Some airlines are adding on credit card transaction fees at the time of ticket purchase that far exceed their actual cost, and are only disclosed at the very last stage of the purchase process. Spirit charges $4.90 for the favor of running your plastic, and Allegiant charges $14. With American Airline's laser eye on the bottom line and US Airways trying to do everything Spirit does, might this become the latest fee fad for the struggling airline industry? Christopher Elliot thinks so.

(Thanks to Rebecca!) (Photo: Cranky Media Guy)

Southwest has since apologized to the child's mother, and offered a refund and travel voucher.

Southwest apologizes to mom on Calif. flight [AP]

(Photo: woodleywonderworks)

After many phonecalls, United informed Steph via email that they will pay $3,174.20 of the claim. They will let Steph know in 60 days whether they are going to continue looking for her gear or not.

"I was a hell of a lot safer tossing myself off a cliff in a nylon squirrel suit. It's awfully hard to base jump with no parachutes though. Thanks United! You're the best!" wrote Steph on her blog.

Here's a video of Steph climbing and jumping off the 400-foot Castleton Tower, in Moab, Utah.

Guitars, the luggage of people with broken guitars, rock-climbing equipment... United seems to have a problem safely delivering valuable baggage, or owning up to its mistakes.

So, next time, if you're flying with a lot of expensive gear, make sure to have it insured, or send it FedEx.

United Loses BASE Gear [High Places] (Thanks to Mark!)

"With Video, a Traveler Fights Back" [New York Times] (Thanks to Alan and Ray!)
(Photo: Doug Letterman)

The airline isn't cutting all flights to other cities. For example, the hourly NYC-Boston-DC shuttle service will remain unaffected. From the Wall Street Journal:

US Airways, the result of a 2005 merger of American West Airlines and the former US Airways, said it would reduce the number of flights to Las Vegas to 36 from 64 daily departures as a result of increasing fuel prices and weak demand. It also said it would end flights at Colorado Springs, Colo., and Wichita, Kan.

Other changes announced Wednesday include the suspension of five European routes: to London Gatwick; Birmingham, England; Milan, Italy; Shannon, Ireland; and Stockholm, Sweden, from US Airways' international gateway in Philadelphia. It will also give up its right to fly between Philadelphia and Beijing.

The layoffs should happen "during the first half of 2010."

"US Airways to Cut 1,000 Jobs, Focus On Hub Cities" [Wall Street Journal]
(Photo: claudiogennari)

When will we see an airline passenger bill of rights?

ANSWER: When there's a fatality. When someone dies because they were stuck on the tarmac for hours and couldn't get their insulin, we will get an airline passenger bill of rights.

Why aren't there 5-star airlines and 2-star airlines? Might some customers pay more for slightly better service, instead of universally bad service?

ANSWER: Unknown.

Consumers increasingly rely on online user reviews to make their decisions before booking hotels. Businesses, especially small ones, have figured this out and started stuffing review sites with fake testimonials. Is the solution to use better tools to start ranking user and provide more transparency to their account activity, so that, for instance, you can see whether this person made any other reviews or always leaves hyperbolic praise?

ANSWER: Those tools are great, but better than building a better mousetrap, more consumers need to learn it's not enough to just not rely on any one review, but that you can't just rely on any one review site.

What about people who don't have time to do the extra research?

ANSWER: It needn't be that time-consuming. Just by adding the word "complaints" to your Google search can reveal all you need to know to make an informed decision.

(Photo: "Oliver 62")

Joy says:

This weekend, I had plans to fly from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale. When I got to the airport, I had trouble checking in. I went to the ticket counter for help and it was there that I discovered I had accidentally booked the tickets from Baltimore, NOT Philadelphia. I was horrified and shocked; visions of hundreds of dollars danced in my head. I explained my apparent stupidity to the attendant and asked how I could get to Fort Lauderdale. After some intense clacking of keyboard keys, she told me if I ran, I could make a flight that connected through Atlanta.

I ran.

