A while back, we commented on bereavement fares. Despite the popularity of this subject, as it comes upon people urgently, we haven’t revisited it since. USA Today’s Bill McGee recently did, and we decided it was good to update our rundown. Many airlines are not forthcoming about their policies, and require a call and specifics…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Image by Getty Images via Daylife"][/caption] We stole the title for this post from Chris Elliott, whom we admire as the champion of fair disclosure and fees, although we admit to disagreeing with him at times. USA Today reported that while jet fuel is down, fuel surcharges have stuck. And this…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image by Kaptain Krispy Kreme via Flickr"][/caption] Now, we’ve mentioned before a bit of this, but we thought we should devote a another specific post to the issue. Fuel is down, but many airlines weren’t doing wonderfully before it went up, and this put them over the edge. Fuel is down,…
The Bargainist reports that when two or more travellers book a trip, you can save up to 20%. Coupon code JETTWO10 cuts 10% off each way for 2 travelers Code JET15THREE cuts 15% off each way for 3 travelers Code JET20FOUR cuts 20% off each way with 4 travelers. Book now for travel between September…
The biggest question we’re asked is how to save money. People want to save money on their airline tickets. We don’t blame them. With the current increased charges for incidentals coming through, here is our advice for you. Book directly with the airline. Avoid the middleman. He has to make money too. And even with…
In a move we applaud, today JetBlue announced the availability of refundable fares. Personally, we never understood why many low-fare carriers offer no refundable fares. It is a value added service. If you are willing to shell out more money for a feature, why not offer it? We’d love it if all fares were refundable,…
Good morning, class. Today we are going to talk about fuel surcharges. This week, United Airlines announced they were increasing their domestic fuel surcharge to twenty-five dollars each way on all routes. So, what makes this different than a fare hike? Well, a fuel surcharge is not part of the fare. It is separate. One…
The FAA has ordered the inspection of all wing slats on newer Boeing 737s based on findings about a fire that destroyed a China Airlines plane in Japan last week. Investigators have discovered that a bolt from a right wing slat had pierced the fuel tank. Thus, within 24 days, all US planes must have…
The Consumerist, which we follow, has an article pointing out how while baggage fees are being more stringently enforced…when a news crew accompanied an official from the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures to inspect United Airlines scales, they found all but one to be off. Airport scales, subject to a lot of use, are…
Amadeus has signed an international rail distribution agreement with Wandrian, a global rail specialist, to distribute rail content to travel agents outside Europe who want to book rail globally. Through the web-based Amadeus RailAgent, travel agents outside Europe will have online connectivity and tools enabling them to book global rail passes and point-to-point tickets for…
Dohop.com has upgraded its flight search engine at www.dohop.com. Farecast launched new tools last month including Alerts that help consumers track their trip and save money. Farecast is also no longer considered a beta. As for Alerts, as they put it…”more than 50 percent of price drops disappear within 50 hours, illustrating the need for…
The Consumerist, of which we are an avid reader, posted on the subject of Rule 240…however, we felt their post was somewhat brief on what Rule 240 meant, and decided to revisit the issue. We approached it in a post in September. To reiterate, Rule 240 has no power post-deregulation. Deregulation occurred in 1978. Many…
The Ledger reports that airlines are dropping discounts for children occupying a seat. Infants travelling on their parent’s lap are still eligible for discounts. American Airlines stopped offering them January 13th, citing lack of usage. Delta dropped them December 26th. Continental, known for not dropping amenities other airlines have, still offers them in limited markets.…
It was with great amusement we read the above title as a press release earlier today. “Professional, well-connected and experienced travel agents score high marks when it comes to making complex travel arrangements for luxury vacation customers,” says Nancy Yale, President, Cruise Resort & World Travel, Inc. We tend to agree with the above statement…although…
The Seattle Times has a good compilation of policies on getting a credit for future travel if the price goes down on your ticket. Here is the summary from that article. Alaska Airlines/ Horizon Air: Travel voucher good for one year for the difference in fares, minus a $10 service charge. Northwest Airlines: Two options:…
Click the following link, enter in the promotional password SEVENTEEN, and you’ll be able to get a seventeen dollar each way discount on Jetblue. The offer is available until February 14, 2007 at 11:59PM MST for travel to be completed by Feburary 14. Standard fare rules will apply and discount will not be applied if…
The San Francisco Chronicle predicts that while airlines are upgrading seats and in-flight services…higher fares, hotel rates, and car rental rates will mark the year ahead in travel. The Travel Industry of America predicts only a half a percent of growth in domestic airline passenger traffic, and 5.5 percent growth for international traffic. U.S. Airlines,…
The Associated Press reports that a subsidiary of Shanghai based Spring Airlines, the Jinan Spring Holiday Travel Agency sold 400 tickets on flights between Shanghai and Jinan for 1 yuan…about 13 cents. A regular one-way ticket on that flight costs 910 yuan…$116. Chinese airlines are barred from offering discounts of more than forty-five percent of…
South African Airways issued a press release today offering a winter fare of $1350 for two people traveling in between New York-JFK or Washington Dulles to Johannesburg or Capetown. Taxes and fuel surcharges are additional on both tickets(Which is illegal in the US…fuel surcharges must be quoted as an add-on to the fare in any…
Not long ago, we commented on Air Canada’s innovative simplified ticketing system. Now TAM is launching a new fare platform, five new Fare profiles: Promo, Light, Flex, Max, and Top. Like Air Canada, each level presents clear characteristics and rules so that a passenger can make a choice based on their needs. We have blasted…
Southwest Airlines raised airfares $10 each on flights of more than 1000 miles, and $3 on fares between 750 and 1000 miles over the Thanksgiving weekend, Reuters reports. The increase was matched by American, United, and Continental. Jetblue said it had not matched the increase. Southwest has been able to keep its fares low due…
A few days ago, we reported El Al had reduced fuel surcharges. Cheapflights.com reports that two additional airlines have reduced the cost of fuel surcharges. It shows that two more airlines are willing to keep fuel surcharges linked to fuel increases and decreases. We salute them in that regard and reiterate…it is not a fuel…
In an inspiring note, an airline has actually reduced its fuel surcharge for all US flights. Usually, even though airlines raise their surcharges as fuel prices rise, they don’t give passengers the courtesy of reversing that when prices lower. El Al Israel Airlines announced it is lowering its prices due to a decrease in the…
One doesn’t normally think of Qantas as flying service from the United States to Canada. But during the busy travel season in December and January, they are offering fares starting at $119 each way and do not require round trip travel. The fares are only valid on Qantas Flight 73, departing San Francisco at 12:00PM…
As Upgrade Travel reports, Brataslavia-based discount airline SkyEurope is offering negative fares. This promotion, which started today and runs through the 22nd, prices their fare at -1 euro. Thus, not only do they make no profit, but they’ll pay one euro of your taxes. Even SkyEurope refers to it as the “most crazy promotion ever.”…