Ryanair To Consider “Pay To Pee”

 

Ryanair on Take Off

Ok, this is the most ridiculous thing I have every heard. Ryanair, an Irish discount airline is considering a new way to make money. They already charge for everything extra on their flights, but now they want you to pay to pee! That’s right, you have to go, you have to pay! I never thought that anyone would have the nerve to charge you to go to the toilet on an airplane! 

So there you are at 35,000 feet and you have to go and you don’t have any change? What do you do? Do you wet your pants? Do you walk down the aisle and ask everyone for spare change so you can GO? 

Here is a quote from a Ryanair official. ”One thing we have looked at in the past and are looking at again is the possibility of maybe putting a coin slot on the toilet door so that people might actually have to spend a pound to spend a penny in future,” This is just crazy! 

So if you are thinking of flying Ryanair in Europe, be sure to take some spare change. You never know when you may have to GO!

American Airlines to buy up to 100 Boeing 787’s

 

787 Dreamliner

American Airlines announced this past week that they plan on purchasing up to 100 Boeing 787 Dreamliners at a cost of $15 billion dollars. This purchase could make American the largest operator of the new Boeing aircraft.

 

“This state-of-the-art aircraft will offer many cost and environmental benefits, particularly fuel efficiency and customer friendly attributes and comforts” said Thomas Horton, executive vice president and CFO during the airlines October 15 conference call with financial analysts.

American plans to buy 42 of the 787 Dreamliners for delivery between 2012 and 2018, with an option for 58 more for delivery between 2015 and 2020.

The first 787 flight was scheduled for August of 2007, with deliveries to begin in May of 2008. But due to delays and a strike at Boeing, the first flight is now planned for the fourth quarter of 2008 and initial deliveries slated for the third quarter of 2009.

The new 787-9 is designed to carry up to 290 passengers, with at range of up to 8,500 nautical mailes. The 787-9 is a stretch version of the 787-8 and will use 20% less fuel then current aircraft flying today.

These are some of the airlines that have ordered the 787 Dreamliner. 

1. Qantas – 65 planes
2. All Nippon Airways – 50 planes
3. Air Canada – 37 planes
4. Japan Airlines – 35 planes
5. Etihad Airways – 35 planes
6. LAN Airlines – 26 planes
7. Continental – 25 planes
8. Aeroflot – 22 planes

JetBlue to Increase Service to the Caribbean

 

JetBlue at the Gate

JetBlue announced that it will add service to Nassau Bahamas from Orlando and Fort Lauderdale on February 1, 2009. And St. Maarten will be getting a new Saturday flight from Boston beginning February 14. All service is subject to government approval. So getting to the Caribbean just got a little easer. Check www.jetblue.com for reservations and fares.

Travel Agents, Worth their weight in GOLD!

 

Alan On Tour In The Pacific Northwest.

Have you tried to make any travel plans lately? If you have, you probably have searched and searched the web till your head was spinning. What you need to do is find a good professional consultant. A good travel consultant can find you deals that are not available on the web and can save you hundreds of dollars on cruises and tours. They can also give you great advice for your trip, such as little known places to visit at your destination. 

There has been lots of talk as of late that Travel Agents are a dying breed. Not so, they are not only alive and kicking, but more and more travelers are turing to them for help in booking their vacation travel. So a tip to the savvy traveler or the novice traveler, use a travel agent and save lots of time and money!

What Airlines Are Charging Extra For Today

 

O'Hare Airport on a typical day

Here is a rundown of what airlines are charging extra for. They have raised their fares and now they charge you extra for more and more things that use to be free.

US Airways  Charges extra for: 1st Checked Bag, 2nd Checked Bag, Advanced “Prime” Seats, Soft drinks on Board, Pollows & Blankets and Headsets.

United Airlines Charges extra for: 1st Checked Bag, 2nd Checked Bag, and Advanced “Prime” Seats.

Northwest Airlines Charges extra for: 1st Checked Bag, 2nd Checked Bag, Advanced “Prime” Seats, and headsets.

Continental Airlines Charges extra for: 1st Checked Bag, 2nd Checked Bag, and headsets.

Delta Airlines Charges extra for: 2nd Checked Bag.

American Airlines Charges extra for: 1st Checked Bag and 2nd Checked Bag.

JetBlue Charges extra for: 2nd Checked Bag, Advanced “Prime” Seats, Pollows & Blankets and Headsets.

AirTran Charges extra for:  2nd Checked Bag, and Advanced “Prime” Seats.

Frontier Airlines Charges extra for: 2nd Checked Bag.

Alaska Airlines Charges extra for: 2nd Checked Bag. 

US Airways wins the award for the most additional fees charged. I guess that is why in 2007 US Airways was ranked dead last as the worst airline for customer service by consumer reports.

Also in 2007, the Today/Zagat Airline Survey rated US Airways as the worst airline overall in the United States, ranking it 10/30 for comfort, 5/30 for food, 10/30 for service, and 15/30 for its online reservations system. On August 1, 2008, US Airways ceased providing their passengers with free drinks, including water. Passengers must now purchase bottled water or soda for $2 US, or $1 US for coffee and tea.

