Is "Rawdogging" a Flight as Awful as It Sounds?

While Southwest just announced changes to its seating program (gone are the days of seat free-for-alls), one thing that hasn’t changed is its beverage program. The jostle of the cart, the “what would you like?” and the “ice or no ice?” But while you wait for your drink, you might be interested to know that the service starts in certain rows, and those rows are well-known before a flight. So yes, you can get your drink first. 

As we were preparing to land at Orlando International Airport (MCO) during a recent Delta Air Lines flight, a friendly attendant handed me and a few other passengers a card with a handwritten thank-you note on the back. I had never received such a note, nor had I known they existed. I immediately texted my trusted co-worker and fellow frequent flyer Clint Henderson for some insight.

As a professional travel writer, I cover a lot of ground. This year, I’m hopping on several flights per month ranging from long-hauls to Vietnam, Cape Town, and Hawaii, to slightly shorter jaunts to Paris, Rome, and Greenland—a whopping 77,000+ miles so far and counting. One thing that’s hugely important on any trip? Staying comfortable in transit.

It’s been a tough week for travelers with widespread cancellations and delays after an IT issue disrupted the flight operations for some of the largest airlines in the world. Delta Airlines, in particular, has struggled to recover. Thousands of its flights have been canceled or delayed over the last few days, and the U.S. Department of Transportation launched an investigation into the airline as a result of passenger complaints.

On July 19, an IT outage caused thousands of flights to be canceled or delayed across the world, including flights with major carriers like Delta, United, and American Airlines. While it certainly caused a headache for the airlines, it absolutely wrecked the travel plans for countless passengers. However, this experience did teach us all one thing: It's critical to have easy access to your flight information. And there's no easier way than this iPhone hack. 

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Tuesday that his department had opened an investigation into Delta Air Lines after the tech outage last week disrupted flights worldwide, and the agency wanted to hear from travelers who said that the airline had not complied with passenger protection requirements.

Most frequent fliers—especially flight attendants—are all too familiar with feeling bloated, sniffly, and fatigued after a long-haul flight. It comes at no surprise that traveling at 37,000 feet at 575 miles per hour inside a pressurized bullet filled with dozens of other people can take a toll on our bodies and immune system. To help you feel at-least semi-refreshed upon landing, here are tips and tricks on how to stay healthy while traveling, according to flight attendants (including yours truly).

Cancellations and flight disruptions stretched into a fourth day on Monday after Delta Air Lines struggled to recover from a global IT outage.

The sweltering summer heat has caused an unexpected problem for flight attendants: exploding soda cans.

Mass flight cancellations snarled U.S. airports for a third consecutive day Sunday, the lingering fallout after a Friday tech glitch affecting Microsoft Windows clients caused worldwide I.T. infrastructure outages— and upended many airline operations.

Have you always dreamed of engaging in a virtual F-16 battle? Do you wish to play commercial airline captain for a day while attempting a landing at the world's busiest airport? You don't have to wait too long or travel too far to fulfill your AvGeek fantasies.

Flight cancellations continue to climb this weekend in the wake of Friday's IT outage that wreaked havoc globally — affecting everything from air travel to banking and critical infrastructure.