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Saturday, June 21, 2003
Dead Carpet Club 
| | I know this is going to sound like a rich guy's bitch, but I feel okay about it since I'm not a rich guy; I just fly like one. |
| | See, I'm a frequent flyer, and a long-time member of United's Red Carpet Club. I also appreciate United's remarkably good service, considering the obvious fact that it's huge, bankrupt, and operating critical functions on which millions depend, with no margin for error. I understand why they wouldn't want to be bothered with low-priority stuff like wi-fi for Red Carpet Club members. |
| | But I also recall reading somewhere that United wants to "refocus" (or something of that sort) on its core constituency: the business traveller. I just looked: about 2/3 of the travellers sitting around here have laptops. Most new laptops have wi-fi built in. |
| | So I'm bummed that wi-fi has been on the strategic opportunity radar for about two years now and I've yet to use a Red Carpet Club that offers it. Hey, American is a big, bankrupt airline too; and at least some of their clubs have it. The service is t-mobile (which I dislike) and costs extra, but at least it's there. Delta has it in some clubs, too, as I recall. (I'd look it up, but we're on dial-up here, which is like watching cement dry.) |
| | Right now I'm sitting in one of the two Red Carpet Clubs in Concourse C at Dulles. I'm glad they have free local calls, free bananas, comfortable chairs and a counter of friendly professionals to handle flight change hassles and stuff like that. And a bar. That's what membership buys. But mostly I want to get on the Net when I'm between flights. |
| | So I've taken to avoiding the Red Carpet Clubs when I fly, and connecting out in the corridors where WayPort, Boingo and YourWireless have hot spots. |
| | Really... how hard would it be for them to put in a hot spot on their own, and offer it for free, like their instant cappuchino? |
| | [Hmm... ] Says here that United has a deal with T-Mobile of some kind. But I've seen nothing at JFK, IAD, ORD, LAX, DEN, SEA or any other location I can recall. |
| | Oh. You just sign up for one of T-Mobile's long-term deals (which you can do inadvertently, easily) and win miles. Feh. |
L8R
| | Looong travel day today. See ya back on the other coast. |
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