Best Airlines for 2007

by Willy Volk on

Recently, we mentioned the 2007 Airline Quality Rating. While the report is discouraging — 2006 saw more people bumped, more bags lost, and more flights delayed than in 2005 — the report isn’t all bad. It does spotlight the airlines that seem to be getting things right — giving savvy travelers a clue as to the airlines that will (likely) be best for 2007.

The AQR identified Hawaiian Airlines as the top-rated US airline. In the report, Hawaiian was noted as having a lower customer complaint rate than the industry average and the lowest mishandled baggage rate in the industry. Congrats, aloha, and awesome! In case you’re interested, the airlines rounding out the top 10 are:

2.) Jet Blue
3.) Air Tran
4.) Frontier
5.) Northwest
6.) Southwest
7.) Continental
8.) United
9.) Alaska
10.) American

If you want to learning more, the complete (PDF) report can be found on the AQR website and includes details about each of the 18 airlines ranked.

The Airlines Hate Us

by Jonathon Morgan on

Airlines are treating their passengers worse than ever, with customer service blunders on the rise for the third year in a row. According to the annual Airline Quality Rating, last year saw more people bumped, more bags lost, and more flights delayed than in 2005.

Worst of all, it looks like things will continue to go downhill. An industry spokesman told the Associated Press that because the number of flights is exceeding the capacity of air traffic controllers, “We’re going to see more delays and those delays translate to cancellations, mishandled bags and unhappy passengers.”

United — who’s stranding of passengers for hours on runways wasn’t included because it was weather-related — tied for the most-complained-about airline with US Airawys, while Southwest registered the fewest complaints.

I’m at the point where I almost expect some kind of delay when I’m at the airport. But what about you, is the change noticeable? Any flight-delay horror stories you’d like to share?

How to be Contacted Automatically if your Flight is Delayed

by Neil Woodburn on

Here’s a great little service that Orbitz is currently advertising.

Book a trip with the online travel service and they will automatically contact you if things go wrong. A free TLC Alert will be sent to your cell phone or PDA if your flight is delayed or canceled, an airport is shut down, or even if your departure gate has changed.

In addition, Orbitz will send a TLC alert if a problem develops with your hotel, such as “pool and fitness center closures” or if there is “construction or maintenance.” Orbitz can send the alerts to six of your closest associates as well, just in case you are meeting someone and need to let them know you will be late.

Personally, this seems like a pretty cool service to me. Two of the last three times I’ve traveled, my flights have been delayed three hours. That’s three more hours I could have spent enjoying Chicago and San Francisco instead of wasting time in the airport. In today’s competitive, cut-throat world of travel agents, such nice little extras as this can make all the difference on who gets my business.

Buying Other People’s Lost Luggage

by Neil Woodburn on

So what happens to all that unclaimed luggage that sits around ownerless?

If the airlines cannot find the rightful owner, they sell it by the truckload to a company called Unclaimed Baggage. Workers then pop open the suitcases, rifle through the contents, and then put the items up for sale.

Their website claims that more than a million items come through their doors annually, 60 percent of which is clothing. The remaining items, as you might imagine, are pretty much anything else one might pack in a suitcase.

Buyers can purchase the items online or in person at the company’s store in Scottsboro, Alabama.

A quick look through their site revealed a handful of digital cameras ranging from $50 to $200 and well as iPods for $25 — most of which are probably loaded with someone else’s songs (which could be a great bonus).

Unclaimed Baggage also dedicates an entire page to some of the more unique items they’ve come across, such as a full suit of 19th century armor, a live rattle snake, and “Egyptian artifacts dating back to 1500 B.C.”

Man, it sure must be fun working there!

Use Google to get Flight Information on Your Phone

by Justin Glow on

Google has unvieled a new addition to their Google SMS service that allows you to check the status of your U.S. flight by simply texting the flight number to GOOGLE (466453). Or, if you need to talk to a human, text the name of your airline to the same number and Google will text back the phone number to call.

Pretty nifty, especially if you’re en route to the airport and need a quick update. They even have an interactive demo so you can practice before you leave.

[via lifehacker]

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