Atlantic Southeast Airlines Makes History!

A first in aviation history happened on February 12, 2009-the first all female African-American crew to fly together in the airline industry. This was confirmed by the Organization of Black American Pilots. Pictured above is Captain Rachelle Jones, First Officer Stephanie Grant, and Flight Attendants Diana Galloway and Robin Rodgers.

Rachelle also has the distinction of being only one of five African-American female Captains in the airline industry today.

What a great way to mark African American History Month! Congratulations!

Pay to Pee?

If you're not familiar with Ryan Air, let me acquaint you. There are an Irish owned regional airline that pioneered the pay-for-fee services that have swept all airlines. We can thank the owner, Michael O'Leary, for the start of charging for checked baggage, using your credit card, using a check-in desk, etc. The employees are also treated like second class citizens. If this company was based in the US, employees would not be treated so poorly.

Mr. O'Leary and company are now drawing fire because they want to charge a fee for using the toilet on the aircraft. He wants to charge one British pound-the US equivalent of $1.40-for the use. Some have called it, "toilet extortion". He was also quoted as saying that it would be quite unlikely that anyone would need to use the toilet and not have the money. I don't know about you, but if you've ever traveled with young children you can count on that scenario happening.

Mr. O'Leary we are glad you aren't here in the US. You would never be able to get away with that. Don't you also remember how the French came under fire for charging to use the public toilet? On our recent trip to Paris, they indeed had done away with it. Mr. O' Leary could use a lesson from others.

Montreal-A Great Winter Destination

I know, I know...when you think of winter destinations you probably imagine warm Caribbean water that is just as clear and blue as anything you've ever seen. Even though Montreal averages temperatures that tend to be below freezing during the month of February, it's a great winter escape for one reason-the underground pedestrian network. According to the official tourist agency, Montreal has 33 kilometers of passageways that snake around the downtown area and it's all underground. It's a hub for the subway, bus and train system and full of world class restaurants, shops and entertainment. So while everyone is paying premium prices to head south for the winter, look for bargains in our neighbor to the north.

For more information, click the title and it will take you to the Tourisme Montreal-the office tourism site for Montreal.

A+++ to E-Z Rent-A-Car and Tampa, FL airport

I was really impressed with this rental car company. I had to go to Tampa this week. I went mid-week and I didn't realize that the Super Bowl was the following Sunday until someone on the bus pointed it out. That's why I had such a time finding a decent price for a rental car. I started out by going to our favorite rental car company. They quoted me a price of $100 for a compact car for ONE day! Someone on the shuttle also told me that they visit Tampa during this same week every year and because of the Super Bowl it's costing them an extra $100 to rent a car for the week. I was not about to pay $100 for 1/2 day, so I went to a meta search engine and found E-Z Rent-A-Car.

Just because they were a budget car rental company they did not skimp on service. They directed me to use the courtesy phones in the airport which were easy to find. They gave directions and it was exactly as it said. Everyone I came into contact with was friendly and courteous. Unfortunately, they are not all over the USA, but they do have some locations in Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, St. Maarten, Jamaica and Ireland. I will definitely check them out first before I check out all the big national brands. If you want to check them out, click on the title above and it will take you to their website.

Tampa airport was also a breeze to go through. It's well marked and well laid out so it's easy to navigate. Everyone I came into contact with their was also friendly and courteous. I hope to go there again soon.