Airlines Get the Focus of Consumer Protection People hate airlines, which means it’s good politics to attack airlines. The Department of Transportation, which regulates airlines, has spent a lot of time over the past six years micromanaging how airlines display their pricing and how they display ancillary fees. There’s even discussion of regulating how flights can be displayed in a search, and imposing mandatory disclosures when an airline isn’t included in search results (such as because that airline won’t pay the fees necessary to be part of the distribution channel). The DOT implemented rules that required airlines to honor mistake fares, didn’t like the results, and so they essentially ignore those rules. Hotels Have Been Able to Act Deceptively and Disingenuously With Impunity There’s a ton of hand wringing and teeth gnashing over airlines, and…
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Search Results for "united baggage".
OUCH: American Fails to Load Bags at Miami for 8 Hours, Doesn’t Tell Passengers
Readers of this blog know that I’m generally a fan of American Airlines, I fly over 100,000 miles a year with them and I think the AAdvantage program is the most rewarding airline frequent flyer program at least at the top elite tier. Every once in awhile though an airline does something that reminds you why people hate airlines. This time it happened to be American. Apparently American’s baggage system broke down in Miami for several hours on Friday. The airline couldn’t deliver checked bags to aircraft. Planes took off without any checked bags loaded Passengers weren’t told their bags weren’t onboard Indeed, in many cases they weren’t even informed on arrival at their destination Usually when truly terrible situations develop, there’s an external factor (most often its weather) combined with very bad decision-making. Here…
Free Fruit at DFW Airport! (No, Really.)
I love DFW airport. It’s my favorite connecting airport in the country (I’ll concede that it’s pretty far from downtown Dallas, but as a physical structure it’s great as an originating airport since you’re so close to gates once you arrive there plus baggage claim is quick to get to and efficient). DFW has my favorite American Centurion lounge, it’s the only one with a spa (although the wine wall in San Francisco is great in its own right). DFW has Cousin’s Barbecue, and it has banh mi. Though some folks like Pappadeaux, most of the good restaurant options are on the D concourse. There’s ample seating, free wifi, and power throughout the airport. The DFW travel lounges are nice (they used to be sponsored by Samsung, and feature comfortable seating and televisions). I’ve never…
Alaska Waives Checked Bag Fees for Credit Card Holders… for Three Months Only
Alaska Airlines gave free checked bags to everyone with a Mileage Plan number in their reservation in January. Now they’re running a limited-time offer of a free checked bag for their co-brand credit card holders from February 1 through April 30. Checked bag fees are one of the pain points of flying that irritate passengers most. And Alaska is even good with checked bags, having offered a baggage delivery guarantee since 2009. They currently offer 2500 miles or a $25 discount on a future flight if they don’t deliver checked bags within 20 minutes. (Pro-tip: the miles are worth more.) Alaska Mileage Plan miles are some of the most valuable of any airline. Alaska believes that continuing to award miles based on distance flown rather than revenue will be a competitive advantage for them. I…
The Government Will Now Require Airlines to Permit Instruments As Carry Ons
The Department of Transportation is focusing on the truly important issues of the day. On Monday they published a final rule that will require airlines to permit small instruments as carry on items. The rule will also require airlines to allow customers to purchase seats for larger instruments. The American Federation of Musicians is pleased. “For many years, [American Federation of Musicians] members have been subject to very arbitrary and contradictory size and weight requirements imposed by each airline for musical instruments that are carried on board the airplane or checked as baggage,” AFM President Ray Hair wrote in a letter to the organization’s members. “Airlines will now follow a consistent policy for all musicians traveling with instruments.” Note that this new rule will do nothing to: Prevent United from breaking guitars that are indeed…
Here’s the Best Travel Tips and Tricks You Shouldn’t Miss…
Here are the best travel tips and tricks, the highlights of View from the Wing posts from December. Last month I collated the best travel tips from November. Before that I summarized the very best travel posts from October, here’s the best travel posts from September, and from August. In July I offered the most useful and interesting developments from June as well. It turns out, surprisingly, that this feature is really popular, at least judging by the emails I get — people that don’t read the blog every day really appreciated the recap and not having to dig through all of the posts to find the most enduring ones. These are some that were my favorites from December. I hope you were happy with some of the posts and got something out of them…
Why the New Yorker Wants You to Believe Airlines Are Making Coach Worse So They Can Gouge You With Fees
The New Yorker is on a roll bashing airlines, in November it was how bad United was which was really a piece complaining about mergers and a subtle attack on telecommunications mergers. This week we again we see a New Yorker piece bashing the airlines, another sideways social commentary that’s really about income inequality rather than air transport. (HT: @bhanau) The piece is called “Why Airlines Want to Make You Suffer” and much of it is focused on fees. This is the meat of the argument: [T]he fee model comes with systematic costs that are not immediately obvious. Here’s the thing: in order for fees to work, there needs be something worth paying to avoid. That necessitates, at some level, a strategy that can be described as “calculated misery.” Basic service, without fees, must be…
Should Elites Even Get Extra Legroom Seating for Free?
Henry Harteveldt is one of the smartest people I know. I cited his work in a regulatory comment I filed with the Department of Transportation a couple of months ago. So I take it seriously when he calls me out on one of my posts. Yesterday Delta made a big splash announcement about the rebranding of their cabins. But as with the introduction of Sky Priority four years ago, they roll up a bunch of existing benefits and call is something exciting and new and generate a whole bunch of buzz (largely from outlets who don’t know there’s nothing new or better involved). To be sure, it’s common to roll up several non-new things to make whatever is being announced sound like ‘news’. American’s announcement about lie flat transatlantic Boeing 757s and extra legroom seats…
Snap! That Won’t Work… The War On Water Has Been Won, But We Still Keep Fighting…
I’ve written that the flight I fear the most are United’s Hong Kong routes in economy. I wouldn’t much love American’s Hong Kong – Dallas in back either. Hong Kong airport isn’t an ally in the War on Water. Since you can take water through their checkpoints, there’s an additional security check at the gate or on the jetway for all US-bound flights and all US airline flights (regardless of destination, for instance I’ve experienced it Hong Kong – Ho Chi Minh City on United). The same applies to Australia flights. You can buy water in the airport, but it will be confiscated from you upon boarding. So you’re reliant upon the airline’s flight attendants to stay hydrated flying super long haul. I always wanted to freeze water and take it through a TSA checkppint…
The Secret Sauce: How Your Airline/Hotel Credit Card Actually Works
A question I got yesterday in the comments prompted me to put together a post explaining how airline credit cards work — how co-brand credit card deals get put together by banks, airline or hotel company, and payment network like Visa or MasterCard. (With American Express, the card issuer and payment network is usually the same.) I thought some readers would find it interesting to discuss a bit about ‘how the sausage gets made’ and what that means for which banks will issue which cards for which airlines and hotels going forward. Reader Win asks, @Gary, how are co-branded card perks determined and paid for, and what do you think might happen in the American Airlines card space, considering the legacy vs. primary issuers, the merger, etc.? How Airline Credit Cards Work: it’s Big Business…
