Travel plan idea blog

A Challenging few weeks for Airlines!

It has been a challenging few weeks in the airline industry – just a few weeks ago, we had the horrendous problems at London Heathrow’s new terminal 5, with British Airways canceling flights and losing an estimated 28,000 bags. (Although the airlines claim that bags are never lost, just delayed).

Several small US airlines have declared bankruptcy in recent weeks – Aloha Airlines, Frontier, Skybus and ATA. The reasons are basically rising fuel prices (oil hit a record high of $119.90 a barrel a few days ago) and falling ticket prices. ATA’s bankruptcy especially hit passengers hard – the airline literally suspended operations overnight, leaving thousands of passengers stranded in Hawaii.

American is still the only large US airline that hasn’t declared bankruptcy at one time or another, so they must be doing something right. However, AA had horrendous problems a couple of weeks ago when they were forced to ground most of their Super-80 aircraft due to a safety recall notice by the FAA. American canceled over 2,000 flights over several days, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

And it didn’t come as a big surprise that two of the biggest US airlines, Northwest and Delta announced plans to merge. (Perhaps in an effort to avoid some of the above problems!) If approved, the new airline would be the largest in the US in terms of number of planes and passengers carried) One potential problem with the merger could be opposition from the pilot unions for both airlines, even though a merger wouldn’t necessarily need their approval.

And virtually all the major US airlines recently announced huge losses for the first quarter of 2008. United Airlines lost a staggering $537 million – and the other airlines didn’t do much better.

If only the airlines could use alternative fuel, as an increasing number of car manufacturers are doing...

Guest entry by Mancunian

Pilots underpaid and overworked?

This article talks about how becoming a pilot is not all that it used to be as pay decreases and working hours increase. The result is a little scary for frequent flyers:

Poor pay and fewer big-airline jobs to move up to have led to fewer applicants, creating a pilot shortage that is most acute overseas but also felt in the United States.

Regional airlines have had to reduce their hiring standards drastically. Earlier this decade, they could insist on candidates having a minimum of 1,500 hours of total flight time before an interview. Today, that minimum is 500 hours at many regional carriers, and the decline is contributing to safety concerns among some experts.

I have a friend who is a US Air Force fighter pilot who must have tons of flight time. He mentioned that if he decided to continue working after leaving the USAF he would look seriously at FedEx but he didn't mention any passenger airlines. I guess it's a little scary that our best pilots get paid more to fly cargo than people.

TSA SPOT: Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques

TSA has received a good amount of criticism on this site and in the news generally. This article (which made it to Yahoo's front page) takes a pretty objective look a the SPOT or Screening Passengers by Observation Techniques program.

TSA has been doing this for the past 4 years and has picked 104,000 people out of lines for a more thorough investigation. They've gotten a few with fake IDs and a guy that had pipe bomb-making materials in his checked luggage.

So far it sounds like they haven't actually nabbed anyone who could have really messed with their flight, but I don't see how we can blame TSA for that since we haven't had any terrorist attacks. There hasn't been anyone for them to catch.

The ACLU has expressed its doubts, but Homeland Security is happy enough to greatly increase the number of behavioral detection officers in US airports.

Open Skies Agreement / Heathrow Terminal 5 Problems

Flying between the US and Europe should be easier (and cheaper) this summer, with the announcement of the so-called open skies agreement, which came into effect at the end of March. The agreement means that more airlines are allowed to fly between the US and Europe; and that airlines don’t necessarily have to originate in their own country – for example, British Airways can fly from Paris to New York.

Several airlines have already taken advantage of this agreement and are announcing new routes from the US into London Heathrow – Air France, Northwest, Delta and US Airways. And American Airlines is switching almost all of its London flights from Gatwick to Heathrow, in an effort to improve onward connections to Europe, Asia and Africa.

Ryanair which offers one way fares from the UK to Europe for around $20 one way, also has plans to fly to the US, with fares as low as about $16 one way, although I couldn’t see anything about that on their website.

If you are flying to Heathrow you may find yourself arriving at the newly opened Terminal 5, which has been having all sorts of problems since the Queen opened it recently at a cost of around $8 billion.

The state of the art baggage handling system has not been working properly, leading to a backlog of almost 28,000 delayed bags at one point last weekend. And British Airways, which have exclusive use of the terminal, also canceled over 200 flights during the first few days of the terminal opening.

And don’t take the overpriced Heathrow Express train from the airport into London. It’s much less expensive to take the Underground, or tube as it’s called.

Guest entry by Mancunian

Discrimination in the air?

Christopher Elliott, the well known Travel Troubleshooter and National Geographic Traveler's ombudsman, has this article on discrimination by airlines. He suggests that most cases of discrimination go unreported. Of course even if you do report it, the airline "can contest the complaint and have it removed from their record."

Well even though I'm happy to be back and want to keep writing I do have to go to the bank and to a graduation ceremony at the university. But I will be back.

Does a Delta + Northwest merger mean trouble for US air travelers?

This article contains some speculation about how US airline mergers might be a bad thing for travelers. Basically, fares are expected to increase and service is likely to get worse.