When I got to Fort Lauderdale, I stopped by the ticket counter to arrange the return trip on Wednesday. I explained what happened and that I needed to return to Philadelphia, not Baltimore as reserved. Apparently surprised by the ineptness of some travelers, the attendant had me explain a few times. Once she understood, she clacked her keys for a while and told me she thought she could help but needed to call her supervisor. After a little while, she waved me over to her station and told me she could return to me to Philadelphia for $500. I gulped and as I figured out how I would cough up the extra funds, she asked me to wait a moment. With a bit more clacking of keys, she told me there would be no charge.

I have no idea why these two ticket counter attendants took it upon themselves to help me out of such a stupid mistake, but I really appreciate their assistance. The situation was entirely and completely my fault, yet they fixed it for me. Frankly, I was shocked; in an age when airlines charge for everything from extra pretzels to water bottles, I was completely floored that my ticket was corrected at no charge. But more than that, I'm grateful. I haven't flown Airtran very many times but if this is any indication of the level of service provided, Airtran is becoming my preferred airline.

Everyone who has heard this story has been equally amazed by the service. Traveling via air has become so miserable that to receive extra service and a little bit of mercy makes all the difference in the world.

The best part of this story is that they were nice not once but twice. This means that AirTran has at least two different people working for them that are kind to others.

(Photo:Flying Photog)

Rick Seaney, chief executive of FareCompare.com, wrote in his online Holiday Travel Guide, "Holiday travel procrastinators do so at their own peril this year, and practical travelers should be shopping now and buying before the end ofOctober."

The problem (for consumers) is that since airlines have cut back on the number of flights this year, they have fewer unsold seats to fill—and that means no more last minute fare drops to top off the plane.

"Essentially, that's creating a sellers' market," said Jeff Pecor, a spokesman for Yapta.com, which alerts fliers to price drops even after the ticket has been bought so travelers can call the airline to claim a travel credit.

"While we're tracking roughly the same number of flights for this holiday season as last year, we have issued fewer price drop alerts on flights," he added.

"In Shift From '08, Holiday Airfare Is Soaring Daily" [New York Times]
(Photo: kynbit)

UPDATE 2: Nic responds to the video by saying, "in the video, it looks as though my son is playing happily in his stroller while i am being searched with a wand. obviously this is the big discrepancy with my story, since he was not in my sight at that time, and one that i too am thoroughly looking into. neither of the two phone calls i placed while seated in security are in the video either. what is shown in the video is incomplete as it leaves out when the security agent took my son to a separate area and out of my sight. this matter is one that is being handled between my family and the TSA."

Mommyblogger Nic tells the horrifying story of how TSA agents took away her child because the clip on his pacifier set off the metal detector yesterday.

Nic writes:

Jackson was in my arms, and in the midst of getting all of our gear on the conveyor belt, my mistake was neglecting to take off my son's pacifier clip that hangs from his shirt, which is metal.

The instant I walked through the metal detector with Jackson in my arms, we beeped. I knew exactly why...

...The male TSA agent repeated, "I'm going to have to pick him up to inspect him."

I handed him my son.

I handed him my son and he walked away with my child.

My eyes welled up with tears, I stood up from my chair and I asked the female TSA agent, "Where is he going? Where is he taking my child? Why is he leaving?"

Jackson, while being whisked away looked at the male TSA agent awkwardly and repeated "no no no no."

I started crying.

The TSA eventually returned the child a few minutes later but the interim period was extremely stressful for the mother. According to the TSA website, "We will not ask you to do anything that will separate you from your child or children."

Looks like some agents need retraining.

TSA Agents Took My Son [My Bottle's Up] (Thanks to David!)

This seems rather intuitive to us. But as airline bottom lines have worsened, even before the recession, airlines began limiting when and under what circumstances they would reimburse travelers for basic items such as clothing and toiletries purchased while waiting around for lost luggage to show up.

[M]any carriers have in recent months reimbursed passengers only for necessities that were purchased more than 24 hours after arrival on the premise that the bag could be located and delivered within that time. What's more, carriers are limiting the payback only on the outbound leg of the trip.

That would mean a passenger whose bag was lost on a flight from Chicago to New York would have to wait a full day from landing before purchasing mouthwash and a suit for the "big meeting" that next day - if a refund was expected.

