On Travel

How to get a refund from an airline

Airlines hate to refund your money — even when they’re supposed to.

Don’t believe me? Then talk to Melina Jose, who was supposed to fly from Paris to Orlando, Florida, recently.

Her itinerary, booked through Expedia, included several airlines. But on her return flight, one of the legs, on Flybe from Paris to Manchester, England, mysteriously vanished. She and her husband, Jerard, had to pay $437 for new tickets.
Read more “How to get a refund from an airline”

The Navigator

This is the worst place to sit on a plane (and here’s how to avoid it)

Ask Clayton Conway about worst place to sit on a plane, and he’ll probably tell you about the time he flew from Denver to Seattle on Frontier Airlines.

“It was the worst flight experience I’ve ever had,” says Conway, who manages a digital marketing agency on Camano Island, Wash. “I was seated in a bulkhead seat that not only didn’t recline, but was also kitty-corner to a restroom. So every restroom visitor would inadvertently waft the nose-wrecking toilet stench directly toward me. It was horrific, and there was no escape.”
Read more “This is the worst place to sit on a plane (and here’s how to avoid it)”

On Travel

No one should have to pay these ridiculous airline fees

If it seems like your ticket comes with more ridiculous airline fees than ever, it’s not your imagination. The ability to reserve a seat, change your flight and even to carry a bag onto the plane have been quietly stripped away — and then added back as “gotcha” fees.

Yes, you can still get those “perks.” But you either have to pay extra for them or participate in the airline’s habit-forming frequent flier program. The most recent indignity, a dustup over minimum seat size, has many travelers asking: Should there be other minimum standards, when it comes to flying?
Read more “No one should have to pay these ridiculous airline fees”