It’s been a flier’s market since 2001 – as well as an opportune time for travelers of all stripes. The post-9/11 travel downturn led to three years of great deals, often at the last minute. But all that is changing. Americans are traveling in big numbers again. Bargains are scarcer, and planning ahead will often be essential. But you can still snare a good deal – if you hew to the new rules for travelers in 2005.
2004
Q: My credit card was recently charged $472 by Priceline for an airline ticket from Washington to Colorado. But I never meant to buy it. At the time, I was just searching for fares for a trip to my 40th class reunion. I didn’t mean to make a purchase because I couldn’t afford it. I [...]
Q: I recently tried to purchase tickets for a flight from Philadelphia to Tampa, Fla., through the US Airways site. But when I clicked on the “submit” button to buy the tickets, nothing happened, and I received no confirmation e-mail. Five hours later I went online again and tried to purchase the ticket again for [...]
Q: My son recently bought tickets on Hotwire to fly from Salt Lake City to Louisville, Ky. His family was traveling home for Christmas, and it was to be our first opportunity to meet their newborn son, Alexi. Unfortunately, there were complications at birth resulting in brain damage to the infant. Alexi’s pediatrician was concerned [...]
Mark Adkins thought that he was doing America West Airlines a favor by giving up his seat on an overbooked flight from Tucson to Las Vegas. But he says the airline returned the favor a few hours later by banishing him for life.
It was the middle of summer, and I was on an extended stay in Phoenix for a software verification project. One day, the air-conditioning in my room broke down, and with temperatures soaring past the century mark, my hotel quickly moved me to a different room. I guess you could say that’s when I went [...]
Cypress Gardens, Florida’s oldest theme park, reopens this week after an arduous restoration. The new owner had planned to revive the park after low attendance forced it to close, but he did not plan on the three hurricanes that struck during renovation.
Q: My sister died unexpectedly last summer and I had to fly to Pittsburgh for the funeral. I called several airlines to request a bereavement fare, but the best they could do was $625 roundtrip, which didn’t seem like a good price. Then I found what I thought was a last-minute fare of $313 on [...]
Q: We rented a car through Hertz on a trip to Europe last summer. When my mother made the reservation, she paid the base charges in advance but refused any additional insurance, since her credit card took care of her insurance coverage. When we picked up the car in Bordeaux, France, we were asked if [...]
Q: I was looking for a room rate on a one-night stay at the Niagara Falls Knights Inn in Ontario, Canada. I went to the hotel Web site and saw a button with a “manager’s special” with a good price, so I booked the room. Then I started to wonder about the best-rate guarantee that [...]
It took a decade for Michael Sommer to earn more than two million frequent-flier miles on United Airlines. It took a single dispute over a ticket refund for him to lose his elite status, dozens of flight coupons and every last mile he had collected.
I’ve found that business travel offers me the opportunity to do a little shopping. You know, a nice golf shirt or a spiffy pair of running shorts. But on a recent trip, I went overboard. For years, I’ve enjoyed tinkering with cars and an occasional boat. After dealing with people all day in my weight-management [...]
Having your name added to the Transportation Security Administration’s watch list, a register of airline passengers the government wants to screen more rigorously, is easy.
Q: I recently flew from Memphis to Vail, Colo., via Dallas on American Airlines. Because of weather problems, our flight to Dallas was delayed by more than two hours. Our pilot assured us that all Dallas flights were delayed and our connection would still be available. But my connecting flight was already gone when I [...]
Shades of Green, an exclusive Florida resort, caters to military personnel. Reporter Christopher Elliott talks with soldiers who are vacationing after completing recent tours of duty.
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