Hard to find a seat?

I know from experience that flying between New York and Tokyo gets difficult during summer. This Australian article talks about some other situations where they expect a shortage of seats on planes.

Heading to Beijing for the Olympics is one. Late July when Pope Benedict XVI goes to Australia for World Youth Day is another.

I was thinking about heading to Beijing for the Olympics this summer, but I've decided not to. Since I went to Europe this winter it has been a while since I've visited New York and that's where my family is.

Airlines offering "hotel rooms" in the sky

Whereas most of us are looking for the cheapest airfare when we fly, some travelers can afford to pay the first class fares and travel in comfort. Flying first class isn't cheap, (although there are some bargains to be had) A quick check on various web sites found a first class ticket from JFK to Tokyo for about $11,000 and a ticket from London to Sydney for around $7,000.

Airlines make most of their money from the people who are prepared to pay for first and business class and are going out of their way to make the experience even more comfortable for those who can afford it.

The latest trend seems to be towards offering actual cabins in first class, instead of just a seat.

Singapore Airlines is now offering suites with double beds on their new Airbus A380 - the suites boast such extras as wardrobes, sliding doors, window blinds and turn-down service. And Singapore Air is well known for the quality of their service as well as the food and drink, even in coach.

And Virgin Atlantic also offers a first class seat that's almost a suite - including a guest seat and an extra large table for eating or working. The seat is the longest flat-bed seat - almost 7 feet long and almost 3 feet wide, offering plenty of room for a good night's sleep.

Virgin Atlantic also puts an emphasis on service and amenities on the ground, as well as in the air. The airline's Upper class (or business class) passengers receive such extras as free ground transportation and an airport clubhouse with dining, showers and internet access.

And for the rest of us stuck back in coach, our biggest concerns are probably not getting stuck in the middle seat and not having the person in front lean their seat too far back into our lap. But there may be hope for economy passengers - Lufthansa is said to be considering offering an all sleeper-seat coach cabin with triple bunk beds.

Guest entry by Mancunian

Craziest airline stories of 2007

2007 may well be remembered as one of the worst years for airline delays as well as the year of record high oil prices. But there were also some rather odd and humorous stories from the aviation world. At least, they seem humorous now – they may not have seemed so funny at the time.

Approximately twenty passengers argued and fought with each other aboard a flight from Nigeria to London in June. It all started when a passenger didn’t like the person in front reclining their seat and making it difficult for him to eat and sleep. The situation was so bad, the captain had to make an emergency landing.

A British Airways flight from Delhi to London was delayed for 13 hours after the pilot complained about not getting enough sleep in his noisy hotel room.

A 19 month old baby was kicked off a flight for being deemed a security threat after saying “Bye-bye airplane” The baby may have been the only person to actually pay attention to the safety demonstration.

A man in his 60s was admitted to hospital in Germany after drinking an entire liter of vodka, rather than having it confiscated at security. Perhaps nobody had told him about the carry on liquid rule.

Officials in Sioux City, Iowa gave up trying to change the airport’s rather unappealing three letter code of SUX http://www.travel-plan-idea.com/archives/004158.html and decided to make the best of it – the slogan “Fly Sux” was born.

Southwest Airlines had a couple of well-publicized incidents in which passengers were almost kicked off their flights for wearing clothes that were described as being too provocative. If you are wondering what that means, here’s a picture!

A squirrel that had somehow stowed away on an American Airlines flight from Tokyo to Dallas caused the plane to make an emergency landing in Hawaii. The critter was caught and killed - and didn’t even get any frequent flyer miles.

And perhaps the two most disturbing stories of 2007? The case of the coughing girl who was evicted from her flight and the case of the dead body that a passenger discovered occupying the adjoining seat. http://www.travel-plan-idea.com/archives/003966.html - Fortunately these incidents were not both on the same flight.

Most of my flights seem routine compared to these stories! Happy New Year!

Guest entry by Mancunian

How do you book flights for Europe online?

So I need to get from Zurich to Madrid and I guess the train ride would be long so I figured I'd just find one of those great inexpensive European flights I always hear about. A French woman told me to check out Kelkoo.com and Opodo.com but I didn't like either of those sites. I had to choose the UK versions to get English so the prices were in British pounds and pretty expensive.

So I went to Kayak.com where I had some success. I found a Spanair flight for $96 on Orbitz but I seem to remember some people having bad experiences with them so I thought I'd pay a little more and go to the Spanair.com site. As I was booking the flight the website told me there was an error...

That was a 1 stop flight anyway so we figured we'd try Airberlin which is nonstop. Kayak sent me to wegolo.com for that flight. I've never heard of them and while Kayak said it was a 1 way for $215 a person the actual site said it was not direct and $147/person.

So basically I've been confused everywhere I looked. Are there any easy sites you know of for booking flights around Europe?

Is TSA lucky or good?

I'm afraid I didn't have much time to check the new today - I was busy trying to save an expensive coat that my wife gave me last year. Somehow I managed to get chocolate protein shake all over it. I scrubbed for a while but I think I just made it worse. Maybe the dry cleaner will bail me out. Otherwise I could be in trouble for a long time...

