6. Once you find a fare you like on an online travel agency (OTA), check the airline’s site. Many international airlines don’t share their best deals with the OTAs… you could save a bundle by buying direct. But that works in reverse sometimes too (an OTA might have a fare on Virgin Atlantic, for example, for hundreds less than Virgin is selling it for).
travel
7 Tips For Getting Euro Airfare Deals This Summer
By 3.25.09
Have Airlines Run Out Of Annoying Fees?
By 3.21.09
So, it’s not exactly good news, but between the toilet tax and priority boarding fees, Reuters thinks that airlines may have run out of “perks” worth excluding from a ticket’s base price. The bad news? All those new airline fees aren’t going anywhere. American Airlines, which last year pocketed an extra billion in “ancillary revenue,” calls them “a pretty big success story.”
United's Lost And Found Sounds Like A Good Place To Score Free iPhones
By 3.19.09
Jason is one of those people who loses things all the time. He must be like Santa Claus to the people working for United at the San Francisco International Airport, because when he passes through their terminal, he leaves awesome presents behind. We can’t say for certain that a United employee stole his iPhone, but the last he heard of its whereabouts, it had been found by United crew members and was on its way to their Lost and Found—which won’t return his calls or emails.
Airlines Having A "Worldwide Distress Sale"? Time For A Vacation?
By 3.18.09
You know, we hesitate to use the term “fire sale” to describe airline prices but there are apparently some insane deals to be had right now according to the San Francisco Chronicle
Get A Cheap Hotel When The Airlines Fudges Up
By 3.17.09
If airlines are hooking up passengers with deals on local hotels (due to crazy weather, canceled flights, mechanical difficulties, etc), 888-895-2320 is the number to call to get a rate on a discounted hotel room. The number won’t work if the airlines haven’t notified the hotels in the area that they’re sending over passengers. “Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn…” (Photo: and parsecs to go)
Passenger On Northwest Last Week Had Tuberculosis
By 3.16.09
If you happened to be on Northwest Airlines Flight 51 from Frankfurt to Detroit last Tuesday, and you were one of the 17 unlucky passengers who sat near enough to Mr. Fancypants Lung Disease Person, you can look forward to a call from the CDC telling you that you need to get tested for tuberculosis. The risk of catching the disease is low, but the CDC is contacting passengers as a “cautionary move” according to the Associated Press. And if for some reason you do end up with TB, please do not get on any airplanes.
Amtrak Ticket System Failure Nationwide
By 3.13.09
Readers and Twitterers report Amtrak’s ticketing systems are down nationwide. Tickets are being handwritten and they’re letting you purchase onboard. Maybe their computers heard that Biden was about to announce a $1.3billion infusion and simply freaked the freak out? (Photo: mbeldyk)
Man Sues American Airlines For Revoking Lifetime Pass
By 3.11.09
A man who paid nearly $400,000 in the late 80s for two lifetime passes from American Airlines is now suing the company, claiming they illegally revoked the passes after a supposed rule violation. The passes allowed him and a companion to travel anywhere they wanted in first class for the rest of his life, but AA canceled them after claiming he made “‘speculative reservations’ for companions.”
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.
Cat Arrives Frozen After Plane Ride
By 3.4.09
Breeder ships rare pregnant cat via airline. It arrives frozen and dead. According to the airline’s vet, the cat died from uterine toxicity from multiple dead kittens. Because the baggage handlers thawed, froze, and thawed the cat again, there’s no way for the breeder to prove that the cat died from being frozen. The airline has offered to refund the breeder’s ticket, but admits no culpability in the cat’s death.
Orbitz Tries To Sneak Bus Onto Plane (Ticket)
By 3.2.09
You’d think a whole bus is hard to hide but Orbitz had no problem trying to sneak one past Harry McCracken when he was booking a flight to Las Vegas. He noticed at checkout there was a $14 ground transportation fee that had been “added for [his] convenience.” Paging backwards, tucked in a list of about 40 upgrades and local attractions was a $14 bus fee. The tricky part was that all the others were opt-in and this one was opt-out. Naughty Orbitz, trying to sneak a bus onto an airplane!
RyanAir Mighta Just Been Making Up Toilet Fee Idea
By 2.27.09
“Maybe O’Leary was just taking the piss this morning… Michael makes a lot of this stuff up as he goes along and while this has been discussed internally there are no immediate plans to introduce it,” said a RyanAir spokesperson in response to the CEO announcing this morning they were thinking about having coin-operated lavatory doors onboard the aircraft.
RyanAir Thinking About Charging For Toilets
By 2.27.09
Ultra low-cost Irish carrier RyanAir is thinking about putting a coin slot on lavatory doors so passengers will have to pay when they empty their loose change from their coin slot.
RyanAir Employee Calls Blogger "Idiot," And Their Spokesperson Publicly Agrees
By 2.25.09
So blogger Jason Roe finds what he thinks is an error on the RyanAir site that would let you buy airfare from the zero-frills a-la-carte Irish airline for free. An employee decided t make nasty comments in Jason’s comments section, calling him “idiot and a liar!” and saying that he probably can’t get a date. Which was not that surprising. Nor was it surprising that a RyanAir PR rep responded to the situation. What was surprising was that the PR rep sided with the commenter and heaped further abuse on the blogger!
Air Travel Is Getting Cheaper Because No One Is Flying
By 2.25.09
Prices are coming down as demand weakens, so if you were thinking of taking a flight — now might be a good time to start shopping for tickets.Southwest Airlines and AirTran have both announced fare cuts and the LA Times says that traffic is down 31% at LA/Ontario International Airport as ExpressJet, United Airlines, Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways have eliminated or slashed service. With that in mind, here are three shopping tools we like…
74-Year Old's American Airlines Ordeal
By 2.25.09
Nobody told 74-year-old Mrs. Reynolds her American Airlines flight was canceled until she was on-board the wrong one. Her tale of sprinting, being stranded, and customer service failure, inside…
United Airlines Offers Drinks To "The Idiots In Coach"
By 2.23.09
Reader Nicholas likes to listen to the cockpit channel while flying, because he says it calms his nerves. The flight attendants must have assumed that no one was turned to that station (or that they weren’t being broadcast on it), because Nicholas says he heard one of them refer to the passengers in the coach cabin as “idiots.” Whoops.
US Airways Reverses Fee, Sodas Free!
By 2.23.09
US Airways has reversed course and decided that it will no longer charge you for some soda-pop in a cup with ice.