"Travelers should not have to pay for toiletries or other necessities while they wait for baggage misplaced by airlines," U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.

While we sympathize with airlines' need to keep costs down, the 24-hour rule is unreasonable, and we're glad to hear that the DOT has put its collective foot down.

DOT warns airlines: Pay up fast for lost bags (via CT Watchdog)

(Photo: sfxeric)

From the Houston Chronicle:

It started a couple of months ago with a laptop that inexplicably crashed.

Then, someone altered the password on Kate Hanni's desktop computer and when she finally got into it, the files were corrupted.

Microsoft's tech support said she'd been hacked. A few weeks later, all her e-mail disappeared, and AOL told her the same thing.

According to the Airline Biz blog at the Dallas Morning News, this September 29th statement by Frederick J. Foreman, a former employee of Metron forms the core of Hanni's claims:

"On Friday, September 25, 2009 at approximately 10:00 AM, I was escorted by two (2) Metron Aviation, Inc. employees into the office of Mr. James Gaughan, Senior Vice-President and General Manager.

Mr. Gaughan asked me to go over the chronology of my interaction with the media. I told him my interaction with the media as I remembered it. He told me that what I told him was not consistent with information that he had. I responded by asking what are you talking about? He immediately said that I had contact with Ms. Kate Hanni on Thursday, September 24, 2009. I said yes I did but Kate Hanni is not the media so that my statements about the chronology of events are correct.

Mr. Gaughan proceeded to show me on his computer monitor what appeared to be hacked and stolen email communications within the last six (6) months or more between Kate Hanni and me, me and Gary Stoller of USA Today, me and Susan Stellin, a freelance reporter, and Kate Hanni and a number of people concerning the Passenger Bill of Rights, excessive surface delays, and other private communications.

It was clear that they had email transactions from both of my private email accounts: Hotmail (eckmaster12 [at] msn.com) and Yahoo (eckmaster [at] mmi-gov.com). It was also clear that these emails were from Kate Hanni's private and personal email account (katcrew4 [at] aol.com), as well as from Gary Stoller's (gstoller [at] usatoday.com) private USA Today account, and Susan Stellin's (stellin [at] earthlink.net) private and personal email account.

There were no emails communications from Metron Aviation's email system only communications from information that I gave her as fuel for getting the Passenger Bill of Rights passed in Congress.

He said that Delta Airlines sent this information to them. I took this to mean that Delta Airlines and Metron Aviation both had a copy of these hacked and stolen email communications. Mr. Gaughan said that Delta was mad and upset that one of Metron Aviation's employees had provided Kate Hanni with this kind of information. He said that I had put Metron Aviation in a precarious situation with Delta Airlines and that at a minimum I had not been a good employee by doing this. I tried to explain to him that what I sent to Kate Hanni on 9-25-2009 could be obtained by anyone by simply analyzing the public information that is available online and provided by the Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation and Statistics, but to no avail.

Based on these hacked and stolen email communications, James Gaughan of Metron Aviation, Inc. decided to terminate my employment. The two (2) Metron Aviation escorts took me to my desk where I got my personal belongings and then they escorted me out of the building at approximately 12:15 PM."

Delta says the accusation is "clearly without merit," and Metron says the accusation is "completely baseless and without merit." Hanni is seeking $11 million in damages from Delta.

"Has Delta been hacking?" [Houston Chronicle]
"Consumer activist Kate Hanni accuses Delta of hacking her email, computer" [Airline Biz]
(Photo: Hong Kong dear Edward)

What's the real source of the problem? Airlines' hub-and-spoke system, which means that delays at the country's busiest airports delay as many, many passengers and reverberate throughout the system.

The 26 metropolitan hubs and other large metropolitan areas host a concentration of national delays-and the situation is worsening over time. The concentration within the 100 largest metropolitan areas was especially troubling with congestion-related delays as well as those lasting over two hours. Within the 26 domestic hubs, six experienced worse-than-average delays for both arrivals and departures: New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, Atlanta, and San Francisco.

The report contains more in-depth analysis by region and even by airport, for far more information than the average consumer probably needs.

