Carry-on v. Checked Luggage and Incentives

Velocity is the key to making money for the airlines. An airplane on the ground does not make money. Turn the airplane around as quickly as possible to make the most amount of money. Yet, by charging for checked bags, airlines have taken away the incentive for checking bags. Thus, many travelers use a carry-on bag, slowing boarding, slowing velocity.

Spirit Airlines now charges for carry-on bags. The charge though, is less than for a checked bag. Passengers on Spirit, then, still do not have an incentive to put up with the inconvenience of checking their bags, walking to baggage claim, waiting, and hoping their bag is not lost.

American Airlines is experimenting with letting passengers without carry-on luggage to board the airplane before those who do. Not having to stand in the aisle as people in front of you try to put their carry-ons in the overhead bins is not much of a benefit, but it is a start.

Reference

http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2013/04/american-airlines

Day Trip to Volo

Less than two weeks ago I read an article stating the corn crop was at its ideal picking. We had other plans that weekend and could not get away to sample the corn. Yesterday, Donna and I made the trek to Volo, Illinois, where the article stated the corn was especially good. Volo is less than an hour away, yet we made a day of it. The tiny town has an automotive museum and a large antique mall. The museum was not up to the standards of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles or the Imperial Palace Hotel's automobile collection in Las Vegas, but considering it is in the middle of nowhere, it was a pleasant surprise. We found the cars too tightly packed for us to fully appreciate them. The acoustics were awful and we could not listen to any of the audio video displays. Yet the collection was nice, particularly if you have an interest in late-1960s and early-1970s American muscle cars. The picture is of Donna next to the Lotus Esprit used in Pretty Woman, starring Julia Roberts, and Donna's favorite, Richard Gere.


Aside from being next to a spot where Richard Gere had been, the antique mall was the highlight for Donna. She was unable to make it through each of the buildings but she added to her collection of tea cups. Amazingly, I made it through the mall without spending any money, although the temptation was great.

On the way out of town as the vendors were packing up, we remembered the reason for the trip and got a few ears of corn. The selection was fairly well picked over. I suspect we missed the prime time, but we are looking forward to trying the fresh corn tonight.