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San Francisco International flipped on the switch early for free wi-fi, airport-wide, on Friday. The new service was originally set to launch in September.

This means that Bay Area Travelers can now access the internet for free at our three main airports, SFO, Oakland and San Jose.

To log on at SFO, choose “sfo free wifi” when searching for networks.

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I have used the free wi-fi at Oakland Airport, and while I appreciated the convenience and the price, the service was a bit wobbly and slow. Fine for checking email, but slow for viewing large photos or video.

Similar to what I’ve sometimes found when I get free wi-fi at hotels or elsewhere, it’s frequently a “get what you pay for” experience. I hope that’s not the case at SFO.

I’ve not yet been out to SFO to test the new service, but maybe you have? Please report your experiences and thoughts about free wi-fi below. Easy to find? Easy to connect? How’s the speed?

On Tuesday, President Obama urged federal government employees to cut back on business travel in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The president wants the federal government, now the largest energy consumer in the country, to cut its emissions from indirect sources like commuting and business travel by 13 percent by 2020.

That sounds fair enough, but the announcement did not sit well at all with the travel industry.

On Wednesday the U.S. Travel Association fired back, calling Obama’s effort to curb government employee travel “short-sighted and counter-productive…. and will further economic decline at precisely the wrong time for the more than two million Americans whose jobs depend on business travel.” (Read the full statement here.)

Michael McCormick, executive director of another travel trade organization, the National Business Travel Association stated, “President Obama’s recent statements calling for a reduction in government travel are troubling for two reasons. First, they are part of a pattern of negative and misguided comments from the Administration that hurt the travel industry at an incredibly challenging time. Second, they seem to imply that cutting travel is the goal. The goal should be to use travel as cost-effectively as possible to meet the needs of the United States…”

Who is right here? Should we be cut back on business travel to reduce emissions? Or should we encourage business travel to aid an ailing travel industry that’s just now starting to recover? Please leave your comments below!

I’m still a little bit star struck.

Last week, on the first leg of my journey home from my summer vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., I traveled with one of my all-time favorite singers and songwriters, Carly Simon.

Here’s what happened: As we were walking along the pier to enter the queue for the ferry back to the mainland, a woman in a billowy white dress, a big handbag, blonde hair and a very familiar face walked up behind us in line.

I looked at her and smiled, then looked away, and then a little bell went off in my head. I turned and looked again, and she smiled back at me, and I stuttered something like, “Did anyone ever tell you that you look like. . . um wait a minute. . . are you Carly Simon?” As a long-time fan, I knew that she lived on Martha’s Vineyard, so the possibility was not completely far fetched.

She smiled and said, “Yes, I am,” and seemed eager for a friendly chat, so I engaged. I introduced myself and my partner Barkley, told her I was a big fan and that I cut my music-listening teeth on many of her hits on AM radio way back in the 70’s. (like You’re So Vain, Anticipation, Nobody Does It Better.)

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I was looking around to see if her people, her handlers, her bodyguards or anyone else was around and realized quickly that it was just Carly, all by herself. She was toting a box of 100 or so CD’s that I offered to help her with, but she insisted on carrying it.

She told us that she was doing some very personal publicity for her new acoustical album Never Been Gone– and that the box was full of teaser CDs with two songs from it. Her plan was to stand at the entryway of the returning ferry and hand them out to passengers, and urge them to go to a record store on the Vineyard to buy the album for half price when they presented the teaser CD.

We made a little more small talk, boarded the ferry, she sat down, handed me a CD, we said goodbye, and I walked away floating about 10 feet in the air.

I found my seat, got out my iPod and started listening to her Greatest Hits album. After a song or two, I decided to go back and ask her to sign the CD she’d given me and maybe even ask for a photo.

With pen in hand, I went back to where she was seated, still by herself, and asked if she’d autograph the CD. She said, “Of course,” and pulled out a Sharpie (natch) from her big bag and asked, “Would you like to sit down? Now, Chris, is this just for you, or for you and Barkley?” (Inside, I thought, wow, she even remembered our names!)

I sat down. She signed the CD and we talked for ten minutes or so, about the horrendous summer heat wave, about her 42-year-old horse that recently died, her bout with Lyme’s disease, the brand new iPad she was fiddling around with, life on Martha’s Vineyard and about my week there.

