Hertz's Secret Agreement With PlatePassCom Charges You $30 For 30 Minutes on E470 Toll Road Out of the Denver Airport

Be warned that this true tale has so many layers of "wrong" in it that my head is swimming.

In the summers of 2007 and 2008 I have flown into Denver airport and then driven 600 miles up to Montana via Cheyenne, Wyoming to visit my wife's family. Both years we rented a Hertz car.

The most direct route to reach the Interstate to Cheyenne when leaving the Denver airport is via a short stretch of Colorado toll road E470. The E470 link takes about 15 minutes in each direction.

In 2007 and 2008, I paid the tolls in cash. On 8-03-08, for example, I passed two E470 toll plazas and paid $2 + $2 for a total of $4, and then returning to DEN two weeks late on 8-18-08 again paid $2 + $2 for a total of $4 in cash, for a grand total of $8 in tolls.

This summer, however, I paid a grand total of $30, $22 more than last year, to travel the same 30 minutes (15 minutes in each direction). Here's what happened:

In August, my family and I again flew into DEN and rented a Hertz car. Just as in previous years, we traversed the short stretch of E470 to reach the Interstate to Cheyenne, but this year (on 8-08-09) we found the cash lanes have all been closed, leaving no obvious way to pay the tolls.

In place of the permanently closed cash toll booths, I saw new overhead license plate readers, but Hertz never warned us of any automatic billing based on reading our license plates. I wondered how this would play out, but since it was only a few dollars, I didn't worry about it at the time.

Two weeks later on 8-22-09, we returned from Montana through Cheyenne, Wyoming, and once close to the airport we traversed the same short stretch of E470 to get back to DEN. As before, we found all cash lanes permanently closed.

I asked Hertz about it when I returned the car at DEN but the people processing returns had no information.

Then on my 9-15-09 American Express Platinum Card statement I found two charges from an entity called (exactly as printed on my AmEx statement) wwwplatepasscom for $15 each. There was no reference to Denver, to E470, or to the dates we drove on the E470. The charges were dated 8-27-09 and 9-10-09. There was also no reference to Hertz.

I phoned American Express and had them remove the charges as unrecognizable pending an investigation, and I then phoned 1-877-411-4300, the number American Express gave me for wwwplatepasscom.

The wwwplatepasscom customer service rep who answered, Mary Coon, told me that they indeed had charged me for driving on the E470 out of the Denver airport, and that they had a contract with the State of Colorado for toll collection—now entirely cashless—on the E470.

Ms. Coon also told me platepasscom has a separate contract with Hertz to obtain Hertz renters’ credit card numbers so they could charge the tolls direct to the renters instead of through Hertz.

Funny, I thought, that Hertz would be giving third party companies like platepasscom my credit card number WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE OR CONSENT.

As if the shock of finding Hertz was willy-nilly handing out my AmEx number to companies I never heard of was not enough, I got another jaw-dropping bit of info from Ms. Coon: She said that the actual tolls were now $2.50 at each toll point (up from $2.00 in 2008), so my actual toll charges were $2.50 + $2.50 for a total of $5.00 on 8-08-09 and the same amounts ($2.50 + $2.50 for a total of $5.00) on our return journey across E470 to get to your airport on 8-22-09.

Not too bad, I thought, just a fifty cents per toll plaza increase from last year.

But then Ms. Coon dropped the bomb on me when she further explained that wwwplatepasscom charges a $10.00 per week “administration fee” on top of the actual tolls for Hertz renters as part of their agreement with Hertz. Yet Hertz did not make me aware of any wwwplatepasscom charges, either in writing or verbally.

Thus I was charged by wwwplatepasscom $2.50 + $2.50 + $10.00, for a total of $15.00, on 8-08-09, and wwwplatepasscom charged me another $2.50 + $2.50 + $10.00, for a total of $15.00, on 8-22-09.

Later that day I contacted the Denver Airport authority, and they are still investigating (they knew nothing about the scheme).

I also phoned the DEN Hertz Station Manager, who identified herself only as Vicki. Vicki told me that I was supposed to have been given a one-page flyer among my Hertz paperwork that explained the wwwplatepasscom charges if I drove on E470. I told her I still have all my paperwork from the rental, and there is nothing there about wwwplatepasscom.

I asked Vicki to mail the wwwplatepasscom flyer to me so I could see it, and I gave her my address, and also my Hertz Rental Agreement number. To date, one week later, I had not received any such flyer from Hertz.

Vicki also advised me to avoid E470 at all costs, saying she and her colleagues NEVER use the toll road any more since it went cashless because of the ridiculous charges.

