EU puts ban on misleading airline advertising

by Anna Brones on

While I was living in France a few years ago I remember that Ryan Air was in the throngs of becoming all the rage. The novelty of tickets that cost a mere euro was exciting and soon after low cost airlines began popping up all over the place. Unfortunately — as many travelers will attest too — an airline ticket rarely costs less than an espresso. Yes, the advertised fare may be low, but once you throw in all those fees and taxes the full price of your ticket can soon jump to triple digits.

In an attempt to be more fair to travelers, the European Parliament has agreed to ban airlines from advertising fares that don’t include the necessary fees and taxes. The new regulation — not officially voted on but approved as a “common position” of the assembly — is set to take effect across the European Union at the end of the year. What does it mean? The bold figures that you see advertised by airlines will be the exact price you can expect to pay; no pesky hidden fees.

I can only wonder whether here in the US, with all the new baggage fees and beyond, we will go the same route?

Thanks Moody75!

Tegucigalpa what? Cheap tickets to Honduras for summer’s end

by Grant Martin on

You just don’t see that many cheap tickets to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras that often, so when this gem came along I just had to spread the word.

The Panamanian airline Copa is offering some pretty sweet fares around 300$ total between New York‘s JFK airport and Tegucigalpa (TGU) that are good for late this summer and into fall, perhaps because Toncontín airport is kind of a hazard and they’re trying to drum up business once shoulder season comes up.

You may have read recently (perhaps in light of Kent’s Plane Answers article) that TGU is closing down temporarily to rectify some of their runway and approach issues — bear in mind that Copa may reroute you to San Pedro instead. No worries, that’s just down the street.

And as far as Tegucigalpa goes as a destination? I haven’t heard a lot of great things about the capital, proper, but the city is 60 miles away from the Pacific Ocean and within spitting distance of El Salvador and Nicaragua. At the very least you use these cheap tickets as a stepping stone to your real vacation in Central America.

Tickets appear to be valid across a wide variety of dates starting in September but excluding Thanksgiving weekend. Use a flex search on Kayak to find dates that work for you.

United Airlines: Ticks on a plane!

by Jeffrey White on

Here’s a plane delay story that I am not sure is covered under any contract of carriage.

The Denver Post is reporting that a United Airlines flight yesterday from Denver International to Des Moines was delayed more than five hours after three ticks were found in the cabin.

Let me repeat that: Three ticks. Or rather, three ticks.

Apparently passengers found the little buggers and brought them to the attention of flight crew members, who promptly evacuated the plane, had the cabin cleaned and replaced all the seat cushions on board. The airline even decided to load the passengers onto another plane for the trip to Des Moines.

That’s when another delay took place…this time due to weather. Passengers were supposed to be on their way around 12:20 p.m., pre tick discovery; they did get airborne until a little before 6 p.m.

No word yet whether the movie version of this little debacle will star Samuel L. Jackson.

American Airlines flight cancelled due to booing passengers

by Grant Martin on

People love to get angry and take sides when things turn south during air travel. If you don’t believe me, go to Flyertalk.com, click on ANY forum, click on ANY thread, and you’ll probably see a labor vs. management or passenger vs. airline dispute.

These disputes come into particular focus during delays. Whether mechanical or weather related, it always seems like there are a dozen armchair pilots sitting in the crowd saying something like “It’s just a landing gear locking pin! Who needs that? I’m going to miss my connection!”

Just last week in Providence I sat next to a guy howling because the weather was fine in Providence and there was a weather delay. What he didn’t realize was that there was a ring of thunderstorms around the airport causing traffic. Not right above us.

Passengers on a recent American Airlines flight were so fired up from a delay in their crew showing up that they actually booed the employees when they boarded the plane. The pilots and flight attendants were so miffed that they canceled the flight, stranding passengers in Miami overnight.

Now who is the villain here? Nobody deserves to be booed at, especially when you’re just doing your job and connected in from a late flight. But as a rule, passengers don’t really know the full details of what’s going on so we can expect them to act like a fussy mob. Especially if your job is to deal with passengers all day. Should you have really canceled the flight?

It’s a close one, but I’m going with the passengers on this one.

[Via Gothamist]

Ryanair: Man forced to carry his wheelchair-bound wife onto plane after flight crew refuses to help

by Jeffrey White on

Everybody knows that flight crew members these days won’t help you lift a bag into the overhead compartment, even if you are a 90-year-old woman. Still, one wonders whether there wasn’t something Ryanair could have figured out to do in the following case.

A British man recently was forced to carry his disabled wife on board a Ryanair flight departing Luton, England for France after the airline’s flight crew refused to help, citing company safety and health regulations, according to the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper.

The Ambulift device required by 54-year-old Jo Heath, who is bound to a wheelchair, never showed up at Luton for her flight, despite the fact that Heath had told Ryanair she needed it when she booked her ticket.

The flight crew said it was Ryanair policy to leave behind passengers who could not board themselves, the Mail said.

The next flight left in three days, so Heath’s husband decided to throw her over his shoulder and climb the stairs to the plane himself.

She told the newspaper: “It was quite a dangerous thing for Paul to attempt. If he had slipped over or dropped me God knows who would have helped us out.

“I was scared and very embarrassed by it and you could see other passengers were starting to get a bit ratty. I had done everything I needed to for Ryanair to get me on the plane.”

The couple said the airline’s actions were a violation of the UK’s Disability and Discrimination Act.

Ryanair did apologize to the couple, and said it was company policy for the flight crew not to lift passengers up stairs because of health and safety concerns.

The couple did receive a voucher from Ryanair good for about $200.

It’s easy to bash Ryanair on this one. Fine. Sometimes company regulations should be overlooked.

But what about this: Were there any good Samaritans on board the plane that day who could have lent a helping hand? Appears not. They were busy getting “ratty.”