Airline loyalty programs such as AAdvantage, SkyMiles and Dividend Miles were attractive smart travel tips because frequent fliers would receive free flight tickets after racking up air travel miles on that specific airline. Well, now tickets are no longer free with miles. Frequent fliers miles can still go towards a ticket, but frequent fliers are [...] [...more]
Airline loyalty programs such as AAdvantage, SkyMiles and Dividend Miles were attractive smart travel tips because frequent fliers would receive free flight tickets after racking up air travel miles on that specific airline. Well, now tickets are no longer free with miles. Frequent fliers miles can still go towards a ticket, but frequent fliers are charged for trading them. Fees charged by airlines to trade in miles are only going up. Here are a few examples of the fees you will see for frequent flier mile exchange:
• Delta SkyMiles
$25 fuel surcharge for award tickets within the US
$50 fuel surcharge for award tickets outside the US
• US Airways
An extra fee of $25 to $50 on top of miles
• American Airlines
$5 fee to book award tickets online
$20 fee to book award tickets over the phone
• Rush fee for booking an award ticket within 21 days
Up to $75
• Fee for making changes or re-depositing miles for an unused ticket
Up to $150
• Fee for an upgrade to first class
$50 to $500 on top of the miles
While this seems to defeat the purpose of frequent flier programs, smart travel tips urges you to remain faithful because it will still save you some money as compared to full priced tickets.
Select American Airlines flights offer wireless Internet on planes that buyers can use to check e-mail and browse the web. After flights reach 10,000, fliers will be able to access the American Airlines Internet throughout the length of their flight for a service fee of $12.95 per flight. American Airlines Internet uses the service of [...] [...more]
Select American Airlines flights offer wireless Internet on planes that buyers can use to check e-mail and browse the web. After flights reach 10,000, fliers will be able to access the American Airlines Internet throughout the length of their flight for a service fee of $12.95 per flight. American Airlines Internet uses the service of Aircell to connect passengers traveling on jets connecting New York’s JFK Airport to Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
• Between JFK and Miami
Service available daily on flight 1165 (JFK to Miami at 8:40AM) and flight 1510 (Miami to JFK at 12:40PM).
JetBlue Airways currently offers limited Internet on planes on only one plane. SouthWest Airlines and Delta Air Lines plan to follow the new trend of American Airlines Internet next. After a trial period, the airlines will decide whether or not to continue the Internet on planes service based on responses from customers.
Major airlines are making automatic flight changes like cutting flights, schedules and destinations up to 15%. Automatic flight changes include switching flights from one time to another or from non-stops to two stops. Service to certain airports, even major airports, will be dropped all together.
When flights have been discontinued, airlines will automatically re-book passengers onto [...] [...more]
Major airlines are making automatic flight changes like cutting flights, schedules and destinations up to 15%. Automatic flight changes include switching flights from one time to another or from non-stops to two stops. Service to certain airports, even major airports, will be dropped all together.
When flights have been discontinued, airlines will automatically re-book passengers onto new flights. These automatic flight changes may result in different departure times or landing in the next closest airport that they do still service. Unfortunately, after these automatic flight changes are made, not all airlines get the notice of changes to the passenger.
A smart travel tip is to be proactive and call your airline to reconfirm your reservation and make sure no automatic flight changes were made. Unexpected time changes may deduct a vacation day or add an extra night at your vacation rental. Take this smart travel tip and continue to check on your reservation until the time of your departure.
US airlines have demonstrated better service. Statistics concerning flight cancellations, delays and lost luggage showed signs of improvement compared to last year’s data. Additionally, the number of customer complaints regarding airline service has diminished. Airlines have cut the number of flights to adjust to the increasing gas prices and the current crisis. Therefore, the [...] [...more]
US airlines have demonstrated better service. Statistics concerning flight cancellations, delays and lost luggage showed signs of improvement compared to last year’s data. Additionally, the number of customer complaints regarding airline service has diminished. Airlines have cut the number of flights to adjust to the increasing gas prices and the current crisis. Therefore, the airline was able to better manage their activity. On-time flight arrivals show an improved rate of 83%. At Miami International Airport, 80% of flights arrived on time and 80.3% departed on time.
