There is danger in the mergers of airlines for the traveler. Most experts agree that consolidation means a reduction in seats available on many routes, and that usually means higher fares. However, the major airlines are struggling. Rising fuel costs, rising labor costs…competition keeping fares lower than the airlines want in order to make a…
Perhaps overshadowed by today’s offer by US Airways on Delta…yesterday Airtran and Frontier Airlines announced a marketing alliance. Members of Frontier’s EarlyReturns program will be able to earn mileage points when flying on Airtran and members of Airtran’s A+Rewards Program, which is based on the number of flights taken, can choose to earn credit while…
Delta inaugurated its new service between New York’s JFK Airport and London’s Gatwick Airport this evening at 7:05PM. Delta is the first major U.S. carrier to enter the market since 1991, since United Airlines purchased the route rights from Pan Am. Delta purchased the route rights from United earlier this year. United had been serving…
We awoke this morning to the news that US Airways had proposed to buy Delta out of bankruptcy by paying Delta’s creditors $4 billion in cash and 78.5 million shares of stock, worth approximately another $4 billion. Delta has not accepted the proposal, commenting that it would review it but plans to emerge from bankruptcy…
Reuters reports that airline passengers will soon be able to connect their Ipods to in-flight entertainment systems as Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM, and United will offer Ipod seat connections for viewing and charging. Apple’s Ipod dominates the digital music player market, and thus an Ipod charger would be a popular item on planes.…
As we’ve mentioned before, Farecast is an intriguing product that uses statistics and historical data to predict trends in fares. Now, the company if offering to lock in ticket prices against an increase for one week for $1 during the initial release. It will eventually increase to $10. The product, Fare Guard, guarantees that if…
In a press release today, the employees of US Airways provided their tips for Thanksgiving holiday travel. We summarize them below with some of our elaborations. Do not bring your turkey or other dishes to the airport. You can make them there. Travel lightly…overhead space is limited. Do not wrap your gifts prior to travel…
We were honored when Jeff Hoyt commented on our post directing people to his podcasts. We hope he continues to entertain us with podcasts relevant to our subject matter(we’ve already referred to him twice). He inquired about the Knee Defender, a device designed to stop the seatback in front of you from reclining. It retails…
In one of our posts on Customer Service issues, we mentioned the blog of Jeff Hoyt. He does podcasts every few months that are few amusing. We decided on a whim to see what he was up to, and it turns out he has a new podcast about the travel experience. To hear Mr. Hoyt…
With legroom in coach at a premium, fighting with your neighbor in the adjoining seat for the area you are meant to share may be something you’d opt to do. Wired provided this advice on how to capture the armrest from the person who, due to his or her proximity and the amount of space…
Effective today, for all flights originating in airports in the European Union, liquids will be allo wed in limited quantities. The rules match very closely the the US rules. To reiterate the new rules and best practiceseffective both there and in the US: Liquids and gels are permitted in 3oz/100mL bottles. No more will be…
The New York Daily News reports that officials at the Port Authority, which runs the three New York area airports, are considering a billion dollar rebuild of LaGuardia Airport’s Central Terminal Building. The building is the second oldest of the terminals, surpassed only by the airport’s original terminal, now known as the Marine Air Terminal.…
As BTOnline reports, last week Jetblue signed an agreement with Amadeus, which gives it representation in all of the major Global Distribution Systems(GDS), including Sabre, Worldspan, and Galileo. Jetblue had left the GDS world and been somewhat successful with 100% direct booking. But, as Jetblue has concluded, opening itself up to GDS bookings has gotten…
Bloomburg reports that Airbus plans to increase spending to $12 billion, a 20% increase to develop the A350 jet. The current design is its sixth attempt to come up with serious competition for the 787 Dreamliner. Airbus is seriously behind in the A350 project, partially due to the problems with its A380 project. With the…
New York City has recently been involved in a controversy over the possibility of banning trans-fat from restaurants, among other things. Jetblue, New York’s hometown airline, has gotten into the act. Today, Jetblue announced that effective December 15th, Jetblue will offer a 100% trans-fat free selection of snacks and beverages with the addition of Chocobilly…
As Upgrade: Travel Better reported last week, the TSA reserves the rights to fine you in the event you have prohibited stuff in your carry-on luggage. The agency collected over 1.5 million dollars in fines last year, and considering the increasing security measures implemented at airports and proposed, they may opt to levy more fines.…
Not long ago, a fellow blogger accused us of having a singular point of view in regards to Boeing vs. Airbus. Now, it was not long ago Boeing had its problems, and it has succeeded in turning them around for the most part. Right now, Airbus is in the midst of serious problems, and the…
The New York Times reported the other day on the cleanliness of airplanes, focusing on Delta. Delta had let its schedule for deep cleaning its aircraft go to every 15 to 18 months. Essentially, planes are used as many hours of the day as are practical, which means thousands of hours in flight. In a…
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…
We noted with interest the Upgrade: Travel Better blog response to a reader email on seat assignments. Speaking from our experience, we agree that booking your seats any way but directly with the carrier does not guarantee your seating will be confirmed by them. If your seat request comes back unable to confirm…they won’t usually…
In a press release today, Airtran asked its customers to voice their input on where they’d like to see the airline fly next. The list of possible cities includes: Albany, N.Y. Albuquerque, N.M. Allentown, Pa. Austin, Texas Baton Rouge, La. Boise, Idaho Burlington, VT Charleston, S.C. Charleston, W.Va. Chattanooga, Tenn. Chicago (O’Hare), Ill. Cincinnati, Ohio…
Reuters reports that a delay in the launch of the A350 could affect USAirways in its long-term expansion plans for international service. Airbus invested in USAirways in exchange for a commitment to purchase 20 A350s. Since Airbus has no firm delivery dates for the A350, this commitment may not bear fruit in line with the…
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…
As expected, this morning Jetblue unveiled its new Chicago service, beginning January 4th. The service will include five daily flights on Jetblue’s Embraer 190 aircraft to Jetblue’s East Coast Hub, JFK in New York, and two daily flights with A320s to Long Beach, CA, their west coast hub. In honor of this, they are offering…
The New York Times reports that Jetblue is expected to announce service between Stewart Airport in Newburgh, NY in about two months. The Poughkeepsie Journal reports that Senator Charles Schumer(Dem-NY) confirmed this, and that he is expected to be at Stewart Wednesday morning to announce this, with a daily roundtrip flight to Ft. Lauderdale and…