UK Car Rental Resource

A car rental comparison site for my next trip to England, Wales or elsewhere in the British Isles.

When I was in England last October, I confess to having done no advance planning for the rental car that I needed. Some travel writerm, huh! I showed up at Gatwick Airport, entered the car-rental building, walked up to the one with no line and asked for the smallest, cheapest car. I wrote posts about frustrating driving for an American without a navigator and my retrospective rembrances. My tales amused Emily Welch of Car Rentals U.K. who sent me the following message and gave me permission to post it here:

Dear Claire,
I have been browsing on your website and took particular interest your blogs about car rental. I was reading your blog about 'A long day in the UK' and saw you mentioned car rental and how you had got a good deal with Enterprise. As you said car rental prices can be very high and it can be very difficult to find the cheapest car rental deal amongst the many car rental suppliers. I work for http://www.carrentals.co.uk/ which is an online car hire comparison site, and we compare the prices of over 40 suppliers making it easy to shop around all the leading suppliers such as Hertz, Avis, Sixt and Alamo to find the best deal in over 4,000 locations world wide.

I feel carrentals.co.uk will be beneficial to your site readers, especially your American users looking to book a car in the UK or Europe, as we offer a top quality service which can save your users time and money.

I found your dialogue of the lost traveler very amusing and really enjoyed reading this blog. I live in Wales, which similar to Southeast England, is very beautiful and picturesque. Well worth a visit next time you come to the UK!

I would like to invite you to take a look at our site and see what you think; perhaps you would like one of our experienced travel writers to write you an unbiased review? Feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions, and thank you for your time.

Emily Welch, http://www.carrentals.co.uk/

I took her up on her offer and played around on the site, which was quite sophisticated. The first questions it asked was where I was from (choices were the UK, the Euro zone, the US, Canada and Australia). Since I clicked on the Stars and Stripes, the rate quotes popped in dollars with pounds as "subtitles." The site also defaulted to cars with automatic transmissions, I suppose because so many Americans can't drive a stick shift. When I indicated that I would pick up my car at Heathrow, the main gateway for transatlantic flights, the quotes for different categories came up for EasyCar, HireCars.com, Holiday Autos, Sixt and its own CarRentalsUK.com. Perhaps it was because of the dates I selected, but no Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz or National appeared. Perhaps they do in some locations, but I'm guessing that travelers who favor those firms will probably book directly anyway.

If I can ever afford to travel to the UK in this lifetime (the dollar is at another new low against major currencies again), I'll do some one-stop shopping on the site and see what I come up with. So thank you, Emily, for introducing yourself and your company.

US Airways Charges $25 for Second Checked Bag

I recently posted one item about US Airways new chintziness in their frequent flyer program and an earlier one about United Airlines' policy to charge $25 per second checked bag for all but their most valued passengers. Now, in a convergence of unfriendly policies, US Airways has announced that it is also charging $25 for the second checked bag.

There are two categories of passengers who will not have to pay for the second bag. Active military personnel (in uniform with ID), unaccompanied minors and those checking assistive devices (presumably wheelchairs) are exempt, implying permanent "generosity" on the part of the carrier. The fee is waived for Dividend Miles Preferred members (Silver, Gold, Platinum levels as well as Chairman's Preferred, passengers), confirmed First Class and Envoy passengers at time of check in and Star Alliance Silver and Gold status members, which as I read it means that it could be "unwaived" at any time. Gee, thanks.

American Airlines Flying on Empty -- Oxygen, That Is

Passenger died when airliner's oxygen tanks were reportedly empty.

Carine Desir, 44, a passenger on American Airlines Flight 896 from Haiti, to New York died on Friday "after a flight attendant told her he couldn't give her any oxygen and then tried to help her with faulty equipment, including an empty oxygen tank, a relative said," according to a widely published Associated Press wire-service report, which continued, "Desir had complained of not feeling well and being very thirsty on the Friday flight from Port-au-Prince after she ate a meal, according to Antonio Oliver, a cousin who was traveling with her and her brother Joel Desir...A flight attendant gave her water, he said. A few minutes later, Desir said she was having trouble breathing and asked for oxygen, but a flight attendant twice refused her request, Oliver said Sunday in a telephone interview. After the flight attendant refused to administer oxygen to Desir, she became distressed, pleading, 'Don't let me die,' Oliver recalled."

