• What's elliott?
• About elliott
• Contact us

t o p i c s

• Business
• Commentary
• Destinations
• Help
• Leisure
• Technology
• Vault

s u b s c r i b e

• Elliott's E-Mail, a free weekly newsletter, is your insider resource for moneysaving ideas.




• Read back issues. Like what you see? Now you can become an underwriter.

a l s o

• Referring sites
• Public relations
• Visit Tripso
• Home


s e a r c h

• Find a story.



Copyright Elliott Publishing. All rights reserved. For more information, call (305) 453-4781 or send e-mail to us.

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

March 5, 2004

Student Wins 'Rental From Hell' Case
 It was the rental car from hell - bad tires, no horn, not even a reservoir to hold windshield wiper fluid. Provincial court Judge Don Ingram agreed and ruled this week that A Affordable Rent-a-Car must pay a University of Alberta student $965 and cease attempts to collect a charge on the student's credit card. David Huntingford, an English exchange student, rented a 1998 Chevrolet Malibu from A Affordable and set out on Halloween with four other British exchange students for Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff. Soon, the trip started going downhill when passing cars on Highway 16 sprayed muck on the Chevy's windshield. Huntingford, 20, tried to use the windshield spray button to get it off. It didn't work. Canadian Press | Posted 6 a.m.
<-- ANI: Rental clerk sues Joan Rivers

• Who says nothing interesting ever happens in the car rental business? Not me. Send us your comments.

Psst! Wanna Buy a Cruise Ship?
The beleaguered Royal Olympia Cruises' Olympia Voyager will be sold on the courthouse steps in Broward County as the cruise line continues to operate three other ships while a mediator tries to work out an agreement with creditors. U.S. District Judge James Cohn ordered the vessel -- now anchored off Miami -- auctioned March 26. Net proceeds will go to creditors, primarily a group of German banks that are owed about $130 million. The company and its creditors negotiated an agreement to turn over the ships for sale to pay off creditors, said James R. Lawrence, a spokesman for Royal Olympia. . Miami Herald l | Posted 6:20 a.m.
-- Read statement on Royal Olympia's bankruptcy filing

Charlotte May Get Low-Fare Carrier
A New Hampshire investor says he has taken early steps to enter the risky business of bringing a low-fare airline to Charlotte. The chief obstacles facing John MacLeod, 38, a one-time financial analyst at John Hancock Financial Services, include raising capital and surviving an anticipated assault by US Airways, which would seek to protect its biggest hub in Charlotte. MacLeod said his plan is to fly to major East Coast airports such as Boston Logan, New York La Guardia and Washington National. He said he wants to raise $100 million to $150 million beyond an initial $5 million from family and friends. MacLeod said he is in negotiations to buy a carrier, which he would not name. AP | Posted 6:30 a.m.
-- PBT: Group takes a cue from "Project Roam"
-- CBT: US Airways numbers up for February

-----------------------------------

• And finally ... a debate is raging about the avaricious airline change fees imposed on customers. Here's the problem. If I happen to show up early for a flight, and there are empty seats on an earlier flight, why not let me take it? The action would free up other seats for other passengers. But instead, many mainline carriers make you wait until your scheduled flight - or pay a $100 change fee. Which is, of course, stupid. Posted 6:40 a.m. | Send us your comments.

>> Yesterday's Notes | Tomorrow's Notes <<

E-mail Elliott | Other bloggers | About this blog

Latest Travel Notes | Complete Archives