We put out the call when Air New Zealand was looking for nerds. You'll remember the carrier was recruiting knowledge junkies to be "onboard concierges" to dazzle passengers with facts and figures--and enticing tourism ideas--about New Zealand. Weird, but in a nice way.

Turns out they got over 500 good applicants and have now whittled that down to 40 successful candidates. They're being trained now and will be hanging around on flights from May.

As well as chatting to passengers about what to do in New Zealand--the airline estimates that should take up 60 to 70 percent of their time--the on-board concierges will also perform duties like helping people with air miles questions, onward flight confusions and big decisions like which wine to choose for their meal. Still, we're not fully sold on the concierge idea yet: Could it be just another person to bug us while we're trying to get some sleep?

Related Stories:
· Higher Help [Business Traveller]
· Air New Zealand Looking for Nerds [Jaunted]
· Air New Zealand coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Wake Me When Its Over]]]> amandak 2008-04-17T09:45:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/8/22/9922/59414

It's not paranoia: Your concierge really is secretly working against you. Maybe not against you, per se, but certainly a concierge can be working at cross-purposes to what you want in a vacation, which isn't going to make anyone happy. Monica Hesse describes such an experience in the San Francisco Chronicle when she was in Panama; her concierge wanted her to visit places like the local mall, and she wanted to (understandably) visit more exotic destinations. She puts it this way:

In matters of food, adventure, and discovery, striking out on your own can lead to unexpected delights. In matters of scratchy throats and sinus infections, it's best to listen to the concierge.