American Airlines Allow Passengers without Carry-ons to Board First

Airlines are trying to figure out how to reduce boarding times so that get their planes out faster.  With more passengers taking along large carry-on bags because they don't want to spend money to check their bags, boarding times have gotten a lot longer.  Some airlines have come up with creative ways of trying to shorten the boarding time.  Spirit Airlines is notorious for charging $100 for carry-on bags to encourage passengers to check in a bag.  US Airways is willing to check your large carry-on bag for free at the gate.  American Airlines is trying out a new boarding process where it will allow passengers who don't have carry-ons to board before passengers with carry-ons.  First, American will board First Class passengers, then the elite passengers who are frequent flyers and have achieved some sort of status, then passengers without bags.  Finally if you have a carry-on, you are allowed to board last.

I agree with this.  I'm tired of waiting for passengers with carry-on bags delaying other passengers to get to their seats because they can't find overhead space.  I prefer going to my seat and sitting down and letting those passengers fight it out for luggage space. I've never understood why so many people were either too cheap or too attached to their luggage that they can't check it in.  And I'm talking about people who have bags that really should have been checked in, in the first place.  If this new boarding process works for American Airlines, it'll be a different world for passengers without bags and passengers with bags.

LATAM is now part of oneworld

The merger of two of South America's biggest airlines LAN Chile and TAM Brazil becomes the powerhouse LATAM and it has chosen to become part of the oneworld frequent flier alliance.  This is a big deal because it strengthens the travel opportunities for oneworld, the weakest alliance of the three major frequent flier alliances.  The other two are Star Alliance which is headed by United and Skymiles which is led by Delta.  American Airlines along with British Airways leads oneworld.  While it is a coup for oneworld, it is a blow to Star Alliance because it loses TAM.

Are You OK with Tagging Your Own Bag?

We all know that we can check in at home or at a kiosk in the airport to get our boarding passes but we still have to see an agent to tag our bags.  Now American Airlines is expanding the program at Reagan National Airport in Washington DC where you can also print out and tag your own bag.  It first started in Orlando International Airport in November 2012.  American was not the first airline to start this process, Alaska Air launched a similar program out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in May 2012.

Delta is testing out their own program in Atlanta and Las Vegas.  An American Airlines spokesman said that it speeds up the check-in process much faster.  I guess we won't have a chance to talk to a customer service agent any more.  It seems customer service gets less attention nowadays in the new American Airlines.

Sequester will Cause Flight Delays

The FAA chief Michael Huerta said the sequester was going to cause 90 minute delays at big hubs like Chicago and New York City because he'll have to furlough air traffic controllers.  Really?  He must be a bad administrator if he can't find a way to make the budget cuts work to continue to make the agency operational.  For crying out loud, you take money away from agencies and they immediately threaten your safety.  What the heck is it with these departments that they can't find a way to reduce their budgets by a measly 5%?  Why do they always say they have to lay off workers?  Why isn't it that these stupid government bozos can't find a way to run their departments so that it's more financially efficient?  Corporations and small businesses have been finding ways to save on expenses because it makes a difference to their bottom line.  But these big shot government agencies can't seem to do it because they don't have to worry about making a profit, they think they can always tax the public even more.  For once I wish those bozos in Washington would think about the taxpayers instead of always spending our money.

DWTS: Season 11, Week 5 Brandy Rises to the Top

Dancing to America's Favorite Television Show Tunes

This week is the first time that Dancing with the Stars had their dancers perform to television show tunes and I hope they don't repeat it. As a concept, TV Theme Week looks like a fun idea but, let's face it, we heard the TV theme tune for only 20 seconds, maybe? Imagine listening to it for a minute and a half. Yeah...that was a problem. So was dancing to the theme. It just looked weird watching a couple dance a rumba while scenes from the show play in your head. In addition, there were five dance styles that were on display this week unlike the previous weeks.

This week we saw Brandy doing very well and taking the leadership position with a fabulous Quickstep. We also saw a big fight between Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough, Florence as Mrs. Brady doing a tango to The Brady Bunch song, and Bristol Palin in a gorilla suit...this is why I SO love Dancing with the Stars!!!

