Baggage problems irk one-third of travelers says new study

by Chris Owen on

Have you ever had baggage problems when flying? Lost, misplaced, damaged in some way? Did it make you mad? If so, you are not alone. A new study shows that baggage problems irk over one-third of travelers. 34% of all air passengers have experienced baggage-related delays when checking in, depositing or picking up bags on their most recent flight.

The study was commissioned by Amadeus, the Global Distribution System used by many travel agencies, composed by Norm Rose of Travel Tech Consulting and says new technology can help. It details three key “passenger pain points” in the airport experience; Baggage, Delayed or Canceled flights, and Time Delays at check-in and security.

Called “Navigating the Airport of Tomorrow” the study suggests that adopting technology can help solve some of the problems too.
The report found that 18 in every 100 passengers had experienced a delayed or canceled flight during their last travel experience. Ten percent of passengers complained that they had not received “relevant and real-time information.”

The survey found that at 43%, “disruption management” ranked as the single most important area where travelers would like to see improvement.

Just under 40% of travelers said they would “adopt services that delivered real-time information to their mobile devices on flight and baggage status, as well as directions at the airport.”

A third of respondents require greater self-service options, including the ability to purchase additional services at airport kiosks and self-tagging options for luggage.

The survey found that these problems translate into negative perceptions of the carriers. If customers are made to wait in line for longer than 30 minutes to check-in, their perception of the airline swings negatively by 10%.

New, emerging technologies can help too such as one-touch check-in and progress tracking, permanent luggage tag technology that enables bag tracking through the airport, onto the airplane and off again at the final destination and roaming agents with iPad-like computers to provide information to passengers.

Flickr photo by tttallis

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The Vegas Box – what happens in Vegas can finally stay in Vegas

by Scott Carmichael on

If you are a regular visitor to Las Vegas, you’ll probably have a list of items you pack, unpack and repack every time you visit.

The Vegas Box is a new product designed to store those products and keep them in safe storage at a local climate controlled facility. The process is simple – you sign up for $99 and will get your Vegas Box delivered to your hotel. Then, when you are ready to leave, you arrange for the box to be picked up, packed full of all the items you don’t want to carry home.

Then, next time you return to Vegas, you contact the folks behind the service and have them deliver your box back to your hotel. Less stuff in your bags means less bulky luggage and no excess or checked bag fees.

At first the service seemed quite insane – but the more I think about it, the more brilliant it seems. Sadly, I don’t get to visit Vegas quite enough, and I’m not enough of a high roller for the Casino Manager to store my stuff for me, but I know several people that make monthly trips to Vegas who could really benefit from this.

The box costs $99/year with 2 deliveries. Additional deliveries are $20 (which includes a pickup as well). To learn more about the service, or to sign up for your own Vegas Box, check out their web site.

Video: an ode to low cost airline tickets

by Scott Carmichael on

Warning: this clip may not be appropriate for viewing at work or for young kids

Watch this hilarious clip dedicated to the low cost airline industry and its “cheap flights”. The language is definitely 18+, but anyone that has flown on one of the many low cost carriers will know exactly why the ladies are so annoyed.

Rants are included for everything from luggage fees to ticketing charges. The ladies are members of comedy group Fascinating Aida and you’ll find more of their work on their site.

Vegetarian passenger tosses meat at flight attendant

by Justin Delaney on

One of the simple truths about air travel is that the food is usually somewhere between sub-par and awful. Sure, there are exceptions, but these are unlikely oases in a desert of damp sodium-rich indelicacies. Unless you are posted up in first class on Singapore Air eating pan-seared Chilean bass in bouillabaisse broth with capsicum confit and zucchini pasta or one of their many other haute options, you will likely be eating a mass-produced goo concocted by scientists rather than chefs.

It seems a brief food revolt began and subsequently ended on a Continental Airlines flight from the Dominican Republic yesterday. According to MSNBC, the flight was bound for Newark, and a vegetarian passenger was served a meat dish that offended her greatly. Instead of politely returning the meal, disgust consumed her. She tossed the meaty tray at a flight attendant in a display of disorderly resentment. Upon landing, the port authority greeted the plane, but the flight attendant declined to press charges.

flickr image via mr wabu

Hawaii back in business, just how much uncertain

by Chris Owen on

After last week’s tsunami event and resulting disruptions kept tourists, hotels and a cruise ship from normal island life, Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie declared all “back in business” after a tour of the Big island and Maui.

“We can come back quick,” Abercrombie said during a day-long inspection of the islands adding “We’re back in business. I don’t want information getting out to the mainland that we’re not open for business or that Hawaii is shut off.”
Hotels are open and have plenty of tourists. Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America returned after canceling last week’s call in Kailua-Kona on the island’s the west coast. Flights in and out of the islands are posting few delays. Still, while tourism is back in full swing, just how much there will be is uncertain.

Ongoing disruption of all things normal in Japan is a big concern in Hawaii. Japan is second only to the U.S. mainland in the number of visitors each year.

“It’s a safe and wonderful place to visit. If all goes well, and that remains to be seen of course, but if all goes well we do think we can come through this in a matter or weeks and not months,” said Lt. Governor Brian Schatz,


“In California, too, right now, we’re seeing some cancelations. But at the same time when people start to realize there isn’t much of a danger in coming to Hawaii, we may see the snap back in tourism,” said University of Hawaii at Manoa Economics professor Sumner LaCroix to KITV.com