The Golden Age Of Leisure Travel Has Passed

With each passing year, I am struck by the overall decline in the quality of the leisure travel experience, primarily due to dramatic service cutbacks in both the airline and lodging industries. It's difficult to pinpoint the precise peak of luxury travel but it seems obvious that the ugly and slow death of luxury leisure travel became apparent with the 9/11 calamity and the ensuing travel risks and uncertainties that brought about new safety standards and protocols. It accelerated with The Great Financial Crisis of 2008-9 that brought with it general economic hard times and a spate of bankruptcies that disrupted many industries, including the travel industry. The last gasp of luxury travel came in 2020 with the covid19 debacle that brought most economic activity, including travel of all kinds, to a halt for two years.

I remember the good ole days during the last quarter of the 20th century when you phoned an airline or travel agent, arranged a flight, showed up at the airport within an hour of departure for most trips, visited a human-attended kiosk to check-in and then waited the few remaining minutes for your flight to board. On board, you were greeted by flight attendants who stood ready to answer questions or tend to your specific needs, served you a drink and a snack, even a meal if the flight was 3 hours or more, offered you other goodies as needed, and created an environment conducive to a comfortable nap, music or movie entertainment and more. Upon arrival at your hotel, you checked in easily and your hotel room was well stocked with goodies and necessities, and everything was in good working order. Every aspect of your trip was a luxury and a welcomed upgrade from your daily life.

Those days are likely gone forever. Covid19 decimated the global economy and with a leisure industry facing extinction it took measures to recover its losses by expanding its market by first lowering prices to boost revenues and then by relentlessly cutting costs to maintain profitable operations. Those measures have given way to cutting corners in both services and infrastructure. Last summer gave us the most egregious example of the dramatic decline in service when 20% of all domestic flights were either canceled or delayed, mainly due to lack of personnel to operate airports and airlines, and, to a lesser extent, because airports and airlines had equipment deficiencies and failures. Even now that there has been a "recovery," the new "normal" service and routine still leaves a lot to be desired.

Smart technology and smart phones are enabling airlines to adopt business models that enable them to cut their workforces and utilize untrained, incompetent, and non-English-speaking employees, all of which require travelers to use their phones to do the various tasks that were formerly done by airline employees. The result is long check-in lines and a lot of confusion and made worse by a lack of personnel or decent signage to help travelers navigate what have evolved into non-standard airport and airline protocols.

After checking in with airlines, since 9/11 travelers must submit to TSA check-ins, which are time consuming and arguably don't need to be as cumbersome to assure traveler safety; TSA pre-check-ins are a joke as they are often unavailable. Lines are long and the process is sometimes confusing, even reminiscent of old Soviet Union food lines and once again exacerbated by ineffective signage and personnel unavailable to answer questions. While it's not clear those lines are making air travel safer, it is clear that requiring travelers to disrobe and juggle their clothing and luggage is, at best, time consuming and stressful and, at worst, creates the potential for travelers to misplace important personal items and travel documents.

These days airports and airlines are showing their age with wear and tear and poor maintenance becoming more common place; equipment malfunctions and out-of-order signs are becoming more apparent in airports and airlines. Out of order lavatories in airports and airlines are no longer rare occurrences. Where is the maintenance crew? Where are the inspectors? Hello, is anybody paying attention?

The airlines latest strategy to "unbundle" every flight feature (seats, baggage, food) is ostensibly to allow travelers to choose and pay only for the features that suit them, but has anybody figured out whether at the end of the day travelers end up paying less for their flights? Also, unbundling is also creating unintended consequences, the most obvious example being that most airlines punish travelers who have the foresight to pay for their checked luggage in advance by allowing those who bring carry-ons aboard flights the opportunity to check their luggage for free!! Obviously, that policy is sending a counterproductive message encouraging careless travelers a cost incentive to do the wrong thing! One fact is certain, all that "unbundling" makes the process of reserving flights much more complicated and time consuming.

Contrary to good health practices, airports and airlines seem engaged in a conspiracy to more or less force travelers to eat and drink junk food and to pay outlandish prices to do so, assuming travelers have time after submitting to those long, protracted check-ins. Travelers must arrive at airports these days three hours before flight departures if they plan on eating at the airport. Many airlines and airports offer very limited choices to purchase food and drink. I recently had a 12 hour trip with one layover that didn't allow me to purchase any food; luckily I realized that possibility the day I departed and brought food with me.

Food availability aside, the airline industry needs to rethink the whole bottled water fiasco. TSA check-ins require travelers either to fill water bottles at unsanitary restroom water fountains or purchase bottled water for a king's ransom. Airports should make a goodwill concession to travelers and allow them to purchase bottled water at cost, because their procedures are making it impossible for travelers to bring their own from outside, and good health policy should promote keeping travelers properly hydrated!

Seats aboard aircraft are too small and don't provide nearly enough leg room to accommodate the average traveler. People today are twice the size as they were 50 years ago, yet seats and legroom has gotten more stingy than ever. And if travelers are fortunate enough to bring food aboard there's no place to store it during the flight as storage pouches are smaller than ever on new aircraft.

Too small lavatories have undoubtedly contributed to the poor hygiene that most travelers practice on flights; by mid flight, restrooms already compare with the most disgusting you'll ever see in your life.

