American Airline's web site is a good example of Philip Greenspun's dictum
"The more HTML you know, the uglier and harder to use your site is likely to
be."  I often want to check gate arrival times for American.  Since it's not
immediately obvious from their front page how to get that information, it
would be nice to be able to bookmark the page.  Nope.  No can do.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Glenn Koster" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, October 23, 2000 8:32 AM
Subject: OT: They just don't get it


I just had to relate this story about a firm that just doesn't get the idea
of e-commerce.

This weekend, my wife attempted to book an airline flight on American
Airlines for my daughter to visit us over Thanksgiving.  She went to
American's website, found the flights (and fares) that we wanted.  She then
"signed up" (since you can't book a flight if you are not a "member").
After several attempts she was finally able to register - only to find out
that she couldn't book a flight for someone else (even a family member)
unless she also booked a companion flight for herself.  [Mind you, she was
actually able to "book" the flight and select a seat - she just couldn't pay
for it!]