Ah yes, the Philadelphia Airport. You’ll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. A baggage handler has been charged with two counts of theft after a woman noticed that $550 worth of clothes (with the price tags still on) had mysteriously wandered out of her luggage.
luggage
Airport Security Says Disabled Man Isn't "In Possession Of" His Luggage
By 3.27.09
Blogger Dave Hingsburger writes about a horrifying experience at the airport. Dave, who is disabled, was informed by airport security that because he was in a wheelchair, he wasn’t technically “in possession of” his luggage and that “some body” needed to attend to it. The security guard continued to argue with Dave until a pilot apologetically intervened. Well done, airport security. An Elephant Disappears (Photo: ringmaster006)
Yale Student Files $1 Million Lawsuit After US Airways "Loses" His XBOX
By 3.11.09
A 21-year-old film studies major at Yale University is really annoyed that his XBOX 360 went missing from his luggage on a US Airways flight, so he decided to sue them. For a million dollars.
United Sets Woman's Luggage On Fire
By 2.11.09
United may be trying out a new revenue idea: the don’t-set-my-bags-ablaze fee. Shannon Tadel’s luggage was incinerated as she boarded a plane in Syracuse, NY on December 1st, 2008. The cool thing about this sort of story is she got to see the inside of a cockpit! The not so cool part is what happened next:
By 2.9.09
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More details about the stuff the passengers of Flight 1549 had in their luggage. What’s that you say? You didn’t back up that $30,000 worth of data on your laptop? Oh wait, you did? But you brought both laptops with you on the plane? [NYT]
What Happens To The Baggage After A Plane Crash?
By 1.16.09
Though it probably couldn’t be farther from their minds, at some point after many hugs and hot chocolates, the passengers of U.S. Airways flight 1549 are going to wonder what happens next to their baggage.
Jetblue Changes Policy, Will Stop Charging $50 If You Check A Box With A Foldable Bike
By 1.10.09
Jetblue charged Carl $50 to check a small box. If Carl hadn’t mentioned that there was a small foldable bike in the box, his package would have been checked for free…
US Airways Says $15 First Checked Bag Fee Is A Huge Success
By 12.2.08
US Airways CEO Doug “OK To Drive” Parker says that US Airways new $15 fee for the first checked bag is a huge success. It’s caused a 20% drop in checked luggage — which has improved baggage handling performance — all while adding revenue during a tough time for airlines.
By 11.10.08
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United Airlines is offering 20% off the 1st checked bag fee if you check-in online and pay the fee at United’s Web site (www.united.com) before January 31, 2009. They’ve also decided not to double the 2nd check bag fee as previously planned. [Cheapflights]
Lawsuits: American Airlines Loses Wife's Corpse For 4 Days
By 9.9.08
It’s one thing if American Airlines loses your baggage, but what about your wife’s body? What do you do then? One Brooklyn man was faced with this grim dilemma when he arranged to have his wife’s body flown to their home in Ecuador after she passed away from pelvic cancer. American Airlines lost the body, and it went unrefrigerated for 4 days, according to the New York Post.
By 9.5.08
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Continental has added a $15 charge on the first checked bag for some economy-class passengers, effective on tickets bought for travel on or after October 7. [Reuters] (Thanks, CMU_Bueller!)
Northwest Airlines Begins Charging $15 For First Checked Bag Today
By 8.28.08
Reader Colin says he just got charged for his first checked bag on Northwest Airlines:
AirTran Agent Screams, Curses At Travelers While Supervisor Looks On
By 8.25.08
Forget about those dowdy old-school Olympics. What we need is an international competition to see which airline can suck the most, since everyone is getting so good at it. In the category of Random Rudeness, this AirTran agent and her equally hostile supervisor would have a good shot at the gold—especially since they aimed their hostility at a honeymooning couple.
Greyhound Tells Passengers With Missing Luggage To 'Get Together And Do Something About It'
By 8.18.08
Is this Greyhound CSR trying to start a revolution among its customers, or simply telling the wife of a passenger that Greyhound doesn’t care about lost luggage? She claims he told her to “‘get together with everyone else’ who lost luggage ‘and do something about it.'” Like what—start a support group? Meet him behind the bleachers for a fist fight? Open a detective agency in Tupelo?
Virgin America Anniversary Flight From Hell
By 8.18.08 — Updated: 3.18.13
Adam is writing in to say that in the year that Virgin America has been operating, he feels that they’ve forgotten how to run their airline. The first time he flew with them, his flight was delayed and his laptop adapter melted. He got a free flight. The second time he flew, about a year later, his flight was delayed, the airline ran out of food, his luggage was ripped open and his valuables disappeared, and the baggage claim rep laughed at his misfortune.
4 New Airline Fees And How To Get Around Them
By 8.6.08
Travel expert to the stars Christopher Elliott has a new column that explains 4 new or grotesquely inflated airline fees and some ways to get around them…
American Airlines Thinks It's "Generous" To Charge A $100 Excess Baggage Fee To Soldiers
By 7.30.08
Let’s say you are in the military and have to undergo some training before you are deployed to Iraq to fight in a war. Let’s also say that this training requires to you bring 3 bags of equipment. If the airline you’re flying charges a $100 “excess baggage” fee, but waives the $15 first checked bag fee, and the $25 second checked bag fee… is that “generous?”
