FSP 1.1

BART to SFO: no schedules posted

Why passengers shun SFO-BART connection

I have read a number of reports, including
one on the Mercury News (Page 1, 2004 July 04),
expressing concern about the low ridership on the BART extension to
San Francisco International Airport. Based on a few personal
attempts to use it, I find this unsurprising. It reflects on BART
and Caltrain management, but not on the need or demand for public
transportation in the Bay Area.

From what I saw, the actual BART trains work well. But the details
beyond that seem to be designed to discourage ridership.

Arriving airline passengers need to buy a ticket from a machine
which gave me $3.50 in nickels in change, after finally figuring out
how to get change at all. Passengers are then made to wait for a
BART train which, in my experience, is timed to just miss the
Caltrain connection. During some popular arrival times this can be
followed by a lengthy wait for Caltrain, after buying another
ticket. And I couldn't even find the schedule posted at the airport.

I'm happy to see a BART connection to the airport. But the
unpredictable schedule and ticketing system are making the system
unusable.

Hans-J. Boehm
Palo Alto

Published Saturday, July 10, 2004, in the San Jose Mercury News
Letters to the Editor

Ref.: [BATN]

Movable, removable armrest

Continental's Jungle Jets have a good feature: almost all armrests can
be retracted -- armrests beside the aisle, armrests beside the window,
included.

This adjustibility makes an otherwise cramped, uncomfortable space much easier
to move around in, and to find a comfortable seating position in.

Thanks FlyerTalk for this tip.

Amtrak ticket machine doesn't run MS Windows

Ticket machine at Penn Station NYC, Amtrak's busiest station
tries to run MS windows, and fails.

Technical note: the extended handle of my Tumi rollaboard functions
as a great adjustable camerarest for non-flash indoor photography.

[click on thumbnail for popup-fullsize image]

Previously: MS Windows seen at Oakland Airport (OAK)

JFK-AirTrain Part 2 - LIRR Access Information

The entrance to Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) from JFK AirTrain Jamaica --
this station ingress enjoys a number of well executed features.

Wayfinding:
In addition to the colour coded signs, the lighting and geometry
of the antechamber, the large logo and collection of monitors and
ticket vending machine all combine to focus attention on this corner
which leads to the LIRR tracks.

Ergonomic:
The monitors are placed overhead so passengers simply look up
rather than queue to choose a train, and to see the specifics of their
train. These monitors are tilted down to maximize readability and
reduce glare.

Task Oriented:
By positioning the monitors and the ticket vending machine together,
passengers can make an informed decision about where and
when to buy tickets, and whether to rush or dawdle to the train
platform.

If a passenger has a few minutes to spare, he can buy more
tickets. If he's about to miss his train, he can rush ahead and
buy a ticket on the train (for a service fee).

The overhead monitors list the next train to DESTINATION at
TIME on TRACK, sorted by direction
(one monitor for westbound, one for eastbound).

Each monitor is then sorted by time of departure, and the various
destinations are represented by a consistent colouring scheme.
eg Huntington is always dark blue.

The monitors also show the correct local time, so there's no asking,
I see there is an 8:44 PM train to huntington, and it's on time;
has it left yet ? Is 8:44 before of after now ?

Eastbound (aka 'Outbound') train info:
(different destinations are represented by different colors)

Note that these colors are consistent with the line/branch colours
used on the system maps.

Westbound (going into the NY City) info:

Previously: JFK AirTrain Opens Part 1: dream vs reality

JFK AirTrain opens (Part 1 of ?) -- dream vs reality

The JFK-Jamaica AirTrain, New York City's first transit link
to a city airport opened in December 2003. Here's a comparison
of some architectural drawings to what passengers actually experience.

JFK AirTrain Jamaica station: the dream from kennedyairport.com.

1. The foyer.

1. The Dream:

1. The Reality:

Analysis: It's spaceous, but not as cavernous or illuminated as hoped for.

2. The atrium:

2. Dream:

2. Reality:

Analysis: Again, not as ambiently illuminated as promised, but succeeds
as a directional beakon. If you can see the glowing globe above, you
should probably be walking towards it.

