The Transportation Security Administration may be testing new ways to get travelers through security checkpoints more quickly and efficiently by having them remove additional items from their carry-on bags, but the companies that make these devices have developed technology that could eventually save you from having to take out your laptop at the checkpoint or guzzle that bottle of water before you’re forced to throw it out. [More]
baggage
National Guardsman Says United Wrongly Charged Him $200 For Checked Bag
By 5.18.17
A National Guardsman returning home to Texas following nearly two years in Afghanistan says United Airlines broke its own policy by charging him $200 to check a bag full of gear. [More]
Airline Bumpings Were Up, But Complaints Went Down In First Months Of 2017
By 5.17.17 — Updated: 5.25.17
The first few months of 2017 haven’t exactly been great for airlines, what with system outages, bumped passengers being dragged off planes, and other customer service fiascos. In fact, new federal data shows that bumpings were slightly up during the first quarter of 2017, while complaints filed against airlines actually dropped 19%. [More]
Delta Wants To Expedite Self-Service Bag Drops With Facial Recognition Tech
By 5.15.17
As businesses continue to turn to facial recognition technology to do everything from verifying your identity to make a credit card purchase to preventing toilet paper thieves, Delta Air Lines is hoping that it can use biometrics to help streamline its self-service bag drops. [More]
Alaska Airlines Testing Electronic Baggage Tags With Some Passengers, Crew
By 3.28.16
For years now, airlines have experimented with different programs — like real-time baggage tracking — that aim to ensure that passengers and their luggage arrive together and in one piece. Alaska Airlines is jumping on the issue, allowing some passengers to replace traditional checked bag tags with a high-tech, electronic version. [More]
Passsengers On Exploded Megabus Get Inadequate Compensation For Bags, Can’t Get Legal Help
By 3.23.16
When a Minneapolis-bound Megabus caught fire and exploded last month in the suburbs of Chicago, no passengers were injured. Their baggage, however, was destroyed, and that’s how they learned how difficult it is to get compensation when everything in your bag has burned up in a bus explosion. Even having a travel writer for the New York Times on board isn’t enough to recuperate the full value of everything they brought on the bus. [More]
Samsonite Is Packing Up Rival Tumi And Taking It Home With $1.8B Deal
By 3.4.16
Luggage company Samsonite is taking on some extra baggage — on purpose. The company confirmed Thursday that it’s agreed to buy rival Tumi for around $1.8 billion. [More]
Woman Claims Her Bag Was Peed On While In United Airlines’ Possession
By 2.25.16
It’s not often you hear about airlines and urine twice in one day, but apparently that’s the case today. Just hours after a man said he sat in a pee-soaked American Airlines seat, a United Airlines passenger claims an airline employee urinated in her bag. [More]
United Airlines Creates “Essentials,” “Enhanced” Bundles For Extra Legroom, Checked Bags
By 1.4.16
In a day and age when it seems as if you can bundle just about anything from cable, Internet, and phone service to those little extras you’re charged during a hotel stay. So it makes sense that airlines would also offer the same options for customers looking for extra legroom or an additional checked bag. [More]
Denying Travelers Compensation For Damaged Bags Won’t Fly With The DOT Starting Jan. 9
By 12.3.15
Some airlines aren’t living up to their obligation to compensate passengers for damage to their luggage, recent inspections by the Department of Transportation found. Now, the agency is warning carriers that if their policies and trainings don’t fall in line with federal regulations by Jan. 9, they could face fines and other enforcement action. [More]
American Airlines Loses Professional Dancer’s $250K Prosthetic Leg, Finds It In Another Country
By 11.20.15
If you thought the airline losing your suitcase of souvenirs was rough, imagine if they lost a bag with your prosthetic leg. That’s apparently what happened for a professional dancer and Boston Marathon bombing victim traveling with American Airlines this week. [More]
Airlines Once Again Introducing Baggage Surcharges For Holiday Travelers
By 11.4.15
Last year, Spirit Airlines showed passengers that it didn’t quite get the concept that holidays – especially those that fall in late December and early January – are meant to spread cheer and goodwill toward fellow humans, by increasing baggage fees for merry travelers. This year, the budget airline is once again utilizing those surcharges, and this time, it has company in Frontier Airlines. [More]
New “Space Bins” Increase Aircraft Carry-On Capacity By 48%
By 10.9.15
Earlier this year, airline groups proposed a plan that would have required airlines to adopt a smaller carry-on bag standard. That idea was eventually scrapped, and that’s probably a good thing considering airlines are now looking to add roomier overhead storage bins through cabin upgrades. [More]
Frontier Airlines Loses Passenger’s Hockey Sticks Not Once, But Twice In Two Weeks
By 10.7.15
When putting your belongings in the hands of an airline, you’re taking the risk that those items might not make it to your desired destination – just ask Alaska Airlines’ CEO. Still, what are the chances that the same airline would lose your gear not once, but twice? [More]
Even Airline CEOs Aren’t Immune To Carriers Losing Their Bags
By 10.5.15
When talking about the airline you run, it probably isn’t the best idea to start out by recounting how said carrier misplaced your bags on your latest flight. Unless, maybe, you’re trying to seem relatable and let consumers know that accidents happen. But even then, it can’t be anything less than embarrassing. [More]
American Airlines Launches Real-Time Baggage Tracking Service For Travelers
By 9.29.15
After a long day of traveling the last thing you want to deal with is lost baggage, but, unfortunately, that’s a very real situation for millions of consumers: over the last five years, the Transportation Security Administration paid out $3 million for lost, stolen and damaged baggage. American Airlines is trying to give travelers piece of mind that their bags are well within reach by launching a new bag tracking service. [More]
Amtrak Will Now Start Enforcing Baggage Limits
By 9.29.15
If you’ve been hopping on trains with big loads of luggage and gleefully stowing it Amtrak’s baggage compartments, you’re going to need to curb your tendency to over pack: starting Oct. 1, Amtrak will start enforcing its baggage weight limits, handing out fees to those hauling more than their fair share onboard. [More]
Suitcase Cam Shows What It’s Like To Be Luggage At The Airport
By 8.18.15
Have you ever ever wondered what it’s like for your checked luggage at the airport? Where does it go, what does it see, who touches it — does it make suitcase friends along the way? While many of those questions remain unanswered, a new video shot from the point of view of a piece of baggage cruising around behind the scenes at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam is definitely mesmerizing. [More]
