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United Airlines is putting the kibosh on calling in with complaints.

Last week the airline confirmed that, come April, it will disconnect the phone line to a foreign call center contracted to field customer compliments and complaints.

Customers with issues to discuss will still be able to call the airline’s general 800-number but, as anyone who’s tried navigating United’s (or any airline’s) automated phone tree knows, the focus there is on selling tickets and tweaking reservations From here on out, even if you get through to a live United Airlines agent, you’ll likely be told to send post-flight comments, good or bad, in old-fashioned letter form or via e-mail.

But why quit answering the phone?

United Airlines spokesperson Robin Urbanski says the company did research on the success of the feedback line and concluded that “people who e-mail or write us are more satisfied with our responses.”

In a tough economy, when keeping every customer you’ve got is more important than ever, United’s move puzzles folks like Zeke Adkins of Luggage Forward, a door-to-door luggage shipping company. “What is unclear to me is how this [research] led United to conclude that eliminating, rather than improving, their call centers would be the best strategic decision.”

Others suspect that as the economy worsens and budgets tighten, live customer-service centers will disappear elsewhere as well. But that’s doesn’t mean well-mannered travelers should stop giving feedback on service. We may just need to learn some new skills – and sharpen some old ones.

For some tips on how to do that, see my column – Don’t bother calling with your travel complaints - on MSNBC.com.

Categories: Complaints
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Here’s a quick round-up of recession specials for air travelers and other tidbits you might find useful:

American Airlines has kicked off a Milestones contest: One first-place winner will receive 275,000 AAdvantage miles; 10 second-place winners will each get 1,000 AAdvantage miles.   To enter: register and post an interesting tidbit about a cool place somewhere in the world.  Winners will be announced on or around May 15, 2009. Details here.

Jet Blue Airways has announced a promotion offering to refund (most of) the price of your ticket if you lose your job between the time you pay for your ticket and the time you’re scheduled to take your trip.  Here’s a link to the offer and the restrictions.

Canada’s WestJet is celebrating the fact that U.S. President Barack Obama is visiting Canada by offering a little one day discount sale. Use the code “Obama” to book a ticket today (Feb 19^th) and get $50 off.  Details here.

And travelers passing through New York’s LaGuardia Airport will now find organic foods, healthy treats, fruit, vegetables, deli items, sandwiches, salads and other items at Angelina’s Metro Market, pre-security in the Central Terminal. Angelina’s Panini Bar, a satellite of the Metro Market, will open post-security at the B Gates,  later this month.

See anything fun, new, interesting or strange while you’re stuck at the airport?  Let me know and we’ll add it to the blog.

Categories: Contests, Deals, Free Stuff
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Sometimes three hours for a layover at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) isn’t quite enough.  Especially when there are exhibits like Out of this World! The Twentieth-Century Space Invasion of American Pop Culture

On display are more than 300 space-themed objects from the 1930s through the 1980s, from toys such as flying saucers, space guns, rocket ships and robots, to everyday household objects like air fresheners, sewing needles and packaged foods.

The exhibit is on view in Terminal 3 through March 14, 2009 and accessible only to passengers ticketed through Terminal 3.   If you’re anywhere nearby, make sure to see this before everything here goes back to an alternate universe.

(Photos courtesy Ross Reynolds)

Categories: Art
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Sunday mornings at SFO can be fairly quiet. Unless it’s a holiday weekend and rain and fog are causing flight delays.

United’s Red Carpet Club on Sunday morning? Quiet as well. Not the usual zillion folks making cold calls, excuses, or dates from the cubicles in the business center.  And plenty of bagels and bananas left on the buffet.

And back in the Westin Renewal Lounge section of the Red Carpet club? It’s even quieter; verging on the serene.

And that’s the goal.

The co-branded lounge-within-a lounge welcomes travelers with an “elixir” made from orange juice, green tea and ginger. There’s also a large window overlooking the activity at a few gates and special photo-therapy lighting that promises to make any jet-lagged passenger feel “more alert, awake and energized.”

I have only one small quibble: there’s a large screen showing really lovely, very calming nature scenes (wait for the orange butterflies!) in HDTV, courtesy of Blue Marvel.  But a narrated informational tag kept cycling through explaining that the programming is so soothing in part because it’s narrative-free.

The are Westin Renewal Lounges in two Red Carpet Club locations: San Francisco (Terminal 3 by gate 80) and Los Angeles (Terminal 7 by gate 70). There’s also one in the First Class Lounge in New York (JFK terminal 7).

Categories: Lounges
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Maybe you remember the two giant murals by the Brazilian artist Carybé that used to be in the American Airlines terminal at JFK airport in New York.

At 16.5 X by 53 feet they were hard to miss.

The murals (below), titled Discovery and Settlement and Rejoicing and the Festivals of the Americas, were installed back in 1960. But when it came time to demolish and build a new American Airlines terminal, the site-specific murals were not part of the plan.

Happily, the murals have found a new home – at a different airport.

American Airlines donated the murals to the Miami-Dade County Aviation Department and Odebrecht, the Brazilian company building a new terminal at Miami International Airport (MIA), arranged to have the murals removed, restored, and transported to Miami.

This spring, when MIA’s new South Terminal opens, the murals will be on permanent display.

Can’t wait to see these for real!

Categories: Art
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