Newest airline fee racket – oxygen!

by Scott Carmichael on

Not content with charging you for water and checked bags, some airlines have discovered the lucrative business of charging for oxygen.

Not to worry, most passengers won’t run out of oxygen mid-flight when they don’t pay, the fees are being charged for those passengers that require oxygen for medical reasons.

One passenger had already booked $3,500 in tickets with Emirates when the airline notified her that she’d have to pay an additional $4,000 for a single oxygen canister for her husband who suffers from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Once she created some bad PR for the airline, they gave in, and offered to provide the oxygen for a “mere” $200, but by then she had already rebooked on a different airline.

All is not lost though, several airlines, including British Airways, Virgin and Cathay Pacific provide free oxygen canisters to any passengers that require it for medical reasons. Emirates recently joined that lineup when they announced they too would cease charging for air.

That still leaves plenty of other airlines who feel they can get away with charging between $75 and $350 for medical oxygen. In addition to these unfair charges, most airlines also ban passengers from carrying their own oxygen supplies, citing safety concerns.

One UK charity has already spent just under $70,000 in grants to provide its members with oxygen for their vacation flights.

Northwest flight hits extreme turbulence, injures 9

by Jeffrey White on

Nine out of 10 times, when the captain turns on the fasten seat belt sign, citing turbulence, it’s no big thing, right? A few bumps, maybe a spilled drink, and then the plane pulls out of it.

But turbulence is no joke, as passengers on a Northwest Airlines flight yesterday from Tokyo to Honolulu know.

The flight encountered extreme turbulence over Midway Island and the result was nine injuries, including a flight attendant and two passengers who are currently hospitalized for back, neck and head injuries sustained during the flight.

The Associated Press is reporting that the flight attendant is in serious but stable condition, but the condition of the hospitalized passengers is still unclear.

Also unclear is exactly what happened: Was the turbulence unexpected? How long did it last?

The Northwest flight carried 285 passengers.

Fare alert! Seattle is on sale!

by Grant Martin on

We’re a couple of days late to the party because, well, of all of the partying, but these fares were just too good to not tell you about.

Southwest Airlines (WN), the great low cost carrier based out of Dallas, TX, has done it again, launching a 50% off fare sale from and to Seattle, WA, originating anywhere that WN flies from.

Tickets are rocking as low as $150, with some of the best deals on transcons. You can get back and forth from Baltimore for about $185, less than the cost of a one way most of the time.

And the best part of this fare sale? Most airlines without their heads up their asses matched or lowered their prices, so if you have another favorite carrier, want to fly direct or just want a seating assignment the fares should be similar on other airlines.

Thanks for resetting the market on this one, Southwest. This weekend I’m taking advantage of November’s $98 fare sale to Salt Lake City for some Snowbird, Sundance and hedonistic Mormon parties.

Book your ticket TONIGHT if you want to take advantage here!

Ryanair to ticket passengers who try to cheat the baggage system

by Scott Carmichael on

Ryanair, the cheeky Irish low cost airline, has decided to hand out 30 Euro fines to any passengers trying to bring too much stuff with them in their cabin baggage.

When airlines started charging people for each checked bag, it was only a matter of time till passengers figured it would be much cheaper to just drag as much as possible into the cabin. And it was only a matter of time until the airlines noticed that not enough people were paying for their overpriced baggage service. Their solution? Ticket the passengers!

Checking a bag will cost between 10 and 20 Euros, but anyone caught trying to sneak too much into the cabin can pay the 30 Euro fine, or stay home, because not paying the fine = no travel for you.

The system appears to be pretty well planned, as it does not seem like you are able to check the excess cabin baggage once on board – which should force people to just pay the checked bag fee instead of trying to take a chance the flight attendant won’t notice your massive bags.

I’m really not sure what to make of this, on the one hand I’ve seen plenty of people drag far more on board than they should, and on the other hand I’m annoyed that airlines have started charging for checking bags, which has always been a free service included with your ticket.

The list of fees Ryanair charges their passengers is massive, but to actually start handing out a “fine” when you try to cheat things is just plain miserable.

I bet that some American airlines are probably looking at this new development, and I’m sure some of their bean counters have already been crunching the numbers to see just how much cash they could make off us poor passengers.

(Via: Independent.ie)

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Feds spank spankers with arrest

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Two kids were arguing over a window shade on a plane. Sound familiar? We’ve all lived through it, and we’ve all griped about it. Unlike most parents, who seem to let their kids go on this way until they’ve exhausted themselves, Tamera Jo Freeman took decisive action, according to an article in the LA Times. After their fighting caused a Bloody Mary to spill into her lap, she spanked each kid on the thigh. Three times per perpetrator.

Apparently, this makes her a terror suspect.

A flight attendant responded to the situation, prompting Freeman to hurl obscenities and the remains of her tomato juice. Freeman has since been arrested and convicted under the USA PATRIOT Act. The chain of events that began with trying to keep her kids under control has turned Freeman into a felon.

And, she’s not alone. At least 200 people have been convicted under an amended version of this law, in most cases with no evidence of an attempted hijacking or physical attack on the flight crew. Loud voices, inappropriate language (this would land me in deep shit) and drunken behavior (ditto) have prompted arrest and prosecution, leading many to believe that the law is being misused.

Duh.

It’s time for us to be a bit realistic here. What Freeman did was inexcusable. Her approach to the flight attendant, both in language and in deed, was wholly inappropriate and certainly called for some sort of disciplinary action. Press charges, treat her like she treats her children … do what ever it takes. But to pursue the spanker as a terrorist? That seems like too much. It’s not like she went after the hell-raisers with a box-cutter.

I think the more appropriate punishment would be to make her fly to Cuba with drunken Irish hooligans.

[Via LA Times]