'L Word' actress reprimanded on plane for kissing girlfriend; escorted off after cursing

It was cursing — not kissing — that got a lesbian actress and her girlfriend escorted off a plane as it sat at a Texas airport, Southwest Airlines said Tuesday.

The airline said the couple became profane after being reprimanded for what actress Leisha Hailey characterized as "one modest kiss."

Hailey immediately used her Twitter account to accuse the airline of discrimination and call for a boycott.

Hailey is best known for playing Alice Pieszecki in the now defunct Showtime lesbian life drama "The L-Word."

The incident cast a national media spotlight on the actress, who is now part of the electro-pop duo Uh Huh Her.

Halley's publicist Libby Coffey said the encounter was real and was "absolutely not" done as a publicity stunt for her band's upcoming breast cancer awareness tour.

Hailey and partner Camila Grey also denied in a statement Tuesday that the affection they showed toward each other was inappropriate.

"We want to make it clear we were not making out or creating any kind of spectacle of ourselves, it was one modest kiss," the written statement said. "We are responsible adult women who walk through the world with dignity. We were simply being affectionate like any normal couple."

The airline responded that Hailey's display of affection was excessive and drew customer complaints, and that the women cursed after being reprimanded.

"Additional reports from our employees and customers onboard Flight 2274 during a stop in El Paso on Sunday now confirm profane language was being used loudly by two passengers," the airline said. "Although we have reports of what customers characterize as an excessive public display of affection, ultimately their aggressive reaction led to their removal from the aircraft."

Hailey and Grey acknowledged that they became upset after the flight attendant reprimanded them and told them Southwest is a family airline.

"We take full responsibility for getting verbally upset with the flight attendant," their statement said. "No matter how quietly homophobia is whispered, it doesn't make it any less loud."

Hailey and Gray said they plan to file a formal complaint with the airline.

Details of how the couple was escorted off the flight were not included in the Southwest statement. Initial reports had the flight going from Baltimore to St. Louis, but a tweet by the band says its members were flying from El Paso, Texas, to Los Angeles, which the airline confirmed.

Hailey said in a tweet that she has an audio and video recording of the encounter between the couple and the flight attendant. It's not immediately clear who made it. Coffey did not respond to an email requesting access to the recordings.

Hailey also demanded a public apology and a refund from the airline. The airline said it had reached out to all passengers involved to offer refunds.

Southwest's website says it is the official airline of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Herndon Graddick, GLAAD's senior director of programs, said companies must train employees to welcome all customers.

"Just like all couples, Leisha Hailey and Camila Grey should be able to express affection in public," Graddick said. "The widespread outrage around Leisha's report demonstrates that fair-minded Americans will no longer stand for discrimination of gay and lesbian couples."

Earlier this month, the Dallas-based airline kicked off Green Day's lead man Billie Joe Armstrong for wearing his pants too low. The Grammy winner was escorted off a plane after failing to follow a flight attendant's directive to pull up the pants.

Southwest also removed director Kevin Smith from a flight last year because he didn't fit properly in a single seat. His first tweet read, "Dear (at)SouthwestAir I know I'm fat, but was (the) captain (...) really justified in throwing me off a flight for which I was already seated?"

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Arizona is the place to go for golf

PHOENIX (AP) — Tired of chilly weather last winter, Wayne Johnson and Rachel Wright decided it was time to get away.

Johnson has family in the Phoenix area, so they figured why not head to the desert to play some golf?

The mild Arizona weather was "just what we needed," said Johnson, of Reno, Nev. "It doesn't get any better than this."

Whether it's a way to escape the cold this coming winter or you've-got-to-be-kidding-me deals other times of year, Arizona is a haven for golf enthusiasts. The sheer volume of courses makes it worth the trip, with the 200 or so just in Phoenix and its suburbs making a map of the area look like a Dalmatian covered in green spots. The choices run across the spectrum, from local (and often more affordable) municipals to resorts that rank among the best in the world, perfectly-maintained green oases carved out of the desert, challenging all levels of golfers.

The terrain is unlike anything anywhere else, ruggedly beautiful mountains surrounding a gravel-covered Valley of the Sun filled with all shapes of cactus, twisty-trunked trees with green bark and a variety of unique flora that give the desert a distinctly clean smell.

