If airlines are hooking up passengers with deals on local hotels (due to crazy weather, canceled flights, mechanical difficulties, etc), 888-895-2320 is the number to call to get a rate on a discounted hotel room. The number won’t work if the airlines haven’t notified the hotels in the area that they’re sending over passengers. “Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn…” (Photo: and parsecs to go)
airlines
US Airways Delivers Corpse To Pet Store
By 3.11.09
If you’re a pet store employee, probably the only thing worse than opening up a shipment of live tropical fish to find them dead is opening up a shipment of live tropical fish to find a human body intended for a research facility in a neighboring town. That’s what happened at a Pets Plus in Philadelphia yesterday, and US Airways says the mixup was caused by a “verbal miscommunication between a delivery driver and the cargo representative” and that they’re deeply sorry.
Man Sues American Airlines For Revoking Lifetime Pass
By 3.11.09
A man who paid nearly $400,000 in the late 80s for two lifetime passes from American Airlines is now suing the company, claiming they illegally revoked the passes after a supposed rule violation. The passes allowed him and a companion to travel anywhere they wanted in first class for the rest of his life, but AA canceled them after claiming he made “‘speculative reservations’ for companions.”
Cat Arrives Frozen After Plane Ride
By 3.4.09
Breeder ships rare pregnant cat via airline. It arrives frozen and dead. According to the airline’s vet, the cat died from uterine toxicity from multiple dead kittens. Because the baggage handlers thawed, froze, and thawed the cat again, there’s no way for the breeder to prove that the cat died from being frozen. The airline has offered to refund the breeder’s ticket, but admits no culpability in the cat’s death.
Orbitz Tries To Sneak Bus Onto Plane (Ticket)
By 3.2.09
You’d think a whole bus is hard to hide but Orbitz had no problem trying to sneak one past Harry McCracken when he was booking a flight to Las Vegas. He noticed at checkout there was a $14 ground transportation fee that had been “added for [his] convenience.” Paging backwards, tucked in a list of about 40 upgrades and local attractions was a $14 bus fee. The tricky part was that all the others were opt-in and this one was opt-out. Naughty Orbitz, trying to sneak a bus onto an airplane!
RyanAir To Liven Up Emergencies With Exciting New Escape Fees!
By 3.1.09
RyanAir’s toilet tax may not be the company’s worst idea after all, as reader Geoffrey reminds us with this mockup showing several potential fees the budget Irish carrier may well be considering.
RyanAir Mighta Just Been Making Up Toilet Fee Idea
By 2.27.09
“Maybe O’Leary was just taking the piss this morning… Michael makes a lot of this stuff up as he goes along and while this has been discussed internally there are no immediate plans to introduce it,” said a RyanAir spokesperson in response to the CEO announcing this morning they were thinking about having coin-operated lavatory doors onboard the aircraft.
RyanAir Thinking About Charging For Toilets
By 2.27.09
Ultra low-cost Irish carrier RyanAir is thinking about putting a coin slot on lavatory doors so passengers will have to pay when they empty their loose change from their coin slot.
RyanAir Employee Calls Blogger "Idiot," And Their Spokesperson Publicly Agrees
By 2.25.09
So blogger Jason Roe finds what he thinks is an error on the RyanAir site that would let you buy airfare from the zero-frills a-la-carte Irish airline for free. An employee decided t make nasty comments in Jason’s comments section, calling him “idiot and a liar!” and saying that he probably can’t get a date. Which was not that surprising. Nor was it surprising that a RyanAir PR rep responded to the situation. What was surprising was that the PR rep sided with the commenter and heaped further abuse on the blogger!
Air Travel Is Getting Cheaper Because No One Is Flying
By 2.25.09
Prices are coming down as demand weakens, so if you were thinking of taking a flight — now might be a good time to start shopping for tickets.Southwest Airlines and AirTran have both announced fare cuts and the LA Times says that traffic is down 31% at LA/Ontario International Airport as ExpressJet, United Airlines, Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways have eliminated or slashed service. With that in mind, here are three shopping tools we like…
United Airlines Offers Drinks To "The Idiots In Coach"
By 2.23.09
Reader Nicholas likes to listen to the cockpit channel while flying, because he says it calms his nerves. The flight attendants must have assumed that no one was turned to that station (or that they weren’t being broadcast on it), because Nicholas says he heard one of them refer to the passengers in the coach cabin as “idiots.” Whoops.
US Airways Reverses Fee, Sodas Free!
By 2.23.09
US Airways has reversed course and decided that it will no longer charge you for some soda-pop in a cup with ice.
Don't Bother Calling In With Complaints, United Is Disconnecting The Phone
By 2.20.09
United Airlines doesn’t want to talk to you on the phone about your complaints — so they’re disconnecting it. MSNBC is reporting that starting in April, the airline will shut down the call center that deals with customer complaints.
JetBlue Will Refund Your Ticket If You Get Laid Off Or Fired
By 2.18.09
Afraid you might get laid off? Too worried to book plane tickets? JetBlue thinks you are. They’ve launched a program that guarantees a full refund to those of you who get laid off at least two weeks before you fly.
Woman Misses Flight, Seems Slightly Annoyed
By 2.17.09
It’s as if all the frustration from airline travelers across the world has collected into one crazy woman who’s just eaten a candy bar. We can’t believe we missed this last Thursday.
US Airways And Delta Duel Over The Phone For Most Incompetent Airline Ever Award
By 2.16.09
Want a great example of the broken state of airline customer service in this country? Try a four-way conference call between yourself, Amex Travel, US Airways, and Delta. You’ll see firsthand how CSRs from the two airlines can play the “it’s not our responsibility” so well that even a devoted Amex Travel rep can’t get them to solve your problem.
Hypocrisy Abounds: Southwest Paints Bikini-Clad Model On Jet
By 2.13.09
Do you remember Kyla Ebbert? She was kicked off of a Southwest Airlines flight for wearing clothes deemed ‘too sexy‘ back in 2007. Nearly two years later, Southwest has come full circle: They’ve painted a swimsuit model on the side of one of their jumbo jets as part of a partnership with Sports Illustrated.
Unstick Your Ears After A Flight
By 2.12.09
Sometimes your ears get stuck during airplane rides and even an hour later, you’ve still got a painful pressure built-up and difficulty hearing. Here’s some things you can do to unclog the works.