Continued: Part 2: JFK-AirTrain - LIRR Access Information.

EWR, waiting

New York/ Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)

Though 14 miles southwest of NYC, EWR offers a midtown Manhattan to airport security
gate trek in less than 30 minutes by train. That's better situated than actual NYC airports
JFK (Idlewild) and La Guardia.

Picture: EWR, waiting at gate c-80.

See previously: Morning sky at EWR.

Doors Closing, AirTrain, SFO

SFO's new AirTrain.

Doors are closing.
Stand clear of the mechanism. [PhotoFriday].

Flyertalk DO Silicon Valley

Flyertalk Silicon Valley Do at Sarovar in Sunnyvale, CA. June, 2003.

Click on image to enlarge.

Airtrain SFO: follow the signs

SFO's new AirTrain has a nice sign telling us that one day there
will be a skybridge from the train to the terminal.

Signs for the current train-to-terminal trek via tour of the parking
garage are a little crudely drawn.

BART to SFO

In planning since 1956, the San Francisco subway system (BART)
finally (today !) reaches the San Francisco International Airport.

As Mike Neville, a San Mateo supervisor says, "There is nothing like it
west of the Mississippi."

Also of late, there's a budding price war in the parking market which will
only heat up now that a park-and-ride $2/day BART station is only three
minutes away from the airport.

Special parking also goes into effect. Several stations will provide
reserved, long-term parking for $7 a day. Also, BART will begin
enforcing its new 24-hour parking rules. Anybody not in a long-term
area who leaves his car for more than 24 hours will get a $100
ticket. Also, $2 daily parking fees will take effect at Peninsula
stations.

Picture explained:
Above, the blue Airtrain between terminals.
Below, the silver BART train goes to San Francisco, Fremont,
Pleasanton, Milbrae, Walnut Creek, and beyond.

San Mateo County Times coverage.

Federal Coffee

Often the wait for airport security is less than the wait for
my morning latte. Perhaps we need federalized barristas ?

Lambert (Saint Louis, MO) airport, 6:35 AM.

Ubiquitous Computing by MS Windows

The sad face of M$ Windows' ubiquity:
Oakland Airport, Oakland, CA, near gate 14.

Continental claims that these info screens are the airport's responsibility
and the airlines are helpless to rectify them.

So when I arrive at the airport with my printed-at-office boarding pass,
I choose the gate with the shortest line and there ask where my flight is.

Update 2004 February: See also Amtrak/Windows in Penn Station, NYC.

SV FT Do

FT SV Do.
Many Bay Area FTers have suggested it's time for a Silicon Valley event. Here it is:

When: Sunday, June 8, 2003, 6 p.m.,optional, no-host, pre-dinner beverage service / meet-and-greet
6:45 p.m. dinner.

Where: Sarovar Indian Cuisine, 544 Lawrence Expressway, Sunnyvale, CA 94086
between Oakmead and Arques Ave. just 1/2 mi. south of 101 (Bayshore) Fwy and 5 mi. N. of SJC. Easy, free parking in front of the restaurant.
www.sarovar.com

What: Meet FTers while enjoying typical Indian cuisine of Silicon Valley. Choose either the $9.95 dinner buffet including soup, appetizers, green salad, 7 vegetable dishes, 5 meat dishes including lamb curry and tandoori chicken and dessert and soft drink or order dinner from the menu (See web site.)

Other info: Sarovar will accommodate 30-40 of us and more. We'll get their private room if we're the largest party. Sarovar serves a variety of beers and some wine at your option.

Please book soon. I need to confirm our res. by June 5. Please post your booking in this thread or e-mail. Below this post, I'll keep a thread going for names and numbers, updated periodically.

So, bring your appetite, digicam, PDA, and all the other icons of "the Valley" and let's network over dinner on June 8. Very early arrivers may want to hang at Fry's Electronics, Sunnyvale, just 6 blocks from Sarovar. See y'all on 6/8

Re-Code

Re-Code allows you to print your own UPC symbols, which can be read by checkout scanners.

