Yapta
Average of 5 posts per month.
September 7
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03:17 PM
According to a report from The Globe and Mail, you can now order a private jet to pick you up, anywhere in the world, within 4 hours, from your mobile device. The service is now available by using a new mobile app from Blue Star Jets. You simply type in your location and destination, see what’s available and for how much, and order it. It’s that simple – and, as you may have guessed, very expensive.
The Globe and Mail reports that it a flight from Kelowna, B.C. to Seattle had more than a dozen options, ranging in capacity from 8-13 passengers and in price from $20,097.60 – $61,625.99. Expensive as it may be, the publication also notes that it may make some sense for business travelers: If you have a team of eight, $20,097.60 works out to just over $2,500 a person. Regular Air Canada fares (WestJet doesn’t fly to Seattle) would be more than $1,000, if you could get eight seats with four hours notice, which, on Tuesday, you could not. There were only five departure times available, anyway, just one of which was in the morning, and they all connected through either Vancouver or Calgary with travel times of more than three hours.
Here’s some more travel news you can use:
- The National Transportation Safety Board is asking regulators to require all passengers to have their own seats and seat belts, including children under the age of 2 – who are currently allowed to sit on an adult’s lap. The recommendation, made last month, is similar to others the agency has submitted to the FAA over the past two decades, only to be rebuffed. But this time, the agency is using the recent plane crash in Butte, MT as an example. To be continued…
- The DOT has updated its consumer guide to air travel, which provides a quick summary of what to look for when buying a ticket, and what protections you have during travel. It’s also a good starting point when you have an airline-related problem and need more information before deciding what to do next. If you travel frequently, you’ll want to bookmark it.
- Steven Slater, the former JetBlue flight attendant that cursed out a passenger over airplane PA system, took a beer from the galley and proceeded to slide down an emergency exit chute, will be mentally evaluated for a possible plea deal. This news came after he appeared in a New York City courtroom for a brief hearing on criminal mischief charges.
September 3
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12:02 PM
Do you need to send a child alone on a trip by commercial airline? The Houston Chronicle recently published the following tips for sending your child solo on a flight:
1.) The airlines have procedures that must be followed, and most airlines have similar policies, but you should check with the specific airline you are using.
2.) An unaccompanied minor may range from 5 to 17 years old. There usually is an additional fee. If the child is flying alone, let the airline know when making the reservation.
3.) The TSA will provide an escort pass, which will allow you to take your child right to the gate of the airline. You must stay at the gate until the plane takes off .
4.) A person you designate will be allowed to pick up the child upon arrival. When making the reservation, provide the name, address and phone number of the person who is picking up your child. Be sure that person has a government-issued identification and a current photo ID.
5.) Check the weather before heading out to the airport. The airlines book unaccompanied minors on early flights, in case there are weather-related or other delays.
6.) Before booking a flight, check the airline’s and airport’s websites, or call with any questions
Here’s some more travel news you can use:
- The TSA at Boston’s Logan Airport is using a “new enhanced patdown,’’ for random screenings and on travelers who decline to go through a metal detector or full-body scanner. The Boston Globe describes the patdown as, “palms-forward, over-the-clothing contact.” Any patdown is done by a TSA official of the same sex, and travelers can request that it be done in a separate area, and with an attendant present.
- The Associated Press reports that a baggage-handler at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport was arrested yesterday on suspicion that he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of items from the luggage of passengers in a case that could include hundreds of victims from around the world. This is just another example of why you should always keep valuables in your carry-on luggage rather than in checked baggage.
- The Associated Press reports that an air passenger transporting a bag of 95 boa constrictor snakes burst open on a luggage conveyor belt at an airport in Malaysia. The passenger, who also had some other types of snakes and a turtle in his luggage, was charged with wildlife smuggling. And you thought the movie “Snakes on a Plane” was based on pure fiction.
August 26
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01:47 PM
Airtran Airways is offering an airfare sale that starts today and goes for 48 hours. The discounted flight tickets are for travel dates of September 2nd, 2010 through October 13th, 2010. You have to hurry up and make your reservations for this sale by the end of the day on August 27, 2010.