Expect Delays: An Analysis of Air Travel Trends in the United States [Brookings Institution]

(Photo: mrkathika)

Companies participating in this exciting new program include Delta, US Airways, American, Northwest, Continental, United, and AirTran. According to WalletPop, here's the expanded list, including exciting new holidays such as Easter, Memorial Day, and apparently Spring Break.

• Nov. 29
• Nov. 30
• Dec. 19
• Dec. 26
• Dec. 27
• Jan. 2, 2010
• Jan. 3
• March 14
• March 20
• March 21
• April 11
• May 28

If you've already booked your tickets, the fee won't be added after the fact. But watch out when making holiday travel plans.

Happy holidays: Airlines expand $10 fee, and it's your fault [WalletPop]
Airlines' Holiday Surcharge Extends to Memorial Day [Bnet]

PREVIOUSLY: Airlines Add $10 Surcharge On Busy Holidays

(Photo: elderleaf) (Thanks, William!)

Japan's All-Nippon Airways is embarking on this experiment for the month of October. Airline staff will ask passengers to relieve themselves shortly before boarding.

ANA hopes the weight saved will lead to a five-tonne reduction in carbon emissions over the course of 30 days.

Although it is intended as an experiment lasting one month and 42 flights, the trial may be extended if it is well-received by passengers and if results are positive.

Based on an average human bladder capacity of 15oz, if 150 passengers relieved themselves on board an aircraft, this would amount to 63.7kg [140 lbs] of waste.

Interesting idea, but what kind of insane person gets on a plane with a full bladder in the first place?

Airline asks passengers to use the toilet before boarding... so they will weigh less and help cut carbon emissions [Daily Mail]

(Photo: mr_t_77)

"Premier Baggage" [United via Best Fares]

Consumerist is a very critical site so when I see something extra from a company I feel like should give credit where credit is due.

On the day of my flight, I missed the boarding cutoff at JFK but ticket agent Orniston called down to the gate to see if they would let me in. They wouldn't, and the next available flight was about a ~$500 fare difference. With patience and humor, my man Orniston checked with his supervisor and got me on it for only a $40 fee. Score!

The bathrooms at Terminal 5 seemed a lot cleaner and brighter than the usual. There was free no-BS wifi and a plug-in table - no hunting for spare outlets and crouching like a laptop hermit required.

The Captain gave a good pre-flight announcement that was actually friendly and funny instead of just trying to be. I swear the flight attendant did a sort of sashay dance down the aisle as she checked to make sure everyone's belts were tightened.

Flight was smooth, seats were spacious and I enjoyed 36 channels of real cable, especially the soccer channels. We landed 45 minutes early. On the return flight there was a lot less legroom and my TV kept cutting out. Otherwise, good to go.

A++++, would fly again!

(Photo: Seamus Murray)

Our gut reaction is "OH SWEET MERCIFUL MONEYCAT NO," but not everyone agrees.

Americans are split about in-flight mobile phones, a survey by the Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics found. About 45% said cellphones should be banned on aircraft. About 40% said they should definitely or probably be allowed if they don't pose a safety threat, according to the survey, which queried about 1,000 households.

A chief concern is the in-cabin noise level. Some fear that people may carry on long conversations on their cellphones. And people generally talk louder on cellphones because they can't hear their own voices - unlike on landlines, which have a device that amplifies your voice and replays it through your earpiece.

For now, providers of in-air wireless Internet are blocking voice services, and passengers are finding ways around those blocks just as quickly. (One Consumerist reader reported that his in-air connection simply wasn't fast enough to make a call—to airline customer service, naturally—via Skype.)

Should airlines let passengers make calls via Wi-Fi? [USA Today]

(Photo: Attempts at Photography)

The AP says that "nothing was found on the plane or in the baggage of the man and his companion," according to LA police.

The flight was about to take off when the man jumped up and ran to the bathroom. The crew found this behavior suspicious and returned the plane to the gate where the man and another passenger were removed, questioned and searched. No charges are expected to be filed.

When ya gotta go, ya gotta go.

