• breaking

    TSA To Stop Being So Crazy About Liquids

    Soon you might be able to take your shampoo and booze on the plane once again without trouble. The head of the TSA told WSJ's The Middle Seat Terminal blog, "I think realistically in one year we, the TSA and foreign colleagues, will be a position to relax liquids restrictions...We are within a year of having the ability to differentiate threat liquids through the screening process.” The rule relaxation is thanks to airports deploying new x-ray machines and scanners that should be able to tell the difference between a bottle of water and a bomb. Just don't expect it to happen any time before 2009.

    TSA Likely to Relax Restrictions on Liquids in 2009 [The Middle Seat] (Photo: AP)

    1:08 PM on Thu Oct 2 2008
    By Ben Popken
    7,838 views, 74 comments

    Most discussed ironchef: how quickly we forget Al Qaeda actually used a liquid bomb hidden in a bottle of contact lens fluid that more »

  • career day

    What It's Like To Be A Flight Attendant

    A travel reporter for the New York Times spent two days working as a flight attendant on American Airlines, flying between Dallas and New York City and shadowing the real flight attendants as they dealt with drunk passengers, supply shortages, and travelers who are already fed up and tense before they even board the plane.

    “Who would have thought, after 30 years, that we’d be a flying 7-Eleven,” Becky Gilbert, a three-decade veteran of the industry told me during a break in our training session in Fort Worth.
    More »

    1:45 PM on Thu Sep 25 2008
    By Chris Walters
    22,226 views, 70 comments

    Most discussed dopplerd: The thing that I don't get is the weight limit due to the runway. What were they flying in more »

  • continental

    Continental Confuses California With NYC?

    [Update: Several commenters have pointed out that "Ontario, CA" actually refers to Ontario, California, which is near L.A. And to be fair to the OP, we're the ones who misinterpreted Ontario, not her. We've updated the post. Also, check out Fly Girl's insider explanation as to what likely happened.]
    Continental canceled one leg of Lesley's flight from NYC to California without notice—she only discovered it when she went online to check that everything was okay this morning. What's worse, however, is the alternative flight plan they proposed, which would have her going from NYC to Houston to California and immediately back to Houston to NYC again, depositing her 20+ hours later in Newark, New Jersey—where we presume a gang of Continental employees will be waiting for Lesley at the gate to beat the crap out of her with confiscated water bottles. East Coast hates West Coast, Lesley! More »

    2:28 PM on Fri Sep 12 2008
    By Chris Walters
    7,946 views, 40 comments

    Most discussed drgmobile: I have heard of numerous examples of people booking San Jose thinking they were going to Costa Rica (and vice more »

  • success stories

    Orbitz Supervisor Plays Hardball With USAir, Gets Them To Rebook Tickets

    Nicholas had a business trip go bad quickly when USAir canceled a flight and wouldn't make things right again. His tickets were through Orbitz, and although he had a terrible experience with Orbitz's first line of CSRs, he eventually managed to find a supervisor who made sure USAir helped solve the problem—even going so far as to let Nicholas secretly listen in on a call with a USAir agent. More »

    11:11 AM on Thu Sep 11 2008
    By Chris Walters
    13,300 views, 33 comments

    Most discussed krom: Orbitz front line support are moronic monkeys who basically just go onto orbitz.com for you. They don't seem to have more »

  • airtran

    AirTran Agent Screams, Curses At Travelers While Supervisor Looks On

    Forget about those dowdy old-school Olympics. What we need is an international competition to see which airline can suck the most, since everyone is getting so good at it. In the category of Random Rudeness, this AirTran agent and her equally hostile supervisor would have a good shot at the gold—especially since they aimed their hostility at a honeymooning couple. More »

    10:17 AM on Mon Aug 25 2008
    By Chris Walters
    22,550 views, 78 comments

    Most discussed kretara: Rude people in Boston! That's not new. I lived there for many years and never found a helpful service type more »

  • airline fees

    4 New Airline Fees And How To Get Around Them

    Travel expert to the stars Christopher Elliott has a new column that explains 4 new or grotesquely inflated airline fees and some ways to get around them... More »

    5:46 PM on Wed Aug 6 2008
    By Meg Marco
    21,877 views, 74 comments

  • travel

    Homeland Security: We Can Detain Your Laptop Indefinitely Without Cause

    The Orwellian Department of Homeland Security claims that it can indefinitely confiscate laptops and iPods from law abiding citizens without any provocation or justification. The Department "clarified" their policies after several business travelers started asking the press why Homeland Security was fiddling with their laptops and PDAs for months on end. More »

    9:30 AM on Sat Aug 2 2008
    By Carey
    13,158 views, 141 comments

    Latest by MrEvil: Unfortunately, our checks and balances have FAILED. The President is the one that came up with this BS idea creating more »

  • fees

    Delta Wants $300 In Fees On A $306 Ticket

    When reader Anayah booked a ticket for her little sister to come visit her in New York, she specifically asked Delta if there would be a fee for an unaccompanied minor. They told her (twice) that since her sister was 14, there would be no fee. When Anayah's family got to the gate Delta informed them that there would be a charge of $100 each way. Anayah's mother could not afford to pay this fee and, since Delta would not allow Anayah to pay the fee in person at the ticket counter in New York, there would be an additional charge of $100 to pay by phone. The confusion caused her sister to miss her flight, and now Delta wants another fee to rebook her. More »

    1:46 PM on Thu Jul 31 2008
    By Meg Marco
    10,762 views, 63 comments

    Latest by bwcbwc: @lalaland13: Liability insurance in case one of the ground crew kidnaps her (etc.), and the parents decide to sue. more »

  • american airlines

    Passengers Stuck Overnight At Dulles—First On Plane, Then In Luggage Area

    Here's further proof you should never get on an airplane these days without a handful of energy bars and one of these: over 100 passengers of an American Airlines flight out of Miami were diverted to Dulles after it had pretty much closed up for the night, and consequently they were stuck for almost two and a half hours on the tarmac, then had to wait until after 4 a.m. to get their luggage this morning. The flight was supposed to land a little before midnight last night. "We regret the inconvenience, but the decision has to be safety first," an AA spokesman told WTOP News. More »

    12:53 PM on Mon Jul 14 2008
    By Chris Walters
    7,365 views, 26 comments

    Latest by thesabre: @papahoth: If I have to explain a simple comment to you, perhaps you need to brush up on basic comment more »