we made our initial trip to India, and it was definitely an experience. Everything happened reasonably efficiently and just like they said it would, but there was a lot of standing around and waiting in line and otherwise just waiting. It definitely took the better part of a full day to get it done. Visa-on-arrival would obviate the need for all the waiting in advance.
Then again, it would likely mean lots of waiting on arrival. Considering that most flights from the USA or from Europe arrive in Mumbai or Delhi very late at night, waiting in line to get a visa would be the last thing I’d want to do at that point. Then again, if the visa-on-arrival is handled by the immigration officer rather than a different line it might not be so bad. Turkey does it as a second line, and I’m not sure how bad that will be, though we’re going to find out later this year.
Either way, anything that India can do to make travel there easier and more inviting is a welcome change. It isn’t really all that bad, but making it better means it will be more likely that more people will get to experience the amazing beauty and incredible culture that India has to share.
Even if they don’t make the visa process easier you should all go visit! Make sure to see the Taj. And Goa. And Mysore. And a bunch of other places that we haven’t seen yet, but that we’re going to go back for.
Posted by Seth on February 7, 2008 under Uncategorized |
In addition to street food, there is something to be said for comfort food, especially when traveling. After 8 days in India, there was something refreshing about showing up in Goa, the old Portugese territory, and finding shrimp sauteed in butter and garlic on the menu. I’m certainly not far enough into this adventure to be really jonesing for some comfort food, especially when the street food is so delicious. Still, when one of my friends who lives here recommended a brunch place run by an American expat, and I had some time to kill, I decided to give it a try.
I’m sitting on a leather chair in The Flying Pan on Lockhart Road here in Hong Kong, enjoying Challah French Toast – and it is the real deal. The menu is decidedly American bruch, with eggs, waffles, pancakes, french toash, blintzes and all the breakfast meats you can handle. As an added bonus, there’s a reasonably well stocked bar and draft beer available.The food reminds me of a decent diner in NYC, though without the surly staff or extra grease normally included in an order.
This particular location is the second one they have here in Hong Kong, and it is in the middle of the Wan Chai neighborhood, which is known for the hostess bars, among other things, so I would assume that the business remains pretty steady even into the night; they are open 24/7/365 (why isn’t it 24/7/52? but that’s a different rant). They’ve got a juke box with a pretty good music selection and free WiFi, too.
Definitely worth a visit if you’re in town and looking for some comfort food. Don’t just take my word for it, either. The NY Times agrees, and so does this reviewer.
Posted by Seth on January 18, 2008 under Uncategorized |
A couple years ago I found myself on a trip to India. It was a great trip, and I highly recommend everyone go there, to see the Taj Mahal and the rest of the country. But the “how” part of my being on the trip always seemed a bit strange to me – until now.
My wandering consort was truly enamored with the idea of visiting India. Much Bollywood was being watched, the cultures studied and tourism research performed. She actually had a great plan for making the trip happen, which was to convince her mother to go to India for work (something that was actually supposed to happen anyways) and then the two of them would travel together. I’ll admit that I was a little jealous when I heard the plans, as I wanted to go too, but I kept quiet and let the plan play out. A bit more research showed that women didn’t often travel alone, certainly not single women. So I got invited along as an escort as much as anything else. We weren’t married yet, so that probably raised just as many questions and protocol issues, but we were made to feel quite welcome everywhere we visited. Plus it turns out that my presence was quite helpful on a few occasions when the “two tall white women” became just as much of an attraction as whatever site we were at.
And now French President Nicolas Sarkozy is experiencing some of the same protocol issues, though at a much higher level. He divorced his wife last year and pretty much immediately started dating a supermodel; the two are rather inseparable. The problem is that formal Indian protocol doesn’t know how to deal with the presence of the “girlfriend” at a State event. Does she get to sit at the head table? A second hotel room? So many little things to think about, and only a few days to figure it all out before he shows up next week. And things aren’t being made much easier by the fact that no one has told the Indians if she is coming along on the trip or not, though their Visa program should have cleared that up by now I would think – they take time to get.
