If you’re AirlineMeals.net then I’ve got an answer for you. AirlineMeals is an online community about nothing but airline food (members post photos, write reviews, and discuss changes in the field). The NY Times wrote an enjoyable piece about them, which ran in Sunday’s paper. I subscripe to their travel newsletter, and I found out and read about the story on Saturday.
U.S. Airways’ accidental deal this morning was a windfall for those interested in visiting small- to medium-sized town America … with fees and all, customers bought roundtrip tickets (some even first class) for $40.
Find all the Flight Blog posts about finding cheap airfare here: Cheap Flights.
The New York Times covered a report that Consumer WebWatch did last month. It takes an in-depth look into the mechanisms of booking first-class flights online, and they come up with a couple problems. One was “fare jumping,” when the price quoted would jump hundreds of dollars when the customer clicked to check-out. The other was false labeling: certain sites came up with first class tickets for low-cost airlines which don’t have first-class seats.
This writer isn’t as enthusiastic about the prospect of double beds in first class travel as I am. She thinks it flies in the face of public decency. I think people ought to be given a choice, and considering the wealth of airline options available, heck, it’s no big deal.
This year’s Airline Quality Rating (AQR home page, warning, ugly site) survey is out, and the no-frills airlines are on the march, they’re taking over — well, if you count 25% market share taking over. Looks like the US is starting to emulate Europe’s air travel industry.
There’s a new player in some United States airports (both Houston airports, New York’s LaGuardia, Liberty in Newark, N.J., and Dulles in Washington): ReturnKey (www.itemreturn.com), which promises to ship items confiscated at the airport security check.
USA Today: climbing oil prices mean cut flights and higher prices — about $20 more per ticket, they say.
According to Reuters, each dollar increase in a barrel of oil means 3 cents more per gallon of airplane gas.
So I guess the question here is, when does this escalation end, what happens if it doesn’t, and why didn’t USA Today ask those questions themselves?