The one thing I do have for you is a critical piece on TSA. The main argument is that flying isn't particularly safe because TSA is not very good at stopping people from getting weapons on planes:

Unless you’ve been living for the last few years in a cave that is much more remote and much less technologically sophisticated than Osama bin Laden’s, you know that government investigation after government investigation has shown that it is just as easy today to sneak deadly weapons past screeners as it was on 9/11. Just a few weeks ago the T.S.A. was defending itself against the latest such report - one from the Government Accountability Office - finding screeners at 19 airports around the country to be inept. (The G.A.O. added that it would likely have found similarly dismal results at other airports.)

Which airlines charge your surviving relatives a cancellation fee if you die before you fly?

A while back, Mancunian gave us some information on airline tickets and extra charges. Recently, a reader commented on my post about the US - London British Air sale noting that extra fees basically doubled the cost of a ticket; the sale was no bargain.

Continuing that theme, we have an article from Christopher Elliott. There's some very good information and some very bad omissions. For example I think it is worth noting which airlines charge a cancellation fee when you die but CNN doesn't give us that information:

When a passenger dies, airlines usually cut them a break. Sort of. Their next of kin can apply for a refund. But even in death, airlines have figured out how to make a little extra money. Check out this clause in one airline tariff: "NOTE -- IN THE EVENT OF DEATH OF PASSENGER AN ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE CHARGE OF USD 50.00 WILL BE ASSESSED IN ORDER TO PROCESS A REFUND." The airline doesn't want passengers to abuse this "perk" so it adds, "PROOF OF DEATH MAY BE REQUIRED."

I, for one, would like to know which airline. Does anyone want to ask why Christopher Elliott is keeping that secret?

Anyway, it's an article worth reading.

US airlines prepare for the busy Thanksgiving travel period

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and that means not only turkey, pumpkin pie and all the trimmings - but also extra travel headaches. Airlines estimate that around 90 million Americans will travel by air this Thanksgiving – and it may seem as though most of them are at the same airport as you! US Airways even anticipates that around 60% of its flights will be late – if they know that already, perhaps they could start to reschedule them now? The Wednesday and Friday before and after Thanksgiving Day are usually the busiest travel days. The government is trying to help by allocating extra airspace, as this site reported a couple of days ago.

If you are flying somewhere over the holidays, here are some tips:

Arrive early – at least 90 minutes if you are traveling within the US, and at least 2 hours before if you are traveling overseas. Take advantage of such things as self service check in, on-line check in, pre-printed boarding passes and flight delay notification. Reconfirm your flight with your airline and make sure that they can reach you at your destination in case of delays.

Pack lightly – if you are only going for a couple of days, you can probably manage with just a carry-on bag. The airline cant lose your bags if you don’t check any! You are also allowed to carry on a personal item such as a laptop or purse, but the restrictions on taking only certain amounts of liquids on board are still in place.

If you do have to check your bags, make sure your name and address is clearly marked inside the bag as well as outside. This way, if your luggage is mislaid, it’s a little bit easier for the airline to reunite you with it in a timely manner. And try to make sure that the ticket agent who checks you in puts the right 3-letter airport code on your checked bag – you don’t want your luggage going to SCL (Santiago, Chile) instead of SLC! (Salt Lake City)

Leave your gifts unwrapped, even if you have them inside your checked bags. The TSA may unwrap all your gifts, delaying you at security. Airlines suggest taking wrapping paper etc with you and wrapping everything up when you arrive.

And if you are traveling by car over Thanksgiving, expect to encounter almost as many crowds on the roads. But you may encounter some seasonal generosity – on Wednesday the coffee company Maxwell House will pay the cost of the toll for drivers at 8 big American cities as well as paying the fare at select New York subway stations.

However you are traveling this week, happy Thanksgiving!

Guest entry by Mancunian

Kyla Ebbert's clothing, Southwest airlines, and Playboy

Kyla Ebbert says she was wearing this outfit when she was removed from a Southwest airlines flight and told she was dressed to provocatively for a family airline:

She was able to take the flight by pulling up her top and pulling down her skirt so she didn't actually get kicked off the flight. However it was a painful experience as she felt humiliated.

Personally, I've seen more revealing outfits on planes and the only thing I wonder is if they get cold (I always wear long sleeves on a plane). What makes Southwest's behavior really weird is that they say the have no dress code as long as the appropriate places are covered (they seem to be in this photo) and a Southwest flight attendant complimented the same outfit on the return flight.

Of course, it wasn't all bad news since Kyla Ebbert made a bunch of money taking off that outfit for Playboy. Don't worry - that's a family friendly link from your family friendly travel blogger.

So was Southwest out of line or is the outfit inappropriate?

Be nice to the rest of the herd

This article is a plea for all of us to be more considerate when we fly economy:

The number one problem with air travel, according to an exhaustive survey by the polling staff at the Peoples Weekly Brief, is self absorbed, inconsiderate passengers who act as if the entire transportation system should bend to their will.

