Entries for 'George Hobica'
Posted by
George on Friday, April 10, 2009
A recent poll on Airfarewatchdog.com revealed that 48% of respondents think that airlines should be re-regulated. Whether or not that ever happens, there are some things that airlines get away with that we believe need to be addressed by government regulations.
1. If an airline changes its schedule before you depart on a trip, and such schedule change no longer suits your schedule, the airline must secure you transportation on another airline at your original fare.
2. If an airline changes its schedule and you are forced to spend money on hotels and meals, such as a forced overnight midway in your trip, the airline must pick up the bill.
3. If an airline cancels a flight and you’re traveling on a frequent flyer ticket, any fees associated with that fare must be refunded.
4. If you are due a refund or any kind from an airline, said refund must be paid in full in 30 days.
5. If your flight is delayed or canceled due to anything within the airline’s reasonable control, the airline must provide adequate lodging, meals, and transportation. It must also put you on another airline’s flight if that flight will get you to your destination sooner than your original airline’s next flight out.
6. If an airline loses or delays your checked luggage, all checked bag fees must be refunded in full within 30 days, in cash.
7. If you are stuck on the runway for more than three hours, your flight must return to the gate and all passengers be allowed to disembark.
8. If a passenger buys a non-refundable ticket, and said passenger dies or becomes too ill to ever travel again, passenger’s fare must be refunded in full within 30 days, and all traveling companions must also have their fares refunded.
What else should we add to the list? Now be reasonable! And add your comments below.
Posted by
George on Friday, April 10, 2009
If you’ve bought airfares from an airline or online travel agency web site, you’ve probably been offered the option of adding travel insurance to your purchase.
The prices seem reasonable, often as little as $12 per flight. But exactly what are you covered for, and why is this insurance so much cheaper than buying a policy from a third-party travel insurance stalwart such as Access America or Travel Guard?
Travelocity, for example, offered “Travel Protection” on a recent Detroit to Washington flight for $19.95. Coverage included trip cancellation or interruption insurance up to the cost of the air ticket for “covered reasons” and coverage for lost, stolen or damaged luggage up to $250 (but US DOT regulations cover luggage for up to $3300, so this seems of little value). Also included is $250 in trip delay protection, such as to pay for lodging, but only if the delay is more than 12 hours. One of the covered reasons is trip cancellation due to inclement weather, but airlines typically refund the purchase of an airline ticket if a flight is cancelled and you haven’t begun your journey, even if the ticket is “nonrefundable.” Read the policy's fine print.
American Airlines offers insurance through Access America, with a minimum fee of $18.75 and a maximum of $187.50, depending on the price of your airfare. Trip interruption/cancellation coverage maxes out at $3000 per trip; travel or baggage delay is covered up to $500.
There’s also “missed connection” coverage up to $300, but only if you missed your flight because of a traffic accident on the way to the airport (how often does that happen) or because of “bad weather” on the way to the airport, or if your flight was cancelled due to bad weather for at least three hours and you miss your cruise (no wording in the contract if you miss your connecting flight and you’re stuck in Atlanta for a few days). In other words, there are lots of exclusions. Read the fine print.
One thing no travel insurance policy will cover you for is this increasingly common scenario: the airline changes your flight schedule so that you now have a forced overnight stay in, say, San Juan. You have the option of paying for your hotel and meals yourself, or, if you haven’t started your outbound journey, asking for a refund and booking a much more expensive (often last minute) ticket on another airline, assuming seats are available.
And if you buy trip insurance from an airline, Access America and other insurers will not protect you if that airline ceases flying. You’ll only get coverage if you buy from the insurer directly.
Travel insurance in general is full of loopholes. And although buying from an airline or online travel agency such as Orbitz or Travelocity is cheaper and very convenient, those policies have even more loopholes than those sold directly by insurers. So it’s buyer beware.
