In what we assume is a mere coincidence and not an instance of corporate hooliganism, someone at Delta Air Lines managed to snap the head off the golf club of a golf pro whose clubs happened to be in a bag branded by Southwest Airlines. [More]
air travel
Airlines Have Oodles Of Your Personal Info, But Are They Selling It?
By 8.22.13
Used to be that airlines’ frequent flier programs really just kept track of how many miles or points you’d earned. Those days are gone, as carriers are able to collect and track all manner of data about passengers, data that could be very valuable if sold to third parties. Question is — are they selling it or not? [More]
American Airlines Flight Attendant Trainee Charged With Making Bomb Threats To United Airlines
By 8.21.13
A Texas man training to be a flight attendant for American Airlines was arrested and charged with making fake bomb threats to United Airlines, not just once or twice, but an astounding eight times. [More]
American Airlines Says Flight Attendants Shouldn’t Tell Nursing Moms To Cover Up, But Vague Policy Results In Confusion
By 8.7.13
Yesterday, we told you about the semi-apology letter from American Airlines to a nursing mother who said she was treated rudely by a flight attendant while trying to feed her 5-month-old during a recent flight. At the time, we weren’t sure if the “cover it up” sentiment stated in the airline’s response to the mom was company policy or just a rep misstating the policy. Now we have a better idea. [More]
American Airlines’ Apology To Nursing Mom Only Ends Up Making Situation Worse
By 8.6.13
In a situation where a simple apology would have really helped, American Airlines went a few steps too far in its apology letter to a mother who claimed she was hassled by a flight attendant for nursing on the plane. [More]
JetBlue Goes After A Pricier Class Of Flier With Lie-Flat Seating, Single-Seat Suites
By 8.5.13
JetBlue made a name for itself as an all-economy class airline that provided better service than the usual low-price competitors. Now the carrier is hoping to appeal to those passengers willing to pay some more money for a little bit of extra luxury on longer flights. [More]
So What Actually Happens If I Fall For ‘Free Airline Voucher’ Scam?
By 8.2.13
We’ve told you before about scammy letters falsely claiming to be from Travelocity and something called “United Airways,” alerting recipients that they have won free travel vouchers worth hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars. Our readers were too savvy to fall for these scams, but not everyone is. [More]
Are Crying Kids Reason To Be Booted From An Airplane? US Airways Thinks So
By 8.2.13
We see a lot of stories about passengers being removed from airplanes, some of which seem legitimate (intoxicated, verbally abusive travelers) and others that don’t (people who ask a flight attendant one too many questions). Here’s the story of a Consumerist reader who, along with her two young sons, was ejected from a flight because her crying kids were delaying takeoff — but is that really reason enough? [More]
TSA Misconduct Cases On The Rise; Agency Not Following Up On All Complaints
By 7.30.13
In theory, the Transportation Security Administration is supposed to be a last line of defense against terrorists and other folks who want to do bad things on airplanes. With so many lives on the line, employee misconduct of any kind can’t really be tolerated, but the last few years have seen an increase in bad behavior by TSA staffers. [More]
Delta Passenger Claims Airline Made Him Crawl Across Tarmac Rather Than Offer Assistance
By 7.29.13
A man from Hawaii who was left without the ability to walk following a car crash in 2000, has sued Delta Air Lines, claiming the carrier gave him no option but to crawl down the aisle of the plane and across a tarmac instead of him providing the assistance he says he’d been promised in advance. [More]
Customs Cutbacks Result In Several Hours Of Waiting In Line For Some Travelers
By 7.25.13
Going through customs after an international flight can sometimes be a hassle, but the line for passengers arriving back home in their country of residence usually moves much faster than those visitors from other nations. Try telling that to American travelers landing at DFW International in Texas, where some have spent hours and hours waiting in line just to clear customs. [More]
TSA Making It (A Bit) Easier To Enroll In Expedited Security Screening Program
By 7.19.13
We’ve been writing for quite some time about the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck (or as the TSA obnoxiously insists on writing, “Pre✓™”) program, which allows vetted travelers to go through an airport security screening process. To enroll, consumers need to be a member of certain airlines’ frequent flier programs or already part of other trusted-traveler services, but starting this fall, the TSA will open up online enrollment in PreCheck… with one major catch. [More]
United Passenger Guilty Of Sexually Assaulting Sleeping Female Traveler
By 7.19.13
We want to believe this will discourage idiots from trying something like this in the future, but we don’t hold out too much hope. A New Jersey man could spend the rest of his life in prison after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman while she slept during a United Airlines flight. [More]
JetBlue Gets Burned By Hot Weather Promotion
By 7.19.13
As the Mid-Atlantic settles in for what must be the 623rd straight day of searing-hot temperatures, the folks at JetBlue are learning that maybe they shouldn’t rely on Mother Nature to cooperate when planning a promotional discount. The airline has had to pull the plug on an ill-conceived weather-related offering after too many people signed up. [More]
Asiana Airlines Decides Not To Sue Punked TV Station Over Bogus Pilot Names
By 7.17.13
By now you’ve heard about the on-air gaffe at Oakland’s KTVU-TV, in which a news anchor read a list of obviously fake names of the four pilots on Asiana Flight 214 that crash-landed at SFO on July 6. The South Korean airline recently said it intended to sue the TV station over the incident, but has now decided against taking any legal action. [More]
American Airlines Charges Me To Carry On Dogs, Gives Me Nowhere To Put Them
By 7.15.13
Rebekah’s problem with American Airlines is very simple. She paid them extra for the privilege of bringing a pet on board. Two, actually: dogs small enough to fit under the seat. She ended up in a row with no seat in front of it and nowhere to stash her dogs, because animals don’t like the overhead bin. [More]
Family Says They Were Booted From JetBlue Flight Because Autistic Child’s Behavior Deemed “Potential Danger”
By 7.12.13
What should have been a short 20-minute flight from Nantucket, MA, to Boston ended up being a much longer ferry ride for one family after they were removed from a JetBlue flight after an incident involving their 13-year-old daughter with autism. [More]
United Passenger Spends Three Days In Jail Following Dispute Over Seat
By 7.8.13
For each bad consumer booted from an airplane for bad behavior, we hear about some unhappy passenger being pulled off a plane and questioned by police because of a petty dispute with a flight attendant. Those passengers are usually released after only a few hours, but here’s the story of a woman who spent three days in jail after she tried to sit in a United Airlines seat that didn’t belong to her. [More]
