A man in California ended up fighting with Expedia over compensation after his kids, ages 12 and 16, were left stranded overnight in a Virginia airport, because the airline wouldn’t let them board the connecting flight without being accompanied by someone 18 or older. The man told Expedia the kids’ ages before buying the tickets but the company’s system didn’t send up any red flags, so he thought the trip would be fine. [More]
airlines
Justice Dept. Clears Way For Continental-United Merger
By 8.30.10
The marriage between Continental and United Airlines got one huge step closer to happening on Friday when investigators at the Justice Department wrapped up their four-month inquiry into the merger and offered its blessing. [More]
Man Passes Self Through Airport X-Ray
By 8.27.10
Fed up with being forced to repeatedly walk through a metal detector even though he wasn’t carrying any bombs, a man decided to find an alternate way to get through airport security. [More]
Continental Refuses To Believe Woman's Service Dog Is Real
By 8.18.10
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]
Southwest Flight Attendant Takes Screaming Baby From Arguing Parents
By 8.18.10
What, exactly, happened on a recent Southwest Airlines flight from Dallas to Albuquerque? Did a thoughtful flight attendant give a restless baby a change of scenery while her parents argued, or was the airline employee out of line to remove a screaming child from her parents and notify police on the ground of a suspected abuse case? Even those who were on the plane aren’t sure. [More]
Fly JetBlue Unlimited With $499 "All You Can Jet" Pass
By 8.17.10
JetBlue has brought back its very popular “All You Can Jet” pass which let you take an unlimited number of flights between Sep. 7 and Oct 6. for only $499-$699. Last year the AYCJs sold out very quickly. They are on sale now and you can start booking trips on Aug 23. [More]
Woman Says Southwest Refused To Serve Her Alcohol, Wouldn't Say Why
By 8.17.10
Angel says she hadn’t had any alcohol before getting on her Southwest Airlines flight last week, but for some reason the flight attendant decided–after first taking her order–that she felt “uncomfortable” serving Angel her vodka and Coke. [More]
Pillow Fight Breaks Out On Airplane
By 8.13.10
A pillow fight broke out among tourists sitting in economy on a Lufthansa airplane this summer, and even the flight attendant got in on the action, laughing and tossing out more fluffy ammunition. In the end everyone claps and laughs. Aw! [More]
Expedia, Delta, And Bank Of America Team Up, Form Bad Customer Service Voltron
By 8.13.10
Paul tells Consumerist that he has a few problems. First, Expedia and Delta Airlines failed to correctly undo and reschedule a flight that his family took from Michigan to Florida. Second, his wife and children have gained the ability to bilocate. Or teleport. At least according to Delta and Expedia. Neither company seems fazed that the family flew the same route twice in a row both times. Sure, this trip might be physically possible, but it’s also completely insane. [More]
Don't Tweet Steven Slater Jokes Or JetBlue Will Chastise You
By 8.12.10
JetBlue Tweet-spanks comedian Andy Borowitz for making bad jokes about their cranky flight attendant. [More]
Dramatic Animated Recreation Of Flight Attendant Quitting, Using Emergency Slide
By 8.11.10
Taiwan news media produced this thrilling animated replay of how JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater quit his job, complete with cursing on the PA, beer grab, emergency slide run, and embracing his lover. This looks like the making of the best Sims mod ever! [More]
Flight Attendant Weighs In On Angry Passengers, Job Stress
By 8.11.10
Steven Slater’s dramatic job walk-off slide-down on Monday wouldn’t have been anywhere near as cool if he hadn’t used that escape slide. Another flight attendant named Bobby Laurie, writing about the stress of the job for The Daily Beast, says popping the slide and stealing alcohol are “the two most taboo things in the industry.” He also says he’s fantasized about doing something similar after being forced to deal with angry or obnoxious passengers. [More]
Matrix Lets You Find Cheap Airfare, Plus Advanced Routing Codes, Minus Ad Clutter
By 8.11.10
One thing that always has mildly irked me about searching for airfare is all the ads. Do you want to look complete the same search through one of our partner sites? Do you want to add on a hotel? Yadda yadda, just gimmie da plane! Da plane! Well now you can strip away all that gimcrack and tomfoolery and go directly to Matrix, the software that powers sites like Orbitz, Kayak, FareCompare, and Hotwire. [More]
Know How Much Your Bag Weighs Before Flying
By 8.9.10
Delta tried to charge “Frustrated Traveler” an illegitimate bag fee yesterday by claiming it was over the weight limit. He knew, however, that unless the bag had been eating tubs of frosting throughout the flight, it was still the same 47 pounds it was when he weighed it himself before boarding. [More]
Flight Cancellations Hold Steady Despite New Tarmac Delay Limit
By 8.8.10
Remember how airlines threatened to cancel a mess of flights if the Department of Transportation imposed fines for holding planes on the tarmac for more than three hours? Well, the DOT imposed the rule and it looks like airlines are coping just fine. The Wall Street Journal examined recently released data and found that the most probable explanation for the slight jump in cancellations is a combination of weather and shoddy maintenance. [More]
Drunk American Airlines Passenger Lights Napkins On Fire
By 8.5.10
An American Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing after an inebriated and drugged-out American Airlines passenger lit some napkins on fire. [More]
Virgin Atlantic Thinks Customer Is Making Up Pakistan Flood Disaster
By 8.3.10
You can’t expect every person to be up to date on the latest news cycle, especially not on a global scale. But there’s a Virgin Atlantic Airlines CSR who not only somehow missed that Pakistan just suffered its worst flooding in 80 years, but who kept insisting the Elisa, a customer trying to make her way back home to NYC, prove that the flooding happened. Elisa says the CSR “insisted that there were no indications in her notes that a flood had happened in Pakistan,” and that Elisa would have to prove the news or pay $933 for a “service change fee” to get back home. [More]
Rotten Economy Might Mean Big Savings On Airfare This Fall, If You Can Afford To Travel
By 8.2.10
Travel guru Christopher Elliott thinks that airfare prices could drop significantly this fall, thanks to a double-dip recession and general economic misery. So far prices for car rentals and cruise packages are going up, but Elliott says he’s hearing from travelers and travel companies about “dramatic, unexpected bargains” and “rates … on par with last year’s record-low prices” when it comes to flights. [More]