But die she did, even though, "the flight attendant, apparently after phone consultation with the cockpit, tried to administer oxygen from a portable tank and mask, but the tank was empty. Two doctors and two nurses were aboard and tried to administer oxygen from a second tank, which also was empty, Oliver said." The report continued that one of the nurses tried CPR and "possibly a defibrillator, also was applied but didn't function effectively." The plane was ready to divert to Miami, but it was too late for Desir, who died in flight, so the aircraft continued to New York's JFK International Airport "with the woman's body moved to the floor of the first-class section and covered with a blanket."

According to a later AP report:

"There were 12 oxygen tanks on the plane and the crew checked them before
the flight took off to make sure they were working, Wilson said. He said at
least two were used on Desir.

"The Federal Aviation Administration requires commercial flights to carry no fewer than two oxygen dispensers. The main goal of the rule is to have oxygen available in the event of a rapid cabin decompression, but it can also be used for other emergencies. It is up to the airlines to maintain the canisters.

"'Flight attendants are trained not to automatically give oxygen to every
passenger who requests it but instead use airline criteria to judge when it's
needed,' said Leslie Mayo, a spokeswoman for the union representing American's
attendants.

"Wilson said Desir's cousin flagged down a flight attendant and said the
woman had diabetes and needed oxygen. "The flight attendant responded, 'OK, but
we usually don't need to treat diabetes with oxygen, but let me check anyway and
get back to you.'"

Antonio Oliver had nothing good to say about the aircraft's emergency procedures or equipment. One of the doctors on board who pronounced Desire dead refused to comment. A later Dow Jones News Wire report, "'We are investigating this incident...but American Airlines can say oxygen was administered and the Automatic External Defibrillator was applied,' the company said in a statement Monday. The airline didn't say in its statement whether the medical equipment worked, only that they stood behind its functionality." The lawyers will certainly soon be heard from too.

Two Wheeling Through California

Bicycle road racing is a vicarious two-wheel journey.


For three weeks every summer, my husband and I take a bicycle tour of France. Thanks to the magic of television, we cruise past fields, vineyards, castles, villages and cities. We struggle up impossibly steep mountain roads in the Alps and the Pyrenees and race down the other sides. We mingle with an international cadre of riders. In the world of sports, it's the Tour de France. In our world, it's a road vicarious road trip through France. This year, we'll be in France from July 5 though July 27, again, thanks to the magic of television.



Like the racers themselves, we've started training for the Tour de France by watching the just-concluded Amgen Tour of California. We covered 650 miles in eight days -- through vineyards and redwoods along the stunning California coast We encountered sun, rain and wind. We rooted for the young Boulder rider, Tom Zirbel, who led the stage alone for miles until the last lap -- and who blogs as well as rides very fast. Hats off to him, to race winner Levi Leipheimer and winner of the final stage, George Hincapie. And thanks, guys, for letting us ride along.

A Glorious Ski Day at Keystone

Colorado's epic snow season made for still another great ski day -- and something for the suggestion box.


Two friends and I took yesterday off and drove to Keystone for the day. A worthy destination resort in its own right and more so in conjunction with neighboring Breckenridge and Arapahoe Basin (and a bonus of interchangeable lift tickets), Keystone is less than two hours from my door. We arrived before 10:00 and luckily found a close-in space in a very full parking lot.

Keystone just had received four inches of snow -- significant some years but just a dusting during this epic season, when the resort has already . The snow was silky, and not until the end of the day did we encounter any scraped-off spots -- and even then, only on a few vulnerable parts of busy runs and at that, they weren't bad. Places were cover is usually thin or even bare wore a mantle of snow. Temperatures were mild, and there was no wind. Despite the full day lot and the vacationers, we mostly skied Dercum Mountain and a bit on North Peak (above) and never encountered much of a liftline (but then, we didn't head to The Outback either).