Can it also print boarding passes ? [Salon link]

USA Today story on Self-Reduction of Prices from 1996 August 01 link;
More frequent flyer blogging.

Airport lockers: fingerprints required

MSP now has lockers for rent inside security.
Fingerprinting is now required.

TSA 91-02
Tuesday, September 3, 2002
TSA Press Office: 202-385-1800

New Airport Lockers Use Fingerprints to Keep Valuables Safe and Airports Secure
-- Technology Unveiled Today in Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport By
Representatives James Oberstar and Martin Sabo

Today, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) joined Representatives
James L. Oberstar, (D-MN) and Martin O. Sabo, (D-MN) as they announced the
launch of an innovative pilot program using fingerprints to secure public lockers
at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport.

Immediately following the s of September 11, 2001, lockers inside airport
security checkpoints were shut down for security reasons and have remained
closed. There was concern that a credentialed employee, not subject to security
screening, could put a prohibited item in a traditional, key operated locker. A
co-conspirator, using the key, could then collect that item from the locker and
possibly take it onto a plane and jeopardize the safety of the passengers.

The new lockers, unveiled today, utilize a biometric, computerized lock system
offered by Smarte Carte, Inc., headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota. A touch
screen leads the customer through the locker rental process, where, instead of
using a key, the user’s fingerprint verifies identity when storing or retrieving
items.

During today’s news conference, Rep. Oberstar, ranking member of the House
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, said, “It is important to balance
security and customer service. This pilot program shows great promise to
deliver both.”

Rep. Sabo, ranking member of the House Appropriations Transportation
Subcommittee commented, “Lockers are a necessary part of any airport as they
are a convenience to passengers. It is fortunate that both TSA, the airport and
Smarte Carte are working together to provide this service.”

The Transportation Security Administration, (TSA) will review the results of the
program and, if successful, will revise its policy, which currently prohibits the use
or installation of any lockers at airports.

Coach pax not walking thru first class

A recent observation on flyertalk:

Boarding a plane is a joke! Everyone piles in, walking through classes of
service they don't belong in -- SHADO

There are worse problems, but I observe that NWA's Boeing 757 service
from SFO to DTW boards at the second door by row 14; from here,
coach is aft and first class is ahead.

NorthWest Airlines: New Livery

I think these new planes look fine, but the logo suggests
a doomsday clock at 10pm.

More like this: Frequent flyer blog, design blog.

[Picture credit: justplanes.com ]

SJC maps transit last

Public agencies should show transit lines on their maps.

Don't just show the station, show the line.
Where it comes from, where it goes to.

From SJC/Norman Mineta Silicon Valley's airport

See also SVMG's transitless maps.

SJC: no facilities

The San Jose, California Silicon Valley Norman Mineta Airport often ranks in the nation's worst.

Here's another reason why: no facilities inside security.

Nice logo though.

CO ol: blank search

Continental Online gives me a golden search box on the right side of my screen,
and takes my info.

Next, I the click on search; then CO gives me a new different blank search template.

Where is the info I already typed ?
Why not give me results for the search I requested ?

co ol: flew in the future

I looked at a listing of all my reservations, and clicked on the link
for one which had not been purchased, and was older than 48 hours,
so option to purchase had likely expired.

Continental Online tells me this reservation,
which is for a flight on a future date, has aready be flown.

co ol lost data

Continental Airlines Online strikes again, and loses my
data of when and where I've been.

Seen in context:

OMOR Air

Continental asked me (I'm Gold Elite[*]) how they could be a better airline
for me. Here's what I told them:

Most complaints I have with CO are due to management,
not poor staff. I'm quite happy with 95 % of the CO people
I meet face to face.

Reservation System
Elites are always (justifiably) complaining that CO.online is down,
broken, or would not let us book an itinerary it found.
See previous posts for details.

Commuter Jets
Remove seat 1A from the ERJ-135/145 enhanced regional
jets. These aircraft have 1+2 seating; increase the legroom for
elites on the A seats, 2A through 8A. (does anybody pay for first
class on an ERJ flight with no first class seats ?)

