Passenger rights tips

Winter weather caused widespread delays across the western half of the country this past weekend, but Denver, it seems, got the worst of it (and not just from the Patriots).

Delta and Virgin America are now posting their “stretched” economy service—a few extra inches of legroom but in regular narrow six-across seats—as “premium economy” on search engines that use ITA’s fare-search software, including Google Flights, along with Expedia and others.

Good news: Fewer and fewer travelers are being bumped from flights. And according to the Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), it isn’t just fewer, it’s the fewest on record:

We all know the routine: Laptops out, bagged liquids in the bin, don’t forget your tablet too. And then shove all back in your bag amid your fellow haggard travelers.

Congressman Rick Nolan (D-Minnesota) introduced legislation today that would require U.S. airlines to provide travelers with a one-page “bill of rights.”

United Airlines or United Apologists? If you were to judge by recent media coverage of the carrier, you might think United’s core business was issuing apologies for blunders and misdeeds made in its secondary business, commercial air transportation.

A new survey of over 2,000 people across the U.S. found that a whopping 92 percent of Americans don’t know what their air travel rights are when they take to the sky, and this lack of understanding costs travelers $6 billion in unclaimed compensation every year. The study was conducted by AirHelp, a company that helps air passengers secure compensation for delayed, canceled, or overbooked flights.

When a former airline president takes over as top gun at Amtrak, what’s the first thing he does? Add fees, of course.

EasyJet is about to give its customers a bit more freedom: The low-cost carrier has announced a new booking program allowing travelers to connect with other low-fare airlines. The initial project is based at London’s Gatwick Airport, and is focused on connecting EasyJet European flights with long-haul ones, like Norwegian and WestJet routes across the Atlantic, and Loganair flights to Scotland. EasyJet plans to expand the program quickly to some of its larger hubs around Europe, and to add new partnered airlines, including some based in Asia. But the program already has its limits.

A number of low-cost European airlines have shown signs of trouble since budget airlines Primera and Cobalt shut down in late 2018. The newest addition to the list of small European airlines to fold is the millennial-focused Joon—Air France’s budget venture.

You might have heard recently that Congress has decided your plane seat size should be regulated. That’s true. You may have also heard that it means your plane seat is going to get bigger. Here’s why that’s probably not true.

Increasing concerns over the risk of being arrested and detained in North Korea have led the U.S. Department of State to restrict Americans from traveling there. The ban is expected to go into effect on September 1.

Are you one of the expected 48.5 million Americans who will drive 50 miles or more over Thanksgiving 2018? You could face up to four times the normal driving times at peak hours, AAA warns. Drivers in or out of Boston, New York City, and San Francisco will face the worst congestion, and most other big cities will also see delays.

The new year may be right around the corner, but to foresee what it might have in store for travelers, it’s useful to take a look back. Some 2017 travel industry changes were short-lived—remember the infamous laptop ban that had business travelers in a furor for a few months? But other trends from travel 2017 could have a more lasting effect.

When someone raises the question of travel rights, the focus is usually on airlines and not hotel guest rights. That’s probably because air travelers have lots of rights, many guaranteed by government regulations and airline contracts. Moreover, key government-enforced rights have teeth: Failure to honor your rights often leads to some combination of mandated traveler repayments and airline-paid fines. But on a typical trip, you spend more on a hotel, resort, or at vacation rental than airfare. So what are your resort, vacation rental, or hotel guest rights?

With a travel insurance policy (and any other kind of insurance coverage) the devil is in the details—more specifically, the fine print. And one word can make a huge difference in your risk coverage: “unforeseen.”

Fees are now more or less an expected part of booking airline travel, especially bag fees. But as the practice grew over the past eight or nine years, consumer advocates have fought for, if nothing else, maximum transparency around what those fees are so that consumers can make informed buying decisions. Until now.

Move over, JetBlue: United, Air Canada, and WestJet all announced an increase to their checked bag fees to directly match a fee hike JetBlue introduced just a few days ago. The first checked bag on each airline now costs $30 (Air Canada’s start at $30 and vary), and a second checked bag now costs about $40 on all four airlines.

A lot of terrible things can happen on a plane: a runway crash, mid-flight mechanical issues, a medical emergency. An anxious mind might run through them before take off. But how often do you worry about a fellow passenger committing sexual assault?

A rising budget airline seems to have met its end. Primera Air, which recently expanded its routes to the U.S., announced that it’s suspending all operations as of October 2, 2018. Primera’s website promises “further updates,” but notes that it is no longer reachable by phone or email.

Have you questioned flying Southwest since its deadly engine failure made headlines this spring? The incident might have overshadowed a watershed safety moment for another low-cost airline—one that’s long faced questions about its safety: Allegiant Air.