Virgin Atlantic celebrates 25 years in the air with low fares from Chicago!

by Scott Carmichael on

Virgin Atlantic is celebrating their 25th anniversary with amazing fares from O’Hare to London.

How amazing? How does $221 (each way) sound? You have till midnight tonight to book for trips starting on June 15th extending into fall.

Discounted fares are being offered in economy and premium economy.

Check out their birthday deals page for the exact breakdown of dates and rules, but remember to book soon!

As part of planning your trip to the UK, be sure to visit the Virgin/Visit Britain deals page, where you can book yourself a discounted hotel or tour.

Ten things that can (and will) spoil your vacation

by Scott Carmichael on

Vacation is meant to be a fun time – a chance to get away from it all and enjoy yourself. But things happen in life that can really mess up those plans.

In this gallery, we’ve collected ten of the worst things that can happen on a trip that will really screw up your vacation.

If you are lucky, you’ll only run into one of them, but the really unlucky traveler may be thrown a combination of problems, turning a fun vacation into a horror vacation from hell.

Check out our lineup of ten things that can spoil your vacation here.

10 passengers we love to hate: Day 9 — passengers who try to convert you

by Sean McLachlan on

Here we are on the ninth day of the “passengers we love to hate” series. Today’s pick is the enthusiastic proselytizer who desperately wants to convert you to his or her religion. Far more than merely wasting the flight attendant’s time or hogging the baggage claim area, this brand of annoying passenger will question your morality, insist you are going to Hell (pictured here) and proudly proclaim they have all the answers.

Now let me just say that I feel everyone is entitled to their beliefs. Freedom of religion is a basic foundation of any decent society, but that also includes freedom from religion. You don’t know me, you don’t know what I believe, and you don’t have the right to harass me for an entire flight trying to convince me to change to your way of thinking.

I seemed plagued by this sort of passenger. At least once a year I’m stuck next to one of them, usually on a long international flight. Once I had an entire high school group of evangelicals who tag team preached to me all the way from the U.S. to Bulgaria.

My religious friends joke that maybe God is trying to tell me something. The problem with that theory is that these annoying fellow passengers come from all different religions. Maybe God is trying to tell me not to listen to people who claim to know what He wants.

Plus I think God would send some better emissaries. Every member of the Mile High Preaching Club I’ve had to deal with has been astonishingly ignorant about different faiths, and sometimes pretty shaky about their own. One of those high school evangelicals insisted the Bible was literally true and the only foundation for a proper life, then admitted he hadn’t read it all. Please do your homework, and if I want to talk to you about your religion, I’ll ask. If I don’t ask, read the inflight magazine and show me some respect.

Is that so hard? I have friends whose beliefs range from Orthodox Judaism to hardcore atheism, and not a single one of them tries to convert me, not even when we debate religion. They can disagree with me without calling me evil or ignorant or wrong. I don’t take kindly to that sort of treatment, especially when I have jet lag.

Judge not, lest ye be judged. (Matthew 7:1)

On-time airline improvements continue, third month in a row

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Airlines in the United States posted an improved on-time performance rate in April relative to the same month the year prior – stretching their streak to three. The 19 largest airlines were on time 79.1 percent of the time in April 2009, compared to 77.7 percent in April 2008. The industry also performed better than it did in March 2009, showing a month-to-month improvement from 78.4 percent. An on-time arrival is defined as being within 15 minutes of the scheduled time … which has already been buffered comfortably by the airlines.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, 7.4 percent of April delays resulted from aviation system issues. Late-arriving aircraft caused 6.2 percent, and factors within the airline’s control (e.g., maintenance or crew problems) accounted for 4.8 percent. Extreme weather and security together didn’t even account for 1 percent of delays. The most delayed flight was Northwest Airlines Flight 803 from Atlanta to Honolulu. It was late 97 percent of the time.

The DOT also found that:

  • Cancellation rates improved to 1.5 percent in April 2009 – from 1.7 percent in April 2008 and 2.1 percent in 2009.
  • Nearly 50 flights had taxi-time waits of greater than three hours
  • Mishandled baggage rates improved to 3.79 per 1,000 from 4.99 in April 2008 and 4.12 in March 2009

Customers complained to the DOT 781 times about airline service, compared to 1,112 in April 2008. But, it was up from the 705 the previous month.

So, the airlines are generally posting some positive numbers – Fight 803 notwithstanding. Why? Are we looking at a vast improvement across an entire industry … an industry that clearly can’t afford to invest in doing a better job?

Let’s not go crazy, here.

The airlines are doing a better job because they don’t have to deal with as many people. Fewer asses are occupying seats, which eases the burden of boarding passengers, pushing back on time and keeping track of their luggage. Ironically, success is the path to failure, as selling more seats would give airlines an operational burden they’ve proved they’re ill-equipped to handle.

Would you pay for an empty bladder?

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Aaron Hotfelder votes “Yes!” for Ryanair‘s pay-to-play approach to in-flight urination. I go with more of a “maybe,” as I tend to support anything that helps airlines bring in a bit more cash – after all, they need it. But, I can see why the average passenger wouldn’t be too thrilled about popping a few coins in the slot. Apparently, there are plenty of people out there with opinions.

TripAdvisor just conducted an online poll; 5,300 people responded. The results are as predictable as you’d expect. An overwhelming 78 percent of respondents are not interested in shelling out cash for the privilege of flushing. Can you blame ’em? When you stroll down the aisle toward that green light (i.e., “vacant”), you have one thing on your mind, and it isn’t the change in your pocket. Another 19 percent feel that pay-to-pee is reasonable … if the flight is cheap enough. The remaining 3 percent would be willing to pay regardless of the cost of the flight.

Thankfully, Ryanair tends to stay short-haul, so if you hit the bathroom before you board, you should be fine until landing.

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