AirTran to Cancun starting in February

 

 

AirTran 737 in Flight

For all of you living in the Atlanta area and The Baltimore/Washington area, AirTran will begin service to Cancun from your airports. The Atlanta  service will be daily and the Baltimore/Washington service will be on weekend only. The Atlanta service will begin on February 25 and the Baltimore service will begin on March 7. 

 

 

A press release states “Cancun is a premier vacation destination, and we will begin offering flights just in time to drive down fares and accommodate heavy passenger traffic for Winter and Spring Breaks,” said Kevin Healy, senior vice president of marketing and planning for AirTran Airways.  “AirTran Airways is committed to providing our customers with high quality service and low fares to the destinations they prefer.”

Here is the schedule for both Atlanta and Baltimore.

 

Nonstop Service Between Cancun and Atlanta

From		To		Flight		Departs	Arrives	Frequency
Atlanta		Cancun		41		10:00 a.m.	11:30 a.m.	Daily
Cancun		Atlanta		42		12:15 p.m.	3:50 p.m.	Daily

* Subject to government approval (both U.S. & Mexico)

The following nonstop flights between Cancun and Baltimore/Washington will be available beginning March 7*:

Nonstop Service Between Cancun and Baltimore/Washington

From		To		Flight		Departs		Arrives		Frequency
Baltimore /Washington		Cancun		84		11:35 a.m.		2:00 p.m.		Sat / Sun**
Cancun		Baltimore /Washington		85		2:45 p.m.		7:10 p.m.		Sat / Sun**

* Subject to government approval (both U.S. & Mexico)
** Does not operate on Sunday March 8, 2008

Delta to Add First Class to Shuttle Flights

Delta will begin adding first class seating on their MD88 Shuttle fleet starting December 1, 2008. The Delta Shuttle flies between Boston, New York LaGuardia and Washington DC. The new two class of service will seat 14 passengers in First Class and 128 in coach. Delta will continue the “Open Seating” policy in both classes on all Shuttle flights. If you decide to buy a First Class ticket, it will cost you $679 as opposed to $164 for coach. Currently The Delta Shuttle offers 30 daily between the three airports. Well, at least Delta still does not charge for your first checked bag.

Wifi Comes to the Sky on Delta Airlines

Delta Airlines will outfit it’s entire fleet of 330 planes with WiFi by the summer of 2009. So you will be able to surf the net, send emails and read the local news at 35,000 feet. Delta is partnering with GoGo Internet service. The cost of surfing on Delta will be $10 on flights 3 hours or less. $13 on flights over 3 hours. The only thing you will not be able to do is make phone calls on the net with a service such as skype.

30,000 feet over the Pacific Northwest

Update on United Customer Service Problem.

 

Sunrise over the west coast

Well, I tried to use my FREE denied boarding compensation voucher but it was just such a hassle to get it booked, that I just went ahead the next day and bought a full fare ticket to Las Vegas on the website. That way I did not have to speak to anyone at United. I cannot tell you how frustrated I was and still am at United Airlines. I could not get a reservation agent to help me book this ticket. How can anyone run a business that way. The airlines need all the happy customers they can get. But all they do is Piss People Off on a consistent basis. I will try to use the voucher on my next trip, when I am not working on a deadline and I don’t need to get some where on a particular time and day. But the next time I call United I really want to talk to a person that I can understand and that will not insult me on the phone. Get a Clue United! Hire people that care about your customers! I really liked flying United, I want to like United, but they keep kicking me in the head every time I try to book a flight!

No Customer Service at United Airlines Reservation Dept

 

United Flight Board at O'Hare

I just got off the phone with a United Reservation agent. I don’t know what country he was in, but it was no where near the United States. I was trying to use a denied boarding compensation ticket voucher I received because I was bumped off a United flight from Seattle to Chicago a few months ago. This agent did not know which end was up. I told him I was flying from Chicago O’Hare to Las Vegas. He then asked me if I was flying out of Ontario CA, I told him I just said I was flying out of O’Hare. He probably has never even been to O’Hare. I told him that I wanted to use my Denied boarding voucher. He told me I would have to mail it to a PO box and have it postmarked by Monday to use it. Well, I told him Monday was a holiday, Labor Day and there was no way I could have it postmarked by Monday Sept 1 as the post office is closed on Sunday and Monday. He said he was sorry but I had to have it postmarked by Monday. I could not believe it. I told him that he was making it very difficult for me to make this reservation and then he insulted me by telling me I was the one that was making it difficult. What a jerk! I then said, OK, I will go to O’Hare tomorrow to pick it up. He said I would have to get it ticketed at O’Hare by 7PM on Sunday as the ticket counter closes at 7PM. I told him that there are flight out of O’Hare after 7PM, how can the ticket counter close at 7PM. He told me people can check in but they cannot buy tickets. Now how ludicrous is that statement. What if you want to take a flight at 9PM but you don’t have a ticket. Well, if you talked to the agent I talked to, you could not buy a ticket. Maybe United should just close up shop and call it quits, as their employees don’t know what the hell they are talking about. Needless to say, I did not get my reservation and I just said thank you and hung up the phone in discuss. I will try this again tomorrow. Maybe I will get someone that can help me and not criticize me.