Finally, I mustered the courage to ask if I could snap a photo and she said, “Of course, let’s do it!” I took two pics and then we huddled over the camera and she chose the best one. I returned to my seat, and continued on my journey to Boston and then back to the Bay.

What a great way to end a great vacation!

So anyway, frequent travelers . . . since this is a travel blog and not a celebrity blog, let’s add a travel angle here with a question:

Have you ever encountered a celeb or superstar on your frequent travels? If so, how did you react? I’d love to hear your stories and I’m sure other readers would like to hear them, too! Comments, please! Let’s have some fun with this . . .

Here’s the full “OPT-OUT” email sent to previous CLEAR card holders.(Click here For the full post on the new CLEAR.)

NOTICE OF INTENT TO TRANSFER CUSTOMER DATA AND OPPORTUNITY TO RECEIVE FREE CREDIT FOR REMAINING SUBSCRIPTION TERM OR TO ELECT TO HAVE DATA DESTROYED

TO CUSTOMERS OF CLEAR AND VERIFIED IDENTITY PASS, INC.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that Verified Identity Pass, Inc., the owner and operator of Clear (“Verified”), is selling substantially all of its assets (the

“Assets”) to Alclear, LLC which will do business as CLEAR (the “Buyer”).  Buyer is a private company backed by various investors including L-1 Identity

Solutions, a leading biometric solutions company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

As part of its purchase of the Assets, the Buyer will restart the CLEAR service and offer each current or former customer (“Customer”) the

opportunity to enter into the new CLEAR service.  Each Customer that accepts the offer will receive a credit equal to the number of months that remained in

that Customer’s contract with Verified as of June 24, 2009.  Buyer will be sending you details of the new CLEAR service, including how to qualify for the

credit and what changes will be made to the Verified Privacy Policies under the new program, in the near future.

I.      OPT-OUT NOTICE TO TRANSFER OF PERSONAL INFORMATION AND CHANGE IN PRIVACY POLICY TO REFLECT TRANSFER

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that Verified is seeking to transfer as part of the Assets any and all personal and biometric data of any Customer stored and

maintained by or at the direction of Verified (the “Customer Data”).  Subject to future notice of change from Buyer, Buyer will maintain the security of all

Customer Data it receives from Verified according to all applicable rules, law and privacy policies, including applicable Transportation Security

Administration rules, regulations, and standards and Verified’s privacy policies in existence at the time your Customer Data was collected and at the time

Verified ceased operations.  Buyer has expressly agreed to be Verified’s successor-in-interest of your Customer Data if transferred to Buyer, to be

responsible to you for its violation of those policies following the transfer of your Customer Data, to use your Customer Data only for the purposes for

which it was originally collected or for which you’ve given consent, and not to disclose, sell, or transfer your Customer Data to any third party in a way

that’s inconsistent with the applicable privacy policy.

PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the transfer of any Customer Data requires a change to Verified’s privacy policies.  Verified’s privacy policy for

the Clear program in Section 3A (ADDITIONAL LIMITATIONS ON APPLICANT AND MEMBER PERSONAL INFORMATION) stated that Verified does not sell or give personal

information of its Customers to other businesses.  That privacy policy has been changed to reflect the transfer to Buyer of the Customer Data of those

Customers who do not object to the transfer.  This change to the privacy policy will be posted on the Verified website (http://www.verifiedidpassinc.com) in

a “redline” form that highlights the changes made to the privacy policy so you can track the changes.

II.     OPT-OUT INSTRUCTIONS IF YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR DATA TRANSFERRED

If you want to receive your free credit for the remaining subscription term, no action is necessary at this time.  We will contact you at the

appropriate time with more information about how to become a customer of the new CLEAR service.  No Customer will be billed until he or she accepts a plan of

service with the new CLEAR service.  If you do not object to the transfer of your Customer Date to the Buyer, you do not need to do anything.

If you do object to having your Customer Data transferred to the Buyer, then you must take affirmative action to have your Customer Data destroyed by

completing and mailing the attached Customer Data Destruction Election Form (“Form”) to P.O. Box 42010, Nashville, TN 37204-2010, postmarked no later than

July 22, 2010.  If you do not complete and mail the attached Customer Data Destruction Election Form by July 22, 2010 (the “Deadline”) to the address above,

you will be deemed to have consented to the transfer of your Customer Data to the Buyer.  If you complete and mail the attached Data Destruction Election

Form by July 22, 2010 to the address above, your Customer Data will not be transferred to the Buyer.  Instead, it will be destroyed within 30 days after the

Deadline and you will be ineligible to receive your credit for the number of months that remained in your contract with Verified.  If you complete and return

your Form on time, you may be contacted by Alclear or one of its affiliates to confirm your election.

PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that in order to advise the court with regards to the transfer of the Customer Data to the Buyer and to assure continued

privacy of the Customer Data, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York appointed Todd B. Ruback as a consumer privacy ombudsman (the

“Ombudsman”) in connection with the sale of the Assets.  The Ombudsman has reviewed and approved these procedures and has worked with Verified and the Buyer

to ensure the security and continued privacy of all Customer Data.

ABOUT THE BUYER

Alclear is thrilled at the opportunity to rebuild CLEAR. We are a private company backed by various investors including L-1 Identity Solutions, a

leading biometric solutions company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.  Your biographic and biometric data will be stored in a Government-certified

secure facility.

You may obtain further information about Alclear and its plans to restart the CLEAR service at www.flyclear.com.

Dated: June 22, 2010

CUSTOMER OPT-OUT OF TRANSFER OF CUSTOMER DATA AND CUSTOMER DATA DESTRUCTION ELECTION FORM

By signing and mailing this form to the address set forth below you are expressly opting-out of the transfer of your customer data from Verified Identity

Pass, Inc. (“VIP”) to Buyer and are forfeiting your right to receive free credit for your remaining term. By opting-out of this transfer, you are electing to

have your customer data destroyed. In order to opt-out of the transfer of your customer data and therefore have your customer data destroyed, you must

complete and mail this form to the address set forth below postmarked no later than July 22, 2010.

P.O. Box 42010
Nashville, TN 37204-2010

By signing below, I certify the following:

I was a customer of Verified Identity Pass, Inc. and I was enrolled in VIP’s CLEAR Registered Traveler program.

My name and current address, as set forth below, is true and correct. I am providing this information for the sole purpose of allowing VIP to verify that I

was enrolled in VIP’s Clear Registered Traveler Program.

I DO NOT CONSENT TO THE TRANSFER OF MY CUSTOMER DATA TO ALCLEAR, LLC AND I INSTRUCT VIP TO DESTROY MY CUSTOMER DATA

I acknowledge that, by completing and mailing this form, my CLEAR customer data will be destroyed and I will be ineligible to receive a credit from Alclear,

LLC for the number of months that remained in my CLEAR member contract with VIP after June 24, 2009.

(Click here For the full post on the new CLEAR.)

Your BAT editor took a few minutes out of his Memorial Day working in his garden (see background) to discuss summer travel trends with KRON 4 News. Nice segment!

1> NEW NONSTOPS TO SOUTH AMERICA. LAN Airlines will launch 4x per week nonstop flights between San Francisco and Lima, Peru on July 1. The new Boeing 767 flights will be the ONLY nonstops between SFO and South America, so this is great news for those who don’t like to connect in LA or Dallas or Miami to get there. LAN is an outstanding carrier; by far the best in South America with a fleet of new planes and an excellent lie-flat business class seat. LAN has a code share on the route with American, so AAdvantage members can earn and burn miles on the flights. Details here

2> FREE WI-FI COMING TO SFO. The rumor has been floating around for a while, but today I got confirmation from airport officials that FREE Wi-Fi is tentatively scheduled for implementation at SFO in September. The official start date should be released in coming weeks. Woo-hoo!

3> HUGE BONUSES FOR TRANSCON TRIPS. Delta started it, now American and United have joined in on the bonus bonanza for frequent travelers between SFO (or LAX) and New York-JFK. The deals vary slightly, but the gist is this: Pay full fare round trip business class or first class and you get an eye-popping 50,000-mile bonus. Discounted business class and full fare economy round trips earn a 25,000-mile bonus. The cheap seats– lowest economy fares– don’t earn any special bonus on the routes. The bonuses can be earned an unlimited number of times through June 30. KEY: You must register for this promotion. Here are the links:

DELTA (NOTE: Delta’s “premium Economy class” is only premium in the sense that it costs more. It’s not equivalent to United’s Economy Plus which offers extra legroom.)

UNITED

AMERICAN

VIRGIN AMERICA: so far, there’s been no competitive response.