No threat found on delayed United flight at LAX [AP]
(Photo:afagen)

The incident happened at Manchester Airport in England this weekend, when the CEO of budget airline Jet2.com showed up unannounced and saw a 60-minute wait to check in, and a line of about 200 passengers. He gave his employees a good cussin' for "sitting there doing nothing." In response, the employees called the police for breaking the airport's "no threatening the employees" rule.

Apparently the employees' counterattack didn't work:

A police spokesperson said Mr Meeson admitted he had been "unprofessional and irate" but had calmed down so no action had been taken against him.

Meeson also noted that he plans to address whatever training issue prevented the employees at Manchester from doing their jobs properly. We have a feeling there's going to be some turnover there.

"Police called as airline boss berates own staff" [Telegraph] (Thanks to Robert!)

What's the real reason? People returning home after various winter holidays.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving — Nov. 29 this year, — is typically among the busiest travel days of the year, along with the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

The days following New Year's Day are also busy as travelers return home from the Christmas holidays.

Surcharges must be included in base prices listed in advertisements and on Web sites, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

American Airlines started the meme on Wednesday, United followed along on Thursday, and Delta joined in on Friday.

Delta matches American, United on $10 holiday surcharge [Atlanta Journal-Constitution] (Thanks, Snarkysnake!)

(Photo: elderleaf)

The BBC reports that, until now, BA passengers couldn't reserve seats more than 24 hours in advance. As of October, though, the airline will retire its last biplane and do what just about every other airline in the world has done for years: let passengers book their seats in advance. However, on BA, the privilege — and yes, the airline does seem to treat it as such — of choosing your own seats, will cost you anywhere from £10 to £60.

A BA spokeswoman said: "Customers frequently request specific seats, but in the past we've only been able to confirm them 24 hours in advance or on the day. "We know people want to secure them in advance and have real control over their flying experience. This will allow them to do that."

BA will still let the skinflints reserve their seats for free at the 24-hour mark. But consumer watchdog Which? warns of the perils facing those unwilling to ante up the extra pounds: "If you aren't quick enough off the mark, you could find yourself sitting on the other side of the plane from your family or partner. It's no way to start a holiday."

British Airways sets seat charges [BBC via Boing Boing]

(Photo: daspaddy)

Eventually, Cutts began receiving emails from 321mags.com, which U.S. Airways had enlisted to fulfill the orders. Of eight magazines and newspapers Cutts tried to order, he got zero. "That's right," he wrote in his blog. "Not a single magazine or newpaper showed up. Instead, eight different times I was told that an 'overwhelming response' meant that title wasn't available."

By the time all of the magazine offers fell through, Cutts' miles had expired. But his saga doesn't end there. A short while later, U.S. Airways came back with a new offer: He could get his miles back — if he signed up for a shiny new credit card. Cutts declined, and added the followng to his blog: "You know what, U.S. Airways? Just keep the miles. Or better yet, if anyone from the U.S. Airways Dividend Miles program sees this post and wants to do something nice, please donate those miles to charity."

Now, we're sure Matt isn't saying — and we're not implying — that the magazine offers were a ruse in order to run out the clock and then send out the credit card offer. But come on: At least admit that you're not sending out Conde Nast Portfolio because it doesn't exist anymore — not due to "an overwhelming response."

Bad Experience with U.S. Airways Dividend Miles [Matt Cutts]

The latest figures were compiled by researchers at Idea-Works, whose spokesman Jay Sorensen said: 'Where I have disagreements with carriers is where the additional fee, such as a charge for booking online, is not optional.

'These fees are really part of the fare. It is disingenuous to pretend they are anything else.'

Oh, yeah, and baggage fees are going up at the beginning of October. But that's the least of your problems if you gamble all your possessions away while on board.

Ryanair rakes in £548m a year from 'stealth costs' [Daily Mail]

RELATED:
Ryanair Supposedly Not Kidding About Installing Pay Toilets
RyanAir To Liven Up Emergencies With Exciting New Escape Fees!
RyanAir: Bye Bye, Checked Bags And Airport Check-In. Hello, Gambling!