The best flight discounts are on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The still have discounts on Fridays and Sundays but are not as low of a price as the other days. You need to purchase your tickets at least seven days in advance. All prices are advertised as one-way flights and you don’t have to purchase a roundtrip or stay overnight in order to get the advertised flight ticket prices. There are no blackout dates for this sale.
Here’s some more travel news you can use:
- Federal aviation regulators today slapped American Airlines with the largest fine in history, charging that the carrier made thousands of unsafe flights. The FAA said it has “proposed” a $24.2 million civil penalty for American Airlines’ failure to properly inspect wire bundles in the wheel wells of its MD-80 aircraft. The airline has 30 days to respond to the proposed fine and plead their case. (With a fine this big, you can bet they’ll fight it.)
- According to a recent Travelodge survey, 25 percent of adult men bring stuffed animals with them when they travel for business. Phew! All these years and I thought I was the only one.
- Meanwhile, another survey revealed that “other people’s kids” are the most likely cause of annoyance among airline passengers. Forget about other people’s kids – my 2 year-old and 5 year-old are way more annoying to travel with! I’ll listen to other people’s kids and smile at the fact that they’re not mine.
August 23
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02:28 PM
A number of media outlets are reporting that AirTran has raised its fee for a first checked-bag to $20. The new fee will take effect on Sept. 1 and will apply only to coach-class reservations made on or after Aug. 17th.
AirTran will continue to charge $25 for a second bag, and those in business class and elite frequent fliers can continue to check two bags at no charge.
The popular frequent-flier website WebFlyer.com notes that among low-cost carriers, AirTran’s fee will now match Frontier Airlines’ $20 charge for first-checked-bags.
For an airline-by-airline list of baggage fees, check out this chart from airfarewatchdog.com.
Here’s some more travel news you can use:
- According to a new study from the University of Madrid, the optimum time to purchase airfares is eight weeks before departure. (This also gives you ample time to have Yapta track your purchased flights for a refund.) The research also suggests that cheaper airfares are likely to be purchased in the afternoon rather than in the morning.
- Earlier today, Evan Konwiser, co-founder of FlightCaster.com, blogged about the three flight search sites and features that he finds most useful – so we figured we’d pass along his recommendations. (Thanks for making Yapta part of your repertoire, Evan.)
- A recent FOXNews.com report shined a spotlight on “where the fall travel deals are”. If you like to vacation in Mexico, The Caribbean, or Hawaii, you’ll want to give this article a read.
August 17
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11:58 AM
JetBlue announced that it’s again offering an “All You Can Jet” Pass that provides travelers unlimited flights to more than 60 cities in a one month period. Jet Blue offered this type of pass last year at the same time (post-Labor Day) – and it was wildly successful, so why not bring it back?
The ticket purchase price for the all you can jet offer is a flat $699 and will be valid seven days a week for flights between September 7th and October 6th. Customers can also select a less expensive pass that costs $499 – but blacks out Friday and Sunday flights.
You must join JetBlue’s frequent-flier program, TrueBlue, to buy the pass. (Membership is free.) Those who buy a pass can start booking flights (online only) on August 23rd.
Here’s some more travel news you can use:
- According to Travelocity’s Labor Day data report, there’s good news for travelers looking for cheap flights over the upcoming holiday weekend. The average domestic airfare is at its lowest point of the summer, and Labor Day weekend is the least expensive of the three summer holiday weekends to fly. Additionally, the average year-over-year fare increase is lowest for Labor Day weekend travel.
- Reuters reports that hotels on the Las Vegas Strip may be forced to lower their rates with the December opening of the $3.9 billion Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas which will introduce 2,000 more hotel rooms to market. The two 50-story Cosmopolitan towers are wedged between two MGM-run resorts — the multi-tower CityCenter and the Bellagio — on the west side of the Strip.
- The blog0sphere is reporting that US Airways is expanding service to New York City’s LaGuardia Airport in retaliation for Delta’s expansion at Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport. At the end of the day, this competitive air tussle is good for you, the traveler, as it increases capacity and drives prices down in these markets.
August 13
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10:35 AM
The stress on airline employees got a lot of attention this week after JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater “lost it” by cursing at a (jerk) passenger over a plane’s loudspeaker and then jumping down the emergency slide with a beer from the galley. However, this may be just the beginning of flight attendant flare ups. According to reports, U.S. airlines have cut jobs for two straight years and airline employment in the U.S. is now at its second lowest point in 20 years. Meanwhile, annual passenger traffic has jumped about 65 percent during that same period.
