Tagged: flying

Your Guide to the Airlines' In-Flight Covid Safety Policies

LAST UPDATED MARCH 31, 2021 With no federal regulations to unify their responses, the major U.S. airlines have to figure out how to deal with Covid-19 in their own ways. All of them…

Holiday Air Travel in 2020: Safety, Finding Cheap Fares, and More

If you plan to fly over the holiday season, let’s start with the good news: Your airplane ride may be the safest part of your trip. To be frank, I'm not convinced that holiday travel…

Headlines Shout of Covid-19 Exposure on Flights, but Look Deeper—It's Worse

You might have seen a few headlines this week casting doubt on whether flying is safe. Here's one from the New York Post, dated September 21: "Woman spread coronavirus to 15 people on…

Maybe It's Time to Say It: Flights and Theme Parks Aren't Making Us Sick

One of the most difficult aspects of managing this pandemic has been altering our own perceptions and fears as more information becomes available. The slow dawning of enlightenment…

Advice from an Airline Pilot About Flying Safely in 2020

Like me, my friend Andrea Eldridge, a pilot with a major airline, has been barraged by questions from family and friends about the wisdom of flying right now. In response, she posted a…

WATCH: An Airline Cabin Designer Explains the Systems That Clean the Air on Flights

No need to make a wild guess about the safety of the air in plane cabins. Airbus, one of the world's most important commercial aircraft manufacturers, knows that people are worried…

I Just Flew from the U.K. to the U.S.—Here's What That's Like Now

World systems are shutting down and entire countries are banning or expelling foreigners so that governments can take care of their own. I had planned on spending a few months in the…

Basic Economy Fares: What You Get and What You Lose, Airline by Airline

Despite what airlines say, "basic economy" fares do not mean lower fares for everyone. In fact, they have increased prices for most of us because they now label the lowest prices as…

The Case of the Missing Gift Certificate: Flying in the Age of Monopolies

An airplane aisle separated the haves from the have nots. I’m not writing about the aisle separating business class and economy. No, in this case, the left-side of the plane, on a six…

How to Make Time at the Airport a Bit Less Stressful

Check in online ahead of time. Printing your boarding pass ahead means one less line at the airport. 'Nuf said.Get to the airport early. This may sound counterintuitive, since who…

App Lets Anyone Sneak into Airport Lounges

Ever gazed longingly at the door of an airline business class lounge when you were only carrying a pathetic economy-class ticket? Polish computer security expert Przemek Jaroszewski…

Flying One of the World's Longest Flights—in Economy

Clocking in at 15 hours long (actually 14 hours and 52 minutes), the trip from Los Angeles to Dubai ranks as one of the longest flights in the world, with only a handful of flights…

Climate Change to Make Flights Longer

Environmental Research Letters, a peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers the Earth's environment, recently came out with a study that predicts airlines are about to require…

Driver Licences From Four U.S. States May No Longer Be Accepted As I.D. at Airports in 2016

And those states are: New York, New Hampshire, Louisiana, and Minnesota.In December of 2014, the first phase of the Real ID Act from Congress and the Department of Homeland…

Sundays Replace Tuesday As the Day to Book Airfares, and More Savvy Advice From An Expert Source

You may have never heard of the Airline Reporting Corporation but you've likely purchased a ticket it has had its "virtual fringerprints" on it. That's because the ARC serves as…

Use It Or Lose It: Will "Dead" Electronics Be Confiscated At Airport Security?

That's the question many travelers were asking themselves after the TSA posted a notice, on Sunday night, that those entering the United States would be asked to turn on…

Airport and Airplane Etiquette: An Interview with "Mister Manners" Himself

In the hopes of restoring some decorum to air travel I decided to interview “Mister Manners”, Thomas Farley. Farley is the author of “Modern Manners: The Thinking Person’s Guide…

Sky Dining: A New Study Looks At the Most—And Least—Healthy Airline Foods

It’s that time of year again! And if you’re like most of us, you’re likely going to make the resolution to shed a few pounds. But like the rest of the gang, that resolution could…

Every Passenger To Get Fast, Free Wi-Fi on JetBlue

Although JetBlue put its free Wi-Fi in place a few weeks ago, giving it time to work out the kinks, today it launched it officially in a big way by loading a group of persnickety…

The How-To's Of Getting Better Rest on the Road

Is it a vacation if you can’t sleep? That’s the question many travelers confront when they head off for much needed rest and relaxation, only to find themselves becoming more…

Confused About Navigating the Airport? One of Them Will Take $80 to Guide You Through It

More and more, airlines stand to make a lot more money when airports do their jobs inefficiently. Last month, I told you about how one airline at JFK was raking in fees for instant…

My Knee-Jerk (Ouch!) Reaction to American Airlines' Plans to Add Even More Seats to Its Planes

My knees are aching just writing this. And my laptop's cover is quivering in fear. But here goes:In a regulatory filing yesterday, AMR Corp disclosed its plans to add more seats…

Carry Less, Board First: American Airlines Revises Its Priority Policies Once Again

Boarding a plane nowadays is like being caught in a Saturday Night Live skit. You patiently wait, as the "platinum" and the "double platinum" and the "elite this and that" passengers…

Spirit Airlines Quietly Ditches Its 800 Number, Domestic Airfares Are Down to Many Popular Destinations, and More Airline News

What's the difference between 800 and 801? The first is a toll-free call, and the second is an area code in Utah. Which does Spirit Airlines use for its reservations number? The one…

Is Economy Plus Really Worth the Price?

As airlines cram seats more tightly together, they're profiting from new ways out of the crush. Premium economy seats, which give you a few inches more legroom, have been around for a…