Naturally I've run into a few problems like kids kicking my seat but I guess I've been fairly lucky that I've never had a really awful flight (not because of other passengers anyway).

Funny preflight instructions

I thought this was pretty funny. You'll need the sound turned on to appreciate it.

Don't be cheap, be on time

The author of this article has a convincing argument for why you shouldn't shop for the cheapest airline ticket this winter: "Saving a few dollars on a flight will seem a hollow victory if you spend Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or New Year's Eve in an airport terminal."

Seeing as how the summer was pretty bad (this article also has some advice for avoiding delays) and the Christmas / winter holiday season could be worse, this is an important article.

They offer some good advice. The airline hub is important. As Jetblue learned, if your hub is in New York, and New York is buried in snow your ability to get customers where they want to go on time is limited. So an airline with a hub somewhere nice and warm is a good choice.

Different airports in the same area can also be an important factor. That means you need to think about where you depart from and where you arrive. It might be worth going to an airport a bit further away if you avoid a delay.

What do you do when the airline loses your luggage?

This is not from me - but someone needs advice from savvy travelers and hopefully some of the readers here can offer some:

Delta lost my luggage from the plane to the baggage claim or someone just stole my luggage. I was flying back from Boston, connecting through JFK. My girlfriend and I were sitting on the plane, and we see our bags as the last ones sitting on the carts, and we actually saw them go up the ramp and onto the plane, so I know they were put on the plane at JFK. She got her bag here in Lauderdale, but mine is mysteriously missing. I was standing and watching where the bags first come out onto the baggage claim, so I don't think anyone could have taken it. Delta only insures up to $2800, and I know there was much more than that in value in that bag. I'm in an extremely bad mood now.

I was in Boston and Connecticut for my niece's christening, so I had a Hugo Boss suit, my dress shoes, a few dress shirts, plus I was visiting friends as well so I had all of my nice jeans, more shirts for going out, my north face fleece, sneakers, my shaving case (Christmas present from my sister last year and it was coach so not cheap), and my suitcase was even a Travelpro I got on sale at the time for $200, but is worth over $500... that and my girlfriend stuck a bunch of her makeup in my bag. Oh all of my chargers (ipod, phone, camera, etc.) were in there too.

So what do I do now?

And by the way, my brother traveled on Delta from Tulsa to Atlanta last Christmas season. He packed presents and his clothing in a golf club bag. The trip from Tulsa to Atlanta was fine. When he was returning to Tulsa the bag checker said he could not use this type of bag for anything but golf clubs. Delta ended up confiscating the bag and they were supposed to ship it to my brother. My brother had Christmas presents that were given to him in the bag (Digital video camera, and some other things). To this day he has not received his belongings. I will never fly Delta again.

Airlines become entirely ticketless + airline collectibles

If you have a paper ticket to travel by air, you may want to hold on to it – paper tickets may well become a collector’s item. IATA recently announced that all the major airlines will stop issuing paper tickets, effective next summer. Most airlines are already almost entirely electronic – American for example, now estimates that around 98% of its tickets are "e-tickets".

Electronic ticketing is much less expensive for an airline – on average, an electronic ticket costs less than $1 to generate, as opposed to between $10 to $17 for each paper ticket printed. In addition to being less expensive, electronic tickets also make it easier and quicker for the airlines to measure revenue and balance the books. In the past, entire bundles of paper tickets had to be packaged, counted and sent to a processing facility where the data was collected.

Most passengers prefer e-tickets as well – they don’t have to worry about losing their ticket. If you have a paper ticket, airlines generally charge you a fee to replace it or even make you buy a completely new replacement ticket. If you lose the copy of your faxed or e-mailed electronic ticket, the airline will replace it for you – although as the airlines now charge for just about everything, there may be a small charge for that.

If collecting plane tickets doesn’t seem exciting, how about collecting air-sickness bags? You would have to rack up a lot of air miles to surpass the collection of over 5000 bags, by Niek Vermeulen, from the Netherlands, who apparently has collected the most. I was amazed to find just how popular this is; of the many web sites devoted to collecting air sickness bags, http://www.airsicknessbags.com is one of the most intriguing. Fortunately, I have never had to use the air-sickness bag on a plane, but neither have I had the urge to take it with me when I landed.

And how about someone looking into the possibility of electronic passports...? Given the delays this summer in issuing passports, that may be a good idea...

Guest entry by Mancunian

BOB, FAT, MOO and SIN – all about airport codes

If you have flown, you have probably noticed the 3 letter code that’s put on your baggage label that the airline attaches to your checked bags. The point of this is so that the baggage handlers know where your bags are going to – although the system doesn’t always work! These standard 3 letter codes are also widely used by pilots, controllers and others in the aviation industry.

If you had the above codes on your checked bags, they would be going to Bora-Bora, Fresno (California), Moomba (Australia) and Singapore respectively. But be careful of airport agents putting the wrong code on your checked bags – a bag going to Salt Lake City (SLC) can easily end up in Santiago, Chile! (SCL) And Madrid (MAD) can be confused with Chenai, India (MAA).

