airlines (136)

When Did Travel Become a Commodity?

When Did Travel Become a Commodity?

When did it stop being an experience and more of a package, a deal, a search result?

Travel has turned into an obsession for the cheapest airfare, cheapest hotel room and pretty much the lowest, cheapest  cost for anything and every thing related to travel.

Wasn't so long ago that airlines, the most commodified of the travel experience were sufficiently different from each other that you could them apart.


There were differences in food served, space between rows
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Whatever happened to __________ Airlines?

Remember These Airlines?
 
I just received a very interesting email from a good friend who's a flight attendant on charters between Miami and Havana, Cuba. I can't vouch for its accuracy, but it's a fun trip through the airline landscape of yore. Enjoy!
M.P.
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Did you ever say, "Whatever happened to ##### airlines?"
"What was the name of that air carrier that ...?  "Finally, someone published a history of what airline merged
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Will buying an airline ticket soon be as personalized as buying a suit from a sales person? Probably, as trends go.

It's no surprise that airlines want to personalize their relationships to their customers. If they can figure out how, it would be a huge step toward making the ticket-buying process a lot more individualized, and rewarding.

And why shouldn't it be?
After all, buy a book from Amazon or any savvy online retailer, and you're guided to other books you might like based on your readin

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Business Travelers Want to Ban Kids From Planes

Not so long ago we stumbled upon an online chat where the subject was banning children from flying, or at least banishing them from flying in business class.

So we were not completely surprised at the USA Today Travel article that said 74% of UK-based business class travelers get annoyed at children on flights, and that airlines should provide children-free flights,  or at least flights for those over 18 years old.

The survey of 1,000 business-class
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Flight delays are frustrating and time consuming. They send stranded passengers on a mad cycle of phone calls, emails, texts, Facebook messages, overpriced bottled water, lots of Starbucks and Auntie Annie's salty pretzels.

But there is also something beautiful that comes out of a flight delay – people bond and form friendships – almost cult like – they unite, commiserate and share deep thoughts about the weather.
Before you know it you are telling all sorts of “Gate Strangers” where you are from
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Getting Around Costa Rica by Air

Costa Rica’s amazing natural attractions make it an incomparable vacation destination. You’re in paradise here in the tropics with lush rainforest, active volcanoes, spectacular mountain ranges and valleys, and endless beaches on both Pacific and Caribbean coasts.

AIR-02.gif?width=359Domestic flights are the perfect option for travelers who want to visit as many places in Costa Rica as possible in a short amount of time. Plus, you get a beautiful aerial view of the landscape. Costa Rica is a rugged country of peaks

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Now No Need to Fly With People You Don't Like

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It's an axiom among those of us who fly: You never know whom you'll be sitting next to.

Could be a fascinating character from some terrific movie, your next love or, more likely, someone you really, badly want to get away from.

New Media Travel reported on the idea of "Social Seating Solutions" (Never Sit Next to Boring People Again), so the idea of selecting one's seat mate  has been around for a while. But the enabling tool hasn't been very successfully developed or employed. And there was al

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I think I have remembered all the planes I have flown on since I started traveling in the 1960′s. That was tough. I started traveling as a child in the Midwest, then to South America, and then, well all over.


Douglass

DC3 North central


The first plane I remember flying on was  a North Central Airlines DC- 3 My father worked for North Central so we flew non-rev, meaning free. We called these planes puddle jumpers.

There are still small operators with DC-3s in revenue service and as cargo aircraft. The common sayi

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Treat Passengers of Size with Dignity

Last week, Vilma Soltesz died after she was denied her seat on a flight because of her weight. Soltesz was planning to fly home to receive treatment for diabetes and renal disease, but she passed away in Hungary before she could get home. Her husband has filed a lawsuit, but the two airlines named in the suit (Delta and KLM) are claiming that they could not physically accommodate Soltesz.

Though the details of Soltesz's ordeal remain in dispute, her story—and the experiences of countless other fl

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Aerofóbicos Distinguidos (y Confesos)

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por Jorge Mira

Hay una larga lista de personas famosas con fobia a volar.
 Quizás el más destacado de todos ellos sea Gabriel García Márquez, quien hace ya tiempo escribió un cómico artículo sobre el asunto titulado “Seamos machos: hablemos del miedo al avión”, en el que nos dejaba algunas perlas como éstas:


“Yo lo padezco como nadie, a mucha honra, y además con una gratitud inmensa, porque gracias a él he podido darle la vuelta al mundo en 82 horas, a bordo de toda clase de aviones, y por lo m

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From NMT Images
To Text or Not To Text in Flight. Is Line2 the Answer?


