AIRPORT WI-FIwhich airports offer it free, and why don't all?

A rencent trip from Austin to San Francisco and back took us through four airports -- silly me assuming that all of them would naturally have free wi-fi available so I could continue to make my deadlines for design clients... ooops wrong.


Here's a breakdown of airports (anyone have others or changes to add?):

AUS Austin Bergstrom International:
$6.95 (good until midnite of date used) or various monthly or pre-paid plans, serviced by local company, Wayport. Free limited wi-fi access available for airport services. To their credit they were the first US airport to install 802.11g network.
PHX Phoenix Sky Harbor:
Free full-featured Wi-Fi, thank you.
SFO San Francisco International:
$6.00 for first hour + $.10 for each additional minute, $9.95 per 24 hours or many other available plans, serviced by T-Mobile HotSpots
OAK Oakland International:
$9.95 (24 hour access) or $49.95 monthly, serviced by Sprint. Free limited wi-fi access available for airport services.
LAS McCarren International Las Vegas:
Free full-featured Wi-Fi, thank you.

Ultimately, it seems that free all-access wi-fi should be a service that any traveller should be able to expect without making special arrangements through a cell phone service or by having to pay excessive fees ($1-$2 would at least be more reasonable). My routing choices will reflect free wi-fi access as much as it makes logical sense to do so. If anyone has experience to share with other airports please put them in a comment and i'll add to the list.

CAR SHARING SERVICES more affordable and environmentally conscious than owning or leasing a car

CITY CAR SHARE
City Car Share is a service that lets clients reserve and use one of a range of vehicles online and pick them up at tons of locations around the SF Bay Area, providing an interesting concept and seemingly great alternative to having to maintain the expenses related to a car. I'd love to see this concept refined (although they are doing pretty well it seems) and implemented in all major cities. Do I really need a car all the time? Do I really want to throw a bunch of money out the window to maintain it and make payments? I'm personally sick of it and wish Austin had a similar program.

"When you join City Car Share, you'll get an electronic key that opens any car you reserve. Take a wagon to Trader Joe's for an hour. Head to Marin in a Mini for the day. Or pick up a truck and help a friend move across the Bay. Once you're done, just return the car to its original location."

Cost:
Membership dues are $10/month; then it's $4/hour and 44¢/mile for most cars in the fleet—gas and insurance included. And you get half-off the hourly rate from 10pm-10am. To join, there's an application fee of $30 and a security deposit of $300 that is refundable.


ZIPCAR.COM
Zipcar.com offers the same car sharing service but in multiple cities. It uses a card system where a member calls or electronically fills out a reservation and walks to the parking spot where the car is and the card unlocks it. They can then drive for the duration of their reservation and gas, insurance, and XM satellite radio are included.

Available areas: San Francisco, Minneapolis, Chicago, Toronto, Ann Arbor, Chapel Hill, New York, New Jersey, DC, Maryland, Virginia, Massachussetts.

Cost: varies by city but generally $5-10 per hour with various monthly fees.


FLEXCAR.COM
Flexcar.com works most like Zipcar with the two companies offering different cities and overlapping on some. Also they are 100% carbon neutral due to a partnership with American Forests tree planting.

Available areas: San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington DC.

Cost: varies by city but generally $8-10 per hour with various monthly fees and $40 yearly membership.