Tuesday, April 30, 2013

United and USAirways Hoping Delta and American Match Increased Change Fees

United Airlines quietly has increased change fees on domestic and international travel from $150/$250 to $200/$300.  United has yet to inform their "travel partners", the travel agency community of this significantly important change.  In doing so quietly, United may be positioning itself to backtrack in case Delta and American don't go along.

So far, only US Airways matched United, and now both carriers await moves by Delta and American.
It is likely that this increase will be rolled back if these competitors don't match.  Southwest Airlines does not charge change fees and has no plans to initiate a change fee structure.

Updated May 1: Wish granted! Delta and American obliged and matched exactly United's initiative.

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Sequestration Delays Exposes a Bloated and Outdated FAA



While the FAA administrator Michael Huerta sports a cheshire grin saying there is nothing that can be done about the burgeoning flight delays that is threatening the industry and causing millions in daily losses for airlines and travelers, one thing becomes clear: playing nasty politics with the traveling public and congress could backfire badly.  The truth is that the FAA is an antiquated relic with practices that are highly inefficient and processes that are in bad need of updating.  This is a perfect example of bloated government agency that is rife with cronyism. 

From Wikipedia: The FAA has been cited as an example of regulatory capture, "in which the airline industry openly dictates to its regulators its governing rules, arranging for not only beneficial regulation but placing key people to head these regulators."[

The FAA has requested and received annual budget increases, while the number of flights in the U.S. has actually decreased over the past few years. Their discretionary travel expenditures, runaway hiring of countless consultants goes without being checked.  The FAA has chosen to play with fire by furloughing essential personnel that are deemed too important to flight safety and are negligently contributing to obstruction of interstate commerce while causing financial and economic harm to the airline industry and the traveling public. 

It is time for congress to put the FAA under scrutiny, to demand efficiency and better practices in serving the taxpayers and the travelers.
www.premieretravel.com 

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

USAIRWAYS and UNITED INCREASE CHANGE FEES from $150 to $200

From USAirways with a heading: "News you can use":
  Our new change fee policy
We've increased some of our change fees for customers who purchase non-refundable tickets yet need to adjust their travel plans. This increase only applies to new ticket purchases.

New fees
  • Domestic and Canada: $200
  • Caribbean: $200
  • Mexico: $200
  • Central America: $200
  • Puerto Rico/Virgin Islands: $200
  • Transatlantic: No change ($250)
  • Brazil: $300
 

If you are not already fed up with the bad customer service, surly TSA agents, FAA delays due to sequestrations and exhorbitant taxes and fares paid by travelers, USAirways today piles on with an increase of $50 if you want to make a change on your itinerary.  Nevermind that flights go full anyway and that they do fill up the cancelled seats, they want more.

The timing is puzzling, considering that a merger is pending with American.  All the more reason why a combination of those two carriers will be harmful for travelers at Reagan National where the combined carrier will account for over 70 percent of flights.www.premieretravel.com

Update: Very discreetly, and without informing the agency community, United raised their change fees on April 18.

Friday, April 19, 2013

FAA Alert: Major Sequestration Delays Ahead




The long promised delays due to sequestration furlough air traffic control personnel might arrive this Sunday.  With most airports on heightened alert, travelers are again advised to plan earlier arrivals to airports.  We also advise to avoid tight connections especially for international flights arriving or departing Miami which has already been experiencing long delays.  The convergence of these two events along with possible weather problems will make this weekend difficult for many passengers.
Another monkey wrench will be flight crews possibly exceeding their mandated maximum hours resulting in more cancellations, delays and strain on airlines' ability to schedule.

Update:
The FAA expects to delay more than 6,700 daily flights by implementing ground-delay programs or other traffic management initiatives every single day, including limiting the number of aircraft operations per hour. Put another way, the FAA's plan is to create more than double the delays experienced in the worst day last year, and to do it every single day.

The FAA has decided to distribute furloughs equally across the system, without taking into account the differing needs of various airports or the intensified operational impact their decision would cause.  A real boneheaded decision...

www.premieretravel.com

Monday, April 15, 2013

Heightened Airport Security in the Boston Marathon Aftermath

Airport security was immediately beefed up after the Boston Marathon incident this afternoon.  Boston, New York and many other airports were put on alert.  Passengers traveling to or through airports in Boston, New York and Washington should allow more time for security checks.
www.premieretravel.com

Thursday, April 11, 2013

United Airlines notes improvement in On-Time Performance

The results of the recent Airline Quality Rating Service just came in and Virgin America claimed the top spot for the first time in its brief history.

United Airlines which made the Top 14 (at #14) was very pleased with its own performance .
Note: There are only 14 domestic airlines.

Here's the News Bulletin from United:

United Achieves Best First-Quarter On-Time Performance in a Decade
 
United achieved its best first-quarter on-time performance among domestic flights since 2003 with 81.4 percent arriving on time. Despite several severe weather events, United ended the month of March with 80.7 percent arriving on time.
 
March was the third consecutive month that more than 80 percent of United's domestic flights arrived on time.
 
"We are very focused on providing solid operational performance and great customer service," said Jeff Smisek, United's chairman, president and chief executive officer.
 
A key driver of on-time arrivals is on-time departures, particularly at the start of the day. United's highest-performing hub for on-time departures of the airline's first flights of the day in March was San Francisco International Airport, with 86.6 percent of flights before 9 a.m. departing exactly at departure time or early, followed by Cleveland Hopkins International at 86 percent. www.premieretravel.com


 

Monday, April 8, 2013

Airlines Hit Ceiling in March Traffic

Most U.S. Airlines thought they found the magical formula: Increase fares, reduce capacity, and charge for everything you can imagine under the sun.  This formula worked so well that all U.S. airline stocks reached multi-year new highs in March.

Then April arrived and the airlines looked back at their head-scratching numbers for the month of March, and started issuing cautious assessments due to softness of demand.  The truth is that the discretionary traveler has started showing resistance to the multiple price increases, surcharges and extra fees.  As a result, airlines such as Delta, Southwest and U.S. Airways have revised their forecasts down.  There is certainly a sudden realization that fares and fees cannot keep marching up.  Discounts have become more scarce thanks to Southwest which appears to now march to the same beat as legacy carriers.  Expect the airlines to react to all this data by announcing "late spring sale" and "summer sale" that will extend to fall. www.premieretravel.com

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Supreme Court Rejects Challenge By Spirit and Southwest Airlines













The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Spirit Airlines and Southwest's challenge to DOT rules that restrict how airlines advertise their prices.  In refusing to hear the case, the high court effectively let the DOT rule stand and airlines will continue to comply with the advertising requirements.  We hope that this important pro-consumer ruling will set in motion further easing of true comparative shopping that will force airlines to disclose all their ancillary fees which remain hidden from the traveler. www.premieretravel.com

Monday, April 1, 2013

Travel Myth: Online Travel Agency Deals Are the Best

On April Fool's Day, travelers will hopefully figure out the joke perpetuated by online travel agencies that they have the best "Deals".  Airlines have very limited inventory, and they have developped very sophisticated programs to fill up their seats.  So the notion that online travel agencies have "deals" is the biggest myth in travel. 

What travelers are advised to do is look for the best "value" and that's where the deal is.  The playing field is level and no travel seller or supplier can stay in business by selling hotel rooms, airline seats, tours or car rentals for the "suggested retail".  Your savvy travel advisor will give you personalized service, saving you time and money.  You will avoid pitfalls especially when going overseas.