News and notes from around the interweb:
- American Express sues Lauryn Hill over an unpaid $371,000 credit card bill
- 7 things a non-parent learned about traveling with kids and while you go over to read this, tell Point Chaser not to quit blogging.
- What’s it worth when a flight attendant overserves a passenger and they grope you? Model Delaney Luh found out it’s a $200 travel voucher.
A 23-year-old fashion designer is suing Delta Air Lines after she says flight attendants continued to ply a drunken passenger with booze and – after he groped her – offered her a $200 voucher for her troubles.
- The old advice about booking tickets at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesdays to get the best airfares isn’t true anymore if it ever was. The best advice is to know what a ticket usually costs, and know whether the price you’re seeing is a good deal or is high. If it’s high — without a clear reason, and with plenty of time before travel — wait.
- Lawsuits against Delta and JetBlue for selling travel insurance without disclosing they get commissions. I don’t usually recommend travel insurance except for trips of a lifetime where a loss is too big to ‘self insure’ and I frequently recommend included credit card coverage. But I’ve been offered 50% commissions, this is big business (the size of the commission is suggestive that it’s usually not good value).
The suits claim the “marketing is intended to create the impression that the trip insurance is in the consumer’s best interest — while hiding the fact that JetBlue [and Delta are] pushing the product because it is in [their] financial interest to generate sales.” Although I genuinely don’t know anyone who believes airlines are acting in the customer’s best interests rather than their own.
- Next year there will be a college course on Anthony Bourdain
I honestly don’t understand people’s complete absorption with Anthony Bourdain. What am I missing?
Tom: a lot of people who do not get to travel much got to travel with him. Just like people who are even lamer get to live their lives through the Kardashians.