Consumerist

airlines

Spirit Airlines Holds "MILF Sale," Denies Having Seen "American Pie"

What? Milfs for sale? If you go to their website, there it is spelled nice and big for you, M.I.L.F.(many islands low fares). Is this an attempt to be clever and comical, or are they that uninformed?

The email attracted a bit of media coverage, and now Spirit is claiming that they have no idea (wink, wink) what a MILF is, and that the executive that approved the promotion is British. (Apparently, British people don’t have movie theaters or internet connections, the poor things.) Asked whether or not the airline knew the acronym was offensive, Juan Arbelaez, the director of communications for the company’s Latin American market, told ABC News:

airlines

By consumerist.com 12.3.07

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I was going through old posts and realized that on “Delta Wants Me To Rebook For A Later Flight Because I’m One Minute Late,” I never said why I got there only 44 minutes before departure instead of 45. So here it is: the car service was 20 minutes late, and we hit traffic. Cheers.

airlines

Please Don't Hunt At The Pittsburgh International Airport

By Meg Marco 11.30.07

Important tip for aspiring sportsmen: Don’t “hunt” at Pittsburgh International Airport. It’s not legal to be creeping around airport property with loaded firearms. Shocking, we know.

airlines

By Meg Marco 11.30.07

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United Airlines and a bunch of other airlines raise fares $20. [Chicago Tribune]

gridskipper

11 Slowest Big-City Airport Security Lines

By consumerist.com 11.29.07

FareCompare’s Rick Seaney analyzed TSA’s data to find out which of the top 40 busiest airports have the longest security line waits. To get the results, they honed in on max times on Mondays from 2pm-6pm, Oct. 30 through Nov. 27.

customer service

Alitalia Strands Passenger In Iran

By consumerist.com 11.28.07

New York, NY 10118

airlines

Quantas Guilty Of Price Fixing

By Meg Marco 11.28.07

Quantas became the third foreign airline to admit to price-fixing and agree to pay a fine to the U.S. government, joining British Airways PLC and Korean Air Lines Co. Ltd, says the Associated Press.

zagat's

5 Worst Airlines According To Zagat's

By consumerist.com 11.28.07

Here are the lowest performing airlines, based on comfort, food, service and website, according to a recent Zagat’s survey. Scores are out of a total possible 30.

airlines

10 Secrets Of Air Travel Insiders

By consumerist.com 11.27.07

FareCompare’s Rick Seaney shares Top 10 Secrets Of Air Travel Insiders. We hadn’t heard number 6 before:

Fly the Big Hubs – Usually – A bigger airport can mean bigger savings.

airlines

Complaints Against TSA Soar 88.1%

By consumerist.com 11.26.07

Complaints against the TSA have skyrocketed in recent months. August saw a 88.1% increase from a year prior. The TSA says that the increase is due to advanced technology they’ve implemented (more telephone lines, bandwidth and better software), that make it possible for every single complaint to be tracked. The new gear replaces the previous system which, taking inspiration from the Incas, relied on an intricate network of knitted yarn

airlines

Speed Airport Security By Packing Neater

By consumerist.com 11.23.07

Instead of cramming your carry-on with crap, the TSA says we can all make security lines go faster if we pack neater. They want you to pack in layers; a layer of clothes, then a layer of electronics, then a layer of any heavier items. This way, the security folks can more quickly determine the bag does not contain an explosive device. For once, something the TSA said actually makes sense.

airlines

Pranking US Airways Exec In Charge Of In-Flight Credit Card Pushing

By consumerist.com 11.23.07

JH: You know why? Because you’re not captive on a plane.

The obvious next evolution is that customers can opt to sit in a part of plane that doesn’t have hear the credit card offers, provided they pay a small additional fee.

airlines

By consumerist.com 11.21.07

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Winter storms are causing delays of 34 minutes in Atlanta and Chicago, 1 hour 35 at Laguardia, 1 hour 52 minutes at Newark, 44 minutes at Boston Logan, Good luck out there, brave Thanksgiving travelers. [FAA]

airlines

By consumerist.com 11.21.07

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Advice for people now traveling for Thanksgiving: check in online, get to the airport early, try not to check bags, and more. [Today on the James front]

american airlines

American Airlines Baggage Chief: "There's A Lot Of Opportunity For Failure"

By Meg Marco 11.21.07

The New York Times is taking a look at American Airlines’ recent effort to improve their checked baggage operation. Who would have thought that dirty printers were causing lost baggage?

Workers at American found that printers that produce adhesive tags for bags were often dirty. That made bar codes hard to read, leading to misdirected bags. Regular wiping of the printer heads helped, but even with a clean printer, the bar code readers are only about 90 to 92 percent accurate, said Denise P. Wilewski, manager of airport services for American here.

airlines