I then called Hertz Corporate Public Relations to ask:

1. Why I was not apprised of these charges and thus warned before driving on Denver-area toll roads that are part of these agreements;

2. Whether Hertz Corporate knew of the absurd $10/week “admin fee” tack-ons to the actual toll collections: and

3. Where in my Hertz Master Agreement or Rental Agreement that I gave Hertz the right to share my American Express card number with another entity.

Hertz Corporate had no immediate answer, saying they were unaware of the details, but they promised to look into it and get back to me. To date, one week later, I await their callback.

That’s where we are today on the Denver part of the story about Hertz and platepasscom.

But there are more unexpected charges for unwary Hertz renters out there across the country: I also discovered that platepasscom has an agreement not just with Hertz at Denver, but also with Hertz through the Northeast (e.g., NY and NJ tollroads), in the Chicago and Indiana areas, and in Florida and Texas, to collect tolls and charge renters from the license plate tied to your Hertz Rental Agreements.

And there is no relief, no opt-out possibility, when you rent from Hertz. Thus I will henceforth stop renting from Hertz, even though Hertz is my preferred vendor of rental cars. This is not something I do out of spite, but what am I to do? My clients won't pay for these stupid charges, and I am not going to swallow them myself.

This is so wrong on so many levels:

- Colorado, along with Indiana, Texas, Illinois, Florida, New York, New Jersey, and other states rip out their toll road cash lanes, forcing drivers to pay electronically or be subject to huge fees and violation charges;

- Hertz makes a secret deal and doesn't tell its renters about the unreasonable admin fees;

- Hertz dispenses confidential credit card information to third party vendors without the cardholder's knowledge or consent;

- American Express has no idea what the charges are and doesn't really care;

- Denver Airport has no idea what the scam is about; and

- Hertz Corporate claims ignorance of its own company's outrageous scheme.

And nobody, NOBODY seemed to care when I questioned it!

FOOTNOTE: Here are two references to the platepasscom/Hertz deal, the original of which says you are charged only for the days you use it. Then the Flyertalk thread makes it clear that the terms changed:

www.businesstravellogue.com/accommodation/hertz-rental-cars-hertz-platepass-program-allows-drivers-to-use-ez-pass-lanes.html

www.flyertalk.com/forum/hertz/947200-caution-platepass-daily-admin-fee-charged-entire-length-rental.html

If others have had similar experiences with Hertz and platepasscom, or with platepasscom and any other car rental companies, I hope they will comment here.

British Airways: Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Even Forrest Gump's jaw would drop at this news from British Airways, courtesy of my friend, Joe Brancatelli, from his weekly newsletter at www.joesentme.biz:

"British Airways has told travel agents (but not customers yet) that it will begin charging for advance seat assignments effective on October 7. If you want to choose a seat more than 24 hours before departure, it'll cost you $30 in most coach or premium-economy (World Traveler Plus) rows and $75 for an exit row.

"But wait, it gets more insane. Spent thousands of dollars to book a business-class seat on British Airways? You'll pay $90 for the right to choose your seat more than 24 hours before departure. That's not only each way, but per segment. Which means you'll pay upwards of $360 roundtrip in business class if you fly on BA to somewhere via London. Apparently the only exceptions are premium members of BA's Executive Club and full-fare business-class passengers.

"I'll have further details next week as I get my hands on more specifics, but let me give you a quick read: Why would any sane human being give British Airways $90 a segment more after paying thousands of dollars for a business class seat? And why would BA, which is still trying to overcome justifiably negative perceptions of Heathrow Terminal 5 and desperately needs premium-class connecting passengers, think anyone would pay them $360 more roundtrip for the "privilege" of flying over London in a pre-assigned seat? This is the height of stupidity from an airline that increasingly looks like it is being run by top executives who are in over their heads. This is Mickey Mouse.

"This isn't how you treat premium-class customers, who, even if they are flying at a discount, are paying $2,500 or $5,000 or more. It was bad enough a couple of years ago when BA told business-class customers that they couldn't have an advance seat assignment until 24 hours before departure if they traveled on anything but walk-up fares. But to turn around now and try to sell a premium-class customer an advance-seating option is simply pouring salt in an open wound.

"I'll tell you what: Business-class customers have other options if they are flying to and from London. And they can surely find reasons not to connect over London with BA. I suggest you talk with your wallet. If you're booking international business-class travel, avoid BA until it drops this insane fee. And boycott any other carrier that tries to match BA."

