Gettin’ Carried Away

Denver-based Frontier Airlines has seen better days. In April 2008, the airline filed for bankruptcy and it will be sold at auction in court this August. Indianpolis-based Republic Airways was the first aviation company to submit a bid for Frontier. However, according to the Southwest Airlines press release that was released today, “The carrier [Southwest Airlines] has submitted a nonbinding proposal in accordance with the bidding procedures established in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The bid is worth a minimum of $113.6 million, which is in excess of the bid currently filed by Republic Airways.

Southwest has until August 10 to submit a binding proposal. As a low-cost air carrier, boasting a “No Hidden Fees” promise, Southwest Airlines is already a popular choice for travelers today. I mean, I even find myself browsing the website, picking some of my U.S. trips based on Southwest’s sales, which is why I’m heading to Pittsburgh next week (for under $100 roundtrip). The acquisition of Frontier would no doubt benefit the company even more, allowing it to expand its service. Southwest already launched brand-new routes to Minneapolis, Boston and New York this year, and getting Frontier would give Southwest new destinations for the end of 2009 and beyond.

And how much are the bids so far? Republic Airways offered $108.8 million, and Southwest’s non-binding bid has already outbid Republic at $113.6 million. But will Southwest go through with it? I think they probably will, but we’ll have to wait until August 10 to find out for sure.

If you’re taking a trip to London, you’ll most likely be using public transportation to get around the city. Forget about purchasing a one-day or three-day travelcard; I highly recommend getting an Oyster Card.

What is an Oyster Card?

An Oyster Card is a “Pay As You Go” plastic card (resembling a credit card) that you credit with money. That money gets deducted every time you use a London bus or the Underground.

Where can I get an Oyster Card?

You can get an Oyster Card online, but make sure to do this well before your journey, as it will be mailed to you. If you want to wait until you get to London, you will be able to get an Oyster Card at the Underground station in Heathrow Airport and in Gatwick Airport. Many of the centrally located Tube stations can also provide you with an Oyster Card. However, if you forgot to buy one at the airport, a newsagent would be good place to look, as well.

Do I have to pay for the Oyster Card?

You do have to pay a £3 deposit to get an Oyster Card. However, the money will be refunded if you choose to return the Oyster Card at the end of your trip.

How is an Oyster Card better than a Travelcard?

• A travelcard is only valid for the exact days you specify, whereas an Oyster Card is only debited when it is used. Even if you leave London for a year, when you come back, the money on your Oyster Card will still be useful.
• A single cash fare (one ride) costs £4 for the Tube and £2 for the bus, while a single ride using an Oyster Card costs £1.60 for a Tube ride and £1 for a bus ride.
• There is a cap rate for the Oyster card. This means, you can travel as much as you want in a 24-hour period, and you will be charged LESS than the total of a one-day travelcard. For example, a one-day travelcard for Zones 1 and 2 during peak hours costs £7.20. With an Oyster Card, you can take as many trips as you want during peak hours for £6.70.

This sounds too good to be true–are there any negatives to using an Oyster Card?

Just a few…

• When you return the card, if more than £5 is left on it, you’ll have to fill out a form and wait for a check. Remember, your refund will be issued in Sterling (aka £), so you’ll have to pay an exchange rate if you want another type of currency.
• There are quite a few places outside Central London where you cannot use an Oyster Card. Check out this map for a list of National Rail Service stations that only accept travelcards. Note, these are National Rail Service trains, not to be confused with Tube (subway) trains that also run in/out of many of these stations.
• If you will be using public transportation in London for a week, it may be cheaper to get the 7-day travelcard for £25.80. If you reach the cap for both peak and off peak hours on your Oyster Card all seven days, you’ll have paid about £70 to travel on the Tube and buses. However, it’s highly unlikely you’ll be on public transport that much. Do the math and see what would work for you.
• Travelcards can get you 2 for 1 admission into some London attractions like the Tower of London or the hop-on-hop-off tour buses; Oyster Cards do not. However, you have to purchase the travelcard from a rail station ticket office, not an Underground station, so many visitors don’t even get to take advantage of this 2 for 1 offer.