Two of use are really enthusiastic season-upon-season skiers, but our friend had only been on skis once in the last 20 years, so we stayed on easy cruisers. She's strong, and she has more endurance and speed than most people who have been off the boards for that long, so we kept going at a pretty good clip. It was a great day to get back into skiing.

As a.m. turned to p.m. and the minute hand kept circling, we realized that we were hungry, so we rode the Outpost Gondola to from the top of Dercum Mountain to North Peak. The liftie told us to take our skis into the gondola car with us, which was a surprised and also awkward. The reason? The old external ski holders on these elegant forest-green cars are too narrow for the flared tails of modern skis, but people try to jam them in anyway. Skis slipped into the wider snowboard slot often fall out. Therefore, the gear gets to ride inside. Here's suggestion #1: a minor retrofitting of the gondola cars with new equipment racks. Considering that Keystone has announced plans to replace the existing six-passenger River Run Gondola (the second on on that line) with a longer, faster state-of-the-art eight-passenger model next year, this fix of the Outpost Gondola is small-potatoes indeed.

At the end of the day, we wanted to make sure that we ended at River Run and not at the Mountain House. Many lower-mountain runs meander, and at a couple of crucial intersections, we weren't quite sure how far down we had come and couldn't tell whether we were on Last Chance or Jackstraw or Schoolmarm or Dercum's Dash or Bear Tree. Suggestion #2: A little more signage near the bottom would be welcome.

I wish that I could take the entire winter off and do nothing but ski. A look at Colorado ski conditions explains why: Mid-mountain base depths range from "only" 31 inches at Echo Mountain, a snow park in exurban Denver, to an astonishing 147 inches at Wolf Creek in southern Colorado -- and that's packed, settled snow. Conditions elsewhere in the ski world have also been outstanding.

Color-Coded Airport Security Lines Tested

Salt Lake City and Denver are test sites for new system to speed up lines.

Skiers and snowboarders are familiar with symbols signifying relative slope difficulty: green circle for easiest (aka, beginner) runs, blue square for more difficult (aka, intermediate) and black diamond for most difficult (aka, expert). The Transportation Security Agency is now testing a system that it is calling the Black Diamond.

The idea is for travelers to select the level of security line that they believe is suitable for their level of travel experience. The TSA hopes that green will be chosen by families with children, stollers and infant seats; people with special needs, and infrequent flyers who are confused by the system and need some assistance. The agency also hopes that the blue line will be used by semi-experienced travelers, perhaps with multiple carry-on items, and that black will be used by experienced travelers who know the drill and arrive at the checkpoint with laptops out of cases; toiletries in appropriately small quantities in the regulation one-quart zip bag keys, coins and cell phones out of pockets, and shoes, jackets and belts off.

TSA is launching the Black Diamond test program at Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) and Denver International Airport (DEN), where presumably a fair number of passengers are familiar with the color coding. which makes the skiing references appropriate — if not readily understandable to nonskiers. Of course, as every skier knows, many people over-estimate their competence on the mountain, and there are always terrified beginners picking their way down intermediate slopes and over-confident intermediates stalled on black-diamond terrain. There is no reason to believe that people will be similarly optimistic at an airport security checkpoint.

Get A Horse? DIA Finally Did

Epically delayed mustang sculpture finally installed at Denver International Airport.

Flight delays are not unfamiliar scenarios at airports, but the 16-year delay in installing a monumental fiberglass sculpture of a rearing mustang has got to be a record-setter. When Denver International Airport was under construction, Luis Jimenez, a sculptor from Hondo, NM, was commissioned to make a 32-foot sculpture for the Peña Boulevard approach to the terminal. While it was a work in progress, a section came loose from a hoist, pinning Jimenez against a steel support beam. He died in June 2006, leaving a widow, two sons and a largely unfinished, very large fiberglass horse. Susan Jimenez and her sons, Orion and Adan who were children when their late father began the work, completed it, and New Mexico painters Richard Lobato and Camillo Nuñez painted it using Jimenez's color scheme. The mustang has finally been installed at DIA -- 16 years after the airport opened. The photo shows it with its "receiving blanket" still draped over its hindquarters.