Canadian court rules obese travelers get 2 seats

Canada’s largest airline is trying to figure out which obese and disabled passengers will be eligible for additional seats at no charge after the country’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the airlines. The Canadian Transportation Agency issued an order last January requiring Air Canada and other domestic airlines to make additional seats free to [...]

Holiday Travelers’ Survival Guide 2008

The waits for planes, trains, and rental cars will be absurdly long this year. Get ahead of the crowd by taking the following shortcuts. Leave your gifts unwrapped. Airport screeners reserve the right to open any package. Wait until you reach your destination and then wrap your presents. You may bring cakes and pies through [...]

Delta nixes preferred seats-for-sale program

After a backlash from some of its elite fliers, Delta AirLines Inc., the world’s biggest carrier, has halted a program on Delta-operated aircraft that allowed customers to purchase better seat assignments on certain flights. The Atlanta-based company in late October began offering coach customers on certain flights the ability to purchase a better seat assignment [...]

AAA predicts decline in holiday travel

Travel over the Thanksgiving holiday will drop for the first time in six years due to the economic slowdown and fewer airline flights, the auto club AAA forecast on Tuesday. The travel club says 41 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from home. That’s down from 41.6 million last year. AAA President Robert [...]

American Airlines offers mobile boarding passes

Passengers on American Airlines will be able to get boarding passes electronically on their mobile phones or PDAs at some airports beginning Thursday, avoiding the need for printed passes. The carrier said the electronic passes were being introduced Thursday for passengers leaving on domestic flights from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. The passes will be offered [...]

Southwest Airlines mulls more int’l service

One of the knocks on Southwest Airlines — you’ll hear it from fans of other carriers — is that you can’t fly to London or Paris on one of its planes. That won’t change right away, but Southwest is finally taking baby steps into international service. This week, it announced a deal to sell travel [...]

Delta AirLines adding first bag fee

Delta AirLines Inc., the world’s biggest carrier, said Wednesday it will impose a $15 fee to check a first bag, becoming the last of the six legacy airlines to impose such a fee. The carrier also said it is cutting certain other fees as it aligns its policies with those of Northwest Airlines, which it [...]