reDesign

August 8, 2009

Favorite airports from around the world

Filed under: airlines, travel — Rocky Agrawal @ 8:08 pm

I’ve been doing a lot of travel the last few years and have gone through a lot of airports. There are huge variations in quality from airport to airport and even within terminals of the same airport. A few stand out.

Vancouver's beautiful airport

YVR makes a grand first impression for arriving travelers

Some of the things that I look for in airports:

  • Open, airy spaces. I’m going to be crammed in a metal tube for hours. I don’t want to be crammed in the airport, too.
  • Well-managed security lines. Atlanta (ATL),  Denver (DEN) and Washington Dulles (IAD) go on the hate list for this reason alone.
  • Reasonably priced food with options for healthier eating than burgers and pizza. A big plus for airports that promote local restaurants.
  • Free WiFi and easily accessible power ports. Most large airports don’t have free WiFi (the better to soak business travelers), but a lot of the mid-market and small airports do.
  • Convenient public transit options to the city.
  • Good signage.
  • Big windows to watch airplanes from.
  • Service from airlines that I’d want to fly.
  • Public art installations. They add character and provide a pleasant diversion when flights are delayed.

None of the airports on this list excel at all of these things, but as a whole each airport stands well above average. This list is also available as a Google Map.

Workstations At Airport

Workstations at ABQ

10. Albuquerque International Sunport – A great mid-market airport. It’s one of the few that I’ve seen that have free WiFi and desks with power plugs that are open to all passengers. The restaurants have a strong local flavor.

9. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) Terminal 3/International Terminal – SFO,  much more than most airports, has really highlighted local restaurants in its terminals. They aren’t cheap (but then it’s San Francisco, so they aren’t cheap in the city either), but do give travelers a good taste of the city. I recommend the Boudin Bakery in Terminal 3. Terminal 1 food options are lacking. SFO also features a rotating selection of art, though I have to question the recent display of clock art. The confusing, expensive and poorly executed public transit from the airport is my biggest knock against it. It could be much better, but BART has taken a soak-the-travelers attitude.

What The Hell Are The Guys Doing Inside The Engine

Maintenance workers climb inside an engine with a giant blow dryer to remove ice crystals at MSP after a long delay

8. Incheon International Airport (ICN) Seoul – An architecturally impressive airport with first-rate amenities, including a spa. Like Seoul itself, the airport is littered with American fast food chains. Unfortunately the airport is a long way from the city and Seoul’s brutal traffic makes it seem even farther.

7. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) Lindbergh Terminal – Clean, easy and efficient. Navigating the sprawling tentacles of the airport is made easier with clear signage and trams, but if you’re connecting, you could be in for a lot of exercise. A few Minnesota favorites such as D’Amico & Sons, Dunn Bros Coffee and French Meadow Bakery are sprinkled in among the airport chains. The new light-rail line takes you downtown or to Minnesota’s biggest tourist attraction – the Mall of America – for $2.25 or less. Minnesota’s harsh winters often mean long waits for deicing or missed connections, but I haven’t had the nightmarish experiences of O’Hare here.

DTW makes it easy to get up close to the planes

DTW makes it easy to get up close to the planes

6. Detroit Metro Airport (DTW) – Detroit gets the prize for most improved airport, moving from worst to not-quite-first. The McNamara Terminal is architecturally impressive and has great views of planes. It’s daunting length is reduced by the Express Tram, which provides a birds-eye view of the terminal as it goes from one end of the terminal to the other. The light show in the tunnel between the A and C concourses can be entertaining. The Westin is one of the nicest airport hotels in the country, with its own security entrance. Restaurants are on the chainy side.

5. Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) - The gigantic atrium in the central terminal is one of my favorite airport spaces. Sculptures of local fish are embedded in the floor throughout the terminal, with occasional river noises. On a rare clear day, you can see Mount Rainier from the airport. Dining options highlight local flavors including wines and seafood. A new light rail line connecting Sea-Tac to downtown Seattle is one of the simplest and cheapest ($2.50) city connections you’ll find in the United States. (The light rail isn’t complete yet. You have to take a bus to the current end-of-the-line.)

4. Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) – Charlotte has wonderful public spaces, free WiFi and power plugs next to comfy rocking chairs. The last time I was through CLT, there was even a piano player. The food court includes local barbecue options. Charlotte would probably be my favorite airport, but it has one big drawback: the dominant carrier is US Airways.