The weather? Autumn, winter and spring, it's almost perfect, everyone walking around in shorts while the rest of the country is bundling up or digging out of VW Bug-sized snow drifts.

"If you're coming from out of the state, it's totally different experience than anywhere in the country," said Rui Pereira, general manager for Rancho de los Caballeros in Wickenburg. "You're out in the desert, it's wide-open spaces that you don't see on the East Coast and many other places in the country, and the weather is great a good part of the year."

Temperatures in Phoenix are typically around the 60s even during the coldest months with 80s in late fall and early spring. Occasionally, when the wind chills dip well below zero in the far northern states, Arizona can have a 100-degree difference in temperature. Think about that: 100 degrees warmer.

Certainly, there are times when a cold blast makes its through — the mountains above Phoenix had a couple dustings of snow this past winter — but most of the time it's short-sleeves and shorts for a round.

"You can be guaranteed that you're going to get sunshine and 90 percent of the time when you come here in the winter, you're going to get very good weather," said Greg Ellis, general manager of Trilogy Golf Club at Vistancia in Peoria.

Scottsdale is the epicenter of the Arizona golf scene, with one world-class golf course seemingly next door to another. From Grayhawk and Troon North to the TPC Scottsdale and The Boulders just to the north in Carefree, you really can't go wrong. But Phoenix — about 10 miles from Scottsdale — is the launching point for many winter visitors, with the massive international airport and many entertainment and dining options in addition to a variety of golf courses of its own. A golfer could literally play a new golf course here every day for a month and not be disappointed. Oh, sure, there are a few clunkers mixed in, but the overall quality is as good throughout as anywhere in the country.

A word about the summer, for those whose budgets may not permit the peak-season winter fees: The weather that time of year is melt-your-steering-wheel hot — over 100 degrees regularly starting about mid-May and into early fall. But that's why green fees for those top-notch courses are often a quarter of the winter price: $130-150 resort courses down to $50, even $30 a round. The hotels are cheap, too, usually more than half off in the summer, meaning golfers can play and stay a week for what it would have cost for a weekend in the peak months.

Ways to cope with the heat include hitting the links by 6 a.m., even by 7:30, and finishing before the sun really starts beating down. Many courses in the desert offer iced towels — some scented with mango and other flavors — that guests can cool off with, and there's always water available all over the courses. "The standard expression is that it's a dry heat, but there's some truth to that," said Ron Woods, general manager of the Raven at Verrado in Buckeye. "Your tolerance is greater with a dry heat over humidity, so if you can tolerate the heat and prepare yourself with water, a wet frozen towel, sunscreen and a hat, you can manage. And the pricing is just unbelievable as to what you get."

Whatever season you plan your golf trip for, here are three worth trying:

RANCHO DE LOS CABALLEROS, http://www.ranchodeloscaballeros.com/.

Location: Wickenburg, about 45 minutes up Highway 60 northwest of Phoenix.

The course: Set at the foot of the Bradshaw Mountains in the upper Sonoran Desert, Los Caballeros is a hidden gem just outside the Phoenix area — and well worth the extra drive. An award-winning desert layout with spectacular views, the course is challenging yet still accommodating for higher handicappers with its wide fairways. Check out the horseback riding, target shooting and spa when you're done.

Yardages: Front tees of 5,264 yards to 7,020 from the back.

Green fees: $90 peak season to $39 in summer.

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Scaring people has gone high tech, big business

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Ross Karpelman smiled happily as he looked over his huge collection of bloody body parts, large rats, dangling cobwebs and tools for cutting, slashing and sawing.

Karpelman, who with two childhood buddies built ahaunted house called House of Shock, has seen it grow from the likes of peeled grapes for eyeballs and cold spaghetti for worms into an attraction that's visited by 25,000 people annually and rated one of the best of its kind.

"None of us can believe it's grown like this," said Karpelman, referring to his friends and business partners Jay Gracianette and Steve Joseph. "We had all done haunted houses in our back yards as kids and remembered how much fun it was. We just wanted to have that kind of fun again."

