Comments on: Stunned by the day’s travel news — no really, stunned

By: Travel News - Icebound Cruise Ship, Icebound Plane, Dirtiest Hotel | Global Visionent Travel Guides

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 05:04:16 +0000

[...] Stunned by the day’s travel news — no really, stunned Passengers on an AirTran flight from Columbus, Ohio, to Orlando were stuck in transit for 12 hours yesterday — many of them on a grounded plane. Flight 373 to Orlando had been scheduled to take off from Columbus, Ohio, at 8 a.m. But an overnight snow storm reportedly turned the parked plane into a popsicle. Ground crews used three truckloads of deicing fluid in a futile attempt to thaw the frozen plane. “We had no water, no air, they couldn’t turn the engine on,” one traveler said. The passengers were let off the aircraft for lunch, and AirTran offered them free roundtrip tickets for the trouble. [...]

By: Travel News - Icebound Cruise Ship, Icebound Plane, Dirtiest Hotel | Amateur Traveler Travel Blog

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 02:33:04 +0000

By: Heather Collins

Heather Collins — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:26:06 +0000

# On January 29th, 2009 at 2:32 pm Rich said

Chris: What you didn’t note in your story about AirTran is that they will be giving all passengers a free roundtrip ticket as compensation.
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Yes he did.

By: Ann, CTC

Ann, CTC — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:25:02 +0000

“That’s kind of the way it is now, isn’t it? Tickets worth nothing?”

I’m not sure that Skip understood what Frank was getting at. This scenario of “use it or lose it” already exists in much of the world outside the US. Nonrefundable means not only nonrefundable, but nonchangeable too. Once you purchase it, it’s yours, whether you go or not. Plans change? Too bad, buy a new ticket. Get sick? Too bad, buy a new ticket.

Be careful what you ask for as it’s not as simple as it sounds.

By: Skip

Skip — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 03:25:15 +0000

That’s kind of the way it is now, isn’t it? Tickets worth nothing?

Why does Congress refuse to pass a Passenger Bill of Rights; one with teeth? Why? Are they so afraid of the airline lobby?

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:12:08 +0000

Don J said The FAA needs to adopt a new rule, comparable to the EU, that requires all bumping penalties and failed flight re-imbursements be made by check or, at the passenger’s request, in cash. Future flight oupons, free flight tickets, and bumping incentive coupons should be banned. Period. If airlines are to improve their customer service, they need to be hit right square in their immediate bottom line.
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BAN BUMPING?……..Good, lets do that. And, in order to do that, you’re TICKET RULES now change too. All tickets are non refundable and they become ‘USE EM OR LOSS EM’ status. You miss the flight or become sick etc. TOO BAD. You’re ticket is now worth, NOTHING.

By: David

David — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:58:21 +0000

One of our users skirted this issue. She was sitting on the airplane waiting to leave and passengers were still boarding. Our TripChill Smart Notification (www.tripchill.com) sent her a notification that this flight was going to be late and she was going to miss her flight. So, she decided to get off the flight and rebook because she needed to get home in order to make her next trip. I guess the flight attendants questioned how she knew the flight was going to be late. Anyways, she told us that the flight was stuck waiting to leave and she escaped on a different flight that actually got her to her destination quicker than her scheduled flight. Go figure!

By: Christopher Elliott

Christopher Elliott — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:21:52 +0000

@Rich fixed that. Thanks.

By: Don J

Don J — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:19:18 +0000

The FAA needs to adopt a new rule, comparable to the EU, that requires all bumping penalties and failed flight re-imbursements be made by check or, at the passenger’s request, in cash. Future flight oupons, free flight tickets, and bumping incentive coupons should be banned. Period. If airlines are to improve their customer service, they need to be hit right square in their immediate bottom line.

By: marge

marge — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:46:19 +0000

Excellent post, Chris! Happy thawing….