Take a bow, Chicago. Always-congested O’Hare was the worst major U.S. airport for on-time departures in 2007, according to recently released numbers from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. You’ll never guess the nine runners-up.
January 2008
When you check you luggage with an airline, you’re taking your chances. Air carriers lose or misplace roughly two bags per flight, and when your property is gone, there’s virtually no chance you’ll be reimbursed for the full value of your losses.
A fare basis code is an alphanumeric sequence with information about your airline ticket. It contains everything from your class of service to the season in which it was booked (low vs. high season). And if you’re flying on EgyptAir, the fare basis also has a message for the American imperialists who are coming to Cairo: “Blow me!”
Travelers deserve a break in ’08. Too bad they won’t get one. No reasonable traveler, travel expert, or wannabe-traveler can look at the wearisome events of 2007 (which I covered in an earlier column) and say, “No worries, 2008 will be great.” It’s impossible.
Tired of being lied to? Then you’ll want to check out his week’s issue of Elliott’s E-Mail, because you’re in good company. There are stories and blog postings about lies and refunds, lies about the weather, lies about airline mergers and lies about foreign exchange fees. I’m not lying. Happy travels!
Many Web sites promise the cheapest airfares. Only three actually deliver, in the humble opinion of The Armchair Traveler. Find out which ones made the cut.
It is one of the great mysteries of international travel: What kind of exchange rate did I get for my credit card transaction? Despite a recent court settlement — or maybe because of the settlement — travelers seem to be more confused than ever about what their cards are charging when they cross the border. Reader Holly Henson is among them.
A Days Inn property offers a Roman Catholic priest a tax refund. No, that’s not the opening line of a joke — unless playing phone tag and hearing excuses is funny to you. It isn’t funny to Father William Mary Morgenstern, who is just trying to get his $42 back from the hotel. But is anyone listening to him?
As anyone who has won a case in small claims court against an airline knows, it’s not that hard to get a judge to side with you. It’s collecting from an airline that’s virtually impossible. But readers of this blog are familiar with Linda Sesa’s case against US Airways. And guess what? She just got a check.
Anyone who is looking for evidence that airline employee morale leaves something to be desired should have been on a recent American Airlines flight from Albuquerque to Dallas. That’s where the following episode of Flight Attendants Gone Wild took place, according to passenger Jon Buschman.
If your travel insurance claim has been denied, don’t worry. There’s hope. But don’t take it from me. As I noted in a recent story, most appeals are successful, according to experts. And one expert, John Cook of the Quotewright blog, has told me how it’s done.
Do airlines lie about their weather delays? Not only is the answer “yes” as I suggested in a recent column, but the airline industry almost always gets away with it. There’s no formal audit of weather delays by any government agency; the Transportation Department basically takes the airlines at their word. But not if Howie Altschule has something to say about it.
After months of discussion, the government has released its proposed new policy on airport congestion. (Here’s the rule it would replace.) The AP has an interesting write-up with some details. But I have all the details.
Captain Kirk sure gets around. As part of the 10th anniversary of his gig as a Priceline spokesman, the online travel agency is airing several new TV ads, including one in which William Shatner chats in Mandarin. The spots also underscore the fact that Priceline no longer charges booking fees by introducing No Fee, a taciturn sidekick who likes to rough up bargain-hunters.
So Delta Air Lines is reportedly looking to get hitched. Again. Is anyone surprised? The front-runners include United Airlines and Northwest Airlines, if news reports are to be believed (they’ve been dead wrong many, many times, so take it for what it’s worth). But what hasn’t been widely reported is that if any of these airline marriages happen, they could create the world’s least favorite airline.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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