Diminishing staff and fuller flights are adding to the stress among flight attendants, pilots and other workers – and experts think that U.S. airlines will continue to show overall declines in staffing despite some sporadic hiring.
The bottom line: Flight attendants are over-worked, under-paid and often treated poorly by passengers. Give em a break and be kind.
Here’s some more travel news you can use:
- British Airways recently announced a “London for Free“ promotion where you can book a round-trip fall airfare from the U.S. to U.K., and get up to two complimentary hotel nights at select 3-star and 4-star properties. The airline also reduced fares from its 19 U.S. gateways. Round-trip fares are from $498 from New York (JFK or Newark), from $654 from Chicago, and from $576 from San Francisco. For the free hotel deal you need to book by midnight August 19, for travel October 21 to December 19.
- From now until September 6, 2010, the New York Marriott East Side hotel offers a special sightseeing package. This last minute deal is perfect for guests who want to explore the best of New York City with less strain on their wallets. With the Summer in the City deal, guests receive two NYC Explorer passes and guidebooks in addition to breakfast for two. This special Midtown Manhattan hotel offer is available to guests staying at least two nights and can be reserved online at http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/nycea-new-york-marriott-east-side/.
- Delta Air Lines has received approval to begin a $1.2bn terminal renovation project at JFK Airport in New York. The airline will dismantle Terminal 3 to accommodate parking spaces and will operate its international traffic from Terminal 4, which will also be upgraded with nine additional gates and baggage claim space and will be linked to Terminal 2. The project will begin in September and is expected to be complete by mid 2013. The fund will include $900m in special-project bonds, $215m in passenger facility charges (there’s the rub) and $75m in equity from Delta. Delta said the renovation is aimed to attract corporate passengers as it builds a major air hub in New York.
July 30
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05:39 PM
 Today we announced that we have integrated hotel search results from Booking.com that will enable you to track hotel prices on a much broader selection of properties. Using Yapta’s enhanced hotel rate tracking service, you can now monitor pricing on over 196,000 domestic and international properties and be alerted via email when prices drop.
Unlike “opaque” accommodation booking services that don’t allow you to see the specific hotel property you’re bidding on, Yapta enables you to designate the hotel you’re most interested in and be automatically alerted when the rate drops — or when it reaches a desired price point. Yapta diligently checks for the lowest published rate of a tracked hotel and reports decreases to you with a custom email that links you to the savings opportunity.
If you’re planning an upcoming trip, give Yapta’s hotel rate tracking service a try. It can help you save a bundle. Based on our data, travelers tracking hotel prices more than 30 days in advance of booking save between $50 – $60 on average. (Again, that’s savings in the form of an email that alerts you to a lower available rate, not a refund.) However, fear not travel planning procrastinators. Travelers tracking hotel rates for fewer than 30 days save between $30 – $40 on average.
July 29
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03:37 PM
 According to the USA Today, Continental Airlines, which was the first to offer passengers paperless boarding in 2008, is now testing “self-boarding” in which travelers use CTA-type turnstiles to check their boarding passes and enter the plane.
Continental is the first U.S. airline to try self-serve boarding, joining 14 international airlines including Lufthansa, Air France, Korean Air, Japan Airlines and Air New Zealand.
Continental says it’s testing self-boarding at one gate in its hub in Houston Intercontinental airport. The airline’s primary goal is to free agents from the mundane task of scanning boarding passes and allow them to handle other customer issues that require individual attention, such as upgrading seats.
In order for self-boarding to proliferate, airlines will first need to adopt boarding passes with ”two-dimensional” barcodes, which contain more traveler information than magnetic strips or traditional barcodes. Airlines have agreed to phase out magnetic strips by the end of the year.
Here’s some more travel news you can use:
- Check out these futuristic designs for airplane interiors using a “Step-Seat model” that emphasized cost efficiency and passenger comfort, two seemingly polar opposites. These designs are technically certifiable by the FAA, and can be implemented in airplanes already in use.
