Five chilling facts about Cyber Monday Shopping

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Okay, your goal should be NOT to conform to what you see below. The travel industry, riding something of a recovery this year, is set to come out with some solid sales on Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year. So, as you click among hotel, airline and online travel agency sites, it will pay for you to be aware of the biggest risks you face.

Despite the many risks associated with online shopping – and the fact that they have been shoved in the public’s face since the early days of internet commercialization – people still roll the dice with their financial security. When you get excited about cheap tickets or a real bargain on the excursion of a lifetime, take a moment to make sure you aren’t getting scammed. Your savviest purchase may be the one you never make.

So, what are the risks? Let’s take a look at five scary facts from web security firm Webroot:1. Don’t trust page one: a high placement in Google search results shouldn’t be a sign of trust. According to Webroot, 59 percent of survey respondents trust the results they get in the first few pages, up from 39 percent last year. Unfortunately, this placement is “a target for malicious links.” Interestingly, the number of people using search engines is falling: “48 percent of online shoppers frequently if not always use search engines to find gifts online, compared to 52 percent in 2009,” Webroot reports.

Solution: Watch brand. If you recognize the company’s brand, you can be more comfortable with the purchase. Also, watch where the link sends you. For an extra layer of protection, enter the company’s address into the browser yourself instead of clicking the link in Google.

2. Risky wifi behavior: 18 percent of shoppers are likely to use public wifi for holiday shopping, Webroot reports, up from 12 percent in 2009. This can be risky, especially with 23 percent of respondents feeling comfortable using free public wifi.

Solution: Do your online shopping at home or at work. Stealing wifi from your neighbor so you can toss your credit card number onto the web is probably pretty stupid.

3. New site, new password: are you planning to jump on a deal from a company you haven’t used before? Well, this is the point of many of the Cyber Monday travel deals you’ll see: companies want to lure you away from your ol’ stand-by sites. Do take advantage of the hot promotions, but be smart. Using the same password everywhere is like hiding a house key under your doormat.

Solution: Use a new password every time you create an account with a travel website. Also, be one of the 72 percent of online shoppers who uses a “complex” password – i.e., a mix of letters, numbers and symbols.

4. Social should be personal: 26 percent of respondents to the Webroot survey indicated that someone else had used their social media or email accounts to send friends messages in their names. With travel companies increasingly turning to social media platforms to market their deals and bolster their brands, expect a lot more interaction this year … which brings hefty doses of risk with it.

Solution: Take a look at your sent messages from time to time, and look at your Twitter stream from the perspective of another user. Make sure you recognize everything you’re putting out into the world.

5. Look for safety: 52 percent of Webroot’s respondents don’t check to see if a site uses SSL, and 50 percent don’t look for the padlock in the lower right corner of the web browser. This is like not twisting the doorknob after you lock it.

Solution: pay attention to where you make purchases online. In addition to getting comfortable with the company website, you also want to be aware of the security in place. If something feels off, play it safe: don’t buy. No deal is worth the consequences of risky online purchasing behavior.

[Via Insurance Information Institute, photo by InfoMofo via Flickr]

United puts Economy Plus on sale, $5 more than coach

by Grant Martin on

Normally when airlines put fares on sale it’s no big news here at Gadling. Not a day goes by when some legacy airline or some large hotel chain releases a paltry discount on overpriced tickets — a sale that most times is not much cheaper than your average unadvertised, competitive faremongering.

United did something a bit different this time though: they put their Economy Plus section on sale, that section in the front of coach with a bit more legroom and a lot more comfort for longer haul flights. With reductions of up to 40%, some flights in E+ are now just five bucks more than a seat in coach.

This is, unfortunately, only limited to certain routes in the endless volumes of daily United flights, but hey, for the price it might be worth looking into. The sale runs until November 12 and you can check out the full details over at United.

Alternatively, you can save that $5 and use it for a sandwich while on board, but that thus begs the question: food or legroom? Guns or butter?

Delta says customer service isn’t dependent upon costs

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It looks like Delta has some strong thoughts on airfare and customer service. The airline identified as the worst in the United States is now saying that customer service shouldn’t be related to operating expenses – well, at least that’s the implication of the new ad the airline is running on New York City subways: “Customer service shouldn’t fluctuate with the price of oil.”

The fact that airlines generally aren’t famous for customer service is well-established, and many excuses reasons are given, ranging from regulatory constraints to a lack of cooperation from passengers. Of course, cost always comes into the equation, too. Despite a strong year for air carriers in 2010, history shows that this is a volatile industry, and it’s always necessary to keep an eye on expenses.