Usually posts here are entirely my own writing, but this little item was so astonishingly dumb that I felt it deserved the widest possible audience. It's just stupid, stupid, stupid.

In memoriam

"Wisdom of the grace of God that as we act,
we do not become the evil that we deplore."

- Rev. Nathan Baxter, Dean of Washington National Cathedral

Suffering from jetlag, I woke up in my Sydney CBD hotel room in the early morning hours (Australia east coast time) of 9/11/01 and switched on the TV to lull me back to sleep. It took me a moment to process the horror I was seeing broadcast from New York City, Washington, and Pennsylvania.

Like everyone, I'll always remember where I was when I learned about the attacks on our soil. Yet still, eight years later, I cannot fully understand them.

I agree with what Joe Brancatelli said in his column this morning:

"Today is the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when four passenger aircraft were used as weapons against us. Three thousand people died. Their names and some of their pictures, if not their stories, are here:

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/memorial/lists/by-name/

"What else is there to say? I never seem to know."

To Rental Car Or Not To Rental Car

Every summer, usually in August, I take my family to visit my in-laws in Montana.

For over a decade we simply flew from Raleigh to and from Billings because that's just 90 miles away from the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness area in the Stillwater River valley, which is our destination.

And every year the airfares went up and up and up, until my wife and I were paying as much for the four of us to fly to Billings as we sometimes do to fly to Paris, London, or Belize. After all, $700+ per person round trip is nothing to sneeze at: times four, that comes to almost $3,000.

In August, 2008 we experimented by flying Southwest to Denver at less than half the airfare to Billings (a savings at the time of over $1500), and then we drove the 630 miles each way up through the heart of Wyoming to reach southern Montana. I rented a car, and that was an interesting trip--the first time.

We did the same thing in late August of 2009: flew into Denver, but this time on American for a bit over $200 per person and thus saved almost $2,000 on the air costs. And then drove the 630 miles up and 630 miles back again as last summer.

This time, however, the drive seemed a lot longer and more tedious. Perhaps that's because I put more than 2,000 miles on the vehicle after all was said and done, thanks to multiple scenic drives around Montana once we arrived.

However it happened, two thousand miles in the rental car seemed more wearying this year than last, and I am looking for a way to fly again into Billings in the summer of 2010 without breaking the bank. (So far, looking out 11 months on airline websites, the best I can come up with is around $550 per person RDU/BIL. But I digress.)

This year the rental car was more expensive, too. I originally comparison-shopped for a good rate, and I found every rental car company's rates high. I settled on Avis at around $700 (all in) for 14 days in a full-size four-door.

Then Avis "lost" the reservation when I called to give them a schedule change, and the replacement was quoted at $100 more by an incompetent and rude agent. I canceled, and checked Hertz online instead.

Just a few days from our arrival I was able to book a two week Hertz rental of a full-size four-door for under $700 (again, all in--even with the huge taxes and special airport surcharges and usage fees and other absurd extra costs). I was happy, even though last year's rental for the same period cost me just under $600.

Happy, that is, until we arrived Denver. Once at the Hertz lot I found that my assigned car reeked of smoke. (If you've read some of my earlier posts, this will sound familiar. I seem to be especially unlucky when it comes to snagging rental cars fouled with cigarette smoke.)

This necessitated a long wait back at the Hertz Gold counter for a replacement. I did a slow burn while waiting my turn. After years of being a Hertz Presidents' Circle member and having this happen repeatedly, I wondered how Hertz could be so consistently incompetent.

The hostler who parked the car, and the "cleaners" before him, would certainly have noticed the strong tobacco smoke odor, yet put the car out for availability anyway. Maybe it's because they themselves are smokers and didn't even notice.

After a long wait behind other irate customers, I explained the problem. The Hertz agent was not able to give me a comparable car (sold out!) but offered a Kia SUV--the larger of the two Kia SUV models--and I took it in the interest of time. We'd already lost 25 minutes by then.

It was a good choice. The Kia was roomy and comfortable, had excellent visibility, very tight steering, good turning radius, and was quick off the mark. Yet it returned over 23 MPG.

Our family settled in and learned to love the car through 2,000+ miles of occupancy. By the time we returned it to Denver, I was very glad the car's overall comfort and easy handling had minimized wear and tear on my psyche.

I have to admit that the only stressful part of the long drive was the first 100 miles north from the airport to get out of Colorado. Once at the Wyoming border, and all through that big state, driving was a breeze. It's nothing like the constant stress one feels on I-405 in L.A. or I-95 north of Richmond where, day or night, traffic is snarled.