Posted by
George on Thursday, April 09, 2009
Save 10% on Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air flights in the select markets listed below when traveling between April 27 and May 31, 2009. Simply enter the Discount Code EC040109 when you make your reservation and ticket at alaskaair.com. Hurry, this Discount Code offer ends April 12, 2009.
| Between |
And |
| Kodiak |
Fairbanks |
| -OR- |
| Walla Walla |
Ontario |
| -OR- |
| Anchorage |
Burbank, Juneau |
| -OR- |
| Bellingham |
Washington DC |
| -OR- |
| Wenatchee |
Orange County |
| -OR- |
| Eugene |
Sonoma County/Santa Rosa |
| -OR- |
| Kalispell |
Reno |
| -OR- |
| Great Falls |
Oakland |
| -OR- |
| Juneau |
Vancouver |
| -OR- |
| Ketchikan |
Portland |
| -OR- |
| Las Vegas |
Vancouver |
| -OR- |
| Los Angeles |
Redmond, Washington DC |
| -OR- |
| Lewiston |
San Jose |
| -OR- |
| Oakland |
Portland |
Posted by
George on Thursday, April 09, 2009
This offer is valid for travel on flights between April 21, 2009 and June 17, 2009. All you have to do is enter 50OFF in the Promotion Code box on the home page when booking your flight. You will then receive $50 off* a roundtrip purchase when booking a qualifying flight. Expires April 20.
* Coupon usage/booking must be made on spiritair.com by 11:59 PM ET on April 10, 2009. This offer is valid only on new roundtrip bookings with fares of $49 each way or higher at spiritair.com for travel between April 21, 2009 through June 17, 2009. This promotion is only available for non-refundable fares at spiritair.com and customers must enter the promotional code 50OFF to receive this offer. The $50 discount is based off the roundtrip fare if booked through our reservations center. Online bookings will already reflect the $5 spiritair.com discount each way for a roundtrip purchase, except for flights to or from Detroit. Those flights will receive a total discount of $40. This offer cannot be combined with other promotional code offers. Spirit Airlines will not be responsible for late, undeliverable or misdirected e-mails. All customers are allowed one free carry-on bag. Fees for bags paid in advance online at www.spiritair.com are $19 each way for the first bag only. The fee for Bag 2 is $25 each way, and items 3 thru 5 are $100.00 per item each way. When paying at the airport, fees for the first and second bags are $25 per bag each way. There is no charge to check wheelchairs, strollers, car seats, or other assistive devices. Items that are overweight or oversized will continue to be weighed and sized at the airport, and fees collected when checking in. Golf club and boxes/containers are acceptable and can be prepaid online provided they meet weight and or size restrictions. Additional bags can be pre-purchased at any time provided inventory is available. (No less than one (1) hour prior to departure). All checked baggage fees are non-refundable. Customers involved in a stop-over flight that involves a connection of over 4 hours will be charged based on point to point travel. All fares listed on spiritair.com are per customer for each way of travel and include the base fare plus a federal excise tax and all fuel surcharges. Fares do not include (a) a segment tax of $3.50 per U.S. domestic flight segment (a flight segment is defined as one takeoff and landing) of a passenger’s itinerary; (b) up to $18 per round trip in local airport charges; (c) a September 11th Security Fee of $2.50 per enplanement originating at a U.S. airport; or (d) a Passenger Usage Fee of $4.90 each way. International itineraries do not include governmental taxes and fees (including U.S. government excise tax) of up to $125 per round trip. Additionally, if sold in, or travel originates in a country outside of the U.S., additional taxes may apply (up to 22% of the fare value per country). Fares are subject to availability and may not be available on all flights or on all days, and will be highly restricted around certain holiday periods. Previously purchased tickets may not be exchanged for these new sale fares. Certain restrictions apply. For best results, please book early.
Posted by
George on Saturday, February 07, 2009
- Delta has slashed fares to/from CVG! US Air has also introduced some sale fares. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, these Delta fare cuts may be "permanent" and are the result of so many people driving to nearby airports (Dayton, Columbus, Louisville, Lexington, etc) where there are lower fares.
See fares:
to CVG
from CVG
Posted by
George on Tuesday, February 03, 2009
This sale is for travel any day, not just Tue/Wed or Tue/Wed/Sat, for travel through Mar 31 only. Book by Feb 5 midnight PT with a 14 day advance purchase.
Details here.
Posted by
George on Thursday, November 27, 2008
You may have seen this article in the New York Times, which our very own Jason Ma was cited as one of the many people who bought peak Christmas airfare far in advance, thinking that prices would only go up. Jason booked a ticket from New York to LA for $649 round-trip and then the fare went down to around $539 on the same flights. Well, now we see Newark to LA on peak Christmas nonstops via Continental for $325 including tax. Ouch! Clearly, people are not traveling like they used to and the airlines are freeing up cheap seats at the last minute.
