The BlueAnt Bluetooth headset that Bixby’s wife normally uses to talk on the phone in the car failed to connect one day…which just happened to be the day that a police officer saw her holding her phone, which was on speaker phone at the time. She received a ticket. Bixby wrote to BlueAnt about the situation, and received a surprise. [More]
American Airlines Yanks Fares From Orbitz
By December 23, 2010
In a contract tussle, American Airlines has removed all of its fares from Orbitz. [More]
Know What The Letter Codes On Your Airline Ticket Mean
By September 29, 2010
Embedded in the gobbledygook of letters and numbers on your airline ticket is a secret letter code that lets airline personnel know what kind of passenger you are and what you paid for your ticket. They can use these to quickly determine whether you should be the first or the last to get bumped, and whether you can get a seat upgrade. Here’s a quick guide to deciphering what the letter abbreviations on your airline ticket mean. Find out why “Y” gets the perks and “Q” gets the shaft. [More]
Advice For Holiday Travelers This Year: Buy Your Tickets Now
By September 20, 2010
CNN’s Travel Companion suggests you start looking for Thanksgiving and Christmas tickets now, because airlines have cut capacity over last year, and the peak travel times for those two holidays are shorter this year than usual. The article also provide some tips for getting a good price: shop for single seats; aim for Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday flights; and if you can, try to fly on an actual holiday. [More]
Continental Refuses To Believe Woman's Service Dog Is Real
By August 18, 2010
Continental sure has a lot of skeptical employees when it comes to customers with disabilities. Jessica tried to buy a ticket yesterday and was told no, because the ticket agent didn’t believe that Jessica’s self-trained service dog was legit. [More]
Don't Give Greyhound Tickets As Gifts
By July 27, 2010
If you buy a Greyhound bus ticket for someone else, Greyhound will charge you a flat $18 “gift ticket fee,” which must be the worst named fee in the history of transportation. On short rides, like a one-way trip from Cambridge, MA to Hartford, CT, it bumps the price up from $22 to $40. [More]
Spirit Airlines Flights Resume Friday, Offers Everyone $50 Off
By June 16, 2010
Spirit Airline flights, grounded since the beginning of a 5-day pilot strike, could will resume Friday, after the pilots union and the airline reached a tentative agreement following 26 straight hours of negotiation. In its typically tongue-in-cheek fashion, coinciding with the announcement was a “Strikingly Low Fares” promotion offering everyone $50 off new tickets plus 5,000 bonus miles. [More]
Angry Driver Buys Police Department's Website, Launches Anti-Speed Camera Site
By June 9, 2010
Brian McCrary in Bluff City, TN received a $90 speeding ticket in the mail earlier this year, thanks to an American Traffic Solutions speed camera the police department turned on in January. McCrary says when he looked up information to call the police department with questions about the ticket, he discovered something else: that their website’s domain registration was about to expire. So he bought it. [More]
Nationals: If You Want To See Prospect's Debut, Buy Tix To 3 Other Games
By June 1, 2010
Daniel is a beaten-down Washington Nationals fan looking to be in the crowd when top draft pick Stephen Strasburg takes the mound a week from today. He said the game was suddenly sold out after the Nationals indicated when Strasburg might make his first start, and then Daniel got this email from the team, declaring intentions to shake down fans to buy tickets to other games if they want to see Strasburg’s debut: [More]
Watch Out For These Travel Scams
By May 17, 2010
Kiplinger has posted six travel scams you should be aware of, including “Be your own travel agent!” and “Join our travel club!” The key thing to remember is to stay away from unfamiliar travel agencies or websites, or at least do some research and try to find evidence that they’re legit before handing over your money. You should also make sure that any travel insurance you buy comes from a licensed insurer. [More]
Teacher Defeats Traffic Ticket With The Power Of Math
By April 8, 2010
Have you ever suspected that your city or town is trying too hard to catch traffic scofflaws in the pursuit of ticket revenue? A Florida woman received a ticket based on evidence from a red light camera, but believed the ticket was unfair because the yellow light was too short. The power of math proved that she was correct.. [More]
Ticketmaster Agrees To Only Sell Tickets It Has
By February 19, 2010
Ticketmaster has settled with the FTC over charges that it used “deceptive bait-and-switch” tactics when selling concert tickets, reports the Los Angeles Times. As usual for this kind of settlement, Ticketmaster admits no wrongdoing. For instance, the FTC noted that in one case “the same set of 38 tickets for the Springsteen concert in Washington were sold and resold 1,600 times,” and Ticketmaster waited as long as three months to let affected customers know, which is a clear example of not doing anything wrong. [More]
Speak Out Against Ticketmaster-Live Nation Merger At TicketDisaster.org
By December 17, 2009
Yesterday a bunch of consumer advocates and anti-trust people held a press conference on Capitol Hill and asked the Department of Justice to block the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger. If you, too, feel that this spells nothing but trouble for consumers–that a Ticketmaster-Live Nation monopoly would ruin competition and increase ticket prices–then check out the website TicketDisaster.org. From there, you can contact the DOJ to voice your opinion about the proposed merger, read up on reasons why the merger sucks for consumers and for the concert industry, and sign up for updates. (Thanks to JammingEcono!)
Macy's Cheerfully Helps Customers Get Parking Tickets
By November 27, 2009
The employees at the Macy’s in Washington, DC, sure were helpful earlier today! They showed customers where they could park for up to two hours while they shopped. Unfortunately, it turns out Macy’s employees are not well-versed on parking rules in DC, and the manager there doesn’t really think it’s Macy’s problem. [More]
Update On Possible Comcast/Ticketmaster/Live Nation Abomination (With Poll)
By November 18, 2009
After yesterday’s news that Comcast was considering getting in on the already-under-antitrust-scrutiny merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation, the original article has been updated to be slightly less bad.
Dear God: Comcast To Consider Partnering With Ticketmaster
By November 17, 2009
When you read about the proposed Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger, you might have thought to yourself, “Sure, this would be a merger between the world’s largest ticketing company and the largest concert promoter, but I think it could be more horrifying.” Comcast apparently agrees, as they’re considering getting in on the merger.
Chicago Judges Not Impressed By Laser Gun Speeding Tickets
By November 17, 2009
Good news if you live in Chicago and enjoy driving too fast: traffic court judges in Cook County are throwing out speeding tickets issued by laser gun-wielding cops because the LIDAR technology is apparently not “scientifically reliable.”
Tavern On The Green Plays Halloween Trick On Thousands Of Partiers
By November 3, 2009
Melissa is one of thousands of people who showed up at the bankrupt Tavern on the Green restaurant in Central Park on Saturday night for a ticket-holders-only Halloween party. She was forced to wait outside at the front of an increasingly agitated mob because the restaurant had sold too many tickets, or because someone had sold fake ones, it’s still unclear. The Daily News says one reveler waited 5 hours before he was finally let in, just before 1:30 am—which was when the party was shut down by police. Now they all want their money back, but Tavern on the Green and the party promoters are blaming each other.