Nothing more than a reminder that cultures are all different and that you have to respect your hosts when you go somewhere, which is made much more difficult by the fact that the world keeps getting smaller.
Posted by Seth on July 4, 2007 under Uncategorized |
I’m not talking about how long it takes to get there and back. I talking about the absolute minimum amount of time one could possibly spend making the trip and still experience one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen – sunrise at the Taj Mahal.
India deserves much, much, much more time than 96 hours. I don’t think that a year would be enough time to actually experience the many different regions and cultures that India has to offer. But if, for some reason, you really, really, really, really don’t want to visit India, here’s a way to be there for the absolute shortest amount of time and still see the Taj.
Hours 0 – 24
The good news is that Continental Airlines and American Airlines both offer non-stop service to Delhi from Newark and Chicago, respectively. This saves a few hours in travel time and I found that it was easier to sleep on the longer flight, helping stave off the jet lag that is inherent in such a long trip. Both carriers drop you in Delhi very late in the evening – around 11pm. Get yourself to a hotel and sleep. But not for too long.
Hours 24-30
The best way to experience the trip from Delhi to Agra is by train. There is an early morning train that runs express (2-3 stops) and takes about 3 hours to complete the journey. Along the way you get to see the city wake up alongside the tracks and then farms lands and small towns dotting the countryside – little bits of rural Indian life. The First Class tickets (air-conditioned car and seats comparable to a domestic airline) were about $6, so it won’t break the bank to go this way. If you don’t want that bit of adventure, just hire a driver to take you down to Agra. Your hotel can arrange it, but you’ll really be missing out.
Hours 30 – 48
Congratulations! You’ve made it to Agra. Hopefully you went ahead and booked yourself a room at the Hotel Sheela. It is about 100 yards from the entrance to the Taj, and has a decent kitchen to keep you nourished, as well as a nice courtyard to relax in during the day. There are two properties with the same name in town, so make sure that you book the correct one. Again, for those less adventurous, there is also the Oberoi hotel – Agra. It is uber-luxurious and has prices to match, and it is only about half a mile from the Taj. Everything else is much further.
After you’ve dropped your bag off at the hotel, find a driver to take you around and show you everything else in Agra. There’s a mini-Taj, the Red Fort and a view of the Taj from across the river that’s pretty impressive. That should get you through the afternoon and give you enough to do until dinner rolls around. Have an early dinner and get to sleep. You’re going to need to be up early again tomorrow to see the Taj.
Hours 48-52
The Taj Majal opens at 6 am for folks who want to see sunrise. Dawn is shortly thereafter, so don’t be late. The scene is amazing. Calm, peaceful, beautiful. You can easily spend a few hours wandering the grounds and taking in the sights. There are several buildings on the grounds, in addition to the Taj Mahal though certainly none quite as grand. It’s the little things that make the building so amazing; things like the inlaid marble, incredibly symmetrical or the fact that it was one of the first buildings on the sub-continent to go for non-geometric patterns, making it all that much more difficult to accomplish. Or the way the letters of the inscription that surround the door get bigger the higher up the building they go, making them appear a consistent size from the ground.
Hours 52-64
Find your way back to Delhi. You can hire one of the local cars or take the train. Take in a sight or two downtown – there are many to see. And you’re probably better off doing that than sitting around at the airport. That being said, you’re going to want to get to the airport about 3 hours early, maybe more, because lines are something they do very well in India, and there are several of them. First is the security line, then check-in, then customs and immigration, and none of the lines are particularly organized or short. There may be another security check to get to the gate area, though at least then you’re only in line with the other 250 people on your flight instead of the entire airport.
Hours 64-80
It is a long flight home. Very, very, very, very long. Bring a few books or some Ambien, or you will be bored out of your mind, though at least you’ll have been to see the Taj Mahal.
A couple of other notes:
- You need a Visa to go to India. Same day service is available in NYC.
- The Taj is closed on Fridays, so plan accordingly.
- You really should actually go visit more of India than just the Taj. It is a beautiful and diverse country. Don’t skimp out and only go for 3.5 days.
