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Chris Elliott -- can't they find someone better?

Chris Elliott -- can't they find someone better?

Old May 25, 2007, 8:35 pm
  #1  
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Chris Elliott -- can't they find someone better?

I read so many great tips on websites like flyertalk and on travel blogs that I'm often amazed at how amateurish the travel "consumer reporters" are in the media. Pauline Frommer comes to mind, but the hands down winner of "how does he get published" has to be Chris Elliott. Sometimes he writes pure nonsense, like the infamous front-page story about Airbus supposedly developing a standing-room-only airplane. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/21/op...07fe0f&ei=5070 But his day-to-day, nuts and bolts travel stories just seem so, well, misguided.

Take today's piece about how to get more value for your travel dollar. This is his top recommendation for saving money on airline tickets: "But perhaps the best inflation-fighter can be found offline: a trusted travel agent who knows how to find a high-quality air travel experience at a reasonable rate."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18475171/

Really? Do such people still actually exist? I know there are still corporate travel agents out there, and some folks who specialize in, well, specialty travel, but are there really still agents who you can call to help you book a cheap flight? That seems so, well, 1988. I certainly don't know anyone who uses a travel agent for routine leisure bookings, yet alone one who you'd hire to find you a low fare.

Elliott then goes on to tackle the rising cost of hotel rooms (a genuine concern). He cites one unnamed study that says the cost of an "economy " hotel room is now $164. That seems incredibly wrong. But then instead of just recommending websites like priceline, he offers this suggestion:

"Travelers are attacking this kind of vacation inflation by choosing alternative accommodations, like camping, staying with friends, or short-term rentals. New online sites such as Homeaway.com and Forgetaway.com are connecting travelers to some of these non-hotel options. One of the biggest shifts, though, is happening in the minds of travelers, as they begin to treat a room as nothing more than a bed to sleep in."

Huh? There's certainly something to be said for camping, but I know few people who do it as an alternative to staying in a hotel. And there's much to recommend a vacation rental, but cost isn't the primary consideration (space to spread out would be). I also see no evidence that consumers are suddenly flocking to "no frills" downmarket hotels to save money. To the contrary, it seems that a more affluent America is becoming even fussier with their hotel selections.

In short, this stuff is as full of holes as swiss cheese. Surely they can find someone who would be more helpful to their readers.
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Old May 25, 2007, 8:42 pm
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Originally Posted by iahphx
I read so many great tips on websites like flyertalk and on travel blogs that I'm often amazed at how amateurish the travel "consumer reporters" are in the media. Pauline Frommer comes to mind, but the hands down winner of "how does he get published" has to be Chris Elliott. Sometimes he writes pure nonsense, like the infamous front-page story about Airbus supposedly developing a standing-room-only airplane. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/21/op...07fe0f&ei=5070 But his day-to-day, nuts and bolts travel stories just seem so, well, misguided.

Take today's piece about how to get more value for your travel dollar. This is his top recommendation for saving money on airline tickets: "But perhaps the best inflation-fighter can be found offline: a trusted travel agent who knows how to find a high-quality air travel experience at a reasonable rate."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18475171/

Really? Do such people still actually exist? I know there are still corporate travel agents out there, and some folks who specialize in, well, specialty travel, but are there really still agents who you can call to help you book a cheap flight? That seems so, well, 1988. I certainly don't know anyone who uses a travel agent for routine leisure bookings, yet alone one who you'd hire to find you a low fare.

Elliott then goes on to tackle the rising cost of hotel rooms (a genuine concern). He cites one unnamed study that says the cost of an "economy " hotel room is now $164. That seems incredibly wrong. But then instead of just recommending websites like priceline, he offers this suggestion:

"Travelers are attacking this kind of vacation inflation by choosing alternative accommodations, like camping, staying with friends, or short-term rentals. New online sites such as Homeaway.com and Forgetaway.com are connecting travelers to some of these non-hotel options. One of the biggest shifts, though, is happening in the minds of travelers, as they begin to treat a room as nothing more than a bed to sleep in."

Huh? There's certainly something to be said for camping, but I know few people who do it as an alternative to staying in a hotel. And there's much to recommend a vacation rental, but cost isn't the primary consideration (space to spread out would be). I also see no evidence that consumers are suddenly flocking to "no frills" downmarket hotels to save money. To the contrary, it seems that a more affluent America is becoming even fussier with their hotel selections.

In short, this stuff is as full of holes as swiss cheese. Surely they can find someone who would be more helpful to their readers.
I agree with you.. I am not a big fan of Christopher Elliot myself. In the column where grievances are bought to him, he in most cases, unfairly blames the traveler itself. I stopped going to tripso.com
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Old May 25, 2007, 8:50 pm
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IF there is a travel agent qualified (and willing/able) to find a good airfare rate, they're not in my town!