Cramped seating, lack of food and drink and disgusting lavatories leaves travelers more with the feel of a medieval prison than a comfortable luxurious flight. It seems incongruent that in a post-covid19 world where many folks still wear face masks that such close, unsanitary flying conditions should be acceptable to the general public.

In recent years hotel services have deteriorated measurably. Nearly all the hotels I have visited in recent years have had some deficiency involving plumbing (such as clogged sinks and leaking showers), electrical (no lights, no TV service, no working phone) or mechanical (doors and windows that don't close properly); some don't have adequate towels, toiletries or clocks, and none offer information packets about the hotel or its neighborhood; the onus once again falls to travelers to do their own research using their phones and the internet. These are name brand lodging companies in major cities and near airports, not mom-and-pop motels along the side of a road.

Today's leisure traveler cannot expect a luxury experience but can expect to take more time, and endure more inconvenience and aggravation than ever. I guess the good news is that it's cheaper than ever to go on vacation, but it's less obvious you're really getting your money's worth.

Puerto Rico Offers A Foreign Feel Without Leaving the USA

Puerto Rico, which means rich port, is a Caribbean island and unincorporated territory of the United States with not only famous beaches but also mountains, waterfalls and a tropical rain forest.

I have been curious about this little island since childhood as I recall many folks from my New York City neighborhood routinely shuttling back and forth there. More recently, as a resident of South Florida, preoccupied with hurricanes, I have wondered about Puerto Rico's plight in the aftermath of hurricane Maria in 2017. Now, after nearly five years in the Nevada desert metropolis of Las Vegas, and the urge to get back to the Atlantic Ocean, it was high time to visit Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico is actually an archipelago consisting of four islands and appears as two distinct landscapes, one to the north, a lush green area reaching the Atlantic and the other to the south, a tropical desert reaching the Caribbean. An East-West mountain range bisects the two areas. San Juan was the destination of our trip, which encompasses about 10% of the territory's 3.2 million population; Puerto Rico's second largest city is Ponce, a Caribbean city about a third the size of, and a two hour drive south from, San Juan.

Just west of San Juan is Old San Juan and an opportunity to revisit the history of the early explorers we learned about in elementary school, but this time from a new perspective. Although the history of this land dates back to 400 BC, modern history begins with the 1493 landing of Christopher Columbus and later to a much greater extent with Ponce DeLeon's involvement with the island. The 16th century landmark known as El Morro is the major attraction and consists of a long imposing wall with a fortress at one end and a castle fortress at the other; it is considered the "most iconic fort built by Spain in America." Puerto Rico's strategic location made it a natural port for ships arriving from and departing to Europe; the fort was necessary to secure the Spanish city from pirate vessels and various European enemies seeking provisions and treasure to continue their voyages to and from the new world.

From that long active trading history brought forth a diverse Puerto Rican population, which today exhibits a complex blend of European, indigenous (Taino) and African cultures.

Our Puerto Rican experience seemed unusual as it had the "feel" of a foreign vacation even though we never left the country. Puerto Ricans are naturalized citizens of the USA but don't possess all of US citizen protections under the US constitution, e.g., native Puerto Ricans can be elected president of the US and are able to vote in presidential primaries, but cannot vote in our general elections for president, nor do they have congressional or senatorial representation in Congress. Additionally, native Puerto Ricans pay into and participate in social security and Medicare and pay some federal taxes, but many are exempt from federal income taxes.

The week at the beach and visit of old San Juan was greatly enhanced by our trip to Puerto Rico's leading rum distillery called Ron Del Barrilito, literally "rum in small barrels." Although Puerto Rico's Bacardi is the world's leading rum producer, we learned that its founders' roots are from Cuba. The founder of rum in small barrels was hopeful of elevating rum from its modest historical significance as a common man's or pirate's drink to a more elite status, and did so by aging his rum in white oak barrels previously used for aging European sherry. Here we tasted several rums ranging in age from 3-5 years to 35 years, and ranging in price from $20 to $700. (I found it interesting that the airport duty-free store offered that rum for a 30% higher price than the distillery.) These rums all reminded me of cognac brandy and were quite smooth and pleasant.

The only disappointment on this trip was the local cuisine which left a lot to be desired, especially considering the diverse cultural influences evident there. The locals urged us to try "mofongo," a dish consisting of mashed plantains seasoned with garlic, salt and olive oil. We tried it in a highly recommended (by locals) restaurant and had to return it...and much to our surprise the waiter took it back gladly and commented that he believed most Puerto Ricans don't eat the stuff. Other locals are more positive, so tread carefully when ordering the stuff. For those who read my discussion of my trip to Canada last year, my comments here will remind you of my comment about "poutine", a Canadian dish we had been urged to try at that time.

Beyond mofongo, as best as I can tell Puerto Rican cuisine consists of a few other dishes made of plantains, such as pasteles which are typically made with tarot root and plantains and take the form of tamales. Not surprisingly, rice and beans is a universal favorite, and was decent everywhere I tried it. Other favorites include tembleque, a coconut pudding and coquito, a beverage made of rum, coconut and vanilla, but, oddly enough, didn't appear on the menus of the local restaurants we tried.

Puerto Rico offers a great place to escape your American routine without leaving the country, where dollars are used and there's no need for passports. The week we spent in Puerto Rico was a welcomed respite from winter where this time of year daily sunshine produces air and ocean temperatures in excess of 80 degrees.