Airport codes are designated by IATA and there are over 10,000 airports around the world with designated codes – they range from primitive landing strips to major international airports.

Some of the codes are obvious and are familiar to people who don’t work in the airline industry - JFK (Kennedy, New York) and LAX. (Los Angeles International) But some codes aren’t so obvious unless you know the story behind them...

The code for Chicago O’Hare (ORD) comes from the airport’s old name. An aircraft factory known as Orchard Place once stood on the spot, later it became an airport and the name was changed to Orchard Field. And MCO (Orlando) doesn’t stand for Mickey and Company – the code comes from the name of the Air Force base that once was on the spot – McCoy Field. Cincinnati (CVG) airport isn’t in Ohio at all – it’s actually in neighboring Kentucky, near the town of Covington.

Canadian city codes are the most illogical and confusing – apparently, when it came to assigning codes, all the obvious ones had already been taken! So Canadian city codes all begin with the letter Y – Calgary is YYC, Vancouver is YVR, Winnipeg is YWG and Montreal is YUL.

By the way, many airline jobs require you to commit to memory a long list of the most commonly used airport codes, which can be quite a challenge!

Guest entry by Mancunian

Switching from planes to trains or driving

I suppose terrible airline experiences shouldn't be too surprising these days, considering that this has been the worst summer for delayed flights in the US, but this one still amazes me:

Things seemed fine when she arrived at the gate for the first connection. They still seemed fine — the sign at the gate still brightly proclaimed that her flight would be on time — when she and other passengers noticed that the flight after theirs was boarding, and they weren’t.

Somebody had the temerity to ask, and was told, “Oh, we canceled yours.” No apology, and apparently no intention of making an announcement....

“So I’m not flying any more,” she said with that dangerous emphasis that I know not to contradict. “They don’t care how much they inconvenience you, or how much they lie to you. I’m just not doing it any more.”

Of course not, dear. Especially since, between her experiences and my own, this was the third trip in a row that could have been completed more quickly by driving. That haul up interstates 77 and 81, passing through six states, is a stroll in the park compared to these aeronautic nightmares.

The author's wife clearly agrees that US airlines are broken, and I don't blame her. Not telling passengers about a cancelled flight is just ridiculous.

Some may blame the air traffic control system, and no doubt better infrastructure would help, but I have to blame this on the airlines. This reminds me I owe you a Spirit Airlines review. I gave up looking for my notes...

US air traffic system to be overhauled?

My flight from JFK to Seoul was an interesting one. A 14 hour non-stop is always interesting, but this one left at 1:00 AM New York time and arrived in Seoul at 3:30 AM local time.

I've never been at an airport at 3:30 AM. Incheon airport was more corwded than I expected and had fewer transportation and food options available than I was hoping for. The first buses started running after 5:00 AM so if you wanted to leave right away you would have to pay substantially more for a taxi. The only places to get food were a convenient store and a McDonalds.

There was a Korean Air information counter open, so we were able to arrange a flight to Jinju where we are now (visiting with my in-laws who were watching our dogs).

I'll be back to blogging normally (with the promised reviews) soon. For today, here's a guest entry by Mancunian:

We recently talked about how horrendous the delays have been for air travelers in the United States this summer. US airlines are having their worst summer ever for delayed and canceled flights, as many of us can probably verify.

This summer, the average delay was supposedly 51 minutes and in general, air travel delays cost passengers $9.4 billion every year (How do they calculate these figures, I can’t help wonder) And by the year 2014, air travel delays are forecasted to be around 60% higher than 2004 levels.

Part of the reason is the fact that there are more planes and passengers flying – today, around 45,000 flights occur over the US in a typical day. By 2016, that figure is expected to rise to over 61,000 flights, according to Smart Skies. And more passengers are flying in the US than ever before – in fact, the numbers are now over pre 9/11 levels.

The US air traffic control infrastructure was basically designed in the 1950s and is now too antiquated to keep up. Many air traffic facilities are understaffed and many of the busier ones are staffed by junior controllers, with little experience. And starting salaries have been cut for air traffic controllers – making a stressful job even less appealing.

The antiquated air traffic control system is potentially dangerous as well. Last week, there was another near miss at Los Angeles International airport – the 8th such incident at the same airport this year. And in July this year, two planes came close to colliding at Philadelphia International airport.

There are proposals to overhaul the entire air traffic control system in the United States with a comprehensive system using global satellite positioning technology – basically the same thing that is in many newer cars. This would both improve efficiency and also help make air travel safer.

But of course, it all costs money. Modernizing the entire air traffic control system across the US comes with an estimated $40 billion price tag and the FAA has yet to persuade the airlines and congress to pay for it. So, you probably shouldn’t expect the delays to improve any time soon!

More reasons to hate Spirit Airlines

Most of you know why I hate Spirit Airlines. But now I have another reason.

To check in a bag (pretty much a necessity since you can't take so many things in carry-on) you have to pay $20 each way, $10 if you do it in advance online.

