Sick of your luggage being lost by airlines? Start packin’ a gat. This is just an awesome tip, courtesy of the Bruce Schneir, via The Boing: [More]
travel
Flight Attendants Extort Blanket Sales From Freezing Passengers
By 9.22.06
Every once in a while, there’s a business model that’s so brilliantly evil, you just have to respect it, even while you bemoan its lack of ethics and its blatant disregard for the human spirit.
Air Canada Bills Passenger for Delaying Flight
By 9.22.06
Gus Fuentes is being billed $1,350 (Canadian) for being an ass onboard an Air Canada jet, before it took off from London for Toronto. His antics caused him to be kicked off the plane, and the airline sent him a bill for causing the flight to be delayed. While he vows to fight the Man and not pay, the Canadian Transportation Agency has already ruled that the airline was within its rights when it sent Gus the bill.
Hooray for the Plane Ticket Status Quo
By 9.21.06
Airfares aren’t exactly transparent. You’ll see an advertised fare, and then the taxes and fees get added in, and your fare has gone up by twenty to forty dollars, or more if you’re traveling abroad. It feels dirty, like dealing with a car dealership that keeps tallying extra expenses. Consider charges like the TSA security fee the aviation equivalent of floor mats and rustproofing.
Frontier Airlines’ Call Centers Speak American
By 9.19.06
Frontier Airlines won’t route your call thousands of miles farther than they fly, like sending the call to the Phillippines when you’re trying to buy a ticket from Denver to Albuquerque. Among airlines, they’re an exception, as more and more companies are closing U.S.-based call centers.
Delay Your Flight With Gun Embroidered Case
By 9.19.06
Thanks to curiously spelt reader Grahm for pointing out a travel accessory even more ill-advised than a Guns ‘N’ Roses t-shirt or one printed with Islamic script: the Urban Outfitters Gun-Wheel Case.
Harass Your Way to (Eventual) Refunds
By 9.18.06
If at first you don’t succeed, fax, fax again. And again.
What Kathy Lee Didn’t Tell You About Cruise Ships
By 9.15.06
Maybe they’ll blame the Bermuda Triangle for their latest problems.
That Economist Article We Wanted You To Read, In Full
By 9.12.06
Yesterday, we recommended reading the Economist as a healthy alternative to the illustrious Jugs Magazine. In particular, we highlighted the excellence of a recent article called Welcome Aboard, and laboriously typed in a snip for your amusement. We then recommended you go out and buy the magazine.
Before You Panic, Try FlightAware.com
By 9.11.06
Remember Erica? She was the lady who raged against US Airways for listing her husband’s delayed flight as UNKNOWN, thus spinning her into a terror-induced seizure of fears about exploding airplaines and raising her children as a single parent.
Buy This Week’s Economist, or Steal It, or Something.
By 9.11.06
On Sunday, I realized with a sick chill of horror that I had officially become old. Sunday, you see, is when my local newstand refreshes their stock of periodicals. Usually, I leap from bed on Sunday morning, throw open the curtains, brightly baritone a “Good Morning!” song of my own devising to the sleepy looking magpies cocking their eye at me out my window, and rush down, eager to to secure my weekly infusion of pornography.
Bonnie Tyler Terrorizes AirFrance Flight
By 9.6.06
On a recent flight from France to Mauritius, Bonnie Tyler was asleep in first class when she was shaken awake by a stewardess and told the co-pilot was a big fan. He was retiring, would Bonnie mind coming up and shrieking “A Total Eclipse of the Heart” into the cheap airplane intercom? Miss Tyler was delighted.
Feature: Converting Credit Card Reward Points Into Free Flights
By 8.31.06
An impassioned plea, sent weeks ago to our tips box. A certain level of confused hysteria is evident. “If I have a credit card with reward points, should I convert them into miles? When? How to tell whether I’m getting a good rate? Help!”
