Passenger rights tips

Score two for the airlines, nil for consumers.

The only thing worse than an increase in award prices: an award-price increase with no advance notice.

Who will be the next president of the United States, if the airlines had their way?

Travelers who grumble that the airlines have gone too far in shrinking the width and legroom of coach-class seats won’t be getting any relief from Congress any time soon.

A: It can be. You can occasionally get caught and be denied entry to a country—and boarding a flight to that country—because of some arcane and unexpected requirement.

United’s forcible ejection of a paying passenger from flight UA3411 earlier this month was a perfect storm of bad decisions, both leading up to the incident and in its subsequent handling by company chief Oscar Munoz. The airline’s image, less than sterling to begin with, was deeply tarnished.

If you closely followed the debate leading up to the American-US Airways merger, you’ll recall a period during which it seemed a safe bet that the Department of Justice would nix the tie-up on antitrust grounds. DOJ officials signaled that, after signing off on mergers between United and Continental, Delta and Northwest, and Southwest and AirTran, further consolidation was likely to impede competition and give the airlines outsize pricing power. And it was their duty to forestall just such an outcome.

The more Facebook swallows up entire businesses (read: Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus VR) and expands its own capabilities, the more it seems like the social media giant truly wants to take over the world. And in an age when smartphone apps that serve just one function rarely survive, Facebook’s messaging app appears to be stepping into yet another realm: travel.

In what will likely be one of its final major moves under the current Obama administration, the Department of Transportation this week revealed a new set of rules governing various aspects of airline behavior. Here’s how DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx described the new rules:

In a fact sheet issued last month, IATA, the International Air Transport Association, calls them “unruly passengers,” and deems them a “significant problem.”

There’s a mounting possibility of a big shake-up in how you purchase your airfare, some travel outlets report: Major airlines might soon employ a new technology called dynamic pricing to assign different fares to different types of air passengers without their knowledge.

USA Today reports that American has been fined $1.6 million for tarmac delays that occurred during 2013-2015.

In a stunning and comprehensive report, the Tampa Bay Times has uncovered systemic mechanical problems on Allegiant Air’s planes.

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill extending authorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, which would otherwise expire on July 15. The bill is expected to be approved by the Senate as well.

Since its unannounced implementation on a Friday evening last February—strategically timed to avoid public notice and minimize media scrutiny—Delta’s policy of not publishing award charts has been a source of consumer frustration and outrage.

Emirates has announced it will reduce service between Dubai and almost half its destinations in the U.S. Flights to Boston, Seattle, and Los Angeles will be reduced from two per day to one, and daily flights to Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale will be reduced to five per week each. The total number of weekly flights cut comes to 25.

From deceptive pricing to excessive fees to too-tight seating, here’s how to deal with the biggest concerns.

United has come in for more than its fair share of criticism lately, from travelers, from employees, from Wall Street. Now, the Department of Transportation can be added to the list of United-bashers.

Donald Trump. Love him or hate him—and the U.S. election results suggest you’re as likely to do one as the other—he’s become a fact of everyday life. And not just for Americans. His election has reverberated throughout the world.

Adding to the already-high levels of stress associated with air travel, systemwide computer outages have become an increasingly common occurrence, raising the prospect of not only a cramped, uncomfortable flight, but a cramped, uncomfortable flight that is delayed or cancelled.

After more than one hundred incidents of the now-discontinued Samsung Galaxy Note 7 exploding, popping, and generally being a fire hazard, the Department of Transportation has officially banned them from all flights.