Flying Fair With Fares

Call it Maxsaver to the max.

A couple of weeks ago, the airlines began one of their slow-season fare wars. But what about those passengers who had already purchased their tickets weeks ahead? It turns out that the airlines will refund the difference between two fares.

A passenger flying between Ontario and San Francisco could save $30, paying $89 for the lower-priced one-way ticket.

“If a passenger has tickets and there is a reduction in fares in that category,” says Alton Becker, an American Airlines spokesman, “he is entitled to the lower fare applicable at the time he is actually flying.”

One catch, however. You’ve got to ask for the refund. The airlines don’t volunteer these things.

. . . And a 500-Pound Burrito

OK, lug-heads, here’s a break for you. Airlines have their frequent flyers; in the avocado business, they’re after the “frequent buyer.” But to qualify, you have to purchase avocados by the lug.

It’s all part of getting retailers to buy more avocados from Mendelson-Zeller Co. of Fresno. A Campbell Soup subsidiary since 1984, the company is marketing fresh fruits and vegetables with those little Campbell labels on them. Frequent buyers get raffle tickets in a drawing with prizes like a pool table or a car telephone.

But it’ll take more than a big bowl of guacamole to be eligible. A lug, says Mike Browne, general manager of the avocado division in Temecula, is basically a 25-pound box of avocados. And you have to buy 60 lugs to be eligible for one ticket.

No Smoke; No Seats, Either

Some Beverly Hills restaurateurs complain that their trade has never really rebounded from the sharp drop-off many eateries experienced when the city briefly banned all smoking in restaurants last summer.

But if business is off, it hasn’t resulted in better service for Lt. Bill Hunt, spokesman for the Beverly Hills Police Department, which had the job of enforcing the short-lived prohibition. “I went to a place where I read in the local paper that their business was off 30% at lunch time,” said Hunt. “And I didn’t see any marked change. People were waiting and the tables were full.”