But even an easy 2,000 miles, mostly at 75-80 MPH, still takes its toll on the driver.

There is also the considerable beauty of the landscape en route to recommend the drive. Wind River Canyon in Wyoming between Casper and Cody is gorgeous, and the ever-changing terrain from Denver to Red Lodge, Montana is never boring. If you've never driven through those parts of Wyoming and Montana, I highly recommend it. At least once.

While I never tire of the rugged mountain scenery of the West, the long drive still became tedious the second time around. I commented to my wife as we pulled into the Hertz return gate at Denver that next year we should think about spending a premium to fly to Billings again, and she agreed without hesitation.

I forgot to mention that covering such mileage on the ground requires an overnight stay in each direction, in effect cutting about 3 days off our time in Montana with family. However free of stress when compared to other highway routes, our road trip was not relaxing. The extra dollars spent to fly directly to Billings would have bought us more time to relax.

Is it really worth it to spend extra? Matter of personal choice, I guess. But even if you can afford to cough up $2900 to fly direct versus $880 to Denver (and then drive), it's hard to ignore the $2,000 savings. That's a big difference.

Another choice is simply not to go. I am considering staying home next year and sending only my wife and two kids, and letting them fly direct. If I bought the tickets soon for them, I could get them there for about $1650 for three flyers, which is twice what we paid this summer for four.

And in case you are wondering, it's nigh-impossible to get frequent flyer seats to Billings on any airline without a Papal Intervention.

Next post will describe our long Labor Day weekend trip to visit friends in New Orleans where things are back to normal: a 3-murder weekend in the city--which still didn't spoil a divine evening meal at Bayona.

That Darn American Airlines Does It Again!

In early August my family of four flew from Raleigh to Dallas, and then from Dallas to Denver. Both flights went off smooth as silk, and were on time or early. The AA crews were nice, and so were the ground personnel at all three airports. We enjoyed great service in coach on both MD-80 airplanes, and we had great seats near the front of economy (10AB and 11AB).

Two weeks later we retraced our steps back to DFW and then to Raleigh on American, but with a big difference: We arrived at the Denver airport more than two hours early (I fretted over potential bad traffic between Cheyenne, Wyoming and DEN and allowed far more time for the drive than was necessary), then breezed through security, and arrived at the AA Admirals Club with carry-on bags only. The agent smiled and asked if we'd like to take the 11:55 AM flight to DFW rather than the 2:10 PM since we were there so early.

No-brainer, we said. She then confirmed all four of us on an earlier connecting flight DFW/RDU, and we arrived home to Raleigh at 8:00 PM rather than 11:00 PM. The only downside was having to endure row 32 (the last row on the airplane) from Denver to Dallas. Because the engines are attached to the fuselage on either side there, rows behind 28 have virtually no visibility, which for me is claustrophobic. It's also very LOUD sitting between the two powerplants! Nice AA FAs made life tolerable by plying us with beverages and good cheer.

On the other hand, the Dallas/Raleigh seats were in row 7, the first row behind first class (sublime!). Both flights were early, and the on-board service was provided by efficient and friendly flight attendants.

So why the headline of complaint?

Well, because this blog was originally established to COMPLAIN about the travails of travel, a sort of primal scream on the World Wide Web to purge my soul of evil spirits so I can keep on getting onto airplanes. I DEPEND upon the airlines to persist in screwing everything up, a reasonable expectation (without fear of disappointment until now) since airline service began declining so precipitously some 20 years ago.

Every year until this one the travel experience has worsened with sickening predictability. Yet in 2009 it seems I can't catch a break with American Airlines because they just keep doing everything RIGHT! I mean, how can a guy poison-pen a blog entry that fellow travelers will say "AMEN!" to if the damn airlines won't do their part?

Sadly, I can't find so much as a wad of gum under my seat to complain about with AA so far this year.

Why am I missing all the fun? While other airlines provide their customers with concrete, life-changing experiences of hellish service, like having to endure 14 hours of agony sitting on a tarmac within spitting distance of a gate with no food or water and overflowing toilets, American Airlines has hit it out of the park on nearly every flight for months.

Perhaps I should book a few segments on United or US Airways to get back into the ugly groove of late or canceled flights, missed connections, wickedly bad on-board service, and deplorably incompetent or indifferent ground staff. That would FEEL more normal...

And yet, all sarcasm aside:

I dream the dream that these recent flying experiences herald better days ahead for all of us who depend on commercial aviation to perform its role consistently well. Truly, the silver lining in depressed air travel demand during the recession seems to be, on American Airlines at least, an achievement of that heretofore elusive goal. May AA and all our domestic carriers continue this trend and perfect its practice routinely as demand returns.

