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I am responding to what I think is a misnomer in the April 2001 issue of The Motorist, in your checklist: "AAA Recommends a Checklist for Travelers While Airlines Negotiate Contracts" [FYI]. It states that if you make your reservation through a travel agent, that agent could help you make alternate arrangements in the event that [your] carrier experiences a labor strike.

This, sadly, was not the case for a friend of mine who had scheduled a trip to China in October of 1998 during the Northwest Airlines strike. I had recommended AAA Travel to my friend. The agent, whom I still use, is very capable and did a fine job in procuring a flight with one short layover, and it was a great price. Within a few weeks prior to departure, the carrier went on strike. Due to continuing labor negotiations, as I recall, Northwest was unwilling to cancel flights until 72 hours prior to departure. The AAA agent was unable to provide anymore help other than to give my friend the appropriate phone number to the airline. … My friend spent countless hours on the phone trying to secure his flight. … He was able to get on an Air China flight with two layovers. [This] required that my friend spend 14 hours in the Hong Kong airport. The airline was unwilling to provide him with a hotel room as they had promised. My friend would have been in no worse shape if he had gotten his ticket from the airline directly or off of the Internet. My comment to The Motorist is not to give members a false sense of security in the event of an airline labor strike.
     Patrick White, Lakewood

Editor's reply: In the event of an airline strike, a AAA agent can help our customers purchase another ticket from an alternate airline. Our agents can access the flight availability of all airlines, thus saving the member the hassle of calling several airlines individually. You are correct in the sense that an agent cannot negotiate a cancellation with a striking airline on behalf of a member, and we cannot make a decision whether or not an alternate airline will honor a ticket from an airline that is on strike.

Corrections

The March 2001 AutoTalk was a good reminder about fuel efficiency. However I did find one line a little misleading: "Most air conditioning systems require more fuel to keep them running." Compared to not running them, that is true. However, four windows open for cooling at interstate speed causes more drag in most vehicles than running the air conditioner. So air conditioning would actually be more fuel efficient, just don't turn it any higher than required for comfort. Also, the air conditioner should be run every once in awhile to circulate the lubrication so that it continues to be functional.
     Marc Brown, via e-mail

The March 2001 issue of The Motorist magazine contains some incorrect information. The article in question is "Outta This World: Florida's Space Coast Makes an Uplifting Vacation." The incorrect material is in the captions: 1. "The Space Walk of Fame, in Titusville, Fla., features a monument to the Mercury 7 tragedy." There was no Mercury 7 tragedy. The monument is simply a commemoration of the Mercury program, which was very successful. 2. "Putting it in perspective-visitors are dwarfed by a space shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center." The picture is not of a shuttle, but of the first stage of a Saturn V launch vehicle.
     Jeffrey Marsh, via e-mail

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