3. Vancouver International Airport (YVR) – You’ll know you’ve landed in the Pacific Northwest when you arrive at YVR. The entry from international flights is one of the most impressive welcomes I’ve seen in an airport. It wouldn’t be hard to think of YVR as a Native American history museum. Some of the art on display is on loan from museums. Free WiFi is also a plus. The Canada Line mass transit system linking the airport to the city should be opening any day now.

United jet and Kona airport

A United jet dwarfs the airport buildings at KOA

2. Washington National Airport (DCA) Terminals B & C – Wealthy Alexandria neighbors, overblown security concerns and the idiotic perimeter rule keep more people from experiencing this terrific, underutilized airport. Terminals B & C are clean, modern and airy. They feature amazing views of the Capitol and the Washington Monument across the Potomac. The views from Continental’s Presidents Club are especially impressive. Dining is much more chain-oriented than I’d like, but I do try to hit the Five Guys when I’m there. A covered walkway takes you to the Metro which connects you to much of the DC area. Security lines are usually not an issue. The biggest knock: Terminal A, the original airport. A lot of third-world nations would disown it.

1. Kona International Airport (KOA) – OK, the deck is stacked here. A big part of the reason that Kona is my favorite airport is that when you land, you’re in Hawaii. The approach from the mainland includes a view of neighbor island Maui, goes over turquoise water and you land on a lava flow from 1801. (Look out for messages in white coral on the lava.) But the airport itself has a lot of charm. There’s a little bar tucked away in the corner.  There aren’t big windows to see the planes, but that’s because everything is open air, letting you get up close and personal with the planes. (Just don’t take a lot of pictures like I did or you might be interrogated.) Food options at this tiny airport are limited. I was too distracted by the beauty to check if there is free WiFi.

Two other international airports that I really liked are Kuwait International Airport (KWI) and Schipol (AMS) in Amsterdam. My last visits there were too far in the past to include in this list.

And for those who are wondering, here’s the hate list in no particular order: ATL, DEN, BOS, IAD, LGA, JFK, LHR, ORD, MIA, SJC, OAK, FRA, IAH, MSY, CDG.

The benefits of starting from scratch

Filed under: airlines, customer service, travel — Rocky Agrawal @ 9:28 am

Today marks the second anniversary of the launch of Virgin America, an upstart carrier that has inspired many loyal followers. Virgin America is a clear example of the benefits of starting from scratch.

Virgin America cabinAmong Virgin’s features:

  • Brand new planes.
  • Cheerful gate staff and flight attendants.
  • AC power plugs at every seat.
  • In-flight WiFi on every seat on every flight.
  • Live TV.
  • The best in-flight entertainment system on a domestic carrier.
  • The best premium economy offering (Main Cabin Select) in the U.S.
  • The best domestic first class, with the exception of three-cabin transcontinental offerings like United’s p.s. It even rivals some U.S. carriers’ international business class offerings.
  • In-seat, on-screen food ordering.
  • Specialty food choices.
  • A simple frequent flier program with no redemption restrictions.

Virgin America is the airline I’d design if I were designing an airline from scratch. It solves the needs of today’s travelers.

The legacy airlines can’t come close to Virgin’s offering. Retrofitting aircraft is expensive and many carriers are facing liquidity crunches. Union rules make it next to impossible to fire rude and bitter flight attendants. Bureaucratic processes and lethargy prevent innovations like Virgin’s IFE system (see my post Could YouTube have come from a large company?) To the extent that Virgin America has a legacy, it’s the halo from Virgin’s fun, irreverent brand and Sir Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Group. (see video below)

On most airlines I complain about things like surly flight attendants, seats held together with duct tape, dirty planes, long mechanical delays and shabby terminal facilities. On Virgin America the complaints are in a different (and whiny) league: the IFE system has some bugs in it, seat-to-seat chat needs status messages, in-flight WiFi can sometimes be slow. The only substantive complaint I’ve had so far is that the Web site is incredibly slow and painful to use.

I’m not the only one who has noticed: Virgin’s load factor has been steadily increasing, even as it has expanded capacity. Virgin’s flights often sell out before those on legacy carriers on the same routes.

Virgin came into the market at a really tough time for the industry, with record oil prices last year and the toughest economy in decades. Here’s hoping Virgin America makes it to its 20th birthday.