Next week, another memorable road trip: 2038 miles in a Hertz car across Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana in 15 days.

Nickel Plate Road 765 in the Mustang's rear view mirror, 7/20/09

Nickel Plate Road 765 drive rods, 7/20/09

Nickel Plate Road 765 photo run-by as we view from the Mustang, 7/20/09

Big Steam Locomotives Are Hard To Find! (And How Can So Many Things Happen On a Weekend Trip Trying to See One?)

Part 3 of 3

Continuing the story of our trip (my son and I) to North Judson, Indiana, via Chicago, please read Parts 1 and 2 below to get the context. We had finally reached the Hilton O'Hare Hotel after picking up our fire engine red Mustang convertible in Part 2. And then the fun began:

By the time I pulled into the unenclosed Hilton O'Hare entrance, the pouring rain had turned to large hail, and no Hilton doorman was to be found. Furious to be skunked the only time I needed to have my car valet-parked at a Hilton, I grabbed our bags and ran inside, leaving my son to guard the car. It was just a few feet from car to front door, but I was drenched and looked like a drowned rat by the time I reached the interior.

There a doorman tried to take my bags, looking at me cursiously as if I might be a vagrant. I retorted: "NO! Not my BAGS! Please get my CAR! Where were you, and where were your umbrellas when I needed you?"

T
There was no reasonable explanation offered for why no one was looking for guests arriving by car, so I settled for his somewhat reluctant movement to take my car keys and an umbrella and to escort my son into the hotel and then park the car. "You know, sir," he said, as if I thought parking might be complimentary, "Valet parking here is $45 per night, plus tax."

I replied that he should please bring my receipt to the check-in desk, and I waited for him to collect my son from the Mustang. The rain and large ice pellets of hail continued to fall unabated, and my son gleefully brought in some samples of the largest hailstones.

At the front desk I was offered free full breakfasts and a free movie because they could not accommodate us on an HHonors floor. I didn't much care about a room on a lower floor, and I said that we'd be leaving both Saturday and Sunday mornings too early to enjoy the breakfast coupons. Couldn't we exchange the full breakfast coupons for free Internet instead? "Oh, NO, sir!" said the clerk reflexively and with a hint of incredulity, as if I had asked for a free upgrade to the Presidential Suite, and I could see that he wished he had put it differently. But he offered no alternative, and I took the coupons, which I noticed were not dated and therefore could be used for a later stay at the property.

Sure enough the room was on the fourth floor and thus overlooked the parking garage, but my son didn't mind. He was just excited to be there and immediately wanted to redeem the free movie coupon. I unpacked and checked out the bathroom, where I noticed we'd been left a hand soap for the basin but no bath soap for the tub and shower. I phoned housekeeping asked about getting more soap. To my astonishment I was assured that one bar of hand soap was all the Hilton O'Hare now provided to guests!

I guess such a ridiculous statement finally tipped my mood. After the fiasco with the car (and still dripping wet from the experience), the coupons I couldn't use, and the soap I could not get, I phoned again and asked for a manager. Instead, I reached a Hilton O'Hare staff person named Vanessa, whose title was never clearly explained.

As it turned out, I was lucky to have been connected to Vanessa. She was very polite, well-trained, and compentent. I asked her first why such a fine hotel had instituted a third world policy of putting only one bar of hand soap in the room to be shared, presumably, between the basin and the bath. She vehemently contradicted the housekeeping person I'd spoken to and promised to send up more soap at once.

Vanessa then asked whether I was happy and pleased with my stay at the Hilton O'Hare so far. No, I said, not happy. And I told her that I'd stayed many times at that property and had never had so many things go wrong so quickly, explaining the Mustang parking snafu, the breakfast coupons I could not use, the HHonors room I didn't get, the upgraded room I didn't receive, and the single bar of soap.

Vanessa was able to remedy all my problems. She comped my Internet usage for the entire stay. Within moments I had an armful of soap. Five minutes later Admir Vujic, the doorman who had left me to park my own car in the rain, came to our room with a complimentary VIP parking pass for the Mustang. Admir profusely and humbly apologized, and thanked me for letting Vanessa know how unhappy I was. I actually began to feel bad for him and the hotel, so promptly and completely did Vanessa set in motion corrective actions. Altogether, she saved me over $90 in hotel parking and Internet access charges, but her customer service dedication meant as much to me as the cost avoidance. The Hilton is lucky to have her.

