Airline customer service commitments — are they worthless?
Every airline has a customer service commitment. The Department of Transportation (DOT) requires it. But, DOT refrained from making these customer service commitments a part of the contract of carriage. In other words, an airline customer service commitment does not have the force of law. Airlines cannot be held liable for any violation of their printed “commitment.”
Air travelers need strong European consumer protections, in the U.S. too
A popular European consumer protection rule may have survived Europe's airline lobby, but the airlines will come at the rule again. Mila Schoun knew what his downgrade was worth, but his airline pretended it didn’t. Schoun, a senior manufacturing engineer from Pompano...
Why do infrequent fliers make airports crazy?
All travelers are not equal. Generally, the less frequently people travel, the more stress they create at the airport. Besides crowded planes and iffy weather in much of the United States, holiday travel can be the most stressful of all because of infrequent travelers.
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....