Naturally I prefer $10, so for the last few days I've been trying to register a checked bag online. But Spirit Air's website is broken and all I get is the following message:

Spirit Airlines is currently unable to retrieve the baggage inventory available for this itinerary. You can still get advance-purchase checked bags before your flight(s). Just log in to My Reservations any time up to one day prior to your departure date. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

So it looks like I'll be forced to pay for the checked bag at check in. I wonder if they'll charge me the full $20 for not doing the impossible (I must have tried 5-10 times over the past 2 days) and using their website to take care of the baggage in advance...

U.S. Airlines having their worst summer for delays - tips for finding flights that arrive on time

If you have flown this summer, you may have experienced delays or canceled flights. In fact, airlines in the U.S. are having what is considered to be their worst summer in terms of delayed and canceled flights. The average delay this summer is apparently around 51 minutes – five minutes longer than the same time last summer.

American Airlines has had one of the worst records for delays, mainly because of the weather in the Dallas area – American has its largest hub in Dallas/Fort Worth. In fact, the period from May 1st to June 30th was the wettest period at the airport since 1898 with almost 20 inches of rain.

Sometimes it seems the airlines can’t win – they are just as vulnerable to potential bad weather during the winter months in hubs such as Chicago, Minneapolis and New York. Some airlines are making it a little bit easier to assist passengers affected by hurricanes as well – American introduced a “hurricane policy” last week which offers more options and flexibility to passengers whose flight is canceled in the event of a hurricane.

There may be some relief in sight. The FAA has devised a plan to restructure the airspace over the major airports on the east coast – a move that would supposedly reduce delays by about 20%.

It’s even difficult to define a delay – officially a flight is delayed if it arrives more than 15 minutes from its scheduled arrival time. Airlines also tend to adjust their schedules or “stretch” the flying time to ensure that flights will arrive within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.

There are some things you can do to minimize air travel delays. Firstly, you can obtain statistics on how often a particular flight is delayed. All airline reservations agents have this information and must supply it when asked. (The Department of Transportation imposes big fines on the airlines if they don’t tell you this when asked) For example, the airline may tell you that the 11am flight from Chicago to Miami arrives on time between 71% and 80% of the time).

Experts also advise that you avoid connecting flights if possible, and book yourself on a flight early in the day. The early flights out are generally less prone to delays – which tend to occur later in the day, especially during the summer in the form of late afternoon or evening thunderstorms. That way, there’s more chance of you – and your bags – making it on time.

Only another few weeks of summer to go – before we know it, all the delays will be caused by winter weather!

Gues entry by Mancunian

Related entry: Are US Airlines broken?

Speaking of flying, in two days I have a 6:40 AM flight with Spirit Air from New York to Punta Cana (via Miami). Wish me luck!

Finding good deals on flights and flying to outer space

Jet lag is catching up to me so it's 10:20 and I need to work out and get some sleep. All I have for you is a bit of information on finding good deals on flights and finding the most expensive flights possible.

This article goes into some depth about saving money when you book a flight.

Related blog entries:

Are US airlines broken?
I hate Spirit Airlines
Extra charges on airline tickets

I don't think that applies to booking space flights, but if you have $200,000 to spend why be a bargain shopper?

Related entries:

Outerspace weddings
Space flight costs

Korean Air flight was fine (plenty of water but not quite enough food)

My flight went fairly well - thank you for all the comments on my preperaing for a long flight blog entry. I wasn't really able to sleep much but I was mostly comfortable.

Water was no problem. I think it helps that I actually drank water instead of soda or wine. Also, I was probably awake every time they came around with drinks since I couldn't sleep. I'm sure the people around me, who all seemed to sleep annoyingly well, were more thirsty than I was.

There was less food than I expected for a 14 hour flight. We had a meal shortly after takeoff, then a banana several hours later, and then a while later breakfast (I was pretty surprised that choosing eggs actually meant getting a salmon omlette - I don't really like salmon). Luckily I had some hard boiled eggs to snack on, but I was still pretty hungry. I think I'll bring more eggs plus a protein bar or shake (well I'd bring the powder and the mixer and have them fill it up with water on the plane) for the return flight.

We did have personal monitors and could start, stop, and pause movies whenever we liked. I saw Bridge to Terabithia (not so good, sad), 300 (not so good on a tiny screen but probably good on a big one), and Wild Hogs (had a few funny moments). Sure I'd have been better off sleeping, but it didn't work out that way.

Anyway, now I'm at my parent's house trying to stay awake late enough to take my little sister (the one getting married) to a Harry Potter premeir event at midnight tonight. Since it's 10:00 PM Friday night now, I'll probably work from 10:30 to 11:15, take a shower, and then go to the Harry Potter thing.

Meanwhile, I have a couple of articles for you.

Brazil's politicians are still facing criticism following the recent plane crash there. This is a topic I'll have to research more since a friend of mine and I are actually planning a business venture involving tours of Brazil.

Here we have an article on family resort vacations. These are all resorts in the US.

Speaking fo traveling with kids, I can take one more question about traveling with kids in Europe for my upcoming interview with an expert.

Normally I run these things through a word spellcheck, nut my parents' computer is acting funny and spell check doesn't work. Please forgive any typos...

What do you do before a long flight?