In fact, this fare is available on many dates besides the ones shown below, over Christmas week.
Sorry Jason, but you cannot really predict airafres. Sorry Farecast.com, too.
And here's another example from Continental.com (leaving Monday before Xmas, returning the Sunday after) from Newark to Miami on nonstop flights. You'd pay about this much, with taxes, during any time of the year, so it's remarkably low for peak Xmas week travel:
Posted by
George on Tuesday, November 11, 2008
This is a two day sale. We say "almost" systemwide because Washington Dulles and Orange County/Santa Ana aren't included.
Travel up until February school vacay, but you can be sure that peak holiday travel will be more expensive on most routes.
Fares range from $49 to $159 each way, which, come to think of it, is pretty close to their normal fares. Book at Southwest.com.
The fine print:
Book by November 13 for travel December 2, 2008 - February 11, 2009.
21-day advance purchase.
Fares do not include federal excise tax of $3.50 per takeoff and landing, airport-assessed passenger facility charges (PFC) of up to $9, and government-imposed September 11th Security Fee of up to $5.00 one-way.
- Available only on southwest.com.
- 21-day advance purchase is required.
- Purchase November 11 through November 13, 2008, midnight central standard time.
- Travel December 2, 2008 through February 11, 2009.
- Fares do not include federal excise tax of $3.50 for each flight segment. A flight segment is defined as a takeoff and a landing.
- Fares do not include airport-assessed passenger facility charges (PFC) of up to $9.00 and government-imposed September 11th Security Fee of up to $5.00 one-way.
- Seats are limited. Fares vary by destination and may not be available on all flights during key travel dates (12/20/08 - 1/4/09).
- Travel not available to/from Orange County, CA or Washington (Dulles), DC
- Offer applies to Southwest Airlines-operated, published, scheduled service.
- This fare is available for one-way travel.
- If combining with other fares, the most restrictive fare's rules apply.
- Tickets are nonrefundable but (except for tickets purchased through our Group Tickets program)
may be applied toward future travel on Southwest Airlines. - Fares are subject to change until ticketed.
- Any change in itinerary may result in an increase in fare.
Posted by
George on Friday, November 07, 2008
Southwest is having a turkey sale on select routes. Hopefully one of them is yours.
Here's the fine print:
Additional taxes, fees, and restrictions:
- Available only on southwest.com.
- 14-day advance purchase is required.
- Purchase November 7 through November 10, 2008, midnight central standard time.
- Travel November 21 through November 28, 2008.
- Blackout date: November 26, 2008.
- Offer applies to Southwest Airlines-operated, published, scheduled service.
- Fares do not include federal excise tax of $3.50 for each flight segment. A flight segment is defined as a takeoff and a landing.
- This fare is available for one-way travel.
- Seats are limited and won't be available on some flights that operate during very busy travel times and holiday periods.
- Fares do not include airport-assessed passenger facility charges (PFC) of up to $9 and government-imposed September 11th Security Fee of up to $5 one-way.
- If combining with other fares, the most restrictive fare's rules apply.
- Fares are nonrefundable but (except for tickets purchased through our Group Tickets program) may be applied toward future travel on Southwest Airlines.
- Fares are subject to change until ticketed.
- Any change in itinerary may result in an increase in fare. Standby travel requires an upgrade to the full unrestricted fare.
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Posted by
George on Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Delta Airlines, soon to be the world's largest air carrier, has made some changes to its bag of fees.
1. It's adding a first checked bag fee of $15. Premium class passengers, full fare coach passengers, and upper tier frequent flyers, are exempt. Effective Dec. 5, 2008.
2. It's cutting in half its second checked bag fee, from $50 to $25. (If you've bought a ticket for travel on or after Dec. 5 you'll pay the previous rate).
3. Fees for cashing in frequent flyer miles, ranging from $25 to $100 on Delta/Northwest, are eliminated, effective immediately.
4. Northwest's "coach choice" premium seat fees will be added to Delta flights ($5 to $25 each way for certain aisle and exit row seats offering more leg room or easier access). Frequent flyer elites can book these seats at no charge.
5. As stated in a previous post, Delta has increased its in cabin pet fee from $100 to $150 each way.
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