Could you spend 30 entire days on an airplane?

by Grant Martin on

Most people can’t stand spending more than 30 minutes on an airplane, but Mark Malkoff is actually spending 30 days on one. It’s part of a PR scheme and wild plan by AirTran to generate some buzz about the carrier.

Apparently Mark will be bouncing between AirTrain aircraft all month — even sleeping on them at night — and recording the content. You can follow along with the whole thing over at markonairtran.com and imagine the misery of living on a 737 firsthand.

Needless to say, some of the content is pretty hilarious, including this demonstration proving that you can suck and entire roll of toilet paper down an airplane toilet in one flush. Amazing. And weird. And amazing.

[Via The Cranky Flier]

Scared passengers boycott airline after being asked to help “balance the plane”

by Scott Carmichael on

Seventy terrified passengers refused to board their Thomas Cook plane in Mallorca, Spain this week because the airline had asked them to all sit in the back of the plane.

During its time on the ground, baggage workers were unable to open the rear cargo door of the plane, and had to load all the luggage in the front – requiring passengers to act as ballast in the rear to keep the plane balanced.

The seventy passengers were afraid that the stuck cargo door would pop open during the flight, and many of them paid 100’s of pounds to fly home with other airlines. One passenger paid $1000 to fly his family home.

Adding to the “horror” of the incident were passengers who had arrived on the same plane, who told departing passengers that they had just experienced “the worst flight of their lives”.

The airline said it was a normal operating procedure and that it was disappointed to hear that passengers decided not to travel, despite reassurances from the crew and captain.

Virgin America & Google host scavenger hunt at 30,000 feet

by Mike Barish on

Some people are scared of flying. Others tolerate it. And people like me find it excruciatingly boring and go to sleep. But what if you could spend your time at cruising altitude competing against other travelers and people on the ground all over the United States in an online scavenger hunt? Well that’s exactly what Virgin America is doing tomorrow. In order to make flying less boring (and to highlight their fleet-wide in-flight wi-fi), Virgin America has partnered with Google to create The Day in the Cloud.

The Day in the Cloud is an online trivia challenge that will take place on Virgin America flights, but is also open to anyone not flying that day who registers for the game on the official website. Top scorers in the challenge will receive a “Year in the Cloud,” which comes with one year of free flights on Virgin America with complimentary wi-fi, a netbook and one terabyte of Google Account storage.

Two Virgin America flights have been selected to compete against each other on tomorrow, with the winning flight receiving a special prize package. Gadling will be on one of those flights competing with the other passengers, so be sure to follow us on Twitter (@Gadling), where I’ll do my best keep you posted on the action at 30,000 feet.

There are practice questions on the website, and if they’re any indication, this scavenger hunt isn’t going to be easy. It may be just the thing that keeps me awake past the drink service for once.

New fees aren’t new, but airlines keep trying

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Cheaper fares are being offset by an array of extra fees, as airlines try to bring in some extra revenue in order to keep planes in the sky. And, to a certain extent, it’s working. United Airlines forecasts $1 billion in revenue from these fees this year – accounting for more than 5 percent of its revenue. But, as they try to find new ways to dig into your wallet, fewer and fewer new ideas are popping up, according to an article in MSNBC.

US Airways and United have found that the best new fee is just the same ol’ one: put one fee on top of an existing one. Passengers who pay their extra baggage fees online can avoid an additional $5 fee that’s assessed at the airport. United’s came into effect on June 10, 2009, with US Airways’ bringing it to life on July 9. AirTran is nailing passengers for the extra legroom of an exit row to the tune of $20. Again, it’s not new … it’s just new to AirTran’s passengers.

You don’t need to be big to think big. Smaller airlines are getting in on the game, too. Allegiant Air charges a $13.50 “convenience fee” for passengers wanting to buy their tickets online. This one actually is fairly new, as most airlines realize that they can save a fortune by using technology (who’d’ve thunk it?) to sell things instead of paying people more for a slower process. Spanish airline Vueling makes you pay for choice. Want to pick your seat? Pay €3 (around $4.50). Another €30 will get you an aisle or window – and an empty aisle seat beside you! That’s a deal I’d definitely pay for.

Of course, Ryanair remains the master. If you want to check in at the airport: €10 ($13.50). So, you decide to save some cash and check in online … €5. You can’t win!

Only a year ago, most passengers were able to dodge the fees, since you didn’t get slammed until you checked a third bag or sent an unaccompanied minor into the sky. Today, nothing’s sacred. Delta and AirTran claim not to have plans to charge for carry-ons … but why would they say that? Clearly, it’s crossed somebody’s mind.

The only way to beat the fees, it seems, is to fly first class. Hey, if you’re already paying a fortune, the airlines will probably want to treat you well.

Less space in overhead bins? Blame it on the airplane

by Jamie Rhein on

There’s a video of Aaron trying to close an overhead bin. He’s a determined sort, so eventually it looks as though he hits pay dirt once he moves the bag to another location. If you noticed the first bin, you’ll see it was full. Very full. So was the final bin, for that matter.

That’s becoming a common problem according to this article originally published in the St. Petersburg Times. More and more overhead bins are proving to be quite the challenge for passengers scoping out space. Is it that people are carrying on more than ever before to avoid those pesky fees? One of Scott’s posts today pointed out how those fees are continuing to climb.

Actually, the number of carry-ons hasn’t increased that much.

What is happening is that as flights are becoming fewer as airlines have cut back the number of flights each day, planes are becoming more crowded. More crowded planes equal more carry-ons because there are more people. In research terms, this is what can be called a direct correlation.

Also, because airlines are tending to fly smaller, older planes, the bin space is smaller. Newer planes are the ones with the bins that look like they could double as sleeping quarters. Think of the closet space difference between brand new homes and those built before people could buy so much inexpensive stuff.

And here’s one more reason given to explain the lack of bin space. Last summer the baggage fees weren’t charged to people who had purchased their tickets prior to early June. Now, we’re having a different scenario.

Regardless of why bins are becoming more full, know that they are more often than not stuffed to the maximum and be prepared. Hopefully, you won’t have to work as hard as getting the bin to snap closed as Aaron did.