by Janice Hough | Jul 23, 2010
The latest airline semi-merger announcement came this week from British Airways, Iberia Airlines and American Airlines. The email message to travel agents also says they received anti-trust immunity along with Finnair and Royal Jordanian. Of course, this is pitched as...
by Charlie Leocha | Jul 22, 2010
The airlines can claim a massive victory with their latest victory in the antitrust immunity grant to American, British Airways and Iberia as well as their other partners in Oneworld. They may now compare notes, fares, schedules and costs for their international...
by Janice Hough | Jul 22, 2010
In the latest airline turbulence “incident,” nobody died, although from based on published reports, as in the San Francisco Chronicle, Wednesday, a few people came pretty close. In brief, a United Airlines 777 en-route from Dulles to Los Angeles, not...
by Charlie Leocha | Jul 21, 2010
Surprise opera in Pamplona at Cafe Iruña Here are three vignettes from Pamplona. Two have to do with culture and the final deals with the Running of the Bulls that made the city famous throughout the world. This is a complex city with a population that works hard and...
by Janice Hough | Jul 21, 2010
For a very small segment of the population, the “super elite,” many fees aren’t an issue. For that matter, for these travelers, it’s not even a problem to quickly reach an English-speaking reservations agent. On United Airlines they’re...
by Charlie Leocha | Jul 20, 2010
It seems that taxes on travelers are getting a bit out of hand. Anyone who has recently rented a car has had the experience of seeing a great daily rental price inflated by whopping taxes. Hotel taxes keep going up and localities are searching for more ways to squeeze...
by Janice Hough | Jul 20, 2010
Many Consumer Traveler posts, including a large percentage of mine, are about when things go wrong on a trip. Notably, the travel industry doesn’t always get high marks for customer service. Sometimes travelers are unhappy with a situation, when realistically,...
by Janice Hough | Jul 19, 2010
Some people actually go on birdwatching vacations. Other times bird spotting is just part of a trip. Here is an only slightly tongue-in-cheek guide to some types that are often encountered in flight. The “Nester” — Commonly seen during vacation season....
by Ned S. Levi | Jul 19, 2010
A member of our Forums related a recent incident at the rental car lot. He rented a hybrid, which he didn’t realize used a keyless ignition system. He hadn’t driven one before. It took him a quite a while to discover how to get the car started. Then,...
by Karen Fawcett | Jul 18, 2010
Is it possible that airlines are going to try to make passengers flying in the back of the bus more comfortable? One airline is investing big money into overhauling and the redesign of its equipment. Air New Zealand is the pioneer and is inaugurating the SkyCouch,...
