Reader Jake writes in to share the story of how he came to be the proud owner of a now-worthless ATA voucher:
travel
Interview With ATA Insider On Day His Airline Went Bankrupt
By 4.3.08
ATA airlines abruptly ceased to exist this morning, leaving travelers to scramble for refunds and alternate booking arrangements. An ATA insider took time out from looking for a new job to give The Consumerist the inside scoop:
By 4.3.08
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The reason ATA died, and died so abruptly, were rising fuel costs and that they lost a key contract with Federal Express for flying military personnel on ATA aircraft. [Bloomberg]
What Do You Do If You Have Tickets On A Bankrupt Airline?
By 4.3.08
What do you do if you have a flight planned on one of the three airlines, ATA, Champion and Aloha, that filed for bankruptcy and terminated all flights this week? First thing to do is if you paid with a credit card company, call them up and ask for a refund. An ATA insider tells us, “When an airline bills you for your ticket, they don’t receive payment–the money’s escrowed until you fly or the terms of the contract are met, i.e. one year validity limit, so the bankruptcy doesn’t affect those customers.” Elliot.org has the run-down of other options: On the press release level, United Airlines has agreed to take on Aloha Airlines passengers, but anecdotal evidence suggests the ground-level customer service reps are bungling the hand-off. Southwest has agreed to rebook ATA passengers, but the language suggests this deal is only good for flights that were codeshares between the two airlines. Lastly, if you bought your ticket with ATA by check or cash, you can claim a refund, for probably a fraction of its value, after the airline is liquidated.
Vegas Hotel Charges Attendees For Unpaid Convention Fees
By 4.3.08
The Westin Casuarina Hotel & Spa in Las Vegas has begun charging an unpaid $50,000 convention fee to the attendees who already paid before they attended back in October. The company that set up the event, Austin-based The Coaching Center, hasn’t paid its bill yet, and “president Suzanne Black said she was trying to arrange a payment plan when she was told by Westin management that the hotel would recoup the bill from attendees.” Now people are finding charges anywhere from $600 to $1200 on their credit card bills. Even the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has said this isn’t standard practice, but Westin says it’s got fine print that proves it can hold you liable for any charges left unpaid on your visit.
Delta Announces Massive Fee Increases For Unaccompanied Minors, Pets
By 4.3.08
Reader M has forwarded us a memo from Delta detailing massive fee increases for unaccompanied minors, pets, gate checked strollers, “administrative service charges,” curb-side check in and more.
United Airlines Cancels 31 Flights
By 4.2.08
United Airlines canceled 31 flights today to test the fire suppression system. It’s just the latest in a series of self-imposed groundings and butteningups by airlines hoping to avoid the negative PR Southwest experienced when a CNN investigation three weeks ago revealed the airline flew over 100 plans with thousands of passengers while skipping required safety inspections.
By 4.2.08
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Kanye West has apparently started a travel website. Yeah, seriously. We just can’t wait until we get our first Kanye West-related complaint. [AdAge via BuzzFeed]
Reach Orbitz Executive Customer Service
By 4.1.08
I’m just getting situated here and it’s amazing how many unfounded complaints there are in the old Consumerist tipbox about Orbitz. It’s really not fair, so, to counteract that and the negative stories Consumerist posted, here’s the number for their HQ: (312) 894-5000. Ask to be transferred to the office of Steven Barnhart.
British Airways' New Hi-Tech Baggage System Routes All Luggage To A Big Pile
By 4.1.08
British Airways is having trouble with its new baggage system—namely, that it doesn’t actually sort and route the baggage to the correct flight. On Sunday they claimed that 15,000 bags had missed their flights and were now being stored at Heathrow. However, the UK’s Aviation Minister said yesterday that the number was closer to 28,000.
TSA Freaks Over Speakers, Lets Knife Pass Through. Twice.
By 3.31.08
TSA throws away passenger’s toothpaste, freaks out over his JBL On Tour speaker system, and lets him pass through with a lock-knife keychain, twice. Couple this with that story a few weeks ago about the Apple Air trying to go through security (it doesn’t have a hard drive! there’s no ports!) and it seems that the TSA’s main concern is that the next terroristic attack will have incredibly attractive design.
$753 Airline Tickets End Up Costing Two Seniors Nearly $10,000
By 3.31.08
Two seniors who bought $753 roundtrip tickets to Rome ended up paying nearly $10,000, thanks to flight delays and airlines reneging on their promises. The Lopilatos had a flight on American Airlines from LAX to JFK, then continuing on to Rome on Alitalia. The flight was scheduled to arrive in New York three hours before their flight to Rome, but it didn’t and they missed the flight to Rome. At first, American got them seats on a plane to London and then on to Rome on British Airways, for free. But then all of a sudden the seats were gone and now the tickets were $2,065 each. Not wanting to miss their tour group, the couple agreed. Then when they went to come back from Rome, Alitalia canceled their return flight because they missed the outbound, another $2,000+ in return tickets. When they tried to get refunds, each airline blamed the other and denied liability. How to avoid the same thing happening to you? Fly nonstop.
Air New Zealand Takes Fumigating Its Passengers Seriously
By 3.30.08
THE QUOTE: “It’s not like we don’t take this seriously, which is why we had the [Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry] people come on board.”
TSA Will Allow Women With Nipple Piercings To Fly If They Flash Officials
By 3.30.08
Your nipple piercings are still a threat to national security, but the TSA will let you fly if you “allow a visual inspection of [your] piercings.” The announcement came after TSA officials in Texas forced Mandi Hamlin to remove her nipple piercings with a pair of pliers before allowing her to board her flight. The TSA stopped short of apologizing to Ms. Hamlin, instead saying: “TSA acknowledges that our procedures caused difficulty for the passenger involved and regrets the situation in which she found herself.”
Travel Between New York And Washington For $1 With BoltBus
By 3.29.08
BoltBus offers service between Washington D.C. and New York with fares starting at $1. Each ride comes not just with WiFi, but with power outlets at every seat—a luxury usually confined to Amtrak. The downside? (There are several.)
Frontier Airlines Insists Man Who Missed Flight Was On Plane
By 3.28.08
Matthew is the center of a Hitchcockian mystery over at Frontier Airlines. He missed his flight from New Mexico to Texas with a connection through Denver (there was a total of 4 segments to the flight), and when he tried to rebook the flight and pay the change fee, Frontier told him he’d already flown to Denver. So who took the flight? One of the flight crew’s friends? A woman too pretty for Southwest? A killer? There’s probably a killer roaming the streets of Denver now.
Mary at Frontier keeps promising Matthew she’ll look into it, but “after weeks and several calls,” nothing’s been fixed, and Matthew still can’t rebook the flight he already purchased.
