[caption id="" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Image by Getty Images via Daylife"][/caption] There is a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, despite the economic downturn. Here are some tales of people who haven’t done too well of late, and here’s hoping travel experiences improve in the new year. Thanks to Chris Elliott and the Consumerist…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Image by Getty Images via Daylife"][/caption] For the first time in the United States, an airport is being built for commercial service completely without government funding. This new airport will be in Branson, Missouri, which receives 8.4 million visitors a year for its shows and conventions. The nearest airport is over…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image by Eric E Johnson via Flickr"][/caption] For years, Southwest Airlines has been known for going outside the box. They flew to secondary airports, provided service where other carriers could not sustain a turboprop with sheer volume, and did not work with other carriers. Southwest has made moves away from that…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Obese people have the right to two airline seats for the price of one on flights within Canada…because they are “functionally disabled.” The decision, made by the Canadian Transportation Agency, was appealed by the major Canadian carriers, who lost their final appeal last week. The question is what…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image by Jose P Isern Comas via Flickr"][/caption] Responding to “Obama fervor”, AirTran Airways is adding more flights to Washington D.C. for the inauguration. On January 21st, following the inauguration, they will increase service from Baltimore Washington to Atlanta and Milwaukee and Washington Dulles to Atlanta. United is launching service from…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] While the runways at Indianapolis Airport have remained the same, the airport experience for passengers is now completely different. They have a new terminal, completely replacing the old, as well as new approach from the local highways, and new parking facilities. The old terminal will be knocked down.…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image by Jonathan Caves via Flickr"][/caption] We thought we’d clear our backlog of interesting news out before the weekend. Enjoy! JetBlue set a world performance record with one of its Embraer 190s as the regional jet was returned to JetBlue’s home base at JFK from its time as Sarah Palin’s plane…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Here we are, once again discussing baggage and its associated costs. Usually, when we discuss baggage, we’re discussing weight and number of pieces. But what about size? It was reported that on November 1st, Continental reduced the maximum size allowed for carry-ons to 45 linear inches from 51.…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Time to update all of you on some service updates and enhancements that have been happening. Delta Air Lines announced it would inaugurate service from Paris to Pittsburgh and Raleigh-Durham. The new transatlantic route out of Pittsburgh will be the only transatlantic service offered out of that city,…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Image by Getty Images via Daylife"][/caption] Delta Air Lines announced today it will revise its baggage fees effective immediately for all tickets sold for travel on or after December 5th, it will charge a $15 fee for the first bag and a $25 fee for the second. Most Northwest policies and…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] In a post earlier, we advised that BBC News had reported that European discount carrier Ryanair was poised to live up CEO Michael O’Leary’s public statements about transatlantic service. However, the Associated Press, reporting on Ryanair’s quarterly report, advised the airline has discounted the report that this service…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] BBC News reported Sunday evening that Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary will announce plans for his budget carrier to the United States on Monday, with fares to start at 10 Euro in Economy. A luxury business class will be offered. O’Leary is expected to announce plans to buy 50…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image by matt.hintsa via Flickr"][/caption] We knew this was coming, but the day is finally here. This evening, Skymiles account holders that we are, we received an email from Richard Anderson, CEO of Delta Air Lines, announcing that Northwest Airlines was now part of Delta, but it would be business as…
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…
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[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,…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] TAM will begin daily flights from Sao Paulo to Orlando on November 21st. TAM and Air Canada will be codesharing and expanding an effort to provide increased services between Brazil and Canada. A new partnership between Irish carrier Aer Lingus and United Airlines is available for sale on…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Chicago’s Midway Airport was privatized last week. A consortium consisting of Citi Infrastructure Investors, YVR Airport Services, and John Hancock Life Insurance bought the airport. YVR Airport Services, which is partly Vancouver(YVR) airport itself, will operate the airport for the consortium. The final price was $2.5 billion, and…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Kip Hawley, head of the Transportation Security Administration, said in an interview last week that in a year, the organization and its foreign counterparts would be in a position to relax the restrictions on liquids. The X-ray machines capable of detecting liquids used in bomb making are already…
Those interested in mapping the schedule reductions at U.S. airports this fall should check out USA Today’s interactive map here. It incorporates what airlines had advised of their schedule on November 1st and will be updated periodically. Honolulu and Oakland Airports are the biggest losers, at 27.7% and 27.4% respectfully. Airlines are reducing service in…
Well, October is nearly here, and JetBlue will be opening its new state of the art terminal at its JFK home hub. The airline issued a series of press releases last week about this momentous occasion. Terminal 5 has 50 percent more concession space than its current Terminal 6 operation. It will include nine full-serve…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="93" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] One of our affiliate blogs, Gadget Wisdom, posted an article today on taking your laptop on the airplane. We checked out Targus, one of the best known creators of laptop bags. They are advertising for pre-order a Zip-Thru 15.4″ Corporate Traveler Laptop Case for $99.99. It splits down…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image by Luigi Rosa via Flickr"][/caption] For those of you who have noticed a change in our style over the last few entries, we’ve added Zemanta support to our blog. Zemanta is a blogging service that provides recommended articles and public domain imagery to a blog entry, giving you, our readers,…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Air Canada has announced it will roll back some previously imposed fees. It is nice for an airline actually repeal something it claimed to impose due to high fuel costs. Air Canada announced last week it would stop charging the $25 second bag fee it established in May.…