From TIME:

A Delta spokeswoman seemed perplexed by the whole question. First she said simply, "We direct customers to our e-mail." After more checking, she reported that Delta does have a customer-care option on its toll-free number. When I couldn't find it, she checked once more and clarified: the customer-care line is found on Delta's main corporate phone number - but that number is not publicized and "it is not suggested" that customers call it. A representative at that number said they do not take customer complaints and directed me to the website.

We find that Google Finance is an excellent tool for escaping these sorts of circular traps.

The Airlines' Customer-Complaint Lines: No Answer [TIME]
(Photo:Zonaphoto)

From CBS 2 Chicago:

[The customer] says what's most bothersome to him is that Southwest never tested whether he could actually fit in a seat with the arms down.

"That is absolutely my problem. They didn't test me in any way," he said.

This is, of course, the second time that we've heard of this happening to a Southwest customer at the Vegas airport. Reader Chip, a frequent flier with Southwest who was suddenly too fat to fly, received an apology. In that apology, Southwest cautiously admitted that Chip should have been allowed to demonstrate that he could fit in the seat before being denied boarding.

From Chip's apology:

However, once your situation escalated to a Supervisor and you explained again that you've traveled many, many times without being approached, our Employees should have reevaluated the situation.

I assure you that the appropriate Leaders have been made aware of your concerns. Although we will be unable to share any specifics with you, we are confident our Leaders will address the situation appropriately.

Southwest said the Chicago flyer was ultimately denied boarding because he was angry about being denied boarding and that other passengers were uncomfortable flying with him.

They also said that allowing him to fly from Chicago to Las Vegas in the first place was "a mistake." Surely Southwest can find a more consistent and less newsworthy way to enforce this policy?

Man Says Airline Grounded Him For His Girth [CBS2] (Thanks, Andrew!)
(Photo:Bob Reck)

PREVIOUSLY: Southwest Apologizes To The Frequent Flyer Who Was Suddenly Too Big To Fly

The "Bites" menu is the most confusing, probably because I struggle with the concept of paying someone to pour water in an Instant Lunch cup and serve it to me.

- Quaker Oatmeal Express Golden Brown Sugar $3
- Maruchan Instant Lunch – Chicken $3
- Pringles Chips – Original $3
- Nabisco Mini Oreo Cookies $3
- Twizzlers – Strawberry $3
- Planters Daybreak Blend Apple Cinnamon Trail Mix $4
- Blue Diamond Almonds – Roasted Salted $5

The menu also features a breakfast "Fruit, cheese and meat platter" ($7), sandwiches and salads for dinner, and, interestingly, cocktails for $8. Because there's nothing like a premixed pomegranate martini when flying to a conference in Houston.

If they're going to charge for in-flight meals, this isn't too bad, but the lack of vegetarian options that aren't up in the "snack" column is a little dismaying.

Soda and coffee, however, remain free.

US Airways MarketPlace™ - food, drinks & more (Thanks, Marti!)

The fee doesn't apply to "Business Select" passengers or elite frequent flyers, who get to board before the coach class masses do. Southwest famously doesn't have assigned seating, so this gives passengers a chance to jump the line and snuggle up to a nice window seat if they so desire. Harmless enough. But as the Wall Street Journal's travel blog notes,

Southwest needs to find ways to increase revenue even though the airline isn't growing as fast as it used to. Fees may be a big factor. And EarlyBird check-in fees could well be an early-bird sign that bag fees aren't far off.

Indeed. Other signs that Southwest is having trouble: the airline is being investigated by the FAA for using unauthorized parts on its fleet, and is also cutting back on flights.

FAA Investigates Southwest Over Parts [Wall Street Journal]
Nickel and Diming at Southwest Airlines? [WSJ Travel Blog]

(Photo: zonaphoto)

According to the article, "in tests and now in regular service, usage drops off considerably when travelers must pay for the service." Even Alaska Airlines, which only charges $1, saw a steep drop off in usage.

People think Wi-Fi should be free and some won't use it if it's not:

"It's good for them to offer it, but would I pay for it? Probably not,'' said Alex Smith, a business traveler from Cincinnati.

