Tag Archives: air travel

Travel Tidbits: Chatty Charlie Gets Busted and Parking Violator Finally Pays Up

Let this be a warning to all of you travelers who are obsessed with your cellphones: Airlines mean business when they tell you to shut up. It’s a lesson one Southwest Airlines passenger learned the hard way on Monday. For some reason 50-year-old Joe David Jones refused to get off his cellphone during a flight from Austin to Dallas and he’s now having to pay the price for it. According to police reports, Southwest flight attendants repeatedly asked Jones to hang up his cellphone while the plane was in mid-air, but he refused to comply. When the jet landed at … Continue reading →

Saving on Summer Travel—Slowing Down at 35,000 Feet

We all know that easing up on the gas pedal when you are cruising down the highway equates to savings at the service station, but did you know the same concept can also be applied to airplanes? A number of major airlines have announced that they will be slowing down to save millions on fuel. Southwest Airlines was the first to go public with their plans to cut down on the average speed their aircrafts fly at certain altitudes. By adding one to three minutes to each flight execs at the discount carrier say they can save $42 million in … Continue reading →

Cellphones at 35,000 Feet

Does listening to folks yak incessantly on their cellphones in restaurants or on buses drive you mad? Well, consider how you would feel if Johnny Blabber was given the green light to talk all he wanted on his cellphone during a trans-Atlantic flight. It could happen…and sooner than you think. Earlier this week the European Union opened the way for air travelers to use cellphones to talk, text or send e-mails on planes flying throughout Europe’s airspace. According to travel experts, midair cellphone service may be available in a few months on some airlines for passengers using European GSM technology. … Continue reading →

The Cost of Flying is Soaring

I have written extensively about the increasing cost of fuel and its affect on the travel industry. If you haven’t already purchased plane tickets for your summer vacation brace yourself for some serious sticker shock. Last week United Airlines raised fares in the United States and Canada by up to $30 round-trip in an effort to combat high fuel costs. Less than 48 hours later several other carriers followed suit including American, Delta, Continental and Northwest, which raised domestic round trips by $10 to $20 per ticket. Times are so tough that even discount airline Southwest raised its rates–twice. Last … Continue reading →

Praying Passenger Gets Grounded

I willingly confess that I have said many, many prayers over the years prior to embarking on cross-country flights. Only I have never left my assigned seat to do so. That’s one of the differences between me and a man who was recently ordered off a United Airlines flight. According to news reports, an Orthodox Jewish man boarded a flight from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Wednesday night. However, shortly before the plane was set to take off the man left his seat to pray in the back of the plane. Witnesses say the guy, who had … Continue reading →

Air Travel—-Securing the Perfect Seat

What is your idea of the “prefect” seat on a commercial airliner? (Besides the ones in the first-class cabin or the one that is next to an empty seat.) For some air travelers securing an aisle seat is a must. Others insist on sitting next to the window. We now know the “safe seat” theory is bogus, and the seats next to the emergency exits come with restrictions. So what is the best seat on a plane and how do you get it? According to travel experts, exit rows, aisle or window seats, and seats close to the front of … Continue reading →

Saying “Aloha” to Aloha—The End of an Era

When my 3-year-old daughter and I boarded Aloha Airlines Flight 240 bound from Hilo to Honolulu just three weeks ago there’s no way I could have ever imagined it would be our last. As I write this passengers are boarding the last flights Aloha Airlines will fly between the Hawaiian Islands. After 61 years in business the carrier says it is bankrupt and will end passenger service later tonight. The news means nearly 2,000 of Aloha’s approximately 3,500 employees will be out of jobs by the end of today. It also means that travelers holding reservations on Aloha are out … Continue reading →

Airline Bombshell: “Aloha” to Aloha

I took my very first plane ride nearly 30 years ago and I remember every detail as though it was yesterday. I was seven years old and my flight was bound from Hilo to Honolulu (where my family and I would then transfer to another plane en route to New Jersey). My mom bought me a new outfit for the occasion—-a pair of pale blue pants, a red, white, yellow, and blue striped short sleeved shirt (it was the ‘70s after all) and a white sweater. We were booked on Aloha Airlines Flight 160 (I still have the ticket stub … Continue reading →

Flying on a Private Jet

Did you happen to see Thursday night’s season finale of “The Celebrity Apprentice?” If you did then you know that when it came time to get his famous friends from Nashville to New York for a charity auction country music star Trace Adkins chartered two private jets for them to travel in. Cha-ching! I’m not sure how much Adkins ultimately raised for his charity, but you have to figure that the money he dropped on the private jets likely totaled in the ballpark of the funds he raised. Despite the astronomical price tag (think $50,000 per person in some cases) … Continue reading →

The One Thing You DON’T Want To See On An Airplane

“Mommy, these microphones don’t work!” my 3-year-old daughter exclaimed as she ripped off a pair of oversized airline-supplied headphones in disgust during our most recent flight to Hawaii. Note to self: Pack kid-sized headphones for next airplane ride. “Alvin and the Chipmunks” was the in-flight movie selection for this particular leg of our journey and my daughter couldn’t have been more thrilled. “Hurry Mommy hurry!” she cried as I hastily tried to make adjustments to the plane’s complimentary (see: cheap) headphones. “I’m missing Theodore eat his waffles.” “You can see Theodore eat his waffles right on the screen,” I replied. … Continue reading →