Chris Elliot's Newsletter

What you need to know this week 

What's happening to Amtrak? Is it turning into the equivalent of a low-fare airline on rails? Perhaps. I look at the facts in my latest USA Today column. Please join the discussion. 

Who are the top travel tweeters? You can vote for your favorite on the latest 10best.com list. 

Become the world's smartest traveler. Buy my new book, How To Be The World's Smartest Traveler, and you'll never have another bad trip. (And if you do, you know where to find me, right?) 


Want to help save the world? Sure you do. So why not get involved in Travelers United as a volunteer. We need anyone with a strong desire to help make the world a better place. Here's how to join us. 

This week's burning question 

Want a report card on your low-fare airline? Ever wonder how a low-fare airline like Spirit or Allegiant stack up to the big boys, when it comes to their performance? Well, wonder no more. The Transportation Department wants to expand the pool of carriers that would be required to report information about their on-time performance, oversales, and mishandled baggage rates. What do you expect we'll find? Do you have any recent experiences on a low-fare airline that could shed some light on this question? Here's my email address. 

The latest news from Elliott 

Should airlines charge more for a seat assignment? 
Sometimes, when a traveler asks for help, your best response is to listen. 

Will new airline regulations help passengers — or hurt airlines? 
At 36,361 words, the document laying out the latest proposed Transportation Department passenger protection rule is an epic. 

The world's most useless frequent flier programs revealed
Airline frequent-flier programs may be useless, but some are more useless than others. 

Why can't I get my Disney dining credits?
It seems everyone but Jennifer Holdman and her family are getting "free” Disney dining credits on their next theme park vacation.
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