JetBlue is launching a new fee, $7 for a pillow and an allergen-rebuffing blanket. It comes with a $5 coupon to Bed Bath and Beyond. It’s all part of what JetBlue describes as a “basket of fee changes” which they project will rake in an additional $50 million this year. I guess that’s someone’s idea of targeted marketing. “Guys, we need to figure out a way to hone in on this lucrative “buys blankets” crowd…”
airlines
Government To Airlines: Improve Customer Service Or Else
By 8.3.08
The government is fed up with airlines whose crappy service and delayed flights incite passenger revolts. According to officials, “we will severely punish airlines which experience aircraft occupations and other incidents as a result of service reasons which originate with the airline.” Sounds great, right?
Spirit Airlines Drops $10 Fee For Ordering Tickets Online
By 8.2.08
As quietly as it came, the $10 “web convenience fee” Spirit levied for the favor they were doing you by letting you book online, has gone. The fee no longer appears in Spirit Airlines’ contract of carriage. A small victory for common sense, though they’ll probably just figure out a way to make it up somewhere else. How about $5 fee for takeoffs and landings?
United's "Bad Weather" Excuse Isn't Very Believable
By 7.31.08
Jonathan wants to know how long an airline can blame a cancellation on bad weather, and whether there’s any way to get such a claim rejected when it’s used inappropriately. Is it legitimate, for example, to say tomorrow’s flight is canceled due to weather, when what you really mean is an isolated thunderstorm the day before—which evidently affected no other airlines in the area—triggered a domino effect in getting a certain plane to the right airport a full day later?
Delta Wants $300 In Fees On A $306 Ticket
By 7.31.08
When reader Anayah booked a ticket for her little sister to come visit her in New York, she specifically asked Delta if there would be a fee for an unaccompanied minor. They told her (twice) that since her sister was 14, there would be no fee. When Anayah’s family got to the gate Delta informed them that there would be a charge of $100 each way. Anayah’s mother could not afford to pay this fee and, since Delta would not allow Anayah to pay the fee in person at the ticket counter in New York, there would be an additional charge of $100 to pay by phone. The confusion caused her sister to miss her flight, and now Delta wants another fee to rebook her.
By 7.30.08
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It’s really not a good week for Delta: when a flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta prepared for landing early this morning, the crew discovered the body of a 61-year-old woman locked in a bathroom. Cause of death is still being determined. [SFGate] (Thanks to Gino and Lee!)
Delta To Charge $50 For The Second Checked Bag, $125 For A Third
By 7.30.08
Delta Airlines announced yesterday that they will be doubling the fee for a second checked bag, blaming high fuel costs and asserting that it’s “still a good value when compared with shipping or luggage services.”
Delta Increases 2nd Checked Bag Fee To $50
By 7.29.08
Delta announced today that it’s doubling the fee for a second checked bag from $25 to $50, effective on new bookings starting July 31st for all travel after August 5th. Got a third, fourth, or fifth bag and a lot of money to burn? Fees for those will rise from $80 per bag to $125 each.
The Ultimate "Rule 240" List
By 7.28.08
Some airlines still call it “Rule 240” and others a “contract of carriage” but no matter what the name, it still means the same thing: power to the traveler. But which airlines still use it and how much does it protect a traveler?
Spirit Airlines Executive Contact Information
By 7.28.08
Got an unresolved complaint with Spirit Airlines and regular customer service not working out for you? Then you might want to make use of the Spirit executive contact information we’ve got posted inside (especially the info for the CEO’s assistant). Reading these posts about how to write a good complaint letter, how to send an eecb, and how to deal with executive customer service may also come in handy. With this info, you’ll go from frowny consumer to jet set in no time.
United Even Messes Up When It Fixes Mistakes
By 7.25.08
John finally got United to pay for the car he had to rent when the airline flew him to the wrong airport over nine months ago. In classic fashion, their refund invoice has a big typographical error. Airlines, even when they get it right, they manage to get it wrong.
Spirit Airlines Stealing Your Money Is "Nonrefundable"
By 7.25.08
Our network of spies and informants have penetrated every major American corporation. The following is dialog from a recent Spirit Airlines board meeting, as imagined by reader David, whom they screwed over. The first sentence of this post is therefore a non sequitor, but that’s ok. What’s not ok is Spirit’s policy making its various fees and upgrades non-refundable. So if they screw up your ticket and then have to issue you a new one, you don’t get to keep the upgrades you bought. They just take your money, because of their ironclad policy against refunds. Now let’s join that imagined Spirit Airlines board meeting, already in progress…
By 7.22.08
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Midwest Airlines is cutting 1/3 of its flights. [620wtmj]
Scammed By Curb-Side Check In At JFK
By 7.18.08
Reader Andy decided to check his bag curb-side at JFK, that wretched hive of scum and villainy, and the curb-side check-in attendant scammed him out of $15 by promising to sneak his “overweight” bag onto the flight for a “big tip.” Naturally, after the deal was done, Andy realized that his bag probably wasn’t overweight and he’d just been scammed. Now he’s writing in to tell his story so that other consumers can avoid a similar fate.
The 43.5% APR Credit Card
By 7.16.08
Perhaps this British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card’s interest rate is in “metric” APR, but if not, no matter what side of the pond you’re on on, or road you drive on, you must agree that a 43.5% variable interest rate is bollocks. Who cares how many bonus miles you get, they’re just going to get devalued anyway.
Travel Agency Charges For Airline Tickets, Cancel Tickets, Can't Be Reached For Refund
By 7.14.08
Dhanushka is having some trouble getting money back from his travel agent. He writes,
Updated: Whoa, That Airplane Is Really Close To Ours
By 7.14.08
Jon was freaked out when flying on Jetblue and his flight came in close proximity to another aircraft. He wonders if he should, and how he might, report such an incident. His story, and advice we got from an Air Force pilot, inside…
Delta: Sorry Your Lung Collapsed, But You Should Have Used Your Voucher Sooner
By 7.13.08
Trevor’s lung collapsed last year, flummoxing his plans to travel with Delta from New York to Toronto. Delta issued a voucher and promised Trevor that it could be redeemed anytime within one year. What they didn’t tell him, at any point, was that they started counting not from the date of his planned travel, or from the date he requested the refund, but from the date they issued the original ticket.
