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

May 26, 2004

Bedbug-Bitten Attendant Sues Hotel
An Air Canada flight attendant is itching to have her concerns over a posh English hotel addressed in court. Kathleen Leona Schill of Fall River, N.S., is suing the Thistle Kensington Park and Palace Hotel for alleged bedbug bites she claims she suffered while staying at the 353-bedroom hotel in London on July 16, 2001. Neither Schill nor her lawyer could be reached Tuesday but her statement of claim states the flight attendant discovered numerous bug bites after a night in the Thistle. Officials at the hotel did not return a call for comment. The Thistle is part of a chain of four-star hotels spread throughout the United Kingdom. CP | Posted 6:30 a.m.
-- NG: London bedbug infestations up tenfold
-- Channel 5: Bugs making a comeback here, too

• Record crowds, long security lines, higher fares ... and now this? I wouldn't blame travelers if they decided to stay home this summer. At least they won't have to worry about the insects. Send us your comments.

Travel Agents Sue Over Capps II
Two Anchorage travel agencies and other Alaska plaintiffs filed a federal lawsuit Monday seeking review of an airline passenger screening system they say the government is developing in secret. Plaintiffs are seeking to force the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to notify the public about rules being created under the agency's Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-screening System II. CAPPS II smacks of invasion of privacy rights because it's designed to identify suspected hijackers by running background checks on anybody who buys an airline ticket, the plaintiffs contend. But without giving the public any specifics, there's no way of addressing the rules, said James P. Harrison, a civil rights attorney based in Sacramento, Calif. AP | Posted 6:45 a.m.
-- Reuters: Passengers 'unfairly barred from flying'

Airlines Roll Back Fare Hike Again
A fare increase led by Continental Airlines and matched by major U.S. airlines failed to stick after U.S. Airways rolled back its fare hike over the weekend and other airlines followed suit on Monday. Separately, Southwest Airlines, which reported a profit consistently throughout the industry's three-year slump, raised fares $1 each way for flights of fewer than 600 miles, and $2 each way for longer flights. "It's the increase in fuel costs. We are heavily hedged but we still purchase a portion of our fuel at the current rate, and that is affecting our overall costs," a spokeswoman told Reuters. Many airlines matched Southwest's increase on competitive routes, including Delta Air Lines, US Airways, Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines and American Airlines . The rollback of last week's increased fares -- as much as $20 on one-way tickets -- is the third time in the past six months the airline industry has failed to make a fare increase stick. Reuters | Posted 7 a.m.

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• And finally ... for those of you following our relocation from hell, here's an update. There have been several complications with our paperwork, which have delayed the closing on our house. So I'm still at the Hampton Inn - and eternally grateful to the hotel for letting us extend our stay. Making matters worse, Bell South hasn't posted a forwarding number to our old phone line. So a lot of folks have wondered if I've fallen off the face of the earth. Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm still here. Posted 7:10 a.m. | Send us your comments.

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