[NA-Discuss] Travel arrangements to SJ

[Nick Ashton-Hart]

Evan:

Thanks very much for these comments. As you know we are trying out  
American Express so any experiences with them that travellers wish to  
provide, good or bad, will be very helpful to us.

On 5 Jun 2007, at 18:04, Evan Leibovitch wrote:

> For the benefit of ICANN staff and NARALO travelers to San Juan
> (especially those going from Canada):
>
>
> My initial impression of the American Express travel service,  
> contracted
> to handle the arrangements for participants in the San Juan meeting is
> -- shall we say -- less than stellar.
>
>
> I say this as a note of caution, especially for other Canadians, to
> check their itineraries carefully.
>
>
> Particularly for an international operation, the Amex agents handling
> ICANN seem strangely clueless regarding Canada/US travel, notably the
> fact that most Canadians clear US customs _before_ boarding the  
> plane at
> the Canadian airport. This is great for Canadians traveling to  
> airports
> without customs facilities (ie Laguardia, Midway) but it means that
> connection times must be significantly adjusted. If transferring  
> from a
> Canadian domestic flight to one headed for the US, you need to reclaim
> your bags, check in again, clear US customs and immigration (and  
> there's
> usually a queue), re-check your bags and head to the US-bound flight's
> gate (which in Vancouver and Toronto can be quite a trek).
>
>
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ 
> United_States_border_preclearance#Canada)
>
>
> Imagine my surprise to hear from one other San Juan-bound traveler who
> was given ** 35 minutes ** by Amex to accomplish such a transfer. That
> person would have most certainly missed the US-bound flight, and I
> believe that appropriate changes have been made.
>
>
> Of course, if your flight originates in a city with pre-clearance, you
> need to get the airport sooner than you would for a domestic or other
> international flight. Even here, on my own itinerary, Amex proved
> themselves less able to book a decent flight than I could have done
> going online myself.
>
>
> For my own flights to and from San Juan, the Amex agent booked me in
> seats adjacent to the lavatory on planes that were far from full.
> Thankfully I was able to go online to the airline's site and change my
> seat assignments.
>
>
> (FYI, if you also care about where you sit -- and where the good  
> and bad
> seats are in each aircraft -- I highly recommend http:// 
> www.seatguru.com/ )
>
>
> Anyway, just be forewarned -- and check your booking. One would think
> that a company like Amex would actually care about their traveler's  
> comfort.
>
>
> - Evan
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> NA-Discuss mailing list
> NA-Discuss at atlarge-lists.icann.org
> http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/na-discuss_atlarge- 
> lists.icann.org
> ---
> Draft MoU with ICANN:
> http://www.icannwiki.org/NA_RALO_MOU
>
> Draft Operating Principles:
> http://www.icannwiki.org/NA_RALO_OP
>
> Draft Code of Conduct:
> http://www.icannwiki.org/NARALO_Code_of_Conduct