Flight Wisdom

Dansdeals.com has a great guide to the current standby policies of major carriers effective June 30th. Here is our summary version of it, or you can click the link. The Standby to which we are referring to is when one has a confirmed ticket and wishes to stand by for an earlier flight.
A few years [...]

The biggest question we’re asked is how to save money. People want to save money on their airline tickets. We don’t blame them. With the current increased charges for incidentals coming through, here is our advice for you.

Book directly with the airline. Avoid the middleman. He has to make money too. And even with no [...]

We’ve been checking out new sites to add to our list of recommendations, being that the industry is subject to constant change. One of the most potential useful, without significant caveats, is Delaycast(currently in Beta).
It makes no guarantees, but it uses mathematical modeling and historical data to predict potential delays. It certainly can’t predict the [...]

2008 is Here, and we’ll only be able to use it as an opening thought for a few more posts. Many exciting things have happened to our luggage in recent weeks. Let’s talk about the security screening process a bit.

The picture is from the TSA’s SimpliFLY page. The idea, and certainly better than some other [...]

The Christmas Season is here, as evidenced by the excess number of cars on the road and people at the airport leaving town. Our spinoff blog, the Infrequent Flier, had some tips during the last holiday travel season to make your holiday travel more pleasant.
Travel Tips: Preparing on the Day of Travel
But that was [...]

Christopher Elliott, the syndicated travel writer, has come out on his blog with his list of the 20 Most Inspiring Travel Blogs of 2007. We knew he reads our blog for the ‘fun of it’, as he puts it, and we subscribe to his, and often put in our two cents. We thank him for [...]

Overbooking is annoying. With the exception of Jetblue, which does not, airlines typically overbook by 33%. Find another industry where, with the approval of the government, a company is allowed to knowingly sell more of a product than they know they have. What reaction would this have if it were done at the theater, for [...]

The Labor Day weekend is upon us…our spin-off blog, The Infrequent Flier, has its travel tips for the holiday season. For us here at Flight Wisdom, we wish you happy travels.

Operators of some CRJ-100, 200, and 440 jets have until Friday to comply with new restrictions issued by the Canadian and US governments. Increasingly [...]

The Consumerist, which we follow, has an article pointing out how while baggage fees are being more stringently enforced…when a news crew accompanied an official from the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures to inspect United Airlines scales, they found all but one to be off.
Airport scales, subject to a lot of use, are often [...]

We have long said, on the blog and elsewhere, that the best thing that the Federal government could do to encourage change would be to review involuntary denied boarding compensation…The number, set at $400 for passengers forced to wait for a new flight over two hours, $200 for less….has been unchanged since deregulation in 1979…means [...]

Qatar Airways will be launching a national advertising campaign in the United States today, with service to New York on June 26th, and to Washington on July 19th.
Continental Airlines will be moving up the start of Newark to Mumbai service to October 1st due to positive market response to the proposed flights.
Aer Lingus will be [...]

The Consumerist pointed us to this list of contact information for the CEOs of US Airlines. Good place to direct complaints…Try to use them as a last resort. We hope lower-level staff will help you long before this becomes needful.
The List

We hope Greyhound and other bus companies are prepared to object to the bad name Skybus is giving to bus travel in this country. It has never been luxurious…but it’ll get you there.
Upgrade Travel has some things of interest about this airline. For one, be careful if you try booking a vacation package on their [...]

Our recent Customer Service Stories from other blogs netted this comment from Joanne.
I arrived in Newark airport Sunday, April 17 at 6:45 from Paris to take a connecting flight on USAir from Newark to Rochester, NY. I had booked the ticket on Cheap Tickets back in December. When I and my 2 traveling companions arrived [...]

The Consumerist, of which we are an avid reader, posted on the subject of Rule 240…however, we felt their post was somewhat brief on what Rule 240 meant, and decided to revisit the issue. We approached it in a post in September.
To reiterate, Rule 240 has no power post-deregulation. Deregulation occurred in 1978. Many US [...]

The Coalition for Luggage Security once again sounded its trumpet call to require travellers to voluntarily ship their luggage from domestic air travel prior to departure.
To be fair, we had a look at Universal Express’s Luggage Express pitch. They plan to charge $70 per piece of dropped off luggage of $85 per pick-up. In regards [...]

The New York Times offered some advice recently on coping with the TSA liquid and gel ban. As they put it…
SINCE the Transportation Security Administration began cracking down on liquids, gels and aerosols in carry-on luggage last summer, travelers determined not to check their bags have been haunting the trial-size aisles at Wal-Mart, trolling for [...]

We caught this Youtube interview from the Today Show through the Consumerist. Nine Times Travel Insurance isn’t a ripoff.

Your flight is cancelled.
Your bags are lost and your medication is in it. You need to have an emergency prescription filled.
Your passport and wallet are stolen, and you need emergency cash and a replacement passport.
You’re involved [...]

Roger Wu of USA Today reported that Harmony Pharmacy and Health Center opened its first drugstore this month at Terminal C at Newark Liberty Airport. In addition to filling prescriptions, a nurse practitioner will be available to write prescriptions to treat ailments such as allergies, bronchitis, colds, flu and sinus infections. Flu shots, blood pressure [...]

Master Lock, the world’s largest maker of padlocks, issued a press release last week. Since it introduced them in 2004, sales of its Travel Sentry-approved locks have jumped 50 percent annually. As they put it…
Increased security threats and recent, well-publicized reports of baggage pilferage at airports have fueled growing demand for locks that let air [...]

We received the following letter from a David Gottlieb via comment on another post. We’ve removed it and placed it here. Nothing we can say will fix the situation. But we do have a few thoughts.
Subject: The following took place 2 AM Friday to 1 PM Saturday2:00 AM - Jet Blue cancels our flights [...]

We commented last week on the Spirit Airlines plan to charge $10 for the second bag, $100 for each additional bag above that. The Coalition for Luggage Security had even more interesting things to say than we do.
The coalition is in favor of further separation of the cost of the ticket and the cost [...]

The recent increase in passenger duties on long-haul flights to forty pounds sterling for economy, eighty for premium, boosts the cost of taxes and fees on an economy ticket from the US to the United Kingdom to nearly $300. Domestic and intra-European flights increased by five pounds.
The tax has been very controversial in England, but [...]

The Ledger reports that airlines are dropping discounts for children occupying a seat. Infants travelling on their parent’s lap are still eligible for discounts. American Airlines stopped offering them January 13th, citing lack of usage.  Delta dropped them December 26th. Continental, known for not dropping amenities other airlines have, still offers them in limited markets.
In [...]

In a press release today, American Express offered some tips for those who want to protect themselves from lost luggage.

 Tag your Bags - Many people forget to put their name and contact info on a tag outside the bag. Even more forget to add it inside. You can also leave a copy of your itinerary [...]