Though I had no need to speak to a manager after Vanessa's intercessions on my behalf, no manager ever returned my message, either. And though I have nothing but praise for Vanessa, the truth is we should never have been introduced. If the hotel had delivered seamless service, Vanessa's job would be unnecessary.

My son and I redeemed our bad start on the morning by taking the CTA into downtown Chicago ($2.25 per person each way) and back. I took him to the Museum of Science and Industry, the observation deck on the 99th floor of Sears Tower, Amtrak Union Station, and we walked around to give him a flavor of the city. Our return ride to O'Hare on the train was speedy while we watched car traffic in both directions stalled for miles.

When we reached the Hilton O'Hare about 7:00 PM, the day's bad weather had resulted in hundreds of cancellations, and the stranded zombie passengers had invaded the hotel to find food, drink, and overnight accommodations. They found plenty of sustenance and libation, but no rooms, so they naturally hung around eating and drinking. And overwhelmed the food and beverage staffs. My son and I couldn't even get room service, and I settled for some cereal boxes from the lobby deli for him.

The rest of the weekend went much better. Saturday dawned sunny and clear, and we cruised over to Indiana, some 80 miles, with the ragtop down, jubilant in the late June morning. I didn't even have to stop at the interminable toll plazas because the Hertz car came equipped with an I-Pass/EZ-Pass/I-Zoom device attached to the windshield (which I have yet to be billed for).

After a wonderful day seeing the steam locomotive up close and personal (see photos at top of this post), we headed back to Chicago in the late afternoon. All was well until we reached the east side of downtown, and there traffic just stopped. I guess everybody was out to enjoy a drive on the beautiful day, but it was awful. I used my GPS to take alternate routes through city streets. Yes, it was slow going, but at least we kept moving. I rejoined the freeway back to O'Hare at the last possible minute, but still the delay was more than two hours. I was very happy to pull into the Hertz lot to return the Mustang, even though we had enjoyed having such a great car. (I highly recommend renting one just for fun some time!)

Sunday morning's flight back to Raleigh again saw us both once again upgraded to first class at the newly remodeled but less roomy AA Admirals Club between the "H" and "K" concourses. However, the 7:30 AM departure did NOT serve breakfast in first class, not even a cookie. I asked the gate agents and the flight attendants about it, and they, too, couldn't understand it. Cutbacks, they thought. AA is cutting out most F class domestic meals, one told me, and this was likely part of the trend. I reflected that the dollars I'd spent to buy the upgrade credits didn't merit this segment, but it was too late to change it. Our flight arrived early in Raleigh.

In retrospect it seems to me that there was too much planning required, too much cost (over $1,000 all in for the two of us), and too much hassle en route for a weekend venture just to ride behind a live steam locomotive. No trip is simple these days, and I have to ask for future reference if I'd do it again. My answer is, yes, if my son really wanted to, as he did this time. The memories of our time together are more precious than the cost and the trouble.

Hertz red Mustang convertible with my son at the wheel in Indiana, 6/20/09

Big Steam Locomotives Are Hard To Find! (And How Can So Many Things Happen On a Weekend Trip Trying to See One?)

Part 2 of 3

Continuing the story of our trip (my son and I) to North Judson, Indiana, via Chicago, please read Part 1 below to get the context. We were just about to take off from Raleigh/Durham Airport for our nonstop flight on American Airlines in First Class to Chicago O'Hare:

Service en route was excellent, with a very filling breakfast served--not bad for an 8:35 AM departure, I thought. The flight was about 5 minutes late by the time we hit the O'Hare tarmac, and storm clouds threatened off to the north and west. By the time we had reached the "H" concourse, lightning had begun to strike. Literally adjacent to the gate, our flight was ordered to halt as ground staff took safe cover.

And there we sat for more than two hours as an incessant series of fierce thunderstorms flew over the field. My son, and most people on the plane, were tortured by our close proximity to freedom. We idled on the pad within a few feet of the jetway, helpless to do anything, and stewed in our seats. I was very glad we had both eaten a hearty breakfast and had plenty of fluids. Nothing was served to anyone during the long period of entrapment.

Finally off the aircraft, my son and I almost ran to the exit and then waited 15 minutes for a Hertz bus. Meanwhile, I counted five Avis buses and three National/Alamo buses go by, and even a couple of Budget buses. By the time the long yellow Hertz bus pulled up, we had enough customers waiting for it to fill it completely.

At the Hertz canopy I looked for my name on the board and ran for our car in the pouring rain as yet another storm dropped a motherload of rain. As I opend the door, my heart sank: the stale smell of smoke permeated the interior.

