Daily Travel Deal: United launches mega fare sale

by Grant Martin on

United Airlines just launched an outstanding fare sale to the American Southwest, with fares starting as low as $39 plus tax. Texas is one of the focal points, with destinations such as El Paso, San Antonio, Houston and Dallas boasting the great prices, but other locales like Albuquerque and Oklahoma City are also a steal.

Check out United’s promotional site to see a full list of fares and destinations. Each-way fares are based on required round trip purchase and availability is limited, so make sure that you book early. And don’t forget about United’s Double Elite Qualifying Miles promotion that’s currently underway which will get you extra perks for your trip.

And make sure to keep checking the top five travel deals for the latest greatest travel deals.

United airlines “fat passenger” policy prompts plenty of backlash

by Scott Carmichael on

On Wednesday, I posted about the new United Airlines policy for charging “passengers of size” for 2 seats, if they are unable to fit in one seat or use a single seatbelt extender.

Now, whether this new money maker is a good idea or not, is besides the point, at least for United, because the PR backlash is already starting to hurt them and has forced them to change the wording in their rules.

The AAPR (not to be confused with the AARP) is the Association for Airline Passenger Rights, and they claim that charging large passengers is just another way for the airline to make even more money. Instead of changing the rules, they say the airlines should change their seats.

“They’re at it again,” said Brandon M. Macsata , Executive Director of AAPR, of the airline industry. “United is now the latest airline to shelve customer service standards in search for higher profits, while claiming that the new policy is to ‘protect’ other passengers. At issue should not be the size of any passenger, but rather why the airlines continue to pack coach passengers like sardines into the cabin.”

I completely agree – airline seats in coach are too small, but in an industry where competition is fierce, packing more people in your already cramped planes is one of the few ways they can still make money.

And to be honest, the policy isn’t really after “large” passengers, it is for “really really large” passengers. If you need more than one seatbelt extender, and/or need more than one seat, then you do need to pay for it, especially if you are going to be an inconvenience to the passengers next to you.

As much as I’d love to see modernized (larger) coach seats, it’s going to take a miracle for the airlines to invest in the back of the cabin. Remember, these are companies that don’t even have the money to hand out free pretzels.

Still, it is nice to see an organization protect the rights of the airline passenger. To learn more about how the AAPR is helping us, check out their site.

United Airlines to charge obese passengers for the extra space

by Scott Carmichael on

United Airlines just announced their plans to charge obese passengers for the extra seat they take up on their planes.

They are not the first airline to do this, and most likely won’t be the last. That said, their definition of obese means that readers with a bit of a beer belly won’t have to worry too much.

Only passengers who need more than one seat belt extender, or who can not sit in their seat with the arm rests down will have to pay.

That probably means less than half a percentage of their passengers. I’m a big guy myself, but I have no problem using the regular seatbelt, plus I can easily keep the armrests down without bothering the passenger next to me.

The extra charge will be for a second seat, and on aircraft without a spare seat, the “passenger of size” will have to wait for the next flight.

The new rules will be enforced by the gate agents, which is probably going to lead to nothing but trouble for the airline, and I suspect they will be in court with a large passenger defending this new rule pretty soon.

Their official policy can be found here.

United Airlines settles lawsuit over porn found in cockpit

by Jeffrey White on

United Airlines has settled a two-year-old lawsuit in which it faced sexual harassment charges from a former female pilot who alleged she repeatedly found pornography hidden in the cockpits of domestic airline flights.

The Seattle Times lays out the case, in which former Capt. Lisa Stout, a 737 pilot based in Seattle, says she found pornographic pictures of women on more than 20 flights over a two year period starting in 2004. Who was putting them there? Presumably her co-pilots.

These pictures were hidden, either taped under unused ashtrays or — and I just love this — under a safety device known as the “stick shaker.” Indeed.

Each time Stout would find one, she’d record a complaint in the flight log. She alleges that United didn’t do enough to get to the bottom of who was sneaking porn into the cockpits on its domestic route.

Finally it got so bad that Stout grounded herself, saying the ordeal gave her a medical condition that prevented her from flying.

The lawsuit got ugly: United claims that Stout is essentially faking her medical condition to receive long-term disability to support a fledgling career as a painter. What does she paint? You guest it: Nudes.

U.S. Airlines can’t come up with any new ways to charge their customers

by Scott Carmichael on

Some sad news from Reuters this afternoon (for the airlines at least).

U.S. based airlines may have finally run out of new fees for their passengers.

Indeed, after years of moving things that used to be free into a fee based category, there simply isn’t anything left they can charge us for.

Some airlines, have increased their revenue by over $2 Billion a year, just off things like meals, drinks and baggage charges.

These are all things that used to be included for free with your ticket, but now add as much as 25% to the price of your trip.

Of course, when an airline claims it has run out of ways to screw us, I suspect they are just getting warmed up for the really nasty charges they are preparing. There are plenty of ways they can still make a few bucks off us, until the point where your ticket is nothing more than a piece of paper that entitles you to getting to your destination “sooner or later”.

I’ve written about some of the insane ways airlines come up with “exciting” new products, and quite frankly, I don’t think their creativity will end until the last accountant has left the building.

(Via: RickSeaney.com)