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E L L I O T T' S TRAVEL NOTES
Travel news, opinion and analysis

April 7, 2004

ACLU Files 'No-Fly' List Lawsuit
A secret "no-fly" list the federal government maintains of terrorist suspects has been used to humiliate and stigmatize innocent citizens, the American Civil Liberties Union charged yesterday in filing a class-action lawsuit on behalf of seven individuals. Each of the passengers was stopped on multiple occasions at airports by airline and security personnel and extensively questioned, searched and publicly singled out as posing a security threat after being told their names were on the no-fly list, the suit said. In each incident, they were allowed to board their flights after extensive efforts to prove they were not the same person as the suspected terrorist on the government's list. Washington Post | Posted 6 a.m.
-- Herald: List snares innocent travelers
-- AP: Passengers on the list get nowhere fast

• I'm not surprised by this suit. The no-fly list is hopelessly outdated and riddled with errors. Maybe this suit will prompt the government to collect better data on dangerous passengers. Send us your comments.

Cendant Offers 'Best Rate or it's Free'
Cendant Corporation’s Hotel Group has announced it will introduce a Best Rate or It’s Free guarantee, promising customers their first night free if they do not receive lower rates on its brand Web sites and toll-free numbers than on third-party Web sites. The program will be introduced May 1 for Cendant’s Days Inn, Super 8, Ramada, Travelodge, Howard Johnson, Knights Inn, Villager, Wingate Inn and AmeriHost Inn hotel brands, replacing a best available rate guarantee introduced two years ago that offered a 10 percent discount for the first night if guests found a lower rate online. Peter Strebel, Hotel Group senior vice president of sales and marketing, said the guarantee aims to instill consumer confidence by providing rate parity across Cendant’s brand Web sites and voice channels. Hospitality Net | Posted 6:20 a.m.

Carnival CEO On Cruise Control
Thirty-two years ago, Micky Arison was aboard Carnival Cruise Lines' first voyage. The trip had a rocky start - the decade-old Mardi Gras got stuck on a sandbar off Miami. "That moment when she ran aground obviously was horrifying," Arison recalled. To keep passengers happy, the crew doled out free drinks while the ship was refloated. "After that it was party time." Carnival made its niche fostering that carefree atmosphere and grew from a struggling line with one 950-passenger ship into the world's largest cruise company with 73 vessels across 12 brands. It also made Arison rich. Carnival Corp.'s chairman and chief executive is Florida's second-richest person and the 33rd-wealthiest in America. AP | Posted 6:30 a.m.

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• And finally ... What's the most stressful part of air travel? If you answered "getting to the airport," you're right. A new survey says nearly half of all travelers thought that was the worst part of the journey. Posted 6:45 a.m. | Send us your comments.

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