May 29, 2009

Online at 36,000 feet: trying Gogo WiFi on board

Filed under: airlines, travel, twitter — Rocky Agrawal @ 8:22 am

I tried inflight WiFi last week aboard Virgin America. The day I flew happened to be the same day Virgin became the first U.S. airline to offer Internet access across its entire fleet. I live tweeted and uploaded pictures to flickr inflight.

Richard Branson looks serene hereVirgin uses GoGo, which is also available on select Delta, AirTran and American flights. United will be adding it on its p.s. flights between JFK and San Francisco/Los Angeles this summer.

The system worked as advertised: easy to use and reasonably fast. Set up was similar to signing up for a paid hotspot on the ground; I entered my credit card and was online in a minute or so. It costs $9.95 for flights under 3 hours and $12.95 for longer flights.

Speed was equivalent to a lower-tier U.S. home broadband connection. At 903 Kb/s down and 337 Kb/s up, it easily outperformed my 3G iPhone, both on speed and service availability.

From a technology standpoint it’s great. But do I really want it?

I’m really torn on that. I loved being able to chat with friends, check mail and update Twitter on my flight. The answer will really depend on what it does to the social contract we have with our fellow passengers and employers.

On the passenger front, will Internet access serve as a great adult pacifier or introduce more obnoxiousness? It’s easy to see people getting wrapped up in online activities and complaining less. The opposite is equally likely: a friend complained that a passenger near him on a transcontinental redeye was playing a voice-based game with others online. (Virgin policies prohibit using voice services; I didn’t get a chance to see how many of them, if any, are actually blocked.)

On the employer front, what will expecations be for inflight WiFi? I’ve used my flight time to work on presentations, edit pictures, write blog posts (this post was written on a United non-WiFi flight), stare out the window and contemplate life. Having a big block of time without a lot of distractions can be very productive; some of my best product ideas have been formulated on a plane. Having the option to connect is great, but I don’t think I’d like being required to be online the whole time.

May 4, 2009

A wow experience from United Airlines. Wow.

Filed under: airlines, customer service, travel — Rocky Agrawal @ 10:16 pm

It’s rare these days that a company impresses with customer service. It’s even rarer when that company is an airline, especially an American airline. That’s the experience I had last week when I was flying home from New Orleans on United Airlines.

It started out pretty awful. A few hours before my flight I received a text message that my flight was delayed. Then another. By the time I arrived at the airport, my originating flight had been delayed more than two hours, ensuring that I’d miss my connecting flight in Denver. As it got close to the new departure time, we were told that there was a mechanical issue. After a string of “we’re waiting for an update” announcements, we finally boarded three hours later when a new plane arrived.

Based on experience, I was braced for the worst when I arrived in Denver: a 90 minute wait for a harried customer service rep who would look for every excuse to not put me up for the night. Before leaving New Orleans, I’d tweeted “United already knows who will misconnect. What are the odds they’ll be proactive and have hotel vouchers waiting?” I would’ve placed them at 1000:1, best case.

But that’s exactly what happened. After we landed the gate agent came on board and announced that they had prepared packets with hotel and meal vouchers for everyone who was stranded. Three people were staffing the desk, despite the fact that we arrived around 2 a.m. They were polite and directed us to the hotel shuttles.

Within 20 minutes of landing in San Francisco the next day, there was an apology in my email box for the inconvenience. A link in the email invited me to select from a list of appreciation items, including a $250 travel certificate.

The immediacy and the proactive nature of the response made a very positive impression. It’s great to see companies using IT in this way.

March 16, 2009

More bad news for newspapers: hotels going green

Filed under: hotels, journalism, media, newspapers, travel — Rocky Agrawal @ 8:09 am
The Four Seasons in Austin requires guests to opt-in for newspapers.

The Four Seasons in Austin requires guests to opt-in for newspapers.

This picture should send shivers down the spines of executives at USA Today headquarters in McLean, Va.

For at least as long as I’ve been traveling for business (13 years and counting), a USA Today in front of the hotel room door in the morning has been a given. It just shows up. There’s fine print in the check in folder that says that USA Today will be delivered and if I don’t want it, I can tell the front desk and get a credit of 75 cents a day. Because I do what most people do — nothing — USA Today gets to count me as paid circulation.

At least 60% of the time, the only people who see that USA Today are the person who drops it off in front of my room and the maid who throws it away. I’ve already gotten my news from my laptop and from the TV that was showing CNN while I was getting ready.

