Airport tips

How would you like to get home from your trip and receive a bill for $2,300—plus interest—for an $840 plane trip that you’ve already paid for? That’s the amount Lufthansa recently sued a passenger for, after the customer skipped (“skiplagged,” in industry parlance) the last leg of his flight itinerary. It’s a story that has other hack-oriented travelers wondering: Is skiplagging legal?

Starting June 4, travelers on Alaska Airlines will face new carry-on bag size limits. The airline says its current carry-on bag size allowance is “larger than most other international and domestic airlines allow” and it wants to “make sure that your carry-on bag will be accepted aboard all the flights within your itinerary. This will help you avoid carry-on bag size conflicts and make connections with other airlines easier during your future trips.”

“Best airport” rankings aren’t typically the most helpful in terms of travel planning: If I want to go to Boston, I’m not going to head for Las Vegas instead because its airport is better. But those best airport lists do come in handy in two cases—when you have a choice of airport for your connecting flight, and when you can choose between multiple airports within a single metro area.

Is India on your bucket list? WOW air just announced new routes that are going to make it affordable for you to cross it off, with one-way flights from the U.S. starting at $199.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes that were taken out of service earlier this year following a pair of fatal crashes will not return to the skies in 2019. American, Southwest, and United have all removed the aircraft from their schedules until January 2020, meaning the aircraft will be grounded for at least 10 months before they take off again.

The recent attention focused on a 60 Minutes report covering Allegiant’s maintenance problems may have overshadowed another airline horror story: Sun Country canceled two return flights from Minneapolis-St Paul—one to Mazatlan, the other to Los Cabos—this weekend, leaving somewhere around 250 passengers with return reservations stranded in Mexico.

Flying somewhere this summer? You won’t be alone. Airlines for America (A4A), the trade group representing the biggest U.S. airlines, predicts some 246 million travelers will take to the skies this summer, which would be a record and represent an increase of 3.7 percent over last year. A4A says airlines added roughly 116,000 seats per day to accommodate the surge in travelers.

J.D. Power is out with its annual list of the best airlines for customer satisfaction, and the ranking is once again topped by familiar liveries. Alaska Airlines is the best airline for the eleventh consecutive year—yes, eleventh—and Southwest topped the low-cost category for the second straight year.

Southwest has announced it will increase its EarlyBird Check-In fees for select flights starting August 29.

Ever wish you could buy a rail pass for the skies? This summer, Norwegian regional airline Wideroe is once again offering a seasonal fly-all-you-want Norway air pass covering all of its routes. The airline flies a relatively dense route system throughout Norway, plus flights to/from Aberdeen, Goteborg, and Kobenhavn.

As if air travel wasn’t already a stressful and hostile experience, a whole new threat emerged in late December: drones at airports. By being flown around the Gatwick Airport, at least one drone caused London’s second-busiest airport to shut down completely on two successive days.

Update: September 27, 2019

Looking for a last-minute Labor Day getaway? This is a good year for it, according to fare search data from Hopper. Average airfares for Labor Day weekend are lower this year than they have been in four years, but probably only if you buy your tickets before August 17.

If you’ve ever experienced a lengthy flight delay, cancellation, or been bumped involuntarily from a flight in the past three years, an airline might owe you money. A lot of Americans don’t know that, but that could soon change thanks to one air rights advocacy group: AirHelp. August marks “Passenger Rights Awareness Month” thanks to the flight compensation company, which handles claims to airlines on behalf of customers for their consumer rights, one claim at a time.

Most frequent travelers know that to find flash sales and other great deals on economy-class air tickets through alerts, you don’t have to look far: Our sister site AirfareWatchdog, for example, is a leader in the field. Lots of online travel agencies and metasearch systems offer up standard airfare alerts—but finding one that will flag premium airfare deals requires a little bit more insider knowledge, and some cash.

According to a stunning report by the Boston Globe, the TSA has been operating a secret airport surveillance program called Quiet Skies that tracks passengers who are not otherwise suspected to be a threat. “Federal air marshals have begun following ordinary US citizens not suspected of a crime or on any terrorist watch list,” the Globe reports, and is “collecting extensive information about their movements and behavior under a new domestic surveillance program that is drawing criticism from within the agency.”

If you’re like most travelers, you’ve probably never considered shipping your luggage ahead of you instead of bringing it with you on a trip. Sure, over the holidays you might mail a few gifts to your destination to avoid having the TSA root through your suitcase and ruin your perfect wrapping job, but otherwise, it probably seems more practical, convenient, and economical to check your bags with your airline. But is this still the case? Have you ever wondered if luggage shipping is a better solution?

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is the best of all the U.S. airline loyalty programs, says the U.S. News & World Report, and Marriott Rewards is the best of the large hotel-chain loyalty programs. The annual rankings emphasize benefits for basic members, and scores all loyalty programs on a scale of 1 to 5.

You’re leaving for the airport in an hour, so you check your Uber app and see that there are plenty of cars in your area—perfect. Except that when you actually go to order your Uber, it winds up being a 15-minute wait, making you nervous about catching your flight.

The crash of a Lion Air flight off Jakarta last week that left all 189 passengers aboard presumed dead has been not only tragic, but also perplexing. The plane went down into the ocean just 13 minutes after taking off in clear weather, and while the investigation is still early in the early phases, it’s not clear what went wrong. The pilots were reportedly experienced, and the plane itself, a 737 MAX 8, was brand-new.

JetBlue has announced it will join American, Delta, and United in offering bare-bones “basic economy” fares beginning in 2019. The new, no-frills fares will still include the line’s standard free on-board Wi-Fi, snacks and soft drinks, and a full-size carry-on bag plus personal item, the airline said. But basic economy passengers can expect to see fees for things like picking a seat and changing their reservation—JetBlue hasn’t yet said what exactly will change.