Halloween-season attractions like House of Shock are big business. Ranging from haunted houses to former prisons to amusement parks and even farms with haunted barns and hayrides, the haunted attraction industry is worth $2 billion in two dozen countries worldwide, according to Larry Kirchner, editor of Hauntworld magazine. More than 4,000 attractions are listed on the magazine's website.

"People love Halloween," Kirchner said. "It's not a holiday you have to participate in, it's a holiday you want to participate in."

Fans pay between $20 and $50 or more to visit attractions that include such varied venues as the Queen Mary, the storied cruise ship now docked in Long Beach, Calif., which gets a makeover to host haunted evenings, and Ruby Falls in Chattanooga, Tenn., a natural underground waterfall that becomes a haunted cavern. There are haunted casinos and cornfields. In Salem, Ore., the Oregon School for the Deaf hosts a haunted house called the Nightmare Factory each year as a fundraiser for the school.

What was once a backyard attraction, or something set up by a local group looking to raise money, has become a festival of fright that often stretches from September to November. At House of Shock, which runs Fridays and Saturdays from Sept. 30 to Nov. 5, with a six-day straight run over the weekend leading up to Halloween, visitors pay $25 ($50 to jump the line) and spend 45 minutes to an hour or more going through the graveyards, butcher shops, swamps and cult church of the "'House." Many spend hours more outside enjoying the free show, the freaks and the bar and food stand.

Amber Amett-Bequeaith's grandmother started a haunted house business 37 years ago in Kansas City. The attraction then, which was more like a theater show, was a world away from The Beast and Edge of Hell attractions the family operates now, she said.

"I remember as a little girl picking up any bones I could find out in a pasture for props," she said. "Today it's all about technology, sounds, sights even the infusion of smells. It's a full sensory stimulation. I'm amazed at how computers have taken over."

"We work with people's fears and phobias," she added. "But it's a safe scare. It's what people are attracted to on Halloween — fun and excitement."

Arnett-Bequeaith even features a wedding package at Edge of Hell, with one to six actual weddings performed there each year.

Edward Terebus has been in the haunted attraction business for 32 years and he also credits technology for many of the scares in his Erebus Haunted House in Pontiac, Mich. Computers control sounds, floor mats, puppets, animatronics, and other props. But the show is frequently revamped.

"A haunted attraction is similar to a Broadway performance," Terebus said. "The show runs and then it shuts down, redecorates, and opens up with a fresh show."

Although House of Shock uses some technological elements, it bucks the trend by relying on live actors for many of its theme driven rooms.

"We have more than 350 volunteers that love Halloween and the chance to scare someone," Karpelman said.

___

Online:

http://www.houseofshock.com/

http://www.hauntworld.com

http://www.americahaunts.com/

www.Hauntedpontiac.com

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Hotels are adding new fees

LOS ANGELES — Telephone and mini-bar charges have long been standard, but the hotel industry is expected to pocket a record $1.8 billion this year with an assortment of new fees for housekeeping, room-service trays, bellhops and early cancellations — services once thought to be part of room rates.

The latest revenue estimate represents an 80 percent increase from 2001, when hotels generated about $1 billion from such fees, according to a new study by Bjorn Hanson, dean of New York University's Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management.

Hanson said the increase in revenue comes as hotels have added many new charges and guest demand for hotel rooms has gradually grown in the last few years.

Among the newest fees popping up at hotels across the country, he said, is one of about $2.50 to have the hotel bell staff hold your bags either before you check in or after you check out.

Travelers have taken note of the new charges.

"They are getting sneakier and sneakier," said Johnny Foster, a retired police officer from North Carolina who was staying at the Wilshire Grand Los Angeles. "Are you sure the politicians aren't running the hotels?"

He suspects hotels are charging more for nearly everything in hopes that guests won't notice.

Brenda Vere, a Boston resident who was staying at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites on a business trip, complained that some hotels charge up to $6 for a bottle of water. "If they don't want me to drink the water then why do they put it in the room?" she said.

Hotel industry representatives defend the charges and say hotel guests can avoid many of them by simply choosing not to use the services.

"It's really a consumer choice as to which services they want to get," said Randi Knott, vice president for government and legal relations with the California Hotel & Lodging Assn.