I’m surely not the only one, and hotels are catching on.

Hotels have been steadily greening their practices while cutting costs: changing sheets only between guests, changing towels only when guests leave them on the floor, providing new toiletries only when guests have used up the previous batch.

Cutting back on newspaper delivery is the next step. This year I’ve started encountering hotels that ask me at check in whether I want a newspaper. The Four Seasons in Austin has gone a step further: if you want a newspaper, you have to put a hang tag on your door before 1 a.m. And you have to remember to do this every night of your stay.

As with Web defaults, you can guess what happens. Most people do what I do: nothing. On my floor early Sunday morning, I saw three newspaper hang tags (out of about 40 rooms). Not even a free copy of the Sunday New York Times enticed people. They were easily outnumbered by the “do not disturb” hang tags.

There are a number of unknowns: how many rooms were occupied, do the hotel’s demographics shift considerably during SXSW, etc.

But the fact that an increasing number of hotels no longer consider newspapers an essential part of their service is bad news for the newspaper industry.

See also: Who needs newspapers?

More on: newspapers.

March 3, 2009

The hospitality industry gets more inhospitable

Filed under: hotels, travel — Rocky Agrawal @ 9:06 pm

For an industry that markets itself as catering to the whims of its guests, the hotel industry sure goes out of its way to make a bad final impression. I just had a wonderful stay at the Westin Resort & Spa in Whistler, B.C. A super comfortable Heavenly Bed. A great room with a fireplace and kitchenette. A location right next to the slopes. Friendly service.

Keep your gear out of your roomYet my final impression of the hotel was sullied when I got my bill under the door the last morning. The bill had nearly $70 in charges for the “ski valet.”

Hotel policy doesn’t let you keep skis in your room. It makes sense: it keeps people from dragging wet gear through the hotel, keeps the hallways and rooms free of ski damage and reduces the hotel’s risk that someone trips and gets injured. What they don’t tell you is that they charge for it. Not when we checked in nor when we checked our skis.

When I complained at check out that the charge wasn’t disclosed, the woman at the front desk mentioned that they get that complaint regularly.

This is the latest in a long line of “gotcha” charges from this industry. Instead of being seen as valued guests, we’re seen as sources of “ancillary revenue.”

I’m not talking about the charges we’re all familiar with: anyone who uses the hotel phone for anything other than calling the front desk or concierge clearly doesn’t care about their (or their company’s) money, or minibar items that cost 5x-10x their retail value.

A few other gotchas that I’ve noticed recently:

  • Dynamic currency conversion. In this scam, which applies when traveling abroad, the hotel will automatically convert the amount of your bill into U.S. dollars. (At a horrible exchange rate.) Never mind that they could charge you in the local currency and have your credit card company do the conversion. (At a much better rate.) The credit card companies, not wanting to miss out on their cut, are now tacking on fees even if the hotel does the conversion to dollars. Most of the big credit card companies such as Chase, Citi and Bank of America tack on 3% for most of their cards. (Of the major card issuers, CapitalOne is a rare exception.)  Between the dynamic currency conversion and the credit card company, this can tack 8% or more on to your bill.
  • “Guaranteed” U.S. dollar rates. This is a related scam that I encountered at the Sheraton Centro Historico in Mexico City. I was guaranteed a rate of  USD $99 a night. But instead of charging my credit card in U.S. dollars, they converted the bill to Mexican Pesos. (At a horrible exchange rate.) The rate was about 5% worse than the credit card company rate. The hotel gets the benefit of protecting their revenue in a realtively stable currency while at the same time generating additional revenue by cheating people on the exchange. There’s really no reason that they couldn’t make the rate 15% worse or 50% worse.
  • The hidden room service markup. Room service is expensive. OK, we all know that. At the W Seattle, they disclose the delivery charge of $4 and the service charge of 22%. Fair enough; someone has got to bring the stuff up from the kitchen. What they don’t tell you is that they’ve also raised the menu prices of items $4-$5 above what they charge in the restaurant.

In many cases these charges don’t show up until you get your bill. If you’re in a hurry, you might overlook these charges altogether or not have time to contest them.

At least 3/4 of my hotel bills have some sort of unexpected charge on them. Often the discrepancy is $5-$15 — just in the sweet spot where about half the time I don’t bother to challenge them.