Luggage and my son in tow, I made a beeline for the Hertz Number One Club Gold counter where I waited patiently for another ten minutes. The very kind and competent agent apologized profusely for the smoky vehicle and asked if I preferred anything.

As I pondered her question, I heard my son--remember, age ten--say loudly, "A RED MUSTANG CONVERTIBLE, PLEASE!" Somewhat startled, the Hertz agent and I both looked down at him. "Please, Dad?" he pleaded.

"Do you HAVE a Mustang convertible, and how much extra would it cost?" I asked the agent.

"Yeah, they have one, and it's RED, Dad!" my son exclaimed. "I saw it right down there." He pointed to a line of cars nearby.

The agent raised her eyebrows, smiled, checked her computer, and announced that, yes, it was indeed there and available because the renter had not picked it up (no doubt delayed as we were due to the rain). It would cost an extra $10/day, a deal she gave us because of my inconvenience with the smoky car.

Naturally, I took it, and within minutes we were exiting the Hertz lot in a fiery red Mustang convertible in a deluge of rain that Noah could have identified with.

It was a short drive back to the center of O'Hare to the Hilton O'Hare Hotel where I'd made reservations. My plan was simple: Park the car at the hotel Friday morning and leave it until Saturday morning; take the Blue Line CTA train to the Loop and show my son a bit of downtown Chicago that afternoon; return again on the CTA train to O'Hare; spend the night at the Hilton; leave very early Saturday morning in our red Mustang convertible for a pleasant drive to northwestern Indiana (North Judson); ride behind the steam locomotive for a few hours; drive back to Chicago late Saturday afternoon; return the car to Hertz; take the Hertz shuttle back to the airport; walk across to the Hilton for our second night; and, finally, walk back to American Airlines Sunday morning for our return flight to Raleigh.

Basically we followed the plan, and it worked. With a few flaws mainly at the Hilton O'Hare. But that's a story I'll save for next week's post. Look for it in Part 3 of this steam locomotive saga!

Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 Berkshire 765 at North Judson, Indiana, 6/20/09

Big Steam Locomotives Are Hard To Find! (And How Can So Many Things Happen On a Weekend Trip Trying to See One?)

Part 1 of 3

For those who like big American steam locomotives like the ones that powered trains in the United States until the late 1950s, there are few opportunities these days to see one operate. In fact there are only about six large steam engines running in 2009: two 2-8-4 Berkshire locomotives (Nickel Plate Road 765 and Pere Marquette 1225, which was the model used in the movie "Polar Express"): three 4-8-4 Northern locos (Union Pacific 844, Southern Pacific 4449, and Milwaukee Road 261); and one 4-6-6-4 Challenger (Union Pacific 3985).

There are a number of smaller steam engines kept operating by tourist railroads around the nation, and you can probably name some of them if you think for a moment, but the massive steam power that once ran on the main lines of our country's biggest railroads have dwindled to just those six.

The Union Pacific is the only major railroad that maintains a corporate Steam Program. The program is based in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and they keep up two beautiful examples of steam's greatest days, the UP 3985 4-6-6-4 Challenger and the UP 844 FEF-3 4-8-4. Both engines are used across the UP system in the west in public relations runs aimed at keeping the railway in the public eye.

The other four locomotives are kept up by various nonprofit groups, like the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society (http://www.765.org/)which operates the Nickel Plate Road 765 pictured above. It costs millions of dollars to rebuild and operate a steam engine, and the money comes from running short steam excursion trains for the public, usually on weekends, during good weather months.

My ten year old son and I purchased tickets on one such trip, a ten-mile ride behind the 765 between North Judson and La Crosse, Indiana on a recent Saturday. I didn't want to drive 800 miles one way to Indiana from Raleigh, so I found reasonably cheap seats on nonstops American Airlines flights to and from O'Hare, and I booked a good weekend rate room at the Hilton O'Hare to use as our base. The last piece of the logistics puzzle was a Hertz car to transport us the 80 miles each way between O'Hare and North Judson, Indiana.

Thus in order to satisfy our yen to enjoy a two-hour ride behind a steam locomotive, we had to plan a three day trip (Friday morning through Sunday afternoon) that involved two trips to the Raleigh/Durham airport for my wife, two airplane rides, two nights in a hotel, and a car rental. So many variable always increases the odds that something will go wrong, and of course we hit a few snags.

