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

May 20, 2004

Song: Free Tickets For Being Nice
Airlines have offered more legroom, televisions and even martinis on flights to draw customers in a highly competitive market. In the latest unusual effort, Delta's low-fare carrier, Song, will give free tickets to passengers who are nice to one another. Help another passenger carry a bag, stay upbeat during a difficult situation or assist a flight attendant and you could earn one of 5,000 roundtrip tickets Song will give away in June for redemption between September and November. Song hopes the program will build customer loyalty and generate more revenue for Delta Air Lines, which has lost more than $3 billion in three years and recently warned about the possibility of bankruptcy. ''We always give away products when people have a problem,'' Song Chief Executive John Selvaggio said. ''I'd love to see what happens when you give away a ticket for somebody doing something good.'' Sun-Times | Posted 6:30 a.m.
-- Boston Herald: No criteria for being courteous
-- Biz Journal: Song's CEO optimistic about future

• Song won't give any tickets away if the latest surveys are to be believed. (I happen to not believe them.) So will this gimmick work? Song's John Selvaggio continues to sound upbeat, as I noted in a recent interview, but insiders worry that the spinoff is padding its losses through its parent company, Delta Air Lines. Could "free tickets" be Song's last tune? We'll see. Send us your comments.

10 Places For Savvy Summer Travelers
Summertime is vacation time. But if you had thought that this year you'd be able to splash out a little more on that beach holiday or European getaway, you might be in for a rude awakening. With rising gasoline prices and a falling dollar, Americans are finding that many of their usual summer vacation destinations are going to wind up costing more than ever this year. Even budget-conscious family road trips--Grand Canyon! Monument Valley! Yellowstone!--no longer seem quite the bargain they once were, with fuel costs soaring over $2 a gallon. Considering a European vacation? You may want to wait until next year. With the dollar falling 1% earlier this week against the euro, that bike trip through the Loire or two weeks in Tuscany is more expensive than ever. Forbes | Posted 6:45 a.m.
-- TIA: 3.2 percent increase in Summer travel predicted

Kansas City Hotels Balk at New Taxes
Not everyone is on board with Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes' arena financing plan. Tom Holden, executive director of the Hotel and Lodging Association of Greater Kansas City, said Wednesday that his organization opposes the hotel and rental car tax increases that will help pay for a new $250 million arena. "They didn't ask for the hotel industry association's input," said Holden, whose organization represents the interests of 131 area hotels. The mayor's plan calls for an additional $1.50-a-night tax on hotel rooms and a $4-a-day increase in the tax on rental cars. Fifty cents of the rental car tax money will finance an organization charged with marketing the city as a tourism destination. Biz Journal | Posted 7 a.m.

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• And finally ... Travel Notes is relocating next week, which means you might experience some posting delays. Rest assured, the blog will continue to be updated - but please be patient. And as always, let us know if any links need fixing. Posted 7:10 a.m. | Send us your comments.

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