Hereunder are all the US carrier on-time arrival rates for the month of November:
Get in on the inside scoop for the best travel deals.
Plan your vacation for that time frame right after New Year’s but before President’s Week.
That pocket of time is sure to be quiet and lonely in the travel industry.
Around January 7th and 8th, it is not uncommon to find a variety of deal options, including [...] [...more]
Luxury travel is suffering more than budget travel. So much so that airline companies are starting to slash their rates to attract business and first class travelers.
Lufthansa offers huge discounts on business class fares for people booking from December 26 2008 to January 2nd 2099.
You can fly from New York to Rome for just $1900. [...] [...more]
Luxury travel is suffering more than budget travel. So much so that airline companies are starting to slash their rates to attract business and first class travelers.
Lufthansa offers huge discounts on business class fares for people booking from December 26 2008 to January 2nd 2099.
You can fly from New York to Rome for just $1900. Normally, that can run you up to $8000.
Smart travelers should check all the airline websites to find the best deals.
Nowadays, airline companies are offering great prices to travelers that reserve well in advance.
Travelers that were monitoring flight rates to get last minutes deals from Montréal to Miami were surprised to actually see the rates increasing right before their eyes while the time elapsed.
It seems that airline companies are charging more for last minute travel [...] [...more]
Nowadays, airline companies are offering great prices to travelers that reserve well in advance.
Travelers that were monitoring flight rates to get last minutes deals from Montréal to Miami were surprised to actually see the rates increasing right before their eyes while the time elapsed.
It seems that airline companies are charging more for last minute travel reservations.
We strongly advise that you book well in advance in order to get the best prices.
However, that does not mean that travelers should not look for last minute deals.
Subscribe to airline newsletters and websites specializing in last minute deals and auctions and find great travel deals.
So you reserved a flight in advance and now something has come up and you need to change your reservation. What do you do? Do you call and notify the airline in advance to change your ticket or wait till the day-of and personally stand in line to change your ticket before the airplane takes [...] [...more]
So you reserved a flight in advance and now something has come up and you need to change your reservation. What do you do? Do you call and notify the airline in advance to change your ticket or wait till the day-of and personally stand in line to change your ticket before the airplane takes off?
I thought the obvious answer was to call and make changes as soon as you find out you will need a change, but there is a significant trade-off with the peace of mind you receive from responsibly taking care of the situation in advance. Depending on the airline, a flight change may come with an exchange fee, a fee making up for the difference of price between the original ticket and the new ticket, or both.
More than likely, travelers that wait until the day of the original flight - but before the flight takes off - to change the ticket, will pay less. One way to avoid this whole situation is to get a nonrestrictive ticket, which allows you to make changes without a penalty. Only problem is, those tickets are normally available at higher prices. Following are some ticket change penalty fees of some popular airlines:
Frontier Airlines:
Travelers who call before their flight takes off will be responsible for the price difference between the original and new ticket
Southwest Airlines:
Charges the difference between the first and second ticket
JetBlue:
Travelers who notify the airline before the flight are charged a $40 fee
Travelers who arrive and make changes after the flight has taken off are charged $100 plus the price difference between the original and new ticket
Advance changes have a $100 fee plus the price difference between the original and new ticket
Alaska Airlines:
Travelers may fly standby on the day of the trip at no additional cost
Advance changes have a $100 fee as well as the price difference between the original and new ticket
AirTran:
Travelers may fly standby on the day of the flight at no additional cost
Advance changes have a $75 fee plus the price difference between the original and new ticket
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Select American Airlines flights offer wireless Internet on planes that buyers can use to check e-mail and browse the web. After flights reach 10,000, fliers will be able to access the American Airlines Internet throughout the length of their flight for a service fee of $12.95 per flight. American Airlines Internet uses the service of Aircell to connect passengers traveling on jets connecting New York’s JFK Airport to Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
