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With the long 4th of July holiday weekend upon us, America’s airports — and planes — will be full. There will be overbookings. People will be bumped. Should you be one of them?

Enter BumpTracker — the site that collects reports on what the airlines are offering to volunteers, and on which routes. Bumptracker (much like UpgradeSuccess, mentioned here two weeks ago) relies on travelers for its info. Feed the beast: Let them know when you’ve been bumped. (Some of the info is pretty old — guys, I think you can safely remove TWA from the list and no one would mind…)

There is a cottage industry of sorts out there, with flyers intentionally booking flights at predictably busy times, with the hope that the airline will offer a bump. In fact, some people try to be bumped multiple times on the same day. It’s all within the rules.

As long as you’re flexible and are willing to fly later than the time you booked, you could make out pretty well with such a scheme — free tickets, vouchers for travel, or even cash, depending on where your flight is heading. (Warning: The free ticket may not earn miles. Tickets bought with dollar-denominated bump vouchers generally DO earn miles.)

Check out the archives on BumpTracker to see how your airline has been treating its customers. If you really want to wonk out, download your airline’s “contract of carriage” from the company’s website and search for “denied boarding.” The contracts set out the terms of both voluntary and involuntary bumps, so you know the minimum to which you’re entitled.

Posh all-business class Eos Airlines did the unthinkable last month: It broke even. Business must be going well: The airline, which flies New York-JFK to London-Stansted in Boeing 757s configured with 48 seats, has been flying at 70% capacity and will add a second daily flight to the schedule in September.

All-biz competitor Maxjet has been showing similarly full planes, but hasn’t made any statements as to profitability. Maxjet, too, is adding flights and leasing more planes.

I still stand by my earlier comments that Maxjet, while providing a great value for a reasonably posh flight, is still not a serious business airline. It’s luxury class for tourists — and that’s terrific! Nothing wrong with that, but it ain’t business.

But let’s put aside gripes about the seat… what’s the food like? Enter AirlineMeals.net, the web’s repository for photos and menus of inflight dining, past and present. It’s an amazing resource, and worth your perusal, much like opening up a time capsule. But it also lets you see what various airlines around the world actually offer in terms of inflight service.

Maxjet’s food looks good. (Virgin Atlantic’s food looks nicer, though Virgin also charges two to three times as much for airfare… but check out that dessert at #117!)

Eos isn’t included in airlinemeals.net yet, but I found the adjacent photo on flickr. And they have real metal knives! (Gasp!) Someone alert the TSA!

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“Hotel” rooms gone to the dogs
Some unscrupulous New York apartment managers are listing their units as “boutique hotels” through online booking agencies. Angry tourists find such “amenities” as a foldout sofabed that can’t fold out, because the room is too narrow. Sweet. Folks, we’ll say it again: Don’t book a hotel room, especially one you’ve never heard of, without looking it up on TripAdvisor first. Research!

Dogs gone to the hotel
Marx and Lenin would cite this as proof that capitalism has reached its highest and final stage: Hotels such as the James in Chicago, the St. Regis in Aspen, and the Loews Coronado Bay in San Diego are offering room service for pooches, with a full array of luxury spa and resort services. Some of the dog food menu items made my mouth water, which either says bad things about my tastes or amazing things about their pet menus.

Free food and wine, maybe even for your dog
Why pay the $75 fee for a puppy snack when you can eat and drink free in your hotel? HotelChatter mentions the Banks Mansion of Amsterdam, where the minibar is free, snacks and drinks are always available, and the breakfast is complimentary. While other hotels might use the economistically logical technique of lowering the room rate and then hitting you with the extras later, the Banks includes it all in the base rate. Did I mention free wine?

Light up my life
Smokers are no longer a security threat (though you may want to give them their own airline): TSA officials recommend that lighters be allowed back on board. Maybe they’re just tired of disposing of the 30,000 lighters they confiscate EVERY DAY.

Airline security komedy hijinx
The Onion: “Baggage-Handling Mