Scott says his flight from San Antonio to Denver was delayed last night because “the weather computer was not working,” but two hours later that excuse was replaced with a “weather-related delay” in Denver. The problem is, Denver was sunny and clear at the time. [More]
airlines
Passenger Says Frontier Airlines Used Fake Weather Delay To Avoid Compensating Passengers
By 6.29.10
Tiny Turtle Makes AirTran Return To Gate, Girls Forced To Get Rid Of Pet Before Reboarding
By 6.25.10
Maybe it was Michelangelo and they were afraid he would eat up all the in-flight pizza. A 10-year old girl’s teensy turtle posed enough of a risk to an AirTran flight that the plane was forced to turn around and return to the gate. The girl and her sisters were told they could not get back on the plane with the turtle. [More]
Book On Tuesdays, Fly On Wednesdays
By 6.23.10
Looking to save money on airfare for that fun summer getaway? The best time to buy an airline ticket is Tuesday around 3pm, and the best time to fly is a Wednesday. Why? [More]
JetBlue Now Selling Food On Longer Flights
By 6.23.10
JetBlue is getting into the box-o-food business on flights longer than 3 hours 45 minutes, it announced yesterday. The boxes are priced at $6 each, and there are supposed to be five different styles, including a “Wake Up” box with breakfasty food, a “Cheer Up” box with cheeses and fruit, and a “Shut Up” box that’s filled with nothing but peanut butter and saltines. (I may have made up that last one.) Fortunately for frugal travelers, the airline plans to continue offering free snacks as well, but they probably won’t tell you what to do as decisively as the boxes. [More]
Spirit Airlines Launches "Check Out The Oil On Our Beaches" Promo
By 6.22.10
Spirit Airlines is known for pushing its bottom-scraping fees with crass emailed promos, but usually they just stick with dorky sex puns. Now they’re branching out into sociopolitical commentary with their latest “Check Out The Oil On Our Beaches” promotion that leverages the BP oil spill in comedy and marketing gold. [More]
Continental Airlines Forgets That Planes Need Pilots
By 6.21.10
We’re not sure what is going on with Continental Airlines lately but people are writing in to let us know that something foul is afoot. The latest indignity also involves the Manchester, NH airport. Apparently, a reader who was unable to get to Cleveland on time was told that the airline simply forgot to schedule a pilot for his flight. [More]
Is The Dominican Republic An International Destination? Airlines Disagree
By 6.19.10
American Airlines told Bill that he couldn’t acces their international lounge because his flight from the Dominican Republic to Houston, which required a passport and a customs form, didn’t count as an international flight. Bill’s wife had paid $300 to upgrade Bill’s ticket to first class expressly so he could access the lounge, and Bill wasn’t sure what part of “international” American didn’t seem to understand. Yet it turns out American might be right. [More]
Spirit Airlines Flights Resume Friday, Offers Everyone $50 Off
By 6.16.10
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]
American Airlines Flight Attendant Uses Awesome Pilot Powers To Help Land Plane
By 6.16.10
It’s good to have outside interests. For instance, there’s this 61-year-old flight attendant who works for American Airlines who also happens to have a commercial pilot’s license, which was good news for the pilot–and the 225 passengers–after his first officer went all Airplane! on him mid-flight. [More]
Southwest Airlines' Rabbit Rejection Letter Not Going Over Well
By 6.16.10
We’re pretty sure the person who wrote this rejection letter meant well, but it’s not being received with enthusiasm among rabbit-owning customers who want to be able to fly with their pets on Southwest. Southwest allows dogs and cats, so a group of bunny owners put together a petition and mailed it off to the airline. A scan of the response, which was recently posted on BunSpace.com and forwarded along to us, shows a letter full of cringe-inducing puns and a suggestion to buy their pets some “Hare Jordans” if they want them to fly. [More]
Jet Blue COO: Flying From NYC To Boston Is Stupid
By 6.15.10
It’s not often you hear an airline exec recommend alternatives to flying, but Jet Blue Chief Operating Officer Rob Maruster decided to wing it yesterday and told attendees at an air-travel conference: “I may be shooting ourselves in the foot here, with five daily flights from JFK to Boston. But it just may not make that much sense for an airplane on a 150-mile route to fly over 300 air miles to get there. Maybe there’s a different mode of transportation that may be better to carry those customers from point A to point B.” Maybe we should be calling him former Jet Blue COO. [More]
Customers Remain Stranded As Spirit Cancels Wed Flights
By 6.14.10
The South Florida Sun Sentinel says that Spirit Airlines has canceled its Wednesday flights, which will be the 5th consecutive day that the airline has not flown due to a pilot strike. [More]
Spirit Airlines Grounded By Pilot Strike
By 6.13.10
If you’ve got a reservation for a flight on Spirit Airlines, you’d better start looking into other alternatives. The airline’s pilots have gone on strike after contract talks with management broke down yesterday morning. Apparently, the pilots were upset that they’d have to pay extra fees to carry baggage onto flights. Nah, just kidding. It’s just you getting stuck with those fees, not the cockpit crew. [More]
Want Airplane Food? Go to Turkey
By 6.12.10
While many fliers may mourn the death of surcharge-free baggage hauling, some passengers actually miss the trays of “food” that airlines once handed out on nearly all flights. For anyone nostalgic for that golden age of rubber chicken, mystery sauces and reheated frozen veggies, The New York Times has a message: Come to Turkey. [More]
New Rules About Getting Paid When Airlines Bump You
By 6.11.10
Airlines routinely overbook passengers, resulting in passengers getting bumped and having their travel plans disrupted. Currently, you can get the full ticket price if you are bumped, or 2x the ticket if you’re not provided alternative transportation within a certain time frame to the next stop, up to a certain cap level. Newly proposed regulations would increase the amount passengers could get, but it’s not as simple as that. Airline expert Elliott has delved into the report to find out what’s being proposed: [More]
Delta Smashed My Bike And Won't Refund The Baggage Fee
By 6.9.10
This guy is trying to raise money to build dams in Africa by doing 20 half Ironman races. Consequently, he has to travel with his bike a lot. He says that during a recent trip back from Hawaii Delta smashed his bike and won’t even refund the $200 fee he paid them to transport it. This makes him sad. [More]
Airlines' Approval Ratings Rise
By 6.8.10
You love the airlines now! Or at least, you don’t hate them any worse than you did back in 2007, according to a new survey released by J.D. Power & Associates. [More]
