It seems like the dismal news about air travel never ends. Usually it’s delays, the increasing delays and prospect of more of them in the future. Sometime in the last two years I read an in-depth article about the outsourcing of airplane maintenance to non-FAA-approved foreign contractors leading to lowered standards of air safety.

Now the unhappy news is leaking out slowly to MSNBC from a strange source: NASA. The US space agency performed a massive survey of pilots regarding the true state of air safety. The results? Supposedly so not-pretty that the agency is refusing to disclose them. And why? You can probably guess. “A senior NASA official, associate administrator Thomas S. Luedtke, said revealing the findings could damage the public’s confidence in airlines and affect airline profits” due to lowered customer confidence. NASA has actually gone to the lengths of ordering the outsourcer that performed the survey to purge the data from its records.

Some snippets of scary results:

“Among other results, the pilots reported at least twice as many bird strikes, near mid-air collisions and runway incursions as other government monitoring systems show, according to a person familiar with the results who was not authorized to discuss them publicly.

The survey also revealed higher-than-expected numbers of pilots who experienced ‘in-close approach changes’ — potentially dangerous, last-minute instructions to alter landing plans.”

NASA has refused Freedom of Information Act requests for the survey results from the Associated Press, but now that the story has made it into the mainstream media, I don’t see it going away anytime soon.

A case of what you don’t know could actually kill you? Or just another scaremongering news story that we shouldn’t waste time worrying about?

Why is it that when fortunate circumstances allow a stop at a swank restaurant or an overnight in a rather expensive hotel, I’m often disappointed?

Perhaps I’ve been a budget-minded traveler for so long, it’s simply become too painful to let go of my cash, but I don’t think so.  I enjoyed a few too many spendthrift years when it was not painful in the least to spend money (just ask some of my longtime shopping companions.) 

I’m not congenitally tight-fisted, but I like to get what we Americans call “bang for the buck.”  If I spend big money, I expect big satisfaction, because that’s what the swank places are selling us.  When they fail to deliver, it’s usually NOT from lack of Frette linens on the bed or because some exotic fusion food on an oversized plate didn’t rock the taste buds.

The expensive places tend to ruin their own experience through blasé service.

Through the generosity of a dear friend, I recently spent time in the bar of the Inn of the Anasazi in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Every “Gold List” and “World’s Best” says it’s the place to go in that charming and distinctive Southwestern city. 

Yes, their Silver Coin margarita was the best I’ve ever had, and the late afternoon lunch was delicious, but the service was atrocious for an upscale establishment.

I was with two other women; we were decently dressed and very polite.  It was not that busy in the bar area, although it was a Balloon Fiesta weekend so that part of the state was crowded. 

The server was not rude; she merely ignored us. 

Drink glasses sat empty, the bill had to be asked for and asked for again, and meantime we could see her chatting up possibly more interesting patrons over at the bar. 

Is this an end of the world event?  Of course not, but I expect more, a LOT more, at a place that sells itself on its own wonderfulness.

My friend who actually paid the tab was mortified, and said over and over that she’d never had a bad experience there before.  I do believe her, but when you position yourself as the crème de la crème, you’d better deliver every single time.

Every single time with every patron, you high-end hotel and restaurant folks, so train your staffs with that in mind.  You’re charging me enough; you can afford it.

They lost their one shot with me.  Next time, if I have money, I’m checking out La Posada de Santa Fe or some other establishment in town.  

You know, when I check in at your basic Hampton Inn, a U.S. hotel chain, I get invariably cheerful service, a good breakfast and free WiFi.  If I ever run into a bad Hampton Inn, I’ll probably cut them some slack, because they do not trumpet a ”luxury” status or try to impress me with W Hotel attitude and pretentiously hipper-than-thou silliness. 

Who charges big bucks and hasn’t disappointed me? 

The Algonquin Hotel in New York City – great accomodations, but more importantly, friendly and welcoming service without any ‘tude.   The Restaurant De Silveren Spiegel in Amsterdam is typically Dutch in its open friendliness.  The Park Hyatt Tokyo; expensive food and well worth it, plus a gracious staff.   The Grand Hotel in Nancy, France, welcomed my two kids, which was important because one of them is named Nancy and she was very excited to visit their pretty city in Lorraine.

Where did I get the best meal with superb service while visiting New Mexico?  A local joint called Christy Mae’s, a few blocks away from old Route 66 in Albuquerque.   The waitress stuffed us with great food and made us laugh; I’d have paid double for the pleasure.

Technorati tags: travel, luxury travel, upscale travel, Santa Fe, New Mexico

This story by Eileen Blass in USA Today, reproduced on the Sports Shooter website is a salutary warning about the continued high state of alert in many of the airports around the world! It is also a rather amusing indication of just what can happen when a journalist gets unintentionally a little too close to a story!

I have to confess that I look on myself as well-travelled. Last year I did the equivalent of 7.5 times around the world, yet I have to take my hat off to Jason Lewis, who has just completed his first time around the world. Unlike me, Jason didn’t take one flight – hell he didn’t even take a car – and it took him 13 years! A true explorer (and probably a certifiable nutter), Jason has just completed the first human-powered circumnavigation of the earth. En route he battled a crocodile, stormy seas and even pirates! When he started, there were few websites, though thankfully he has caught up with an expedition site on www.expedition360.com.

Jason, I salute you!

I have been quiet for the last couple of weeks. The plan was to have a couple of weekends away, get out of London and relax. After spending so much time away last year shooting Unforgettable Islands to Escape to Before You Die (where I flew the equivalent of 7.5 times around the world) I have been taking things a lot easier this year. I guess I had forgotten just how stressful leaving home can be.

First weekend away, driving down to Bristol to see my parents. Less than 150 miles, motorways most of the way. We left on a quiet day, sailed out of London without seeing a traffic jam or a red traffic light. Things seemed to be going well until with just twenty miles to go the engine blew up. Ever seen a Formula 1 race when an engine blows? That was what it looked like. Clouds of smoke, no gear box, cruising in to the hard shoulder. Waiting with a baby at the side of the motorway for a tow truck!

Last weekend, a train down to Cornwall. Five hours passed well. It was a modern train and even had electricity points, so I could catch up with some work on my laptop. That is when little Amber Sashi wasn’t thrashing the keyboard. I knew that downloading Alpha Baby was a mistake.

St Ives in Cornwall is a beautiful Cornish town with a traditional fishing harbour, three very different beaches (including a surf beach) and a number of galleries. At the tail end of the season, the weather was good, and the summer crowds had gone. All was perfect until I got a phone call from the neighbour who was looking after my aged, arthritic, diabetic cat saying that he had disappeared. To cut a long story short he had been rescued/kidnapped by the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) with a suspected broken leg.

I say suspected as they had him for three days, didn’t bother x-raying him and would have only kept him on their kitty-death-row for a week (still with an untreated broken leg) before killing him! It says a lot that after three days at an RSPCA hospital he had to spend three days on a drip at my vets until he was well enough for a x-ray. His broken leg now pinned, he is in a confinement cage at my house, lucky to be alive. The RSPCA is of course one of those phenomenally rich organisations who encourage old grannies to leave money to them in their wills and make all those reality tv shows about how they rescue sick animals. It’s a shame that Rolf Harris wasn’t there when Simba was picked up, they might have just treated him if a tv camera was there!

After two relaxing weekends away, I now need a holiday. My fear now is that if I do have a holiday, I will need another one just to recover! Travel is stressful. If only I had read this New York Times article, before I left, I might have opted for a quiet weekend at home!

© Steve Davey 2007