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Airline Delays—Will This Make A Difference?

A few weeks ago I shared the unpleasant (that’s putting it mildly) experience of enduring a 5-hour delay at Chicago’s O’Hare airport with my 3-year-old. By hour three I had all but exhausted our entertainment options and tried not to glare at the United Airlines employee who kept repeating over the intercom that our flight would be departing “in approximately 15 minutes.” (Mind you she repeated this every 15 minutes for three hours.) Hours four and five of our delay were even worse as they were spent in the plane on the tarmac. (Have you been there? Have you been … Continue reading →

Travel Tips for 2008

Where are you planning to travel this year? Will 2008 be the year you finally travel abroad? Or will it be the first year you fly to Hawaii or take a cruise on the high seas? Whatever your travel plans it pays to do your homework before you take off, set sail, or get behind the wheel. The following information should come in handy if you plan to get out and explore the world in 2008. AIR TRAVEL Good news if you plan to take to the air this year—the Federal Aviation Administration is setting caps on the number of … Continue reading →

Insults Flying In The Not-So Friendly Skies

If you are enrolled in a frequent flyer program with one of the country’s largest air carriers then you may have received an email asking for your help to convince Congress that private aircraft owners should pay more to help modernize an outdated air traffic control system. I happen to be enrolled in several frequent flyer programs and have already received a note encouraging me to pen a letter to my congressional representative and demand that private aircraft owners dig deep to help pay for a new air traffic control system. If you haven’t received an email from a major … Continue reading →

Why Is My Plane Delayed—Again?!

If you have flown at all in 2007 then you don’t need me to tell you that airline passengers are facing the worst delays in at least 13 years. According to the Department of Transportation, so far this year, nearly one-fourth of flights on the 20 largest carriers were late. I told you about being delayed for hours at Chicago’s O’Hare airport with my 3-year-old a few months ago—the airline blamed Mother Nature for us having to sit on the tarmac for more than two hours. But that’s not the only excuse airlines are using. Contributing to the delays, according … Continue reading →

Putting The “Friendly” Back In The “Friendly Skies”

I’ve flown in business class several times, though none of the trips were business related. They were all overseas flights and I don’t remember a single time when I was not surrounded by suits. Which is not to say I was surrounded by a single gender, it’s just that the passengers I was sharing cabin space with were serious travelers and flying for a reason besides visiting their Aunt Sue in Lisbon. They are the individuals I thought of when I received a letter from United (I’m a part of their frequent flier program) announcing that they recently revamped their … Continue reading →

Planning Your Vacation Via The Internet

When was the last time you stepped foot into a travel agency? With the dawn of the Internet and the tens of thousands of travel resources available online, travel agents seem to be a dying breed. My aunt retired from the travel industry last year after spending more than 20 years as a travel agent. She was, by all accounts, the only person anyone in my family dealt with when it came to booking a trip. Now she’s spending her days on the golf course and we have all begun turning to the Internet to secure our travel plans. Now … Continue reading →