When I told the "best" travel agent in a suburb of Dallas (got a dozen referrals for this specific travel agent) told her we needed cheap tickets to denver to get our 5 year old son medical testing/treatment, she told me there are NO cheap tickets, that I'd pay less going directly to the airline website or priceline. She had no desire to even try to find a good bargain, instead insisting that she prefers to do travel for people with a larger budget...

That was my first and only dealing with a travel agent, but I was not impressed. Dont plan to ever contact one again, if that is their attitude. I can put more energy and time in my travel than they will.
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Old May 25, 2007, 11:26 pm
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When I saw the title I thought it was referring to that guy who used to be on Letterman and was on Third Rock or something like that. I had been saying that about THAT Chris Elliott for years.

Of course, if you want to do a TV commercial and are in a budget-cutting mode, someone like him or Dennis Miller will be a lot cheaper to get these days than the A-listers.
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Old May 26, 2007, 7:41 am
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Originally Posted by zoonil
I agree with you.. I am not a big fan of Christopher Elliot myself. In the column where grievances are bought to him, he in most cases, unfairly blames the traveler itself. I stopped going to tripso.com
I still go to tripso.com (originally because of Christopher, but now I am a big fan of James Wysong). I enjoyed Elliot more when he was writing for USA Today and tended to rip the air carriers and other travel providers a new one every other column (his hatred for US Air, I believe, was a big contributing factor to his departure from the paper). In fact, I was so annoyed when he left USA Today that I actually wrote them an e-mail expressing my disappointment.

He's kind of lost his edge--I enjoy it more when he forces travel providers to own up to their mistakes rather than when he spotlights stupidity on the travelers' parts. All part of the fun of "sticking it to the man."
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Old Dec 19, 2007, 10:38 am
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Originally Posted by zoonil
I agree with you.. I am not a big fan of Christopher Elliot myself. In the column where grievances are bought to him, he in most cases, unfairly blames the traveler itself. I stopped going to tripso.com
I just got through reading a bunch of his Travel Troubleshooter columns - in each one he blames the traveler first and then goes on to make it look like the offending company (airline,hotel,etc) fixed the problem out of the goodness of their heart. I used to like some of his stuff but now he's more of a suckup than anything else.
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Old Dec 19, 2007, 2:59 pm
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Originally Posted by iahphx
Elliott then goes on to tackle the rising cost of hotel rooms (a genuine concern). He cites one unnamed study that says the cost of an "economy " hotel room is now $164. That seems incredibly wrong. But then instead of just recommending websites like priceline, he offers this suggestion:

"Travelers are attacking this kind of vacation inflation by choosing alternative accommodations, like camping, staying with friends, or short-term rentals. New online sites such as Homeaway.com and Forgetaway.com are connecting travelers to some of these non-hotel options. One of the biggest shifts, though, is happening in the minds of travelers, as they begin to treat a room as nothing more than a bed to sleep in."

Huh? There's certainly something to be said for camping, but I know few people who do it as an alternative to staying in a hotel. And there's much to recommend a vacation rental, but cost isn't the primary consideration (space to spread out would be). I also see no evidence that consumers are suddenly flocking to "no frills" downmarket hotels to save money. To the contrary, it seems that a more affluent America is becoming even fussier with their hotel selections.

In short, this stuff is as full of holes as swiss cheese. Surely they can find someone who would be more helpful to their readers.
I guess it depends on what kind of travelling you do and what circles you run in.

My standard family of four travelled through Europe the last two summers with a mix of camping, nice hotels and budget hotels. I'd say that the camping we'd done in the past had no financial basis. We just wanted to camp for camping's sake. The last few years have had the budget as a motivating factor.

I either pack or buy a cheap tent upon arrival. We camp out of the car only when other accommodations are unavailable or budget wreckers or if the area is a place we really want to camp anyway. Out of 38 days last summer, we camped about 5 nights. We spent the rest of the time either at IC hotels, nice non-chain hotels, or at French budget motel chains.

We came to this mix through experience, but primarily because we've seen hotel prices rise exorbitantly over the last 4-5 years. The only way we could continue the type of travelling we do is to use some form of the mix we have to keep the budget in line, because simple bargainhunting is not enough. Furthermore, if you do book everything ahead of time, you sometimes trap yourself.

The savings can be dramatic and when there's no room at the inn for a family of 4, the tent in the trunk is a real comfort zone.

I'd figure the tent saved us from $500-$1000. Sometimes they want to sell two rooms for a family of four. Avoiding those situations is really nice and the camping is usually more memorable anyway.
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Old Dec 19, 2007, 9:23 pm
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Originally Posted by IcHot
I guess it depends on what kind of travelling you do and what circles you run in.
I applaud you on your innovative -- and lengthy -- trips to Europe, but I'm sure you recognize that there are very, very few Americans taking their families on 38-day trips to Europe.

