Marine Inn Patong

Guesthouse Rooms Patong Beach Phuket Thailand.
Marine Inn Patong
Patong Beach guesthouse, comfortably furnished rooms, well-decorated, conveniently located near sunny beach, Soi Bangla nightlife, great street shopping.

US Airways to end fees for non-alcoholic drinks

US Airways, bowing to customer grumbling and a lack of response from competitors, plans to stop charging for soda, juice, water and coffee beginning March 1.

The Arizona-based airline is the only major U.S. airline to charge for non-alcoholic beverages and until now has been largely unapologetic for the $1-$2 fees and other new charges instituted last summer when fuel prices were escalating.

The airline announced the return to free drinks to employees Sunday afternoon and plans a public announcement Monday morning. It is the airline's second major retreat in three months, the last a return of mileage perks for frequent fliers.

Andrew Nocella, the airline's senior vice president of marketing and planning, said the airline ultimately decided to reverse its decision because the negative passenger reaction wasn't worth the limited amount of extra revenue the fees brought in.

Some travelers were upset they had to pay for drinks because they hadn't heard about the new charges, while others wondered why US Airways was charging when competitors such as Southwest and others don't, Nocella said.

"It's such a minor issue in the grand scheme of things but was having a large impact on the perception of our brand," he said. "We just came to the conclusion that it was distracting our passengers from all the other things we were accomplishing, in particular our great on-time performance."

The airline would not disclose the amount of revenue it took in from the beverage charges. Altogether, passenger fees brought in $100 million in revenue in the fourth quarter and are expected to bring in $400 million to $500 million this year. Eliminating the drink fees does not change that estimate, Nocella said.

As recently as last fall, US Airways CEO Doug Parker said in an interview that the airline had no plans to eliminate any of the fees despite the plunge in fuel prices.

"You never say never because competitive forces could eventually force us to turn back," he said, "but we certainly hope that's not the case and don't believe it will be."

He did say at the time that the airline was not selling as many drinks as it expected to sell, but called that a good thing because it meant the aisles weren't constantly clogged with beverage carts and it freed up flight attendants' time for more important matters.

US Airways President Scott Kirby went so far as to say the airlines' flight attendants, who initially came out against the beverage fees because they would bear the brunt of customers' wrath, would "riot" if the airline reversed its decision.

The Association of Flight Attendants, the union representing US Airways' flight attendants, debunked that notion and said his comment was "just his way of telling himself they made the right decision."

Mike Flores, president of the US Airways' unit of the AFA, praised the airline's decision to return to free drinks.

"Flight attendants are safety professionals first and foremost," he said. "This decision by the company will help return us to that status rather than being salespeople in the aisle of the airplane."

Nocella said the reversal on the drink front is not a sign US Airways' is abandoning its industry-leading embrace of passenger fees, or "a la carte" pricing.

"It really doesn't change our philosophy that a la carte is what we need to do as a business and an industry to move forward," he said.

In the memo to employees, Parker suggested that airline executives had no regrets about testing the out the beverage fee.

"Frankly, it would have been a bigger risk for us not to have tried charging for drinks because innovation and a new business model are desperately needed," he said.

Southwest Airlines, US Airways' main rival in its Phoenix hub and other cities, has called fees by US Airways and its competitors "a gift." The airline launched a major national advertising campaign touting its lack of fees. Company officials have said there is anecdotal evidence they are winning business from fee-charging competitors.

At US Airways, Nocella said, "It's hard to find any evidence that people weren't flying us because we were charging for drinks."

The Arizona Republic is owned by Gannett, parent company of USA TODAY.

The 20 Healthiest Places in America

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently released a massive report that assesses the health of the U.S. population according to a number of measures — from leisure time physical activity to smoking rates and incidence of heart disease.

The part of the report getting the most press attention is how various communities see themselves. The survey, from 2006, asked people to assess their own health. This is the list of communities (listed by metropolitan statistical area, a Census designation that lumps some suburban areas in with their cities, lumps nearby cities together, or otherwise categorizes regions) that had the most people rate their health "good" or "great" (as opposed to "fair" or "poor"). The percentage of the population that rated their health "good" or "great" is noted along with each community.

Not surprisingly, many of the healthiest places are also among the 20 U.S. Communities That Exercise the Most. Those communities on both lists are highlighted in bold.

# Burlington-South Burlington, Vt. (91.8)
# Sioux Falls, S.D. (91.2)
# Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wis. (90.6)
# Barre, Vt (90.5)
# Lincoln, Neb. (90.5)
# Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C. (90.3)
# Colorado Springs, Colo. (90.2)
# Akron, Ohio (90.1)
# Austin-Round Rock, Texas (89.9)
# Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Md. (89.8)
# Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, Mass. (89.7)
# Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn. (89.6)
# Manchester-Nashua, N.H. (89.4)
# Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa (89.4)
# Denver-Aurora, Colo. (89.3)
# Concord, N.H. (89.2)
# Rockingham County-Strafford County, N.H. (89.2)
# Lebanon, N.H.-Vt. (89.2)
# Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn. (89.1)
# Kalispell, Montana (89.0)

It is probably no coincidence that some of the communities known for their outdoors recreation — Burlington, Colorado Springs, St. Paul and others — are among the healthiest places to live. Getting outside and enjoying open spaces is one key ingredient to health. Neither is it surprising that many of these communities are actual cities, rather than suburbs, where driving is more common than walking.

Pilot explains "the go-around" that scares us all s***less

There you are, belted in for landing, at a window seat in Row 36. The approach is smooth, the weather clear, the landing gear drops into place. Down, down, down you come. At 500 feet or so, you can make out the writing on billboards; touchdown is only seconds away. Then, without warning, the engines roar and the aircraft pitches up sharply.

read more

5 Things You Didn't Know About Hooters...Restaurant That Is

There’s an old saying that reminds us how times change, but people don’t. What’s also true is that times change, but hooters don’t -- except that they’ve gotten much bigger over the last 25 years. This is also true about the restaurant.

read more

McCain Puts $4.25 Million Mansion Up for Sale

"OK, so after today's financial news, you might not be in the market for a mansion. But if you are, you're in luck! An ad in yesterday's Arizona Republic announced that on October 25, the "former home of Sen. John & Cindy McCain" will be auctioned."

read more

Top 10: Outrageous Dubai Construction Projects

What do you get when you combine two parts obscene oil revenues, one part economic growth diversity with two parts Western-financed military security? Unequaled development coffers. The tiny emirate of Dubai, possibly sensing a change in global oil markets, has embarked on an unrivaled series of outrageous construction projects.

read more

Running with the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain

Pamplona, Spain is hosting its annual Festival of San Fermin, most famous for its "Running of the Bulls", an 800-meter chaotic dash from corral to bullring through the narrow streets of Pamplona. Once the bulls arrive at the Plaza de Toros, they are again corralled until the afternoon's bullfights (corridas). The festival, started in the sixteenth

read more

Rio de Janeiro, Just Sensational

Few cities in the world have such beautiful scenery. Situated between the mountains and the sea , the "Wonderful City" welcomes visitors with open arms. Copacabana, one of Brazil's most famous beaches, is the scene of the greatest New Year's celebration in the world. Ipanema and Leblon are permanent attractions during the day.

read more

Should you check or ship your bags?

f you're like most travelers, you've probably never considered shipping your luggage ahead of you instead of carrying it with you on a trip. But is this still the case? Most major airlines are now charging travelers to check a first or second bag on domestic flights — even as they continue to mishandle luggage in record numbers.

read more