Tomorrow I fly 14 hours from Seoul to New York. It's a Korean Air direct flight. In the past I never really paid attention to the day before the flight, but as I become more health conscious, I think more about how to prepare.

So today I did some weight lifting. They say that your body needs sleep to build muscle and I plan to get plenty on that 14 hour flight. Not that I ever sleep real well on flights, but there's not much else to do...

Tomorrow before the flight I'll probably go for a run and do some yoga. Hopefully that will make it easier for me to sleep somehow.

I also hope that I won't get too restless. The theory is that if my body needs lots of rest to recover from all the exercise it had to handle, I can rest without thinking about how much happier I'd be if I had more space, somewhere to walk to, etc.

Here's an article on how most people gain weight on vacation. That's actually what I want, but of course I want to gain muscle, not fat.

Speaking of adding muscle, I plan to bring some hard boiled eggs on the plane. I'm sure Korean Air will feed me but I'm on a high protein diet and I don't think that's one of the special meals you can request...

What do you think of my plan and what tips do you have for getting ready for a long flight?

Are US airlines broken? Delta sure failed one US soldier...

This blog author users a recent travel nightmare (thanks largely to Delta) to argue that, in the US at least, airlines are broken. The worst thing about the whole experience (for me anyway) was this part: "I shared the van with a soldier just back from 14 months in Iraq, also the victim of a cancellation, who was watching his 10-day leave tick away, his wife and two daughters awaiting him at home."

I understand that cancellations happen. And I know that everyone has an important reason to get where they were supposed to go before the cancellation. But stealing even one day from a soldier with 10 days to see his family before going back to Iraq where he's spent 14 months is just sick. The airline has to do something to make sure this soldier gets home as soon as possible. Put him on another airline or something.

Code shares and flight costs

I remember thinking how strange it was a few years ago when I was flying from Seoul to Rome on my honeymoon. We were flying Korean Air, but we booked through Alitalia because it was several hundred dollars cheaper than buying the Korean Air ticket. Same flight, same service, different price.

Here's an interesting article on how this works. Apparently airlines are not permitted to cooperate when they set prices for code share flights; this is what sometimes results in big price differences.

Trying to find that elusive frequent flyer seat

If you have tried to use your frequent flier miles recently, you’ll know how difficult it can be to try to cash them in. When American Airlines introduced the world’s first frequent flier program back in 1984, it had little idea how popular the innovative program would become.

The program became a victim of its own success – there were not enough ‘free’ seats for people, a problem which most of us are only too well aware still exists today. So here are a few tips for trying to get that elusive mileage seat...

Make sure you are talking to the right person! Most airlines have a specialized mileage reservations department – if you call to cash in your miles, or have general questions make sure you are speaking to that department. If you feel you aren’t getting good service, call back and speak to someone else.

Book early! Try to book as far ahead as you can; most airlines can book almost a year ahead. It’s almost impossible to get mileage seats to Europe during the summer or the Caribbean at Christmas unless you book a long way ahead. Consider booking dates that are close to those that you want - there’s usually no charge to make date changes to mileage tickets once booked. However, airlines are starting to use extra charges more often.

Try to be flexible with your dates and times; sometimes the least popular times of day may have mileage seats available. Mileage seats may be available on connecting flights – even if you have to change planes twice. You may want to also look at flying to an alternate destination; if flights to Los Angeles are full, try flying into Burbank or Long Beach. Try Oakland instead of San Francisco.

If all else fails, try calling the airline back in a few days – mileage availability can constantly change as airlines may make available more seats on a flight. You can also easily check mileage availability on line with most airlines.

Don’t forget to ask about using your miles on partner airlines. Most airlines also have mileage ‘partners’- for example if you have American frequent flier miles, you can also use those miles to fly on British Airways, Qantas, Cathay Pacific and a dozen other major airlines. So if you have miles on a particular airline and they don’t fly where you want to fly – or they don’t have mileage seats – maybe they can get you there somehow.

Compare mileage programs, get tips and keep up with the latest news at http://www.frequentflier.com.

Finally, keep in mind that it doesn’t always pay to use your miles; you may want to compare it against the cost of the ticket. Many people accrue their miles over years (on JAL they expire after 2 years) and use them for a once in a lifetime trip overseas.

Guest article by Mancunian

Why I hate Spirit Airlines and will never fly them again after going to Punta Cana

Not long ago I blogged about visiting Costa Rica to review some hotels in Manuel Antonio National Park.

I went to Kayak and did a search there. They showed me American Airlines as the cheapest option. I was surprised to see Spirit Airlines was more expensive than American until I noticed that they were searching only Orbitz, not the actual Spiritair.com website.

I went to the website, found Spirit Air a little cheaper than American, and made my reservations to San Jose. So I thought.

I got my itinerary in my email a few minutes later and it said I was going to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. I immediately went to their website and found that changing my reservations would cost $60/person. This seemed pretty ridiculous considering the reservations were only a minute old...

So I tried calling SpiritAir to inform them about the error but I never get through on the phone. After two recordings telling me to visit the website instead of calling, I get to the touchtone menu. After going through the motions they always hang up on me due to "unusually high call volume" and no available representatives.

