Prepare to shift that carry-on bag to your other hand as you reach for your wallet because today is the day Spirit rolls out their new fee for carry-on bags. Billed as an ostensible solution to gate delays, the worst problem you never experienced, the fee ranges from $20 to $45. [More]
airlines
What's The Best Airline For Your Pet To Travel?
By 7.28.10
Sometimes you don’t have a choice–you have to fly with your pet. In memory of Paco, the dog Delta Airlines lost back in May, here’s Petfinder.com’s updated list of the best airlines for traveling with kritters. All of the recommended carriers have changed from last year. Spoiler alert: Delta is not on it. [More]
Passengers Removed From Orlando-Bound Flight For Watching 9/11 Clips Before Takeoff
By 7.27.10
A father and his son were removed from an Air Canada flight in Toronto last Tuesday after another passenger saw the boy watching footage of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks on his iPod, reports Canoe News. The airline says the pair were determined not to be a security risk, just people with a really bad sense of tact, and it cleared them for a following flight. [More]
Southwest Forces Standby Flier Off Plane To Free Two Seats For Passenger Of Size
By 7.25.10
The Sacramento Bee reported yesterday that Southwest Airlines removed a standby passenger from a plane after boarding in order to make room for a late-arriving passenger who required two seats but had only purchased one. So why didn’t Southwest follow its own famed “Passenger of Size” policy and make the passenger unable to fit in a single seat wait? It’s sort of a reverse of Kevin Smith’s famous removal from a flight on Southwest this past February. [More]
United Removes Passenger From Flight After He Asks Whether A Meal Will Be Served
By 7.20.10
Over at JoeSugarman.com, Joe writes that on his way home from a seminar in Austin, he settled into his first class seat–he’s what United Airlines calls a 1K traveler because he flies over 100,000 miles with them every year–and asked the flight attendant, “Are you serving any meals during our flight?” A few minutes later, he writes, “two armed Austin police officers boarded the plane, looked at me and said, ‘Sugarman, follow us.'” [More]
This Home Depot Banner Upsets Customers For Some Reason
By 7.20.10
What do you think of when you think of Home Depot? Planes from a nearby airport crashing into the building, of course, which is obviously why this Home Depot in Farmingdale, NY put up such a creative felt banner. The person who shot the photo and posted it to NYCAviation last Friday says that when he asked to see a manager the sales associate responded, “What kind of manager?” You know, the store manager or the incendiary felt banner manager, because there’s both. [More]
I'm Watching Continental Let My Bags Get Soaked, Will I Be Compensated?
By 7.19.10
Reader Ken is sitting on a plane right now watching his bags get soaked. He’s wondering if he’ll be able to get compensation for the water damage. [More]
United Overloads Plane, Kicks Off Passengers Who Paid The Least For Their Tickets
By 7.19.10
Last week, a United Airlines flight from Burlington to Washington, D.C. was deemed too heavy to fly, so the company had to decide who to boot off. In a moment of what was almost certainly accidental honesty, they targeted the 20 least profitable customers. We know this was their criteria because they announced it to the rest of the passengers, so those who remained were able to rest easy knowing that all the cheapskates, budget travelers and poor people were gone. [More]
TSA App Tells You How Long You Will Have To Stare At Other People's Luggage
By 7.16.10
Wondering how long you’ll be standing in the security line, staring at other people’s luggage choices? The TSA has an app for you that relies on crowd-sourced data to give you estimated wait times at a variety of airports. [More]
Your Complete Big-Ass Guide To Annoying Airline Fees
By 7.14.10
As reported earlier today, the Government Accountability Office thinks airlines could do a lot more to be transparent about the fees they charge. And buried about 45 pages deep in the GAO’s report are two very helpful tables detailing fees for checked bags and other items that U.S.-based airlines charge extra for. [More]
Government Study Says Airline Fees Should Be Disclosed To Consumers
By 7.14.10
A new study from the Government Accountability Office says that the “optional” fees that airlines have invented for checked and carry-on bags; meals; blankets; early boarding; and seat selection are not adequately disclosed and consumers are not able to easily compare the total cost of flights offered by different carriers. [More]
United Gate Bag Template 1" Shorter Than Check-In's, Makes You Gate Check Bag
By 7.13.10
He thought he was golden but radio host Todd Schnitt had to check his carry-on unexpectedly because the baggage check template at the gate was one inch shorter than the one at check-in. [More]
DC Airports Get Super Cute Pet Bathrooms
By 7.13.10
DC’s Dulles and Reagan airports have just opened new “pet relief areas” for your pooch’s pooping pleasure prior to plane-boarding. [More]
Government Wipes Out Geese Population In Brooklyn To Ensure Airplane Safety
By 7.13.10
In what has come to be known as “Sully’s Revenge” (by me, just now), wildlife biologists herded about 400 geese from Brooklyn’s ginormous Prospect Park into cages last week, then “took them to a nearby building where they were gassed with lethal doses of carbon dioxide.” [More]
Presenting Even More Reasons To Hate Airlines!
By 7.11.10
Do you find yourself feeling too at peace with baggage fees, missed connections and seemingly inane delays at airports? Don’t worry, here are 20 more reasons to be irate at airlines! [More]
Track Your Frequent Flyer Miles With Award Wallet
By 7.6.10
Keeping track of your frequent flyer miles, when they’re about to expire and what special rain dance you have to do to actually use them can be a big hassle. Award Wallet a free site that does a bunch of the dirty work for you, operating like a Mint.com for frequent flyer miles. [More]
Latest Ryanair PR Stunt: Vertical Seats
By 7.1.10
Known for making up crazy cost-cutting moves it has no intention of implementing just to to get headlines, Ryanair’s CEO is at it again, saying the budget-airliner plans to introduce vertical seats, of the type Airbus researched but scuttled, next year. [More]
