Updated August 2026 If you suddenly need to fly because of a death in the family, you may still be able to get a bereavement fare. The list of airlines offering them is much shorter than it once was, but they have not disappeared. As of August 2026, Delta Air Lines, Alaska Airlines, Air Canada…
Should I Buy Frontier’s GoWild! Pass? A Traveler’s Musings (2026–2027 Edition) Every so often, an airline offer lands that seems too wild to ignore. Frontier’s latest GoWild! All-You-Can-Fly Annual Pass is one of those—$299 for nearly two years of (almost) unlimited flights, including U.S., Caribbean, and Latin American destinations. The catch? You must book…
Delta Airlines Bereavement Fares Delta Airlines is one of the few airlines that still has an official bereavement flight policy. Through a program called Delta Cares, they also can help to transport the remains of your loved one with sensitivity. They have a page devoted to bereavement fares, excerpted here: In the event of a…
United FareLock Still Around After All These Years 13 years ago, in late 2010, we wrote about a new service being offered by Continental Airlines called FareLock. We were amazed that they chose to launch this innovative new product in the middle of their merger with United Airlines. So we are pretty surprised that United…
Updated: May 2026 When FlightWisdom first covered bereavement fares back in 2006, 2008, and 2010, they were already fading. Even when more airlines offered them, the value was questionable. Today, they’re almost gone — a quaint vestige of another era, not unlike the onboard lounges of the past. We even remember a call center agent…
The average U.S. airfare dropped to $377 last year, its lowest level since 2010 and down nearly 4 percent from 2014, according to government data released Tuesday.
Airline schedule changes are often frustrating. Suddenly a mid-morning flight shifts to one leaving before sunrise or a leisurely layover turns into a mad dash to the next gate. Savvy travelers, however, …
United and Orbitz have sued to shut down skiplagged.com, a site that allows people to book multi-stop flights with the goal of getting off before the final destination they are booked to. This can often save money. That would be Hidden City ticketing. There is also its companion idea…buying a roundtrip ticket and only using…
Rule 240 was a Civil Aeronautics Board rule which was eliminated during deregulation in the late 70s. It did require rebooking on other carriers, something airlines do not wish to do. Why would you wish to give your money to your competitors? After deregulation ended, Rule 240 was still a term used, but it is…
So, to be 100% fair…it’s time to tell the other side of the story. Why are airlines racing for the bottom? According to them, it is all your fault.
While 2012 may have been the safest year in decades, the Department of Transportation levied a record number of fines against airlines for consumer rules violations, assessed 49 fines and $3,610,000 in penalties, up from 47/$3,264,000 in 2011, and 27/1,700,000 in 2010. The airlines are not doing business in a significantly different manner,…
Earlier this month, Janice Hough at Consumer Traveler wrotethat coming anti-consumer “interline” baggage rules were worse than baggage fees. With all respect to Ms. Hough, who is a travel agent, in this regard, we believe she is wrong, although we can understand her point of view. Let’s go over the issue. Interline baggage refers to…
In April of 2007, we wrote on the subject of Involuntary Reroute, in response to an article in the Consumerist. Now, popular advice site Lifehacker has picked up on the Rule 240. They reference our friend over at the Cranky Flier, Brett Snyder, and another short article on the subject. So, let’s revisit the…
Back in July of 2011, we made the Case against Codesharing. But lately, we’ve seen a few articles that have made us revisit the issue. Codesharing is where the airline that operates a flight(operating carrier), allows a second airline(marketing carrier) to place its flight number on the flight, and sell it as if it was…
Fare mistakes are very dangerous. At least once every few months, some airline makes a typo, and sells tickets at a price no rational person could think was correct. Yet they jump on it, post it to forums and blogs before the airline can fix it. In January, the DOT prohibited airlines from increasing the…
We’ve long been fans of Kayak.com, though we have to admit that as of late, increased clutter and unreliability or lack of JetBlue results have had us using the site less often. Like most comparison sites, Kayak uses ITA software’s technology. ITA was purchased by Google last year, amid much fear that Google would use…
While most airlines have been adding new fees, no American carrier has been more aggressive about doing so than Spirit Airways. Spirit ‘s strategy has been to tease outrageously low fares with obnoxious and vulgar advertisements, but charge exorbitant fees for normal services. Perhaps the most egregious of these is their charge for carry on…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="120" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] The U.S. Department of Transportation rules announced back in April are set to take effect today. However, many of the aspects of the ruling have been postponed at the request of the airlines, due implementation issues. The following come into effect today: Refund of Bag Fees is your…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Last week, the Cranky Flier, in an article on CNN entitled “This isn’t the Airline I signed up for”, Â covered the issues of codesharing. Namely… People often don’t realize what airline they are actually flying on… We put that in bold letters, because it is a big issue.…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] JetBlue announced a 20% off sale on many routes for travel from September 7th through October 29th, 2011. Travel must be purchased today. For Boston – Use the promo code FALLBOS11 For Los Angeles – Use the promo code FALLLA11 For Long Beach – Use the promo code…
It was over ten years ago that online ticket purchases were in their infancy. We remember ordering tickets from these new online travel agents and having the tickets mailed to us, even a few years into the e-ticket revolution, when it was still advised that paper was safer. Now, it is starting to look as if the age of online travel agents may come to an end. Maybe that is overly pessimistic, but airlines are looking to cut out the high cost associated with selling tickets through a Global Distribution System(GDS).
Continental Airlines is introducing a service called Farelock, which will be available when booking reservations on their website. Continental has long offered a 24 hour flexible hold, during which changes and cancellations are permitted without penalty. This is mirrored by many major carriers.
American Airlines is offering flights to and from New York from 30 cities starting at $49/each way in January and February. Tickets must be purchased by December 13. $49 fares are availaible to/from Washington, Boston, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh. Want to visit New York? Live in New York and want to get away. Go to American Airlines website, and save.