Mike Duguay from Boston used a free trial of Gogo on an AirTran flight earlier this week and decided he would pay for it on his flight home from Dallas.

"It should be free, but if you have to pay, I'll definitely still use it," he said. "Access in the air kills the boredom.''

In the Air, Wi-Fi Gets a Ho-Hum Reception [WSJ]
(Photo:kevindean)

The first bag will remain free but the second bag will now cost $50. Last month, AA raised the fees for checked bags on domestic flights by $5 per bag.

(Photo: balmes)

AirTran? Really? Turns out that the discount carrier once known as ValuJet has turned safety into a priority.

"It has been a great five years for us in which our continual dedication to safety has paid off," says Christopher White, a spokesman for AirTran. "Our 8,500 crew members make safety their No. 1 priority every day.

Meanwhile, United, accused of being the least safe of the major airlines, wasn't impressed with the analysis. "It is difficult for us to comment on these figures because we do not know the methodology behind them," said a United spokesperson.

You can see the Daily Beast's results, here.

One interesting bit of information from the article is that the age of the actual aircraft in which you're flying has less of an impact on safety than how long ago that particular model was designed. In aviation writer CLive Irving's analysis of the research, he noted:

Last December a Continental 737 [designed in the 1950s] taking off from Denver aborted at the last second and, in icy conditions, skidded into a ravine. Thirty eight passengers were injured. The 737's fuselage broke apart behind the wings, a failure typical of a design of that age.

Now look at the Miracle on the Hudson. The Airbus A320 [designed in the 1980s] hit the water at around 160 mph, a considerable impact. The fuselage remained in one piece, everybody got out. I doubt very much that would have been true in the case of a 737. Add to that the ability of the A320's fly-by-wire controls to give Captain Sully Sullenberger a stable attitude on very little backup power and the Airbus technology is proved to be a real life saver.

How Safe Is Your Airline? [The Daily Beast]
What to Know About Airline Safety Records [The Daily Beast]

(Photo: Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie)

Elite frequent fliers, first-class passengers, and active-duty military personnel are exempt from the fees.

Here's a lovely chart they have provided for your edification.

Baggage policy [US Airways]
(Photo:balmes)

Most of the suggestions revolve around tips we've written about before: be polite but firm, know when to escalate your complaint, and give good feedback if the employee helping you goes above and beyond.

Use Sun Tzu's The Art of War to Win Battles at the Ticket Counter [foxnomad]
(Photo: eBelinda)

According to USAToday, Sun Country Flight 242 to Minneapolis was "supposed to take off from New York City on Friday about 11 a.m. local time. But passengers say the plane didn't start boarding until about noon, and didn't take off until after 6 p.m."

After about 3 hours a food cart arrived but there apparently wasn't enough food for all 100 passengers.

From USAToday:

"Our flight crew did everything in their power to make the passengers as comfortable as possible and to keep them informed," [Sun County chief executive Stan Gadek] said.

The passengers will be given refunds.

Sun Country fliers endure 6-hour ground delay at JFK [USAToday]

A passenger gave the paper a picture she took on her cellphone camera as the man was being arrested by quite a few uniformed individuals. We counted 6, but that might be another one behind him. We're not sure.

The paper says 10 sheriff's deputies boarded the plane.

Passenger takes it all off, plane turns around [SF Chronicle]
(Photo:Danielle Lichliter / Special to The Chronicle)

"We have concluded our testing for inflight Wi-Fi and are very happy with both the technical performance of the system and the response of customers who have used it," said Dave Ridley, Southwest Airlines senior vice president of marketing and revenue management, in a statement.

We love the trend of airlines getting Wi-Fi. We can't wait until their customers are helping us liveblog tarmac delays as they happen.

Southwest Air Preps To Fly With Wi-Fi
[InformationWeek]
(Photo:Zonaphoto)

"United Breaks Guitars: Song 2" [YouTube] (Thanks to Steve!)

The abandoned woman isn't even angry at the airline. She says she loves flying and will do it again. Her kids, however are not in a very good mood after hours of wondering what happened to their mother.