It isn’t unusual to see airline industry employees cite cheap flights as a reason for the decline in customer service: what else do passengers expect, right?
This is what makes Delta’s move so interesting. A direct statement that service shouldn’t be constrained by underlying expenses (and thus profit margins), the ad I saw on the 3 train yesterday morning takes a bold stand. Delta is taking conventional wisdom head-on (well, airline industry conventional wisdom) in a very public way.

It should be interesting to see if this leads to a change in the airline industry employee population’s position on the relationship between cheap tickets and passenger expectations. For Delta employees, leaning on the traditional rationale results in a direct contradiction with the company’s stated message. Though the sentiment may not trickle down to employees of other carriers, their being vocal about the informal “expense-to-service” ratio inherently puts them at a disadvantage relative to Delta’s claim. The subtlety may not reach the average consumer (especially those who don’t come into contact with Delta’s ads), but the implication is clear.

Doubtless, it makes sense to draw distinctions between advertisements and expectations, and any change at Delta based on this messaging will take time to implement (let’s be realistic – big companies do tend to move slowly). Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how this situation unfolds.

So, tell us what you think: do you think customer service expectations in the airline business should be linked to the price you pay for a seat? Leave a comment below!

Airfare prices drop: time to book your fall and winter travel

by Grant Martin on

Have you been holding off on purchasing your tickets this fall and winter? Well, that precipitous drop that we were all eagerly awaiting has finally taken effect, and there are some fan-freaking-tastic flights waiting to be purchased.

The whole fare tidal wave began with an outstanding Southwest Airlines sale kicked off this week, reducing fares to only $30 each-way among many routes. In turn, many of the legacy carriers dropped their fares to the same destinations, so if you fancy paying for your baggage or earning useful frequent flyer miles then you might be able to switch up.

Sample fares include tickets from Chicago to Minneapolis and Kansas City for only $84 round trip.

Needless to say, sites like Kayak and Travelocity don’t search both the legacy carriers and Southwest’s site, so if you are going to do some fare crawling make sure to check all of the sites. You’ve got until the end of the day on Thursday, October 28 2010 to book your tickets, with available travel dates of early December and January – Mid February.

Ask Gadling: How do I standby for an earlier flight?

by Grant Martin on

It wasn’t too long ago that it was easy enough to walk up to the counter of an earlier departing flight to a destination of your choice and hitch a ride. The notion, at least back then, was that the empty space you saved on your next flight was insurance for the airline in case something went wrong – you were one less passenger that they had to deal with.

These days of a la carte pricing brought and end to that perk. Simply put, any benefit that a passenger might be able to reap was identified and squashed by the airlines, in this case, by means of a fee. That said, it’s still possible to stand by for an earlier flight, you just need to know the lay of the current land.

Lets start with the basics: in order to have a chance at standing by on an earlier flight, check to make sure that the routing and airline are identical. If you’re flying on American from Los Angeles to Seattle, for example, you can neither fly a two leg flight from LA-Portland-Seattle nor can you fly on the American Airlines codeshare operated by Alaska Airlines.

There also has to be space on the flight. Mind you, can still join the standby list on a full flight, but chances are low that you’re actually going to be awarded a ticket.

View more Ask Gadling: Travel Advice from an Expert or send your question to ask [at] gadling [dot] com.

Not sure how full the flight is? Check out seatcounter.com before you even leave home or work to see your chances of getting a seat. Or, give the airline a quick call and ask for “availability” on the flights prior to yours.

Second, you usually have to be willing to pay. This fee ranges from $50 on upwards and is only waived for some elites on some airlines. American Airlines and Delta, for example, will let elite passengers standby for free, while almost ALL elites on United have to pay (get with the program guys!). Southwest doesn’t charge anyone.

Of course you can always try to sweet talk your way out of this fee. The best way to do this is to analyze your later departing flight and try to reason with the gate agent about your itinerary. If the later flight is overbooked, for example, they may waive your standby fee in lieu of paying to bump a later passenger. If the later flight is delayed or canceled, the same may hold true. There’s also an outside chance that they can forget or take pity on you, so it doesn’t hurt to try to standby (and then balk when they try to charge you).

The key to the whole standby game, however, lies in empowered passengers knowing available routes and loads. To get a head start on this, do your savvy web research (seatcounter) or even call the airline on the way to the airport. Once educated, you have a bit of leverage for negotiating your way onto a flight.