4> SOUTHWEST BONUS. Rapid Rewards members get one bonus credit per flight (for a total of two) through May 26. This means you can get a free Southwest ticket after just four round trips instead of the usual eight. More expensive Business Select fares earn even more. To get the bonus you must first register and book your trip online.

5> IPAD STAYS IN YOUR BAG. Thanks for all your comments on my recent post about wanting an iPad for business travel. I’ve still not bought one, but was nearly pushed off the fence when I read that the TSA will NOT require travelers to remove iPads from carry on luggage for scanning as it does for laptops.

6> HOTEL BOOM IN NYC. If you are like me and you LOVE a brand new hotel, especially in Manhattan, you’ll love this news: Twenty-one hotels opened in Manhattan in 2009. Thirty-two new hotels will open this year. Click here to see the full list. Speaking of NYC hotels, two W Hotels in NYC (The Court and the Tuscany, both on 39th St) have been sold to a London-based outfit called St Giles Hotels.

7> UNITED+US Airways? I just can’t see a whole lot of positives when two struggling carriers combine to form a much larger struggling carrier. I was sorta hoping that United would merge with Continental, which is considered by many to be near the top of the heap of “legacy” carriers in terms of good management. Well, in any case, airline merger rumors come and go as fast as Hollywood romances, so I’ll reserve further commentary or speculation until this one gets some legs.

1>DULLES AEROTRAIN IS OPEN. R.I.P. “MOBILE LOUNGES.” Finally, those awful, awkward “mobile lounges” that travelers to and from Washington, DC’s Dulles Airport had to endure to get to their gate…are history! The airport’s new underground AeroTrain system commenced service last month. Every two minutes, shiny new trains whisk passengers along a central spine connecting the main terminal with distant concourses. (Sorta similar to train systems at airports in Atlanta and Denver…) Note: For the time being, international travelers still have to board the mobile lounges to get to the airport’s “D” gates. Now, if they could just add a high-speed rail line to get from Dulles to the District. That 45-minute slog is a tough on after a 5-hour flight from the Bay.

2>NEW YORK-JFK IS A MESS. This week the NY/NJ Port Authority closed JFK’s main runway for four months of repairs. While the airport and airlines say that they’ve been able to plan around this without any major issues, I remain skeptical. So stay tuned and be prepared. In the midst of all this airport angst, a story broke this week revealing that an air traffic controller at the JFK tower brought his child into work one day and allowed him to talk via radio to aircraft under his control. (Controller was subsequently put on leave…)

3>SKIP HOTEL HOUSEKEEPING FOR POINTS OR DOLLARS? Guests at many Westin and Sheraton hotels can opt out of daily housekeeping in exchange for a $5 credit or 500 Starpoints. That seems like a good idea to me since my room remains mostly tidy when I’m traveling on business. It also has environmental benefits since less water and chemicals are used to clean the room. The Wall Street Journal points out that an average high-end hotel saves about $22 per room if the guest opts out of housekeeping. What do you think? Would you take a hotel up on an offer like this?

4>CREDIT CARD ACT NOW IN EFFECT. The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act took effect on February 22, will force more consumer-friendly practices on card issuers. But it will also increase competition among banks for lucrative affluent customers with good credit ratings (i.e. frequent travelers) according to an interesting article in Business Week. Customers with credit ratings of 750+ should expect to receive more bonus rewards, solicitations and promotional offers. Speaking of affluent customers, here’s another newsy nugget from the BW article: “American Express dominates the market for affluent users, with individual card purchases averaging $9,342 in 2008 compared with $2,672 for Visa and $2,300 for MasterCard. Its cardholders have average credit scores of 754 compared with 722 forthe rest of the industry.” (Disclosure: I engage in occasional consulting work for American Express.)

5>BEST WESTERN MATCHING ELITE STATUS. Everyone knows about how airlines will match elite level status to poach frequent travelers from competitors. Now hotels are getting into the act as well. Just this week, Best Western announced that it would give elite status in the Best Western Rewards program to anyone who sends them their elite level credentials from another chain. Elite membership in the BW program offers members room upgrades, early/late check in/out, and earning bonuses. Details here

6>NYC BOUND? SHERATON MANHATTAN NO LONGER SHERATON. Starwood has announced that the Sheraton Manhattan in midtown will loose its brand affiliation this spring due to its deteriorating quality. However, the Sheraton New York (across the street on the EAST side of 7th Ave) will keep its brand flag. (It always seemed a little weird to me to have two Sheratons so close to each other anyway.)

