Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Where is my refund?

From CNN online:

Airlines benefiting from a unplanned federal tax holiday should save the money for the government or pass it along to the passengers, but should not pocket the money themselves, key congressional leaders said Tuesday.

Two Democratic lawmakers said the airlines' actions belied the industry's frequent lament that government taxes and fees hurt air travel.

"As we have heard from airlines for many years, these fees, all of which are passed on to the consumer, depress the demand for air travel, hurting the industry's bottom line. We are left to conclude that your previous assertions were incorrect about the impact of taxes and fees on the industry," Sens. John D. Rockefeller IV, D-West Virginia; and Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, wrote in a letter to Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson, chairman of the board of the Air Transport Association, an industry group.
Rockefeller and Cantwell urged the airlines to "put all of the profits that they are making" from the tax lapse into an escrow account so they can transfer it to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) when Congress reinstates the taxes.

"If the industry is unwilling to protect the integrity of the AATF, at a minimum, it should pass the savings onto the consumers," the senators said.


Read more by clicking on the above link.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

We have added another web site to the family

Although it was born just this week, it already has a promising future.  Focusing on the many ways families looking to travel can spend more money being there rather than getting there we are tackling what can be a very large target.  With the help of fellow colleagues here at Planet Travel we are building this new site slowly and surely.  We plan to include some very valuable content.  Watch this space as it grows.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

"I actually think we annoy people who don't fly us more than we annoy people who fly us."

An interview with a fee happy airline CEO from the consumerist web site:

Low cost, no-frills Spirit Airlines takes heat from people annoyed with how it charges a fee for everything and for its crass and tasteless ads that capitalize on scandals and tragedies in the news. We've dished some out ourselves. But it's hard not to walk away from reading this AP interview with its CEO and business model mastermind Ben Baldanza without some new respect for the guy. For one, he turned around a money-losing airline and it's been profitable ever since. And at least this airline is upfront about how they're gonna give it to you.


Read more by clicking the above link.

Friday, July 08, 2011

Window or aisle?

From the travel section of nytimes.com:


In general, there are no hard and fast rules for scoring a good seat. Because each airline has its own seating configurations and policies, a strategy that may work on one airline may not make a difference on another. Last year, for example, JetBlue began making most exit-row seats on its A320 aircraft available to passengers just after purchase. Other airlines tend to hold onto those seats for their top-tier frequent fliers or release them just before boarding. That said, there are a few basic guidelines that travelers should consider when trying to get the seat of their choice.



Read more to see how to get that coveted extra leg room seat by clicking the above link.

Sunday, July 03, 2011

We have been on vacation

Good to be back.  We have not posted an entry, obviously for several months.  Distracted with day to day operations of the business I guess.  However, we are back.  And promise to continue the latest insider information we stumble accross on a regular basis.