Terry Trippler has carved out a career niche that may be unique—and not only because he regards himself as “the nation’s only Republican consumer advocate.” If media citations are the measure, he isn’t blowing smoke when he says that he “is considered America’s foremost authority on the airlines and the rules that govern their operation.” When the local or national news media need an impartial authority to quote in a story concerning air travel, Minneapolis-based Trippler is the go-to guy. In any given report about what the airlines are up to, whether in print, on television, or on line, the odds are remarkably good that he will appear at some point to offer his insights as an analyst.
He has taken pains to cultivate his standing with the media, not just as a reliable source but as an accessible one. East Coast reporters have been known to call him at home at 5 a.m. In 2005, he built a small television studio down the hall from his office in the Minneapolis Hyatt Regency Hotel so that television stations in cities such as Spokane, Washington, wouldn’t have to pay for studio time at WCCO’s downtown facility if they wanted to interview him on camera. The studio also is convenient for appearances on CNN, NBC’s Today, and other national forums.
"I laugh when I hear the announcement, 'In case of emergency. . . . ' Hey, in case of emergency, we're all going to die, because there's no way we're getting out of here. We're packed in like sardines."
Trippler explains that he does not push himself forward as a news source by calling reporters or issuing press releases. “They come to me,” he says. But he does sometimes send out “media notes,” via e-mail, usually stating the plain facts about some phenomenon that he finds interesting and would, of course, be happy to discuss.
He says he receives no money from any media outlet. Thanks to his high profile, however, the one-time Northwest Airlines ticket agent and long-time independent travel agent has made his living for the past several years by serving as the official expert and consumer-tips provider for travel-related Web sites, including onetravel.com and cheapseats.com. Last year he signed an exclusive contract with Provell, Inc., of Minneapolis, which runs the subscription-based site myvacationpassport.com.
Making full use of Trippler’s visibility, that site relaunched in early July as tripplertravel.com. Trippler is putting together a library of video travel tips that can be downloaded from the site or delivered as podcasts. A site subscriber might download a just-in-time podcast on, “Here’s what to do if you miss a connection or if your flight has been cancelled,” he explains.
Trippler went to work for Northwest Airlines in 1968 as a ticket agent in Detroit. He lasted about a year. “Something about coming to work high,” he recalls. “I don’t know where they got an idea like that, but it was the ’60s, and they canned my butt so fast, I tell you . . . .”
He got a job with a Detroit travel agency, arranging charter flights to destinations such as Hawaii and Jamaica. On a Hawaii charter in 1971 he met his future wife, Lynn. He moved on to travel agencies in South Dakota and Minnesota. In the Twin Cities in 1980, he became a teacher for, and then director of, the Travel Careers School, operated by Northwestern Business Travel. Two years later, he started Trippler & Associates, a travel agency that also trained agents. Lynn joined the firm in 1989, “and we’ve basically worked side by side, 24/7 ever since,” he says.
