I Read the News Today, Oh Boy

So we arrived at the Portland, OR airport sometime Monday. It's a short flight just under 2.5 hours from Denver. But I haven't blogged about it since we needed time to get settled. The first thing you see when you get on your feet is this very clever display of handmade bicycles. Which of course gets you thinking about how you should be more friendly to the earth and that you just got off a giant fuel devouring flying bus. Which then reminds you of how much money you spent and how airlines are nickel and dime-ing their customers. But then I/you think about how your flight wasn't that bad. They gave us a free drink! They didn't charge us for our bags!

We flew United and things seemed rather normal. Our friends flew US Air where they do charge for e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. (You gotta feel for airline attendants, they don't like being the bad guys.) As I ate a leisurely breakfast yesterday I read that Jet Blue is now charging for blankets and pillows. Not to change this blog into a rant, but why do companies feel they need to penalize their customers? Yes, fuel is expensive. So charge more for a ticket and don't make us feel like we are bothering you for your service. Nuff said.

On the flip side....another struggling company is getting creative.

I got this email from Starbucks.

They're not desperately giving away the product. Instead they're enticing you to come back. Get your morning java and then come back for a your afternoon pick up for just $2.

As you know I like to end my posts with a sort of fable style morality lesson. Here's is today's...you catch more flies with honey--or more revenue by respecting your customers. But airline's won't stop customer punching until when we refuse to take it.

BTW: So far I've seen $4.05 per gallon for gas here. But I'll be spying around to see what else I find.