JetBlue turns to travel websites for booking

by Catherine Bodry on

In the past, JetBlue sold most of its tickets through its website. But last year, the budget airline listed its fares on “global” distribution systems, which mainly serve travel agents.

Now, JetBlue has gone all the way online; it started selling tickets on travel websites like Orbitz, Expedia, and Priceline. The company explains that with rising fuel costs and a slower economy, it needs to “expand its reach and step up competition.”

And perhaps gain back some of the customers it lost during all those crazy delays and cancellations last February?

Watch the World Series Aboard a Frontier Airlines Flight?

by Catherine Bodry on

If you can’t stand missing the World Series, but you absolutely must travel during one of the games, don’t fret just yet. If Frontier Airlines is flying to your destination, you may just be in luck — and you might want to book your ticket now. The Denver-based airline is negotiating with DirectTV for permission to show the series on its flights if the Rockies are playing. The airline, which shows the Super Bowl every year in-flight, is making sure it has rights to air live TV.

JetBlue will also be showing the World Series (no matter who’s playing — go Sox!).

[via USA Today]

Tips for Upgrading Your Airline Seat — On the Cheap

by Catherine Bodry on

I used to enjoy flying, but lately it’s become such a chore. Long lines, delays, and uncomfortable seats. Well, Aviation.com offers some help for the seat situation. These tips won’t get you through airport security any quicker, but they might make a long wait on the tarmac a bit more bearable. Here are a few of the tips for scoring a more comfortable seat:

  • Fly JetBlue. JetBlue’s has added extra legroom on its Airbus jets, with at least a 36-inch seat pitch in the first 11 rows of its Airbus 320 fleet and at least 34 inches in rows 12-25 (seat pitch is the distance between any one point on the seat and that same point in the row ahead or behind). Some airlines have 32 or even 31 inches between seats.
  • Pay for an exit row. Gadling blogger Iva is all for upgrading to an exit row — while it may cost as much as $75 for all that luxurious legroom, it’s worth the price on an international flight. Aviation.com lists some exit row seats going for as low as $5.
  • Look for “premium economy.” On United, you can sometimes upgrade to “economy plus,” which has 5 more inches of legroom than regular economy. Frequent United flyers might want to look into Economy Plus Access, which allows passengers to reserve economy plus for themselves and a guest for a year of travel, which at $349 a year isn’t too expensive.
  • Use miles to upgrade to First Class. I still haven’t flown in First, but one of these days I’m going to cash in my miles for a taste of the good life.

These are just a few of many tips offered; it’s worth reading the full article at Msnbc.com.

Budget Airlines Whine About Environtmental Concerns

by Catherine Bodry on

Budget Airlines, like Europe’s EasyJet, complain that they’re carrying the burden of concern about air travel’s environmental impact. EasyJet’s Chief Executive Andy Harrison argues that taxes should be based on the efficiency of planes and the distance traveled rather than being a per-passenger duty, claiming that budget airlines’ fleets are newer and thus more efficient than traditional airlines.

While I don’t think that budget airlines alone should be charged with “ruining the planet,” I do think it’s difficult to ignore the impact of cheap and quick airfare on less environmentally-damaging overland travel, like rail. That’s not necessarily the airlines’ fault though — they’re simply meeting travelers’ demands.

What do you think?

Travel Woes: Avoid Connecting Flights

by Jamie Rhein on

A friend of mine and a serious global traveler had the trip that almost turned her off air travel all together–and she’s a former pilot.

These are the details that I remember from what she recently told me about her return trip from Iceland to Columbus, Ohio. Her nightmare started at JFK airport.

Thunderstorms had paralyzed flights, thus hers to Columbus was canceled. But, feeling optimistic , she thought she might be able to hook up with a Jet Blue flight and headed to the Jet Blue terminal. No luck there either. In her quest for a flight, she left the security area of her terminal and couldn’t get back in. Then she looked for another terminal where she could park herself for the night since all airport hotels were booked. No such luck there either. That one closed for cleaning and she was kicked out to the curb again. After another bout of terminal hopping, she found a chair where she could settle in for the rest of the night.

The next day she was able to book a hotel room since finding a flight wasn’t happening. Booked solid. She arrived in Columbus on Friday, almost two days after she was supposed to have arrived.

At 4 AM Saturday morning she received a call from the luggage courier who couldn’t find her house. Before dawn she was reunited with her belongings.

If you haven’t noticed, she didn’t get any help from the airline except for the rebooking of her flight on the next available flight two days later. The airline wasn’t obligated to do more. The delay was caused by weather.

The flights were full because all flights are full these days. In her words, this summer is a mess. If one thing goes wrong, the whole system slides into chaos.

She also didn’t have a cell phone. Since she was traveling internationally, she left hers at home. Also, there wasn’t any information to be found on where to get hotels outside of the airport.

Her bit of advice after this fiasco was, whenever possible, fly direct and fly early in the day. Connections mean trouble and flying late in the day means there is no wiggle room when flights get delayed. Here is an article by Sharyn Alden that gives some other tips for avoiding air travel woes.