Expedia drops telephone booking fees

by Scott Carmichael on

There is a bit of a war going on between the various large online travel sites. They are battling each other to see who can provide the best service, with the lowest fees. Of course, this war really only has one winner – consumers.

This morning, Expedia announced the removal of all telephone booking fees for trips booked through their service. This may not sound like a very important change, but when you consider that the airlines charge as much as $25 per person, per telephone booking, you’ll quickly realize that being able to book that same ticket through Expedia without any fees could come in quite handy.

The company eliminated online air booking fees and change fees and cancel fees on all hotel and car rental reservations in May 2009. Cruise change and cancel fees were also eliminated in May 2009 and cruise booking fees were eliminated in October 2009.

It is an odd world when big travel firms like Expedia are able to provide a better service than the airlines themselves, but as I said – we consumers are the real winners here.

Being able to book a flight over the phone is perfect for people who hate making online reservations, or if you need an last minute flight reservation and don’t want to deal with the hassle of finding a computer with Internet access.

Husband and wife team steals 1,000 bags

by Tom Johansmeyer on

If you were to steal 1,000 pieces of luggage, where would you keep it all? Wherever they shoved the bags, Keith Wilson King and Stacy Lynne Legg-King saw the police pull them out of their house one-by-one and stack them in the yard. The duo had been pinching luggage from the baggage carousels at the Phoenix airport, amassing an impressive collection of stolen goods … so big the police couldn’t provide an exact number.

Phoenix Detective James Holiday called what the Kings did “a livelihood,” rather than the pieces of luggage picked up a bit at a time or only as a one-shot deal.

Keith King was originally arrested three weeks ago for misdemeanor theft. The police kept an eye on him, though. When he went back to the airport again, the police followed him home (on Monday). The next day, they searched the King home and found many, many more. Both King and his wife were arrested, with the latter also picked up on charges of tampering with evidence.

The moral of the story? Be careful what you check!

[Photo by sun dazed via Flickr]

When a pilot loses his license – the nasty letter from the FAA

by Scott Carmichael on

When two Northwest Airlines pilots were screwing around on their laptop computers and overshot Minneapolis airport, most people knew these guys wouldn’t be flying any time soon.

Aviation news web site Jetwhine.com managed to snag a copy of the letter the FAA sent to the pilots explaining why their licenses were being revoked. It is a pretty interesting read, though if you are pilot, this is obviously the letter you never ever want to get in your mailbox. The letter is downright brutal, but it does give some very specific details about the decision, and what exactly went wrong.
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Corporate executive not welcome in the United Airlines first class cabin

by Scott Carmichael on

The United Airlines bad news machine has been working overtime lately – first they were mocked in the “United breaks guitars” video clip, then they screwed up with that same passenger when they lost his luggage.

Today’s bad news comes from Dulles airport, where a bald man in a track suit was called to the podium to have his first class upgrade revoked. The reason? He was dressed too casually.

Now, this was no regular bald man in a tacky track suit – this gentleman is Armando Alvarez, a vice president with electronics retailer Best Buy.

Apparently, United Airlines suddenly decided that they’d pretend we are all back in the 60’s, and that the first class cabin should only be occupied by people dressed for the occasion.

Mr. Alvarez was interviewed by the Washington DC Fox affiliate and told reporters that he was humiliated and embarrassed. When he tried to contact the customer relations department, nobody responded, and even the Fox reporters couldn’t find anyone within United Airlines willing to speak on the matter.

The United Airlines contract of carriage only makes mention of barring barefoot passengers, and I’ve never encountered a dress code. Non-rev passengers (employees and their friends and family) do need to dress in business casual attire, but that obviously does not apply to paying passengers like Mr. Alvarez.

That said, I’m sure a lot of people would love to see a basic level of decency return to the first class cabin, but to be honest, that part of the plane really isn’t all that impressive. A slightly wider seat and some warm nuts don’t justify having to put on your Sunday suit for a trip.

After the jump, a video clip from the interview with MyFoxDC.com.

Gadlinks for Wednesday 11.4.09

by Brenda Yun on

This is the best day of the week, in my opinion: You’re in a midweek groove, but the weekend is in sight. That’s a perfect metaphor for how I’m feeling this week in life, too. I’m past the midpoint of many things in life, but the end is nigh! We have a whole lot of great travel reads to be thankful for as well, so let’s get started.

‘Til tomorrow, have a great evening!

More Gadlinks HERE.