7>ARE YOU A TRAVEL SOCIAL MEDIA MAVEN? Or do you want to be one? Later this month a “who’s who” in the burgeoning realm of travel social media will meet in Fisherman’s Wharf to talk shop at the “Social Media Strategies for Travel” conference (Mar. 24-25). From the looks of the agenda, there will be a mix of global social media superstars (think Trip Advisor or Facebook), big time travel names (Expedia, InterContinental, Virgin America) and a lot of consultants and content providers. Plenty of local startup firms in the travel space will share the limelight, too, such as NileGuide and TravelMuse, both of which help travelers imagine and then plan their trips. I’ll be there, too!

There’s nothing I love better than to gaze out my bay window as the big jumbo jets from Europe and Asia soar over the city on their approach to SFO.

Now I’ll have a new bird to look out for. Starting next June, SWISS will fly between SFO and Zurich six days a week using an Airbus A340 with first, business and coach cabins. Flights will depart SFO at 7:25 pm and arrive at 3:40 pm the next day. On the return, flights depart Zurich at 1:15 pm and arrive SFO at 4:30 pm.

Good news for United Mileage Plus members: SWISS is a member of the STAR Alliance.

And it sounds like luck is on their side— San Francisco makes the EIGHTH gateway city served by SWISS in North America. (Others are: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Newark, and Montreal.)

A little history: SWISS was formed in 2002 after the bankruptcy of Swissair. The company is now a subsidiary of Lufthansa. More info: www.swiss.com

TDWWS88T82TW

This post will only be up long enough for Technorati to detect that this is really my blog.  Sorry for any inconvenience.

If you are flying in late, or taking off early and plan to use the Bay Bridge to get from or to the airport…BEWARE. It’s now a speed trap.

The CHP will narrow the bridge lanes from five to three at the infamous S-curve and will have officers stationed there to monitor speed nightly between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.

According to SFGate, officers handed out 35 speeding tickets on Weds/Thur this week alone. Note: The posted speed limit at the S-curve 40 mph.

Like most frequent travelers, I switched from the paper version to the online version of the Wall Street Journal many years ago—for something like $79 per year. Then the rate magically went up to $99. Last year I think it was $119. I just got my Amex bill, and guess how much the standard renewal is now? $197! With no prior warning of a price hike!

I called the WSJ to dispute, and they told me to access my account information online and click on “Renew for $156,” and the $41 difference would be refunded to my credit card. We’ll see if the refund shows up. I’m tempted to cancel and renew at the “new subscriber” rate of $103.

What’s up with this? I’m more than happy to pay for the excellent content the WSJ provides, but to double the price and then charge my card without any notice seems like a shady business practice.

Has anyone else noticed?

Your BAT editor Chris McGinnis and The BAT appeared on GOOD MORNING AMERICA today! Seriously! The segment is about how to beat long lines. My part (taped at SFO) starts at about 2:10.

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=9022454

Check it out and let me know what you think! We are also pleased that the ABC reporter, Becky Worley (who lives in the East Bay), is now a BAT reader, too!

Big day for The BAT!

Have you STILL not witnessed the wonders of in-flight Wi-Fi? What are you waiting for? If it’s cost, we’ve got a deal for you. BAT readers can give the new Gogo inflight internet service a go FOR FREE now through January 7, 2010.

Note that Google is sponsoring free in-flight wi-fi on Virgin America Nov 10-Jan 15, but if you’re on wi-fi equipped aircraft from United, American, Delta or AirTran, you can use this code to avoid the standard $13 fee.

Here’s how: When you get on a wi-fi equipped plane, fire up your laptop or PDA and log on the internet. You will automatically arrive at the Gogo site. Then enter this BAT code:

2285274562xbf

(copy and paste this into a doc or write it on a slip of paper and put in your wallet to access on the plane)

And Voila! Free internet! Let us know what you think.

Those Northwest pilots who overshot Minneapolis HAD to have been asleep. I can’t think of any other reason for the silence. Can you? What do BAT readers think? Please leave comments below!

OCT 28th: Here’s the latest on this story.

Check out what Delta’s now got on transcons from SFO to NY-JFK to compete with United PS, AA and Virgin’s first. Very nice! Will you try it?