Creative genius!

I gave the hamburger the slip for a couple of weeks – but it is back and is tracking my every move. I have a choice of 32 VPNs from which to choose and will give it a real test.  I bet it cannot find me in Panama.

It has been a bit grim here lately but I’m hoping for some sunny days soon so that I can get some Autumn pictures of Stadtpark.  It looks fabulous at the moment because the trees are shedding and the ground is covered with leaves - which are being gathered into vast piles by the hordes of gardeners and cleaners who are out in Vienna all hours of the day and night. 

The ducks are in magnificent shape and the boys look particularly good and well-prepared for the winter.  The girls look a bit shabby but that is the way the Duck God made them and they just have to do the best they can.  

And – in case you were wondering – I did not get a reply to my email to Emirates about the lost glasses. I got a message acknowledging receipt of my email and I imagine that immediately after that it was deleted - along with the thousands of other emails that Emirates gets daily. Why do they bother having a contact email address?

But I do love the latest move in creative fleecing from TIGER Airways. Most airlines send their customers alerts about low fares and special deals. Tiger has decided to charge customers for this - and it’s working! 

“TIGER Airways has extracted tens of thousands of dollars from customers without them even getting close to an aircraft, just for the privilege of being among the first to know about upcoming fare sales.

In the latest revenue-raising "innovation" among low-cost airlines, Tiger has started charging passengers a "membership" fee of $29.95 a year to join an email list that gives priority access to sale fares a day before their general release.

Already "thousands" have signed up and paid the joining fee, a Tiger spokeswoman said - even though there are no points accruals or reward redemptions such as in other airline loyalty program”.

I think that is just brilliant and the people who thought it up are blessed with genius. It makes Ryanair look quite dull and pedestrian with the boring charges they apply to everything that used to be part of the fare.