- Jet Blue is conducting a fall airfare sale through tomorrow, July 30th. The sale, which allows travel from September 7th to December 15th, applies to cities such as Austin, Chicago, and New York, L.A. and many places in between. According to The Huffington Post, you can fly from NYC to Barbados for $99, or from San Francisco to Boston for $149. Also, if you buy a ticket during the sale your first bag travels for free.
- Southwest Airlines, the same airline that felt actor Kevin Smith was “too fat” to fly on a SWA flight one year ago, has now reportedly bumped a woman from a flight to make room for a plus-sized teen who required two seats. According to reports, a woman who was flying standby from Las Vegas to Sacramento, was in her seat ready for take off when a teen passenger arrived late to the gate. Flight attendants said she would have to deplane to make room for the teen. The woman expressed irritation about the situation and said that SWA employees began to “berate” her for complaining.
July 20
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04:19 PM
A recent report from Computerworld indicates that Wi-Fi Internet capability is now available on one of every three domestic planes.
According to the numbers provided by Aircell, the in-flight service provider for a majority of U.S. carriers, the company’s 968 Gogo-enabled aircraft are roughly one-third of the estimated 2,800 U.S. planes operating today.
So who are the big carrier winners and losers? Virgin America and AirTran offer on-board Wi-Fi for every single flight in their fleets, with access prices ranging from $4.95 to $12.95. According to a report by The New York Times, Delta wins out on having the largest Wi-Fi equipped fleet, with nearly all of its 500 planes offering Gogo-based Internet access.
Continental Airlines and JetBlue are in the process of “testing” Wi-Fi for their respective planes, while all the other carriers’ fleets have partial Wi-Fi availability.
Here’s some more travel news you can use:
- Air Pacific is conducting a “Kids Fly Free to Fiji” offer which includes free airfare for one child under 12 who flies with an adult from Los Angeles to Fiji. Flights between Los Angeles (LAX) and Fiji’s Nadi International Airport (NAN) operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. It’s good for travel from Aug. 1 through Dec. 14 and also Jan. 16 through Feb. 28. You must reserve by 5 p.m. PDT Sept. 30th.
- Delta Air Lines has initiated a nationwide airfare sale thru July 29th — an extremely rate occurrence. The round-trip rates aren’t jaw-dropping, but the list of destinations include a few in Canada, a couple in Alaska and contiguous states rarely discounted. For a sample of the sale destinations, click here.
- Hotwire.com recently released a report on the top 10 cities in North America where hotel rates have dropped the most. Tulsa, OK; Princeton, NJ; and Omaha, NE took the top three spots with eleven, nine and seven percent drops, respectively. For the complete list, click here.
July 15
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01:45 PM
Are you fed up with airline fees? Well you’re not alone. The Associated Press reports that The Government Accountability Office (GAO), a government watchdog, says airline fees for checked bags and other services are complicating things for consumers trying to find the best deal on airfare.
The GAO recommended in a report released Wednesday that the government improve the disclosure of airline fees, not only by airlines, but also by travel booking services.
Besides checked bags, airlines have recently been charging for services that were traditionally included in the price of a ticket, such as seat selection, extra leg room, blankets, pillows, beverages and meals.
GAO said that if the 7.5 percent tax on airline tickets were applied to fees as well, the government could have raised $186 million last year just from checked bags. A Congressional hearing on the subject begins on Capitol Hill this week.
Here’s some more travel news you can use:
- Claire Newell, a Vancouver-based travel consultant and author, offered some travel etiquette tips on NBC’s Today Show that most people have always wondered about. While this footage is over a year old, but it’s new to me – so I’m passing it along to you.
- The Wall Street Journal reports that the Bermuda Department of Tourism is teaming up with hotels and restaurants to offer destination-wide discounts. Several hotel properties are offering a third night free for guests who book two nights, and others are offering a fourth night free to people who book three nights. A group of 13 restaurants are following suit and offering buy one, get one free entrée specials. The promotion is available for booking through Aug. 31 for travel Aug. 22 through Oct. 31.
- Hawaiian Airlines is continuing its summer airfare specials into the fall. The airline today announced a special “Endless Summer” fare sale providing discounted roundtrip flights between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland through Mid-November. Travel using the special roundtrip fares is good from August 3 through November 18, 2010, with the exception of the nonstop Maui-Las Vegas flight, which is October 3 through November 18, 2010. Tickets must be purchases on hawaiianairlines.com by July 31.
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