Recently there was a crash in a major resort town in Asia, afterwards the numbers of passengers dropped to this destination some 20% which means that everyone in this area is affected somehow, and most of them not for the good, as is the case most of the time the ones that are really affected, and that are going to suffer the most, are those that can least afford it, the unemployed or underemployed.

When you see images of a plane crash they are of course horrific and they forever effect the lives of those that are involved and my heart goes out to all who experienced loss in what ever form, but like Forest Gump said so eloquently “stuff happens” when there is a car crash everyone doesn’t cancel all of their car trips, so why when there is a airplane crash does a sizable portion of the population cancel their flights? I bet if they could see the additional harm that they are doing by this they would reconsider their actions, or never fly again ever!

The airlines will still need to fly those jets with reduced loads to those destinations, as most planes will make several hops a day in a circuit, and they have these very well thought out before they bring a new jet online to keep the costs as low as possible. Jets can only make money when they are in the air, so most of the time they are flying, so if you boycott flying to a particular destination after a event, the affect you are having is raising everybody’s costs and weakening the airlines, which for the budget air carriers, some are not going to lose money for long before they go out of business; which is again bad for everyone, as more competition keeps the costs down and services up. You are also punishing the other victims of the event that had absolutely nothing to do with it, so when you don’t show up and support them; this is being just plain rude in my book.

Do I put my money where my mouth is, you bet, and I benefit from it as well! On my next trip the airfare is 1$ plus taxes on the company that suffered the event. Another example, recently I flew to Chicago from Saigon. I chose July 4th to start my trip and flew back out on Sept 11. On the way in I was bumped from economy up to business class by United Airlines, Thank You Very Much, and the 2nd leg was bumped up to Economy Plus. On the flight back to Hong Kong I flew in the back, I had the opportunity to upgrade to Economy Plus but stayed in the back, as the load was so light that I had seats 60 DEFG and slept most of the way from Chicago to Hong Kong. I talked to a fellow snorer in the back of the plane and he was doing the exact same thing as he knew, like most seasoned travelers, that he could improve his chances of getting multiple seats on these days.

United I might add has really improved all aspects of the company in the last 4 years. I especially like the new self check in feature that I used for the first time at Chicago’s O’Hare International airport which was easy to understand and use and a added bonus for savvy travelers as it will tell them where the blanks are to give them a little extra leg room.

I talked to several United staff at various points along the way including a captain I met at Starbucks in Chicago on Sept 11. I mentioned that I was impressed with the “New United” and he said the employees can see and feel it as well. A women baggage handler in Chicago said that it was the new CEO My thought is that he reminded them what their name was and they United and moved forward gallantly after their sad losses. The reason I was talking to her she was helping me to find my bag that got put on a different line and she quickly found it and with a warm smile on her face let me use her phone so I could inform my brother that my flight had arrived 30 minutes early and I was ready to go!

Fred Tittle has lived and worked in holiday vacation resorts his entire life, from Lake Geneva’s Playboy Club, as a rock jock for KSPN FM in Aspen Colorado, he became a PADI Pro Scuba Diver in Hawaii, diving on Maui, Kauai, Kona on the big island, and Waikiki on Oahu. He founded EcoSea Dive in Sihanoukville Cambodia. Fred still teaches SSI and PADI scuba diving courses and runs liveaboards in the gulf of Thailand and Asia adventure tours, http://www.ecosea.com

Fred’s new project http://www.CheapCharliesHotels.com where he reviews cheap hotels , budget guesthouses, discount accommodations and cheap international flights, but is really an excuse to go scuba diving on vacation more, Fred is in Phnom Penh and will be off to somewhere in November either China, Myanmar- Burma, Indonesia or India.