Boarding
When boarding, organize the scrum of pax so as to let elites preboard
without having to push our way to the front and query other pax,
are you elite/first class or are you just waiting in my way ?.

Seat Selection System
I hate seats which don't recline fully. The last row of BizFirst on
some 737, and the coach row immediately before exit rows on
some planes do not recline.

Upgrade your seat inventory tracking so we may avoid these non-reclining
seats.

1. Record my pref, and don't seat me there.
2. Warn me if I've been assigned such a seat and offer to move me.

Extreme Frequent Flyers
Other airlines have programs to reward flying 1,000,000
or 2,000,000 in a lifetime, or for reaching top tier elite status
for several years in a row. CO lacks any uber-platinum status level.

Partnerships
So-called reciprocal partnerships should include reciprocal
rights for customers. CO should also not erode rights after selling
lifetime access to enjoy rights.

CO's biggest partnership is with Northwest Air.

1) The Northwest elite customer has real, dedicated telephone agents, CO does
not.

2) Northwest Elite telephone agents will process complimentary upgrades for
their elite customers when their automated system fails them and CO operators
are forbidden to and/or powerless to help?

3) Northwest World Club members can access every airport club that a
President's Club member can AND still access America West Clubs in LAS, PHX
and CMH, whereas Presidents Club members no longer have an airport club to
use in these locations?

What process has been put in place to issue Presidents Club members transfers
to World Club membership and/or pro-rated refunds of multi-year memberships
in light of the dramatically reduced access to clubs in the US and the dramatically
reduced choices in food and drink now available?

(On Flyertalk, people blame CO Chairman and CEO Gordon M. Bethune
aka Gordo the Liar's spiteful arrogance for these shortcomings.)

Milage Rewards
Quote a price in for every seat in your inventory.

My search starts when I choose dates and an origin-destination
pair. It does now start with me choosing to spend either
or dollars.

Instead, or in addition to flat prices of eg '20,000 for a
domestic off season weekend stay flight', every time I search
for flights on CO.O.L offer me a cash price and offer me a
price.

eg
search for flight on CO.O.L, find a listing,
sort by or price, look at each result,
see details, price in $, price in .

I'm not saying you have to offer good deals in setting prices,
but just an opportunity to use up . But for 10,000,000 ,
I should be able to bump somebody who paid $98 for a coach seat.

Airport Access
Speed up airport access for elites and first class passengers.

The process of declaring who I am and presenting id and printing boarding
cards takes about three minutes.

Since I know the drill at the security inspection, I can pass though
the gate and wand check, and bag searched in less than three minutes.

But I spend a lot of time waiting for other people who wear boots
with lots of metal, who leave their cel phone in their pocket,
who can't find their boarding pass, ...

Offer elite security screenings.

At least offer a few dedicated eTicket machines for elites to use
without waiting for people who fly once per year to figure them out.

I look forward to printing boarding passes over the web.

[*] When I crash the First Class queue, I say I'm elite and flash
my gold badge. Hard to say I with a straight face, though.

luggage: lock and load

Q: Can I still transport a firearm in checked baggage?

A: Subject to state and local restrictions on transporting firearms, you may still transport a firearm in your checked baggage. However, you should first check with your airline or travel agent to see if firearms are permitted in checked baggage on the airline you are flying. Ask about limitations or fees, if any, that apply.

Firearms carried as checked baggage MUST be unloaded, packed in a locked hard-sided gun case, and declared to the airline at check-in. Only you, the passenger, may have the key or combination. Ammunition may be packed in the same locked container as the firearm, so long as it is not loaded in the firearm. Small-arms ammunition must also be declared to the air carrier and placed in an appropriate container - securely packed in fiber, wood or metal boxes or other packaging specifically designed to carry small amount of ammunition.

In addition, small-arms ammunition must also be declared to the air carrier and placed in an appropriate container: "securely packed in fiber, wood, or metal boxes, or other packaging specifically designed to carry small amounts of ammunition." Ammunition may be packed in the same locked container as the firearm, so long as it is not loaded in the firearm.

