Consumerist
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overcharges
Virgin Atlantic Overcharged Me, Says They Sent Refund, Didn't
Priya says Virgin Atlantic sprung a hidden $220 fee on her for a flight to India late last year. She paid the fee but started fighting for a refund immediately. More » -
online booking
Expedia Drops Fee For Booking By Phone
This morning, travel service Expedia announced it will abandon its book by phone fee, which it first implemented last May. This makes it the only major online travel agency to not ding customers with a fee for booking flights over the phone, notes consumer travel advocate Christopher Elliott. More » -
too good to be true
British Airways Sells Cheap Flight, Says It Was A Mistake And Cancels Reservation
Akshay thought he'd found a great deal on a Thanksgiving weekend flight from San Francisco to Mumbai — $554 for a round trip — and booked it excitedly at ba.com, getting a confirmation number. More » -
fees
American Airlines Raises Baggage Fees For Flights Abroad
If you thought you could escape American Airlines' increased domestic baggage fees by only flying abroad, think again: AA is raising checked bag fees for some international flights to Europe and India. More » -
battle
Let Sun Tzu Be Your Travel Buddy
Reader Anil sent us this post that adapts Sun Tzu's The Art of War for battles at the airport ticket counter. More » -
grounded
American Airlines Takes Passenger For Rides In All The Wrong Ways
Kim is less than enamored of her recent American Airlines flights. Late arrivals made her miss connecting flights, her baggage decided to branch out and travel on its own for a while, all because she missed a different flight a couple days earlier: More » -
mile high fail
US Airways Realizes Destination Airport Is Closed, Cancels Flight Mid-Air
A reader wrote into let us know that his US Airways flight from Charlotte, North Carolina to Charleston, South Carolina was forced to turn back when, fifteen miles outside of their destination, the pilot realized that the airport closed at midnight. More » -
new and exciting products
Chinese Discount Airline To Sell Standing Room Tickets
Spring Airlines, a discount Chinese carrier, plans to ask the government for permission to sell standing room tickets. The plan will likely win approval, since Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang was recently quoted as saying: "for a lower price, passengers should be able to get on a plane like catching a bus, with no seat, no luggage consignment, no food, no water, but very convenient." More » -
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ryanair
RyanAir: Bye Bye, Checked Bags And Airport Check-In. Hello, Gambling!
RyanAir this week announced that they will soon eliminate all airport check-in counters and require passengers to carry-on their luggage. Starting early next year, passengers will need to schlep their bags through airport security and drop them at the steps of the plane for checking into plane's cargo hold. Once aboard though, there will be gambling! More » -
travel
Southwest Is Coming To LaGuardia. Hello, Price War!
Starting tomorrow, Southwest will fly out of New York's LaGuardia airport, which hopefully means that flying between New York, Boston, Chicago, and Washington is about to get a whole lot cheaper. More » -
scheduling
Persistence Convinces Continental To Abandon Impossible Itinerary
Continental thought 82 minutes was plenty of time for Chris to catch a flight connecting in Newark from Washington to Delhi. It might be, but Continental's own data show that the Washington flight arrives late 96% of the time by 103 minutes on average. Chris wanted to switch to an earlier flight so he could make the once-daily plane to Delhi, but Continental wouldn't let him switch unless he paid a $250 change fee. Unsatisfied with the answer, Chris hung up and kept calling back until he got the answer he wanted. More » -
panic
Delta Is Going To Flip Out If You Wear A Neck Brace In The Emergency Exit Aisle
Ned wears a neck brace when he flies, not because he's injured or disabled, but because he prefers it to one of those floofy neck pillows. This didn't sit well with a Delta flight attendant who was intent on keeping disabled-looking folks out of the emergency exit aisle. The attendant wouldn't leave Ned alone, even after Ned demonstrated his range of mobility and explained that the brace was from a minor car accident thirty-three years ago. Ned managed to hold onto his seat after a chat with the senior flight attendant, but the original flight attendant later came back, "got in [Ned's] face – literally, just inches away" and complained that Ned had "bucked his authority." More » -
nutritional advice
This Southwest Airlines Flight Attendant Is Really Concerned About Your Sugar Intake
Of all the weird encounters to have on an airplane, we never would have expected to have a flight attendant point out just how bad a full can of soda is for you. That's what happened to Laura, though. More » -
overbooked
U.S. Airways Gives Away Passenger's Seat, Lies About Her Being Late
It sounds like someone at Ronald Reagan National Airport decided to solve an overbooking problem by cheating Frankie's girlfriend out of her flight, and then someone else there decided to blame her for it. Despite arriving at the airport before 7pm for a 7:35pm flight, they insisted to her that she'd missed the 30-minute cutoff and lost her seat. More » -
freebies
Ride For Free On Jet Blue (If You Can Get Yourself "Trapped" In The Cargo Hold)
A Jet Blue employee hitched a free flight from JFK Airport in NYC to Logan Airport in Boston this past weekend, after getting trapped in the cargo hold before takeoff. Police aren't charging him with a crime, but they told the Boston Globe that, "Even after talking to him, we were a little uncertain as to how it happened." He apparently called the company from the cargo hold once the plane was in the air—which is exactly what we would do to deflect suspicion in a scheme like this. Tokyo, here we come via new part-time job as a baggage handler! More » -
apologies
Polite Complaint Letter To Delta Earns Passenger 5,000 Extra Miles
A glitch in Delta's website bumped Jesse's return date up by a month, which sort of interfered with his travel plans when he showed up at the airport to check in. Here's the complaint letter he sent to Delta, and their response. More » -
follow ups
Virgin Atlantic Asks Complaint Writer To Be Taste Tester
The man who wrote the long, funny complaint letter to Richard Branson about the level of suck on his recent Virgin Atlantic flight has been asked to "come to the airline’s catering house next month, to help select the food on future Virgin flights." Yeah, we know that it's a publicity stunt, but an entertaining one. We hope the customer agrees, and hates the new food just as much. In fact, we wish he'd replace Toby Young on Top Chef; the dead hamster line would be a pretty good put-down on that show. More » -
southwest
Southwest's "Credit Cards Only" Policy Increases Sales By 8%
Here's the real reason for an airline to switch to credit-card-only sales on board its flights: people spend more. Southwest Airlines' customer service veep, Daryl Krause, told the Dallas Morning News that "since Southwest began accept credit cards (and no longer taking cash) on Sept. 9, its drink sales are up about 8 percent." Since in general "the goal was one more drink sale per flight," we wonder whether that wasn't the real reason for going cashless all along. More »
flights
New York, 12:41 PM
Sun Nov 15
7 posts in the last 24 hours
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