Many airline passengers forget to turn their cell phones off in flight, or maybe obstinately refuse to.

And yet there isn’t a singe instance in which an “on” cell phone has been responsible for an airline accident, though Wikipedia predictably suggests it’s somehow possible.

But, mobile phone use is still not generally allowed on planes.

Emirates and Malaysia airlines do allow them in certified aircraft using AeroMobile technolog
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Flying with a wheelchair is a lot like playing the tables at Vegas. You throw the dice and hope for the best. Sometimes, it really does feel like a craps shoot.

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Although U.S. airlines are generally required to accommodate you, it would not be in your best interest to just show up at the airport and put that to the test. Flying and airports are strenuous at best, throw in an unexpected accommodation request and you’re just asking for trouble.

There are recourses available to you when things go wron

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Wi-Fi, Yes; Talking to Co-Passengers, No

9008743901?profile=originalAnd, yes,  we told you so.

In a New Media Travel article we discussed the low-to-no threat that cell phones pose to navigation, and why some many other airlines like Emirates are permitting cell phone use in flight. US-based airlines don't.

But we also said most passengers don't actually want to talk in the air. Nor do they want to talk to their co-passengers.

Apparently saying "I love you," at 35,000 feet isn't a great a temptation for 38% of us who fly.

It seems we'd rather enjoy the quiet

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The travel industry gets lots of headlines for cruise ships that have to be towed into port, delayed flights and lost baggage. So it's nice to be able to wrote a good news story about the US travel industry supports US military personnel, both retired and active. Here's some of what airlines and hotels were doing for uniformed service men and women on Veterans Day, and beyond.


American Airlines is partnering once again with The Sands Foundation and the USO to host wounded warriors and their spous

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Why Does Airline Food Taste So Awful?

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From NMT Images
Why Does Airline Food Taste So Awful?

Is it actually the food the airlines serve (when they do) that tastes so bad, or is it the flying experience make the food taste so awful?

Wired Magazine reported that a handful of brave volunteers made “the ultimate sacrifice for science” and ate airline food. Voluntarily.

Apparently a lab was set up that perfectly simulated the intense dryness, stale air and ear-irritating low pressure of airline cabins.

Germany’s Lufthansa Airlines spearheaded
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Budget Holiday Tips

So you are searching for cheap holiday accommodations to chill out this summer, right? Well, great. And now what’s next? Exactly, it is finding the best possible holiday deals. Holiday packages are not necessarily to be expensive always. Here we will give you the hints to find the best holiday accommodations without breaking your bank balance. Summer is the season where most of the people tend to migrate from their hometowns to chiller places to escape from the harmful rays of hot sun.


Often holi

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Are You the Perfect Passenger?

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According to a recent article posted on the economist.com, the perfect airline passengers are single European men, in their 30s traveling for pleasure. 

Once he’s got his airline tickets, it seems the single European man is content to go about his travels, with minimal interaction with airline staff. 

Is that what it takes to be a perfect passenger?

For those we aren't "perfect passengers," listen up to what your problem may be. 

The majority of the complaints listed in the survey on Skyscanner soun

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Frequent Flyers Should Not Board First

This year, United dropped its practice of allowing families to board planes before other travelers. The legacy carrier joined the ranks of American and US Airways, which don't officially offer pre-boarding or early boarding of any kind for families. But a handful of other airlines still do, including Delta (the last legacy airline supporting family-friendly boarding), JetBlue, and Southwest.

The industry's approach to boarding is mixed, as is, ostensibly, popular opinion.  In a recent poll of mor

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Guide to Booking Cheap Airline Tickets

The capacity to reserve airline tickets has evolved immensely through the history of air travel from a lengthier manual operation to an electronic operation with minimal intervention needed. Though this might
seem like a drawback to employees it has opened the doors for internal
movement inside the airline business and greater efficiency with the
reservation system leading to in real-time showing of flight information
that helps both the airline and the passengers.

Since the advances in technology al

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Why Does Airline Food Taste so Awful?

(Listen to the 1-minute Travel Audio PostCard)

Is it actually the food the airlines serve (when they do) that tastes so bad, or is it the flying experience make the food taste so awful?

Wired Magazine reported that a handful of brave volunteers made “the ultimate sacrifice for science” and ate airline food. Voluntarily.

Apparently a lab was set up that perfectly simulated the intense dryness, stale air and ear-irritating low pressure of airline cabins.

Germ

Read more…