Three of the worst cruise scams to avoid now
I discuss three of the worst cruise scams and how to recognize them to avoid becoming a victim of them. Here are three of the worst cruise scams. Unfortunately, like many travel genres, cruise vacations have their share of scams that can ruin the journey, end it...
Dress better and improve flying behavior. Will it work?
Uncle Sam wants you to dress better and improve flying behavior. Is there a connection? The Department of Transportation (DOT) started a campaign regarding "The Golden Age of Travel Starts with You." This DOT effort aims to encourage passengers to dress better and...
Why good customer service suffers during the airline passenger crush
Near monopolies make airlines anathema to good customer service. An old issue of The Atlantic started with these paragraphs. It dealt with customer service. That's more than five years ago. A security guard stops a customer as she tries to enter a well-stocked aisle...
What about checked baggage fees? The war is over. Let’s bring them down
Peace negotiators in Switzerland may be dotting the i’s on a deal to end the Iran war, but air travelers are still paying extra checked bag fees. Remember when jet fuel prices spiked after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran earlier this year? Every major...
When it comes to airline delays, human travel advisors/agents will still beat technology
The short moral of this long story. When things get difficult, get human travel advisors/agents involved. If you don’t have a travel agent, look for the shortest line possible. When the line is more than a few people long, get on the phone as soon as you can. (If you have enough status for a preferred airline phone number, make sure you have that number.)
Surviving the cold and lack of oxygen from aircraft rapid decompression
Commonsense precautions and actions can help airplane passengers survive the cold and lack of oxygen from aircraft decompression. Ryanair flight FR1878 was scheduled to fly from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Memmingen, Germany, on Friday, July 10, 2026. It left 17 minutes...
European Union suffers delayed and canceled flights worse than the US
Do we need new rules for delayed and canceled flights? Will an EU system help in the US? I just returned from a trip to Spain. It seemed to me and my friends that the aviation system in Europe had avoided the horrible delayed and canceled flight experiences of the US....
7 low-tech vacation travel tips for a high-tech age
A savvy traveler has have heard and read thousands of vacation travel tips before. The litany of show up early, watch out and avoid “amateur” travelers, be prepared for extra-full overhead bins, get to the airport early, etc. Enjoy these 7 low-tech travel tips.
Pamplona Fiesta: Reasons to return
Today is the first day of the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona. The bulls will run for the next seven mornings. During the rest of teh festival dancing, bands, wine, and bullfights combine with the diverse personalities of people from across the world to create an addictive atmosphere. The magic of this fiesta is the virtual suspension of time combined with a chance to live life minute by minute.
The time to clear the skies of drunken passengers is now!
It's long overdue that the FAA deals with airlines who board and/or serve visibly intoxicated passengers. It's time to clear the skies of these drunken passengers now! This year, like past years, there have been multiple incidents involving drunk passengers on...