The trouble started Tuesday. Ms. Jones had a connecting flight at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. She made the connection in time, but no one pushed her wheelchair down the jetway.

After the gate agent realized what had happened, he called her family and American Airlines arranged for food and a hotel room. The following morning Ms. Jones was returned to the Terminal and left with a Skycap. Nobody helped her to her gate and she missed the second flight, too. Eventually she was upgraded to first class and given a $100 voucher for a future flight.

Ms. Jones' family says that they are upset about the lack of communication from AA.

From WFAA:

"It's just a simple human error," said Tim Wagner, an American Airlines spokesman. "We apologized profusely to Ms. Jones. We've done everything we've been able to do to make her comfortable."

American Airlines forgets grandmother at gate [WFAA]

What's the inevitable catch?

...Ray Neidl, an independent airline analyst, said it's "not quite as crazy as it sounds on the surface."

He said that JetBlue has a limited number of routes and often has fares of $99. So, while the San Francisco example above makes it sound like a great deal, Neidl said, some passengers might need to make six trips to make it worthwhile.

"There are not a lot of people who can travel that much," he said. "It's students or retirees."

By September, of course, students are back in school, so they aren't ideal candidates for this promotion. You just know that someone is going to find a way to fly to all of the cities JetBlue serves using the pass during the promotion month, and write a blog about it.

Ridiculously Cheap Travel Deals: JetBlue Offers Unlimited Flights for $599 [ABC News]
All-You-Can-Jet Pass [JetBlue]

(Photo: mrkathika)

LaHood says:

Basically, we want to know what I think all of us want to know:

1. Why the flight was diverted to Rochester, Minnesota, in particular;
2. Which carrier, Continental or Express Jet, was responsible for the well-being of the passengers and, in particular, which carrier's contingency plan was implemented during the tarmac delay;
3. Whether Continental/ExpressJet had in place at Rochester procedures regarding the deplaning of passengers on diverted flights at diversion airports without TSA presence and if not, why not;
4. Whether such procedures were implemented with respect to flight 2816 and if not, why not;
5. Why flight 2816 was forced to stay on the ground at Rochester for as long as it did; and
6. An explanation of the passenger's treatment during the delay, including once they were inside the airport terminal.

The letter also asks Continental for similar information about other recent delays.

What will he do with this information?

... DOT has a rulemaking in progress that proposes to require airlines to take certain steps to deal with lengthy tarmac delays, including establishing contingency plans that meet basic passenger needs during a lengthy tarmac delay. Some have proposed that DOT go further and set a time limit for carriers to deplane passengers. While I can't comment on the merits of the proposed rule yet, we will use the information Continental provides to help us reach a decision about what direction to go in that rulemaking.

Outrage on tarmac delays—you want to know, DOT wants to know [DOT Blog]

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune says that the horror story started when a flight from Houston to Minneapolis was diverted to Rochester because of severe weather. In case you're not awesome at MN geography, Rochester is only about 80 miles from the Minneapolis airport.

At this point the flight crew apparently hit its limit on flying time, and a new crew was needed. The company says it refused to let the passengers off the plane because the TSA screeners had left and "passengers legally couldn't get back on the plane."

KARE 11 interviewed a passenger who describes the scene on the plane:

"Everybody in the plane was kind-of moving, trying to find positions to sleep in," Christin said. "There wasn't any room, the plane was getting warmer."

Christin says at least two babies were on board and they cried throuhgout the night.

"The smells were getting worse, the bathroom was getting worse," he says. "The babies had obviously started going to the bathroom."

He also says that no one offered the passengers any food after landing in Rochester.

The airline says the airport didn't have enough personnel to allow people to sleep in the terminal and claims that they tried to find a bus but failed to locate one. In all the passengers boarded the plane at 7:30pm, waiting two hours to take off, then were not allowed to get off the plane until 6:30am the following morning. At 9:30am they reboarded the plane and finally arrived at their destination at around 11am.

Nightmare flight [USAToday]
47 passengers spend night on airplane [KARE 11]
47 trapped on 'nightmare' flight to the Twin Cities [MST]
(Photo:spinadelic)