travel

Contact Info For Greyhound Bus Lines

Contact Info For Greyhound Bus Lines

There’s not a lot of contact info on the web for Greyhound or its executives, but one determined customer has put a lot of effort into documenting what there is. Here are mailing addresses and a few unpublished phone numbers for people in the Greyhound executive offices.

Virgin America Anniversary Flight From Hell

Virgin America Anniversary Flight From Hell

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.

Catch a Plane Without Catching a Cold

Catch a Plane Without Catching a Cold

Planes can be disgusting flying petri dishes. Those blankets Jetblue thinks are worth $7? Stay away from them. When not sold as collectibles, they’re cleaned only when “they are visibly dirty, or only when they appear to have been used.” Inside, how to breathe fresh air and avoid drinking storage tank water. Mmmm!

U.S. Airways Boots 274 Stranded Passengers From Caribbean Airport, Refuses To Pay For Hotels

U.S. Airways Boots 274 Stranded Passengers From Caribbean Airport, Refuses To Pay For Hotels

Armed guards ordered 274 stranded passengers out of the Punta Cana airport with no place to go after bad weather forced U.S. Airways to cancel its flight from the Dominican Republic to Philadelphia. Several passengers ended up sleeping in a bus after the airline responded to Tropical Storm Fay by asking passengers to pick up their luggage and get lost.

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As of August 5th, Alaska Airlines no longer accepts cash on its flights. In their words, welcome to “the convenience of a cashless cabin. Passengers will no longer need to hunt for cash to pay for on board purchases.” Finally! All that cash flitting around the cabin hurting people is a thing of the past. [Personal Finance Weblog]

FAA To Fine American Airlines $7.1 Million For Safety Violations

FAA To Fine American Airlines $7.1 Million For Safety Violations

The FAA is not pleased with American Airlines. They say the airline should pay $7.1 million in fines for deferring maintainence and not complying with employee drug testing requirements. AA says the fines are too severe and will appeal.

Forget Your ID? TSA Places Forgetful Fliers On A List That Helps Track "Potential Terrorists"

Forget Your ID? TSA Places Forgetful Fliers On A List That Helps Track "Potential Terrorists"

USAToday says that the TSA was placing fliers who forgot their ID in a database along with people who have been questioned for “suspicious behavior” or who “violated security laws.” In an interview, TSA chief Kip Hawley told the paper that the “the information helps track potential terrorists who may be “probing the system” by trying to get though checkpoints at various airports.”

JetBlue Has Grandmother Arrested For Refusing To Delete An Unflattering Video Recording

JetBlue Has Grandmother Arrested For Refusing To Delete An Unflattering Video Recording

Marilyn Parver is taking her story to the media after JetBlue had her arrested and walked off the plane in handcuffs for refusing to delete a video recording she made of an altercation between passengers. She told Christopher Elliott that JetBlue accused her of interfering with a flight crew (a federal crime) and threatened to blacklist her by adding her name to the dreaded “no-fly list.”

UPDATE: American Airlines Agrees To Waive Extra Bag Fees For Soldiers

UPDATE: American Airlines Agrees To Waive Extra Bag Fees For Soldiers

Tired of taking heat for refusing to waive extra baggage fees for soldiers, American Airlines has finally caved.

United Sells Family's Tickets To Someone Else, Ruins Once-In-A-Lifetime Vacation, Then Won't Admit It To Insurance Company

United Sells Family's Tickets To Someone Else, Ruins Once-In-A-Lifetime Vacation, Then Won't Admit It To Insurance Company

  • Holding $5,000 in tickets from a family for six months, then telling them the day before that the flight has been canceled;
  • When confronted with the fact that the flight hasn’t been canceled, telling the family that the reservation has been lost;
  • Finally admitting that they’ve bumped the family from the flight and were lying about the cancelation and the lost reservation;
  • Offering replacement seats on multiple planes and days, splitting the family up on different flights and depositing them at different islands;
  • Offering to get them there 5 days into a 7 day vacation, part of which was scheduled to spend time with a family member who was dying in a hospice in Hawaii;
  • Refusing to write a letter on the family’s behalf so that they can collect their insurance payment on the house they rented but never used.

With one act of disregard, United destroyed the vacation, cost the family over $10,000 in house rental fees that they can’t get back, and forced them to cancel the trip. The dying family member they didn’t get to see passed away in early June.

United's Pilots Would Like You To Help Them Fire Their CEO

United's Pilots Would Like You To Help Them Fire Their CEO

United Airlines’ pilots have had enough of Glenn Tilton, the CEO of United, and have started a website that calls for his resignation. In addition to listing Mr. Tilton’s various faults, the website asks you, the consumer, to help them by submitting your United Airlines horror stories. (CC: The Consumerist, naturally…)

Whiney Pilots Complain That Stingy Airlines Are Forcing Them To Fly "Uncomfortably Low On Fuel"

Whiney Pilots Complain That Stingy Airlines Are Forcing Them To Fly "Uncomfortably Low On Fuel"

Ugh, those selfish pilots can’t be bothered to help their airlines return to profitability. No, instead they’re whining to NASA that they’re being forced to fly “uncomfortably low on fuel” and that “safety for passengers and crews could be compromised.”

Which Credit Cards Have The Best Rental Car Insurance?

Which Credit Cards Have The Best Rental Car Insurance?

One of the tricks that seasoned travelers know is to always deny the insurance when renting a car. Why? Because the credit card that they are using already comes with insurance that they are familiar with, and because you are required to deny coverage from the rental car company in order to take advantage of your credit card’s insurance. But how do you pick a credit card that has good rental insurance?

Contact Starwood Founder Barry Sternlicht

Contact Starwood Founder Barry Sternlicht

Having trouble with your Starwood hotels experience and regular customer service not helping? This guy might. After all, he founded the place.

United Makes You Pay To Move To Upgrade Area They Would Have Moved You To Anyway

United Makes You Pay To Move To Upgrade Area They Would Have Moved You To Anyway

Joe may have uncovered a deceptive policy at United Airlines that’s screwing over customers. Here’s how it works. If you’ve got an economy ticket and the only seats available are in Economy Plus, but you didn’t spring for the extra Economy Plus fee, you’re asked if you would like to pay the upgrade fee for economy plus seating. If you decline to upgrade, they seat you there anyway. Sounds pretty sketchy to me. Here’s Joe’s story:

4 New Airline Fees And How To Get Around Them

4 New Airline Fees And How To Get Around Them

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…

Settlement In BA-VA Price-Fixing Class Action

Settlement In BA-VA Price-Fixing Class Action

You’re entitled to a small refund if you bought tickets for a long haul flight on British Airways or Virgin Atlantic between August 11, 2004 and March 23, 2006. The amount is $7-$34 per flight taken. This is the settlement in a class action lawsuit contending the two airlines colluded to fix the price of fuel surcharges. More info at airpassengerrefund.com. [via RickSeaney]

Poll: Is It Immoral For US Airways To Charge For Drinking Water?

Poll: Is It Immoral For US Airways To Charge For Drinking Water?

Between the TSA ban on liquids and US Airways $2 fee for bottled water, if you want a drink, you’re probably going to pay for it. It may be annoying, but is it also wrong?