4 secrets for upgrading your next vacation travel

Think this is bad? It could get worse. Much worse. Travel is still at the beginning of its long descent into mediocrity. Airlines seem to invent new surcharges and passenger-hostile rules every week. Hotels aren’t far behind. Just the mention of the word “customer service” in the back office can be enough to evoke cackles [...]

Major runway closing at JFK airport

One runway, a whole lot of problems. The main runway at New York’s John F. Kennedy International will be closed for four months starting March 1. Millions of travelers will experience delays — including some not flying anywhere near the Big Apple. With about one-third of JFK’s traffic and half of its departures being diverted [...]

Will airlines and passengers call a truce?

When weather forecasters predicted severe winter storms across the country in the last few weeks, airlines sent their customers a steady stream of e-mail and text messages, giving them a chance to change their itineraries ahead of the bad weather. Those who took advantage of the waivers had what has become a rare consolation in [...]

The end of mishandled baggage?

Modern day airline passengers juggle a lot of numbers. In addition to remembering flight numbers, gate numbers, seat numbers and figuring out how many liquid ounces fit into a zippered baggie, fliers must pay attention to the fees for checked baggage and calculate the odds of that luggage arriving safely and on time. The good [...]

Alaska Airlines to offer Wi-Fi on all aircraft

Alaska Airlines, a unit of Alaska Air Group Inc., said Wednesday it will join other airlines and offer Wi-Fi service on its flights. The carrier said it will offer Aircell’s Gogo service on all its aircraft. That is the same technology used by several other airlines. Alaska and Aircell are currently working to install the [...]

Many airlines waive change fees due to weather

Several airlines are again offering to waive fees customers would ordinarily pay to rebook their flights on alternate itineraries due to bad weather in some parts of the country. AirTran Airways, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways and Continental Airlines were among the carriers offering change-fee waivers this week. AirTran said Wednesday its passengers scheduled for [...]

How to get the best seat on the plane

You wanted that spacious seat in the exit row but someone beat you to it. Or you reserved a seat online, but checked in for the flight and found your seat was given to another passenger. There’s a trick to getting a coveted seat and preventing it from being given away. Here are some suggestions [...]