Quickstep Couples

Brandy with Maksim Schmerkovskiy started the night off with a fabulous Quickstep to the tune of Friends. However, the Friends theme tune is from an actual song, I'll Be There For You by The Rembrandts. So the dancing was fast, their feet were flying but their upper bodies were still and Brandy's carriage has really improved, and she had such a pretty smile on her face -- you could tell that she enjoyed it. They covered the span of the dance floor with fast steps but they danced with elegance and lightness. The judges rewarded them well with the top score of the night and their best scores yet. Score: 27

Kurt Warner with Anna Trebuskaya did a nice job on the Quickstep with the Bewitched theme song. Because they were always in hold, they were able to get his big hands out of the way, and Kurt has improved in his performance, his face had a smile and it looked like he was enjoying the dance. His technique has become smoother, he was light on his feet, and his upper body posture has improved. Score: 24

Rumba Couples

Audrina Patridge with Tony Dovolani danced a Rumba to The Hills theme song, her own reality show. The Hills theme song is really a few lines from Unwritten. Audrina is very pretty and her long lithe body is great for rumba. Her technique is very good but the dance needs to be intimate, sensuous and passionate and theirs wasn't like that. Score: 23

Rick Fox with Cheryl Burke performed a Rumba to The Hill Street Blues theme tune and I thought they did a great job. The dance was sexy, intimate and romantic. For a tall guy, Rick performed delicate movements and was very smooth. His hip action was also very good. Chery put together a nice routine that minimized the differences in their height. Score: 24

Foxtrot Couples

Kyle Massey with Lacey Schwimmer danced the Foxtrot to the Charlie's Angels tune with Kyle as Bosley and Lacey as one of the Angels. Kyle's costume however reminded me of Isaac from The Love Boat. (Does anyone remember that show?). Their performance, as always, looked fun and was engaging. I saw improvements in his carriage and I thought he danced well, but the judges again slammed his footwork and one of the judges hated the 70s touches that Lacey added to their routine, probably because it took away from the traditional foxtrot. They received their lowest score to date. Score: 20

Jennifer Grey with Derek Hough as always, performed well in their dance, The Foxtrot, to the Married ...with Children show tune which is really Frank Sinatra's song, Love and Marriage. What was an eyeopener was that during their rehearsals, Derek was so frustrated with Jennifer for not getting the moves (she is 50, Derek, have some patience) that Jennifer objected and it blew up and resulted in Jennifer walking off her anger. She came back of course and went on to do well, but this is why I love watching this show. Score: 24

Tango Jive Couples

Florence Henderson with Corky Ballas danced a Tango to The Brady Bunch tune -- of course! I have to say, it was very strange to watch a tango to it, in fact I didn't know it was a tango until they said so. Florence wore a housecoat at first and quickly shed it to reveal a rhinestone encrusted light brown evening dress. The tango they performed looked jerky and it didn't look at all sexy although it was intense and they had fast spins. Score: 21

Bristol Palin with Mark Ballas danced a Jive to The Monkees tune, which is why at the beginning the two dancers wore gorilla outfits. They put them on because the judges were always criticizing Bristol about being more expressive and to have more engagement with the audience. In fact, Mark enrolled Bristol in a Clown School class. They spent so much time trying to help Bristol break out of her shell that I don't think they had enough time to practice their dance. It looked awkward peeling off the costume, she forgot the steps, she didn't bounce enough, and she was out of step. Score: 18

Scoring the Judges

The show started this week with an assessment of each couple's strengths and weaknesses, which is the first time I've seen this happen in Week 5. I think that the show has been getting feedback from the audience that the scores have been wideranging and inconsistent and has created a lot of dissatisfaction with the judges. This may be why they started the week 5 show with the judges' assessments so that the audience gets a better understanding of what criteria the judges use. Given that, I think the judges have been less opinionated this week -- it's an improvement. Too often they seem to have a pet peeve on one thing or the other and grade it based on that instead of the overall dance. This week I give the judges a score of 6.

Who is in Jeopardy?

The bottom three couples are Florence with Corky, Kyle with Lacey, and Bristol with Mark. Of the three, Bristol with Mark had the lowest score. She has been in jeopardy two previous times. It may be time for her to go, if not her, it may be Kyle if his fan base doesn't vote enough. Tune in Tuesday.

The Star Eliminated this Week is...

Florence Henderson with Corky Ballas?! This Results show outcome was a total surprise. Many viewers had expected Bristol Palin to go home, however, she apparently has a strong enough fan base that voted to save her so that she was one of the first dance couples saved. Kyle Massey's fan base also voted to save him. Florence had the third lowest score this week among the dancers but it was her personal best. Who were in jeopardy with Florence? It was Jennifer Grey and Rick Fox!

I and many in the audience and the dancers were sorry to see Florence (who will always be Mrs. Brady to me) go because she took such great pleasure in the dance and the show and worked so hard in rehearsals. It could be that many in the audience thought now is the best time for Florence to make a graceful exit because it can only get more physically demanding from here; next week, each dance couple will be expected to learn two dances. To the end Florence was a class act, she reiterated how wonderfully produced the show was and how all the people involved were the best to work with, especially her pro partner, Corky Ballas.

Originally published 10/19/2010