Inside tips:

• You may want to offer your Oyster Card to other travelers you meet in the hotel or out and about. This way, you can get your £3 back without having to wait in a long line.
• DON’T BUY THE VISITOR OYSTER CARD! It works the same way as any Oyster Card; however, you have to pay a non-refundable £2 fee to obtain the card, and it can only be purchased prior to your arrival in London. Why pay for an Oyster Card when you can use one for free (once you get your £3 deposit back)?

When all is said and done, you should buy an Oyster Card. Even though this seems like a ton of information to take in, YOU WILL SAVE MONEY. I’m happy to answer any other questions you have about Travelcards vs. Oyster Cards.

Sunday, July 26, 2009 marked a pretty momentous occasion for travel bloggers everywhere. Over 100 people met at the Chicago Cultural Center for the Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) to share ideas, ask questions and meet the real people behind the websites and Twitter avatars.

TBEX was created by Kim Mance and Debbie Dubrow as a forum where travel bloggers could showcase their work and pick the brains of other travel bloggers to find better ways to create and maintain a successful travel blog. Before the forum went live, Kim sent me an email asking if I would be the Community Manager of the site, welcoming new members and checking the site regularly for anything offensive (hello, spammers) to be removed. In the first day (maybe even the first few hours), TBEX had over 30 members!

As the forum attracted member after member (500+), the idea of a meetup seemed very possible. Knowing there were so many travel bloggers out there, Kim and Debbie got the ball rolling and found several companies to sponsor the event. Chicago seemed like an easy choice for TBEX, seeing as Kim lives there and that it’s a pretty central location. Kim and Debbie thought that piggybacking the BlogHer convention would be ideal, since tons of TBEX people would already be in town for that.

Fast forward a few months to the day of TBEX ‘09! After people signed in and posed for some free headshots–courtesy of Peter West Carey–they shuffled into the main room where super cool swag bags sat on each chair. (Thanks to Shanna Quinn for sleeping upon boxes and boxes of swag and putting the bags together.) The bloggers anxiously awaited the day’s events, which were divided into four discussion panels: creating a lively and successful travel blog, working with PR, travel journalism vs. blogging and podcasting/video.

Each member of the four panels had something unique to offer. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Nomadic Matt, aka Matt Kepnes, a successful travel blogger, briefly touched upon monetizing your blog by offering this tip: “Be niche.” Basically, he said that whether you have 100 followers or a million, if you’re the only one blogging about the topic, you’re number one. “Everybody wants to be number one.”
• Heather Poole, flight attendant and blogger said, “Don’t just write travel. LIVE travel.” I feel the same way. However, people like Heather and Matt really do live travel every day because, well, she’s a flight attendant and he’s a “professional” nomad. Unfortunately, with the jobs I have right now, I can’t live either life. Yet, I think what this statement really means is that you should participate in the experiences that you talk about in your blog. If you want to write about Paris, go there. Make your readers trust you.
• Wendy Perrin of Conde Nast Traveler says that bloggers shouldn’t just link to a story or a comment. She was once quoted (correctly), but the rest of the story made untrue inferences. Lesson learned: do some research and get the facts.

While there wasn’t enough time to talk about monetization, a topic that a lot of new bloggers (including myself) seemed very interested in learning about, I think that it will probably be a topic for TBEX 2010. Debbie hinted to that, and more, when she said that TBEX was “only the first part of a long conversation.” And I think that’s exactly what will happen. Why? I have a huge stack of business cards, I got 20+ new followers on Twitter (and I followed them back) and everyone was talking about where we could have TBEX 2010… possibly New York? That’s where BlogHer is going next year, and I’m all for TBEX following.

How lucky am I to have been in the presence of such influential bloggers and industry people? I can only hope that all of them, and many more, will come to TBEX 2010.