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Archive for the 'Airports' Category

My cheap-flight strategy for 2007

Tuesday, February 13th, 2007

I’ve got a three-prong strategy for finding the cheapest and best flight fares these days. It’s not complicated, but it takes a little effort.

Bookmark your town’s low-fare list on Air Fare Watchdog. Check it weekly, and when you’re ready to book a flight check it daily. This site finds fares you’re unlikely to get anywhere [...]

Do one thing well: Airport Parking comparison and reservation site

Monday, January 8th, 2007

Do you use airport parking? I do, well, I did before I moved to Denver. But if you’re someone who takes advantage and drives your car to the airport, it’s worth looking at Parking Access, a site that lets you compare rates and reserve parking spaces online.
Also, if you’re interested in comparing the parking comparison [...]

Stuck in Denver? Try meeting others stuck here with Flight Club.

Thursday, December 21st, 2006

Flight Club helps folk meet other folk in airports (and on airplanes). There are thousands of travelers stuck in airports now. What better way to relieve some boredom than to sign up with Flight Club and find other travelers stuck in your same airport? If this sounds like a stinky disaster in the making, well, [...]

Southwest Airlines cracks down on mile-high clubbing

Monday, November 27th, 2006

From the Mile High Club news wire:
A California couple are facing federal charges after allegedly refusing to stop “overt sexual activity” on a flight to Raleigh, North Carolina.
I don’t know who’s more at fault here: Southwest Airlines, the Raleigh airport police, or the couple. According to the article, the couple got rude with the [...]

Do you drive yourself to the airport? Do you park in the parking lot? Do you often travel in the morning?

Wednesday, September 27th, 2006

If the answer to the above three questions is “yes, yes,” and “yes,” here’s a tip for you. When leaving your car in the parking lot, make sure your headlights are all the way off. According to the long-term parking-lot attendant who jump-started my car yesterday, almost all of the people who kill their battery had early-morning flights (in the Charlotte airport, that works out to 20 jumpstarts a day).

There are several ways you could remind yourself to turn off the lights: tie some string around your finger, tie a bow around your steering wheel, tape a post-it to your windshield.

Great cheap-flight fare finder app

Thursday, September 21st, 2006

I have never seen a flight-fare search program do this before: List the cheapest fares for one route for an entire month. This one does that, and it does more. Here’s a screenshot of the best deals when flying from Chicago to Denver in December:

Chicago to Denver

You have to register before you can use it, and it’s free to use, and it’s well worth it. Check it out at http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/

Where to find airport wireless internet access

Wednesday, September 20th, 2006

Check out TravelPost’s list of wifi access locations and cost — it covers 218 U.S. airports. Useful information … if you’re looking for internet, that is. It was updated two days ago, which means this is something they keep an eye on. It looks like he information is pulled from TravelPost editors and readers…

Check out the list here, and view the full list here.

Toy Transformer Robots: Safe. (aka the TSA’s Permitted and Prohibited Items list)

Monday, September 18th, 2006

I’m not making fun of airline safety or anything, but I’m intensely curious why the U.S. Transportation Security Administration felt the need to single out “Toy Transformer Robots” on their list of what you can and can’t bring in your checked luggage and in your carry-on.

Also, and this is something I didn’t know: It’s okay to bring saline or eyedrops with you, as long as the container is four ounces or less. Mascara and toothpaste are still no-nos, that is, unless you feel like putting them in your pocket.

» View the TSA’s full list of banned stuff here.

What to do when bumped from a flight

Sunday, September 17th, 2006

From last week’s New York Times (via TheLobby.com): Tips and strategy on what to do when you don’t make your flight.

  1. Choose your airline wisely. Continental, JetBlue and Southwest are among airlines that re-book you manually, which puts your flight destiny in your hands (as in, whoever gets re-booked first, wins).
  2. Call your airline or travel agency as soon as you know you got bumped.
  3. Use the “Rule 240 transfer.” This is a remnant from the pre-1978 world of air travel, when things were more regulated, and airlines sort of had to book you with another airline if you were bumped and the other airline could get you where you were going faster.

Read the article here.

Update: Brits may relax airplane hand luggage rules

Thursday, September 14th, 2006

From the BBC:
Aircraft hand baggage restrictions imposed after an alleged terrorist plot to attack airliners are likely to be eased next week, the BBC has learned.
Read the article here