Well I tried calling several times over a few hours and their recording always told me to try back later.

I replied to the email that had my reservations from Spirit Airlines explaining the problem and my inability to get through on the phone. No response.

So that's why I hate Spirit Airlines even though I've never flown with them. The non-existent customer service and the $60/person charge for changing reservations that are less than a minute old really make me angry. I will never fly Spirit Airlines again - they have officially become my least favorite airline.

However, going to Punta Cana will be fun (I'm too cheap to spend $120 to change the reservations back to San Jose) and my time is too precious to continue calling Spirit Air (it seems pretty obvious Spirit Airlines will never answer the phone).

So where should I stay in Punta Cana? Are there any resorts you would like to see reviewed here?

Buying airline tickets & figuring out extra charges

By the way, there’s an extra charge for reading this.

Most of us are confused of course, by airline fares and pricing structure – it has been complicated for so long that it just wouldn’t be the same if it were any other way. But recently, the airlines seem to have introduced a lot of extra charges and fees – designed, of course to make some much needed extra money – but with the inevitable result of confusing the rest of us.

Extra fees and taxes are not uncommon. The price of your plane ticket contains all sorts of taxes – security, customs, agricultural, etc. Most of us don’t notice or care – after all, we all have to pay taxes. But some airlines have started to quietly add on extra charges for checking more than one bag, for buying alcoholic drinks in the main cabin, for having a ticket mailed rather than sent by e-mail. What next, I wonder - extra charges for pillows, a glass of water or a magazine?

One of the biggest changes in the last decade or so has been the increase in customers booking and paying for plane tickets on line. The airlines want us to book our tickets on line, rather than with a real live person over the phone – obviously costs are a lot less that way. The service fee or phone booking fee can add up quite a bit – typically, its $10 a person, so for a family of four, that’s $40 on top of your ticket price.

There are several problems with this system. While most of us are used to the internet, there are those of us who still don’t feel comfortable giving our credit card or other personal information on line. And – perhaps hard to believe – but not everybody has a computer, especially the elderly.

Booking on line is all very well if you are doing something simple – traveling from point A to point B and back again. But many business trips are more complicated than that, of course. You can book a so-called “open jaw” (flying into and out of two different airports) on most airline web sites, but not a trip that involves several stopovers.

And mileage tickets involving partner airlines cannot be booked on airlines’ web sites – which means a call to the airline and a booking fee. Speaking of mileage tickets – book yours with at least several weeks notice, otherwise you will be faced with yet more charges for booking late.

American for example charges $100 for the first ticket and $25 for each additional ticket if mileage tickets are booked within a week of travel. That’s assuming the tickets all come from one mileage account – it’s even more if they come from different accounts.

Several of the airlines also now impose a charge to make changes to an existing ticket if that ticket was issued by an outside source or a travel agency. So if you book and pay for your ticket on Expedia, Travelocity or Priceline – to get it for a cheaper price – you may pay $15 per person if you then call the airline to change it.

And recently, at least one major airline has imposed the $15 fee to make a change to the seat assignment. That’s causing quite a few problems as often, travel agents don’t have access to exit row seats or other “blocked seats”. It seems the trend towards extra or service fees is only going to continue.

Thanks for reading; please let us know if you come across any other annoying little extra charges.

Guest blog entry written by Mancunian

16-year-old girl kicked off plane for coughing + dead body in first class

I'm not sure I understand why Rachel Collier, a 16-year-old girl, was not allowed to fly after a fit of coughing. If a doctor says you're fine, then you're fine. The only think I can think of is that the Continental pilot was afraid that people would complain about hearing someone cough, kind of like Paul Trinder.

If you missed the story, Paul Trinder, was the first class passenger who woke up with a dead body next to him and the dead person's family members wailing and whatnot. He complained.

Now it's easy to criticize the guy for being insensitive, but I'd be complaining too. I mean who wants to sit next to a dead body or people crying? The airline simply must have a better place to keep the body. For example when I fly on 747-400s, I notice they have a little room with 2 beds for the crew. There must be some place like that where the body can be kept.

Now certainly the crew need their rest, but so do the first class passengers. If that's not an option, take 3 people in coach and move them to 1st class. Then you have an entire row for the dead body. And then all the passengers in first class are living.

What's even more amazing is that the crew didn't tell him what was going on. He had to ask. That just blows me away. You absolutely have to tell the guy and give him a chance to move. British Airlines said sorry, but we did the best we could.

In the end I guess I don't understand the airline's decision in either case. The girl who coughs because she has a cold gets kicked off a plane. Good job Continental. The dead woman is moved to first class and the passengers nearby kept in the dark. Good thinking British Airways.

What do you think? Am I being too harsh when I criticize the airlines in these two cases? Does anyone think that Continental or British Airways did the right thing?

Travel's "final fronteir" - space flights

Here's an article about $200,000 flights into space where you get a good view of the stars and the curve of the Earth. If you can wait a few years the price is expected to drop and might be as cheap as $50,000...