Alibi construction kit

Note the dates of purchase. It appears I've created an
alibi for last autumn.

Which city: where is CO taking me ?

Today my Continental welcome page lists a trip
that I'm not taking (from SJC to EWR, 2003 Jan. 13).

I follow the All saved reservations link, and see this trip is actually
from SJC to STL.

Following this flight's link, I see the details:
SJC to IAH to CLE to STL; then returning
STL to EWR to SJC.

Is this a trip I would summarize as SJC to EWR ? No.

[More frequent flyer tales]

I may please help you

Continental often surveys me (I'm Elite) on how they can better
serve me. Their web site is a subject of particularly frequent surveys.
If this site could just plain work more than 60 percent of the time,
that would be great.

And again.

Travel Booking

The Internet allows me to be my own travel agent.

I check Expedia and Travelocity, and the airlines'
and hotels' own sites. Interestingly I sometimes find a

Northwest ticket for a flight on a Continental flight for half
the price of a Continental ticket on the same flight. I book with
Northwest, but get all the benefits of being a Continental Elite
frequent flyer. Preboarding, upgrades to first class, all that.

I'm finding ways to optimize my travel, such as changing planes
at airports which have premium lounges I can use.

Travelocity is very good about selling "illegal" routings combining
travel on NW and CO. I have had agents at CO say "this ticket was
validly issued, but I don't know how they got this routing."

You can see some crazy stuff come up over there that you won't
find elsewhere.

The subtleties of travel search systems and enhancement
opportunities is an ongoing series.

Trip planner

Orbitz and other trip planners have greatly
improved the travel planning experience.

However, these sites require the user to specify dates
of travel before they search for flights, so you can't
perform a search like:

STL --> SFO return, less than $200,
find flights in November 2002.

Also, for mileage junkies, you can't restrict the search
to three or more segments.

Frequent Flying

Praxeology today: flying just to get frequent flyer .

If you bought more beer in order to collect money by returning
your empty bottles to the re-cycling center, the breweries would
be richer, but not you. (But you could sponsor your own Oktoberfest.)

But if you flew in order to get frequent flyer so you could fly
some more, would you get rich ? Well, are the airlines making
any money ?

FlyerTalk is a trove of tales and
techniques of the frequent flyers and mileage obsessed.

As an Alaska MVP Gold, I can change tickets without any penalty at all.
Yesterday I was running too late for my flight to get the 500 mile Kiosk
check-in bonus. (The Kiosk cuts you off about 15 minutes before departure.)

good eats at CO

Soon to be submitted to AirlineMeals.Net:

Continental Breakfast 1.

Continental Breakfast 2.

Continental landing screen: real, not simulator.

Continental dinner in President's lounge.

Fly Continental

I usually fly Continental becasue it goes where I need
to go, and they have a great frequent flyer program.

But they do save money in some picky ways:

There will be 100 initial changes, he said, and some will
directly affect customers. For example, the airline will
charge $20 extra for each paper ticket, a change that
American and United Airlines have already made.
Passengers will not receive a full can of soda unless
they ask. They will also have to ask for plastic
knives at breakfast if they want one. Those
last two changes will save the airline $1 million and
$80,000 a year, respectively.

-- Ned Walker, Continental spokesman.[NYT]

ORD

It is a long walk from gate C1 to gate B20.
O'Hare needs a hyperspace tunnel peoplemover.

take a number

SJ Mercury link good for one week

Travelers meet crowds, delays at San Jose airport

BY CONNIE SKIPITARES (cskipitares@sjmercury.com

Published Saturday, Nov. 10, 2001, in the San Jose Mercury News

Hundreds of unsuspecting weekend travelers arrived at San Jose airport on
Friday to face colossal lines at security checkpoints that snaked through
its two terminals, spilled into hallways and ramps and even into the
parking garage.

Perhaps passengers could be given a number upon arrival at the airport and
sent shopping for n hours, and every five minutes the next batch of numbers
could be paged to the security gate.