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LATEST STORIES
Is in-flight Internet really making us more productive?
As a travel agent, I find Internet on board a flight a mixed blessing. Since, as in with many business travelers, I deal with clients who want prompt answers, it makes a major difference to be able to answer them in-flight, especially on longer flights during the workday.
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Airline mishandled-baggage statistics mislead passengers
The Department of Transportation (DOT) keeps statistics to track how well airlines are performing. These statistics include on-time arrivals, denied boarding or bumping statistics, consumer complaints, flight disruptions, and mishandled baggage.
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POLICY
Airline mishandled-baggage statistics mislead passengers
The Department of Transportation (DOT) keeps statistics to track how well airlines are performing. These statistics include on-time arrivals, denied boarding or bumping statistics, consumer complaints, flight disruptions, and mishandled baggage.
TRAVEL
Why little things can make a big travel difference
When you travel, it’s easy to remember the big things, like a change of clothes, or a passport. But spare a thought for the little ones — a deck of cards, extra bags, eating utensils. Because you never know when you’ll need a little extra room, something to pass the time, or something to eat. A real travel difference.
The new EU data protection law — GDPR — affects vacation photos
GDPR affects vacation photographs — know the rules before traveling. In recent weeks you've likely received dozens of updated privacy notices. They're due to the implementation of the European Union's (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It went into effect...
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5 ways DOT abandons consumers
The Department of Transportation (DOT) has been captured by the airlines. It has abandoned the public interest. The industry that DOT was established to regulate is beginning to influence DOT. The latest letter from DOT to the Senate Commerce Committee is a precedent-breaking effort to affect legislation.
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DOT goes to work for the airlines
DOT has turned on the American Public, whom they are sworn to protect. DOT is an example of “regulatory capture” by the airlines, the very group they are mandated to regulate. When the airline industry was deregulated in 1978, the DOT was created to safeguard the public interest and ensure safety.
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9 Russian World Cup travel hacks to make travel hassle-free
Are you already at the World Cup in Russia or going soon? I’ve been to World Cups, as a fan in the stands and on the field, coordinating game activities as a FIFA volunteer. Travel to Russia for the World Cup should be generally safe. Here are nine tips to make travel easier.
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Sunday musings: Observation deck overlooks DC, Music of travel, Passenger rights hit turbulence
We spend time overlooking Washington, DC, from Arlington. It is a new experience. We learn about the music of travel and how it is an art to make it work in a car full of different tastes. USAToday takes on DOT and speaks up for airline passengers.
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Dad, Thanks for the love of travel
Sunday is Fathers’ Day. I was lucky, I had a father who gave me the love of travel. Plus, besides travel and a chance to see another side of the world, his advice on work and life still rings true. My dad was an Air Force officer. Traveling was a major influence in my life and living in other countries was a gift.
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TRAVEL SAFETY
Emergency airplane evacuation study initiated by DOT Inspector General
The DOT inspector general (IG) had begun an audit of emergency airplane evacuations. After hearings before the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protection (ACACP), scores of articles in the press, testimony before congressional committees, lawsuits demanding to see evacuation test results, visits with the DOT IG’s office, letters to the Secretary of Transportation, and national editorials the FAA and DOT are being investigated for compliance with their own airplane evacuation rules.
TRAVEL TIPS
Is in-flight Internet really making us more productive?
As a travel agent, I find Internet on board a flight a mixed blessing. Since, as in with many business travelers, I deal with clients who want prompt answers, it makes a major difference to be able to answer them in-flight, especially on longer flights during the workday.
8 ways to put child safety first
While the FAA recommends the measures outlined by the NTSB, it has remained resolute in exempting children under two so their parents can save the cost of their fares. Many parents take advantage of the exemption, holding their infant in their laps, gambling with their child’s life. While severe turbulence continues to be relatively rare, it only takes one accident or one incident of severe turbulence to lose a child.
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Hotel safety is still primarily on the shoulders of guests
Hotel security and hotel safety have been in the news lately. Both Hilton and Disney changed their “Do Not Disturb” policy. While the new policy will help make hotel guests safer, it’s still incumbent on guests to take personal responsibility for their own safety.
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15 travel safety essentials
Too often, in these troubled days, travelers seem to encounter terrorist attacks, civil unrest or dangerous weather. Over the years I’ve dodged hurricanes while in the Caribbean, missed a bombing in Jerusalem by twenty minutes, and encountered a nasty march of strikers in Buenos Aires. It’s important for travelers to plan their trips defensively to maximize their safety, to the extent possible. Here are 15 travel safety essentials.
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On a bad travel day humans still rule, not technology
Airlines are trying to reduce human employees in the travel equation as much as possible and add technology. However, humans still rule where creativity matters. Pilots and flight attendants are probably safe, at least until there are serious advancements in robotics.
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Five things airlines should never say to passengers
Airlines should never say these things to their passengers Leslie O’Flahavan looks more like an English teacher than an airline employee. Everything about her is no-nonsense, from her curly black hair, to her Nordstrom business-casual attire, to her carefully chosen words.
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Revenge of the travel industry: Online reviews of you
Properties you are reviewing can also leave online reviews of you It was just a matter of time. All those one-star reviews you left for hotels and restaurants were bound to come back and haunt you. And now they have. In a sharing economy, many of the big players,...
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WHAT HAVE WE DONE FOR YOU?
These accomplishments have been achieved by working closely with our members, national media, the travel industry, the Department of Transportation (DOT), Congress and many other agencies.
- Creation of the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections
- Advertised airfares now include airfare plus, mandatory taxes and fees
- Lost/damaged/delayed luggage compensation limit increased to $3,500
- Passengers have 24 hours to change or cancel their nonrefundable tickets without penalty
- Once an airfare is purchased, that airfare and ancillary fees cannot be increased
- Families flying together act passed by Congress that requires family members 13 years of age and younger to sit with other family members at no additional cost.
CURRENT TRAVEL POLL
Do you think airlines have gone too far with adding more seats and reducing their size?
- No, they don’t bother me 3%
- Yes, I’m tall and/or overweight so seating is cramped and painful 22.6%
- Yes, I’m short but still find it difficult to get comfortable 28%
- Yes, when the passenger reclines it is almost claustrophobic 46.4%