Luckily our flight RDU/ORD was on time, and even luckier, upgrades came through for both me and my son. I used to be an Executive Platinum flyer with AA but have since dropped to a lowly Gold, so I never expect an upgrade any more. The fact that I could get not one but two upgrades on a Friday morning flight to Chicago brings home the severity of this recession.

I've been staying away from airports as much as possible for the past few months, so I was unhappily surprised to find that the Obama administration's new TSA gurus have re-instituted random gate checks. I don't know any frequent flyer who was sorry to see those discontinued during the Bush years, nor anyone who thinks they really make a difference in tightening security. Instead, the poor schmucks who are pulled out of line on the jetway for patdowns and carryon searches watch helplessly as other passengers board ahead of them and take up all the overhead luggage space.

It became my practice in the years right after 9/11 when random gate checks were the norm to tarry when my section was called for boarding and only jump in the line when TSA had snagged a couple of poor fools to harrass. Thus engaged, TSA ignored me as I strolled by, and I never lost the narrow window of early boarding when sufficient overhead bin space is still available. Certainly if I, a good citizen, could routinely avoid being searched, a person intent on wrongdoing would have little trouble, either. So why do it?

That was the question I posed to the TSA employees waiting with rubber gloves at our gate before the flight was called. None had an answer, and because they never, or rarely, fly themselves, they could not envision the uninended consequences of their random searches for the frequent traveler. Having told them how I planned to avoid being searched, the TSA person in charge merely smiled and nodded, saying, "Yep, you don't want to be the first person on board!"

So I wasn't. And TSA pulled the first two people. My son and I boarded thereafter with no interference from TSA whatsoever, though had I been they, I might have suspected me for employing the very tactic I described to them in advance.

Next week I will continue this story with Part 2, which takes us as far as a stormy morning at O'Hare and seeking a rare fire engine red Mustang convertible from Hertz.

Reflections On 14 Months of Not Flying Much

After 31 years of constant weekly flying to here, there, and everywhere while toiling away in the consulting game, one day I woke up in another strange hotel and found I couldn't take the horse feathers any more. So I left the life.

I took a breather in late April, 2008, 14 months ago, and stopped--just stopped--flying. Just like that. I went home and decided to stay home for a few months to see what it would be like.

I had no intentions of retiring, and I still don't. In fact I was planning to go back on the road to replenish the family coffers late last summer when...well, you know what happened to the economy. Now consulting's as dead as Adam's housecat, and I couldn't BUY a consulting job in today's economy.

Fourteen months seems like an eternity to be away. Yet I cannot fathom that it's been over a year since I left the airport/rental car/hotel grind. The time has passed so quickly, filled with mundane family matters that I have come to dearly love, and with reflection.

The reduction of stress and dropping out of my former forever-busy schedule have afforded me time to reflect. To my surprise, some days I have ambivalent feelings about life. I no longer think the pursuit of happiness means that I’ll ever find an everlasting pot of gold at the end of that rainbow.

Instead, with the usual ups and downs of moods, I find myself noticing and appreciating many small happinesses at home every day: my daughter (age 5) thrilled that she has lost her first tooth (and me scrambling to hide money under her pillow); my son (age 10) going to the piano time and again just because he likes to play; my son (same son!) asking to watch another Marx Brothers movie because he likes the humor so much; my wife pottering around in the kitchen making something she likes to cook just because she likes to cook; me trimming our giant hedge out front and finally finishing it; my ducks begging for attention by the back door like they were dogs; the chipmunks in the back yard gradually losing their fear of us; rain; sun; clouds; wind; cold; heat; a tiny spider crawling up my arm, just out of his egg; Mozart; eating bagels with my kids at Bruegger’s on Sunday morning (nearest thing we have to family worship).

Well, you get the picture. The sadness creeps in when I reflect that I spent over 30 years in a temporary job (consulting) and never found the vocation that I always felt spiritually I was destined to succeed in (I still have no idea what it might have been)—a terrible feeling of being unfulfilled like Prufrock in T. S. Eliot’s poem (“I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker…”).

I feel sad, too, when I think of the stupid things I have said to people sometimes, the small unkind moments, when I knew better but didn’t live up to my own standards.

I also feel sad that I am never likely to work again, or if I do, it will not likely be in any meaningful role.

On the whole, however, I have always ascribed to the quote that “Life is a struggle, but not a warfare.” I relish many more moments than either bore me to tears or beleaguer me with woe. Maybe it’s because I have a fine sense of irony and a wicked sense of humor, including about myself. Anyway, I can’t go back, so I focus on the present more than I ever have, and I don’t worry too much about what’s coming.

And I sure don't miss going to the airport!