I could get into how the TSA is continuing to use poor logic to defend its inane policies but that’s like shooting fish in a barrel. Instead I thought I’d make a few observations from recent travel.  Let’s start with the good:

• I recently stayed at the Good Hotel in San Francisco. The hotel is cheap, clean, and really kind of interesting. From the photo booth in the lobby to the environmental focus in the rooms, it was a nice place to spend a few days.
• More and more taxis in NYC take credit cards. A little modern convenience in what used to be a cash only proposition.

The bad:

• Despite what I’ve read, the calming of traffic around New York’s Times Square is a nightmare. It makes coming into the city harder due to redirected traffic and Times Square is more of a tourist nightmare than ever.
• It appears that the Dallas airport (DFW) has signed an exclusive deal with Pepsi. I’m very glad that McDonald’s still offers Coca Cola, but the convenience stores should offer a wide variety of all food and drink. The airport shouldn’t be an opportunity to trap consumers into using your brand!
• More airlines are offering WiFi. The look on passengers’ faces when they find out what it costs are great.

The ugly:

• Ok, one shot at the TSA. They still have no clue what they’re doing. From rules being inconsistent and fluid from airport to airport, to long lines due to poor staffing they’ve become the worst part of travel.
• Once again I’ve been vindicated for not flying Northwest. It’s going to come out that those pilots were at best incompetent and at worst asleep.

Travel has been picking up a little for me and beyond everyone charging more fees to try to make up for lost revenue, the decline in traffic has made the experience much more pleasant for me. What does everyone else think?