Elliott's column (now written long ago, btw) suggested this was a "mainstream" trend. That's ludicrous -- campgrounds are not springing up in the cities, towns and villages of America to handle the hordes of folks fleeing conventional lodging choices. It's just silly.
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Old Dec 19, 2007, 10:30 pm
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Originally Posted by iahphx
I applaud you on your innovative -- and lengthy -- trips to Europe, but I'm sure you recognize that there are very, very few Americans taking their families on 38-day trips to Europe.

Elliott's column (now written long ago, btw) suggested this was a "mainstream" trend. That's ludicrous -- campgrounds are not springing up in the cities, towns and villages of America to handle the hordes of folks fleeing conventional lodging choices. It's just silly.
I used to think I did some things only a small percentage of Americans were doing until I found flyertalk.com. If I'm camping to cut costs, it wouldn't surprise me to see others doing it, even if they're only doing it in Tenn.

I really should have added that for years we travelled through the Canadian Maritimes and the northeastern US from Texas. The traditional vacation was getting so costly for 2-3 weeks that I sort of retooled what we were doing. The price of gas alone was a serious chunk of change, plus the cost of good-mediocre US motels was going up and up, especially when you are stuck just walking up and asking for a room rather than booking on the internet.

It is easy to spend $200+ a day driving through the middle of the US on the Interstate, staying at a HIE and eating a Cracker Barrel meal and getting a meal at McD's. Then you wonder why you just did that and what you or your kids got out of it.

I can't statistically prove that more people are camping, but I've found that I'm not usually totally alone in my thinking. This was proven to me by the Seinfeld episode where they tried to take the deposit bottle back to Michigan to get the nickel apiece or the people that hoard the copper penny.
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Old Dec 20, 2007, 12:04 am
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Christopher Elliott is one of my very least favorite travel writers - his e-mail updates prompt the immediate delete key. But as one who works with words for a living, I offer this thought:

"It is far easier to travel than to write about it."
-- David Livingstone
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Old Dec 20, 2007, 8:24 am
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Originally Posted by iahphx

Elliott's column (now written long ago, btw) suggested this was a "mainstream" trend. That's ludicrous -- campgrounds are not springing up in the cities, towns and villages of America to handle the hordes of folks fleeing conventional lodging choices. It's just silly.
This fall me and the mrs. went to the Smoky Mountains national park for a weekend. Cheapest hotel/motel room available was $150ish a night. It was one of those weekends when everything was booked and we did it spurof the moment, last minute. We ended up camping for $21 a night instead and had a great time.
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Old Dec 20, 2007, 8:29 am
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Since joining Flyertalk, I find that most of the so called experts are just windbags. Wrong info, misleading stories and puff pieces seem to be the norm.

Can anyone name a travel writer that is really good?
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Old Dec 20, 2007, 9:14 am
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Originally Posted by Jaimito Cartero
Since joining Flyertalk, I find that most of the so called experts are just windbags. Wrong info, misleading stories and puff pieces seem to be the norm.

Can anyone name a travel writer that is really good?
Kiwi Flyer. There are some very good travel report writers around.

Oh, you mean pundits. No, but I think that's a matter of audience more than a matter of competence. There is a segment of the population out there that actually thinks the TSA is there for your security, after all. And another that think air travel is such a hassle with all these convoluted rules about boarding order. And terrible waiting areas, overpriced food... and they haven't even gotten into the plane yet!
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Old Dec 20, 2007, 9:25 am
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Originally Posted by Jaimito Cartero
Can anyone name a travel writer that is really good?
Paul Theroux, but he's not offering advice on cheap tickets to Denver.

Most of the so-called "travel experts" are either addressing such a broad audience, they can't possibly offer FT-detailed advice... or are in somebody's pocket, whether it's their newspaper, syndicate, or some travel / hospitality provider that has spiffed them with "famliarization trips." Funny how nobody who gets a free cruise, or a free ride on the A380, comes back and slams it.

You would, however, have to be either stoned on acid or living in the last century to advise people to save money by finding a "trusted travel agent." Most storefront travel agents are half-informed or corrupt, and most now charge people to do bookings they can do themselves in half the time. On that point alone Chris Elliott takes himself out of the game. Presumably he had just enjoyed a resort weekend on the travel agent association's tab.
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Old Dec 20, 2007, 7:00 pm
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I'll give him some benefit of the doubt and say that Elliott is giving his EDITORS what they want, i.e. "list" articles and stuff that doesn't go too deep, use any jargon or fly above the head of the infrequent traveler. Usually that means tired stuff like "Get to the airport early," "call the 800 number rather than get in the booking line if your flight gets cancelled" and other deer pebbles of wisdom like that. Elliott's audience isn't up to where FT is in terms of travel knowledge, and some might actually read the articles (such as the list articles for "Worst ___") for reassurance about not traveling because things are bad.

Interesting to bring up Paul Theroux, too. Very interesting books, but you don't tend to read 'em and think "Man, I've gotta go there!" I think his secret is appealing to non-travelers.
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