Knott had not read Hanson's study but said the increase in revenues generated by such fees are a reflection of better economic conditions in the country.

"I think more business travelers are able to spend money on these extras like room service and Wi-Fi and things they want to use," she said.

Bob Amano, executive director of the Hotel Assn. of Los Angeles, said he has not noticed an increase in such fees at local hotels. "In L.A., that hasn't been that prevalent," he said.

Because such fees vary by hotel and by season, Hanson said he could not calculate how much each fee generates for the industry.

"It isn't homogenized throughout the industry," he said. "This year, for example, some hotels may introduce a mini-bar stocking fee, but other hotels may reduce the in-room phone charges."

Still, Hanson estimated that the most revenue came from resort fees of up to $20 per day, early cancellation fees that can equal the room rate, a tray charge of about $2.50 that is added with room service orders and a housekeeping charge of $10 to $13 per day.

And while hotels still make nearly 99 percent of their revenue from hotel rates, Hanson said the fees have been a boon for the lodging industry because many charges are for services that are already included in the hotel rates.

Thus, he said, hotels can make profits of 80 percent to 90 percent on such fees as housekeeping charges or mini-bar restocking fees. "These dollars are highly valued because many are uniquely profitable," Hanson said.

In the airline industry, the trend of charging passengers extra fees to check bags or order food on a flight has sparked widespread anger and prompted federal regulators to require the airline industry to disclose the extra charges on airline websites.

But Hanson said that airlines are only following the lead of the hotel industry, which began the trend in the late 1990s with the introduction of resort fees, sometimes titled "amenities tariffs."

"The airlines are now providing cover for the hotel industry because charging someone to check their luggage somehow makes charging a guest to restock a mini-bar seem like a minor offense," he said.

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Airline won't refund ticket after passenger dies

Q: I recently bought a pair of tickets through Expedia for my husband and myself. We planned to visit Germany this fall as part of a retirement trip. Shortly after that, my husband passed away very suddenly.

I contacted Expedia about a refund, but was advised to get in touch with our airline, Lufthansa, directly. Lufthansa told me my husband's ticket was nonrefundable. I asked if they would resell his seat, since he couldn't make the flight, and they admitted they would. When I said that it appeared that Lufthansa would profit from the death of my husband, they admitted that that was the case. This really offended me. I tried to send an email to Lufthansa's president, but they have turned me down. What would you advise? -- Ursula Maul, Wynnewood, Pa.

A: My condolences on your loss. Most airlines refund tickets -- even nonrefundable ones -- when a passenger dies. What's more, it's highly unusual for a representative to "admit" that the airline will profit from the death of a passenger. Maybe the representative you reached was having a bad day. I certainly hope so.

I'm concerned about your online travel agency's role in this debacle. Why did Expedia hand you off to Lufthansa in your hour of need? One of the reasons you do business with an online travel agency is that they are trusted intermediaries in case something goes wrong with your flight. If they simply sent you to the airline when you needed help, then why not book a ticket directly with Lufthansa the next time, cutting out the middleman?

I might have started the refund process by sending a brief, polite email to Expedia, explaining that you wanted a refund for your husband's ticket. It may have still referred you to the airline, but at least you would have given it a chance to do what it promises it will do, which is to take care of you.

I would have stayed off the phone, too. These days, the odds of you getting put through to an outsourced, overseas call center, where someone is just trying to process your complaint quickly, is too high. Your case required special attention, which neither your agency nor your airline seemed willing to give you.

You had the right idea with the email to Lufthansa's president. I might have started a little lower on the corporate food chain. I list the names of the managers on my customer-service wiki, On Your Side at (http://onyoursi.de/). If Expedia was unable to help you, then a polite email with your husband's death certificate should have worked.

I contacted Lufthansa on your behalf. It apologized for the "inaccurate" response to your request and agreed to refund your husband's ticket.

Christopher Elliott is the author of "Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals" (Wiley). He's also the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine and the co-founder of the Consumer Travel Alliance, a nonprofit organization that advocates for travelers. Read more tips on his blog, elliott.org or e-mail him at chris@elliott.org. Christopher Elliott receives a great deal of reader mail, and though he answers them as quickly as possible, your story may not be published for several months because of a backlog of cases.

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