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After our first trip to Hawaii, earlier this year, we've been kind of interested in visiting again and checking out one of the other islands. We figured it might be a while before we were able to go again but the news out of the hotel industry lately has indicated that we might not have to wait as long as we thought.

Apparently Hawaii is feeling the first effects of the financial meltdown and hotel occupancy rates are down overall in the islands. We feel compassion for the people whose livelihood is dependent on the tourist industry and believe that it would be charitable to help them out in this time of need. Especially if we can score some insanely great deal on a hotel room on the island of Maui, for instance. Because that's just the kind of big-hearted people we are.

At first I was suspicious how good the deals could be, when I considered that two airlines that used to service the Hawaiian market are no more. ATA and Aloha both went out of business this year and that would normally mean a rise in airline pricing to reflect the reduced amount of competition. However, airline pricing seems to be falling along with hotel rates and fares of $244 from LA and $452 from NY can be had. So it looks like even with fewer seats available, we can certainly find some deals if we look around.

As to hotel rates on the islands, there seems to be a plethora of opportunities for someone who likes to do a bit of checking around and research. I've noticed lots of deals like "third night free" and the like are popping up on hotel websites. We might just have to see if we can snag something. We do have another business trip out to LA this January, so we may just have to see if we can extend a little to the West. Though I suspect that waiting a little longer before making plans might be worthwhile in the long run. And the short run too.

A couple of weeks ago the Wall Street Journal had an article on a luggage shipping option that United Airlines was offering with FedEx. I thought it was kind of interesting in a 'how much money can they extract from a stone' kind of way.

Basically, the concept it this: You call UAL and they'll have FedEx pick up your luggage. Naturally you'll have to do this the day before you need the bags at your destination.  FedEx will overnight the bags and you get to pay a nice big juicy fee. For instance the fee for one bag, 50 pounds maximum, transported 1000 miles is $159 each way. The fee jumps to $179 for trips over 1000 miles.

Well, the last of the big six legacy carriers, Delta, envious at the torrents of money flowing into their competitors' coffers, has decided to institute bag fees. Looks like $15 a bag each way. Since fuel prices are dropping precipitously one can only assume that baggage fees are needed less for offsetting higher fuel prices and more for lining the corporate bottom line with lucre.

And so it goes. I would really be interested to see if Southwest will follow suit at some point. So far they've held the line but the cash they're losing out on has to hurt just the tiniest bit.

An update on our quest to check out the sports car section of the rent-a-car world: although the original article was all about Hertz we actually ended up going with Avis on our last trip to Orlando. Oh, and what a fun-filled frolic that was!

First, Mary did the usual exhaustive research and analysis and found what looked like a pretty good deal on a Pontiac Solstice. She sent me the link and although as I mentioned before, I don't know squat about cars, it looked pretty cool, it was a convertible and it looked like with enough lubrication we could probably squeeze ourselves inside. Sold!

Taking the bully pulpit this week I will not, as accustomed, rail against the inequities of the world financial systems, global warming, the Illuminati, or the last Indiana Jones atrocity. No, this time I'm taking aim at something really important, something earth shaking. The topic this week is the product called Wee Brie and American Airlines' insistence on giving this to their First Class passengers.

Some might feel that complaints about anything by First Class passengers are, well, somewhat beyond the pale. After all they get actual food (using the term loosely) and free booze (pursuant to the dictates of the flight attendants) and they require no arthroscopic knee treatments after a five hour cross country flight (unless they are professional football players). And I kind of agree with that. But dammit, something has to be done about the Wee Brie.

For the uninitiated, on the occasions when they offer free foodstuffs to First Class, the meals always come with a Carr's Water Cracker and a prepackaged wedge of an alledgedly cheeselike  product called Wee Brie ("Just Like Cheese But Not"). This I believe constitutes the appetizer portion of the meal. Wee Brie is an abomination to all that is good and fine in the world. It's ostensibly a cheese food product which usually means that it contains no actual dairy products or even anything that has been exposed to rennet. The taste is bland to the point of making that kindergarten paste one used to snack on in one's youth a culinary highlight. And the consistency is, as Mary noted, not unlike bathroom caulk. In brief, Wee Brie is awful.

Why, in a world filled with upwards of two hundred cheese varieties in the US alone, are we forced to eat this unfathomable and inedible substance? Even one of those individually packaged Kraft cheddar cheese cracker size snacks is more palatable. If storage is an issue -- and I can believe that a Wee Brie has a shelf life measured in decades -- then why not use a hard cheese like a Parmesan? Is the several thousand dollars American Airlines saving per year by serving this abomination really going to have a substantial impact on their bottom line? I can't really believe it so. Mary uncharitably believes that the unused Wee Bries could be recycled but I'm sure even American wouldn't stoop that low.

So I call on American Airlines, today, right here, right now, to dispatch the Wee Brie to the deepest, darkest recesses of the whatever den of iniquity that birthed it and switch to a natural and tasty cheese as soon as humanly possible. Failing that, just give me another packet of pretzels.