Unfortunately, I don’t see the situation with these gotcha charges getting any better. Faced with low occupancy and declining room revenue, hotels will be looking at every opportunity to extract more ancillary revenue.

Maybe they’ll even do what Ryanair’s CEO has talked about.

September 4, 2008

Bad UX at Sea-Tac airport

Filed under: rocky's travel, travel, ui — Rocky Agrawal @ 10:55 pm

Bad UX at Sea-Tac airport

See those black spots toward the top of the picture, about 30 feet above the ground? Those are flight arrival and departure displays. Really. It’s not just the height that’s a problem; the displays face a large glass wall. When the sun is shining it washes out the LEDs.

That’s a worse user experience than one I saw last Christmas at Dulles. And at least that was temporary.

Sea-Tac arming grungy terrorists

Filed under: random, travel — Rocky Agrawal @ 10:43 pm

South Lake Union, Sep 4, 2008

Seen post security at Sea-Tac. Someone call the TSA and have their metal knives confiscated!

August 31, 2008

The ad is a lie

Filed under: advertising, airlines, travel — Rocky Agrawal @ 12:18 pm

While watching the Olympics, I was struck by a gorgeous animated ad. A lobster conducts an orchestra of other sea creatures playing Gershwin. As soon as I recognized Rhapsody in Blue, I knew it had to be a United Airlines commercial.

The beautiful ad is in stark contrast with the product being advertised. We all expect exaggeration in advertising, but for the most part the product doesn’t even exist. I’m not talking about cramped seats or the fees for everything but using the toilet; the ad is one of several new commercials for United’s new international first and business class.

United’s premium products have significantly lagged their competitors, especially when compared with foreign competitors. Virgin’s and British’s business classes are much nicer than United’s first. United’s new product is a significant step forward.

The problem is that most of United’s international fleet hasn’t been reconfigured for the new product. If you buy the advertised product, chances are you’ll get the older, vastly inferior product. According to the FlyerGuide Wiki, only 11% of the fleet has been reconfigured:

Completed aircraft: 11 out of 96
Completed B747-400s: 4 out of 29
Completed B767-300s: 7 out of 21
Completed B777-200s: 0 out of 46

Good luck getting the 180-degree flat bed seats they talk about in the Butterfly and Moondust ads. There is no way to ensure that you’ll get the new product. Veteran frequent fliers play guessing games on FlyerTalk’s United forums. While you can improve your odds based on picking the routes or studying United.com seatmaps you’ll only know for sure when you step on the plane. There is a way to ensure that you don’t get the new product: buy a business class seat on a 777. None of those have been converted.

United deserves credit for making the ads easily available online, something more companies should do. The clip of the Heart commercial includes a “making of” commentary by Dennis Cary, United’s SVP of Marketing and behind the scenes interviews with the artists.

As art, the ads are some of the most creative and visually engaging ads I’ve seen; they’re downright stunning when viewed in HD. If they do their job and gets people on United’s planes, there’s a really good chance they won’t be crossing the oceans on United again.

Desi shoutout: According to United’s description, Moondust was animated by an Indian. “Ishu Patel, an Indian-born and Canadian-based animator, used his world-renowned back-lit technique in which a thin layer of plastic modeling clay is applied to a glass plate that has a 1000-watt light positioned beneath it and an animation camera above it.”

See also:

July 8, 2008

Colgate squeezes out a product for a niche market

Filed under: random, terrorism, travel — Rocky Agrawal @ 12:52 am

Terrorist-approved toothpaste

Kudos to Colgate-Palmolive for responding to a market need: three ounce tubes of toothpaste that fit into baggies that you can get take through airport security. I was pleasantly surprised to find this at Target before a recent trip. (I got tired of buying tube after tube of trial sizes at $1 a pop.)

It must be a fairly new product. The screener at SFO pulled it out to verify the size printed on the tube.

If the TSA were half as responsive to the needs of travelers, the idiocy of the liquid/gel limitations would go away.

More jeers for the TSA for a stupid plan for special laptop cases that may or may not require you to take your laptop out of your bag when going through security. Manufacturers can make bags that may or not meet the guidelines. Bags with zippers, buckles or pockets that can hold things like cables or power adapters likely won’t. As near as I can tell, a laptop condom is the only thing that will for sure meet the guidelines. The only way to know for sure is to send your new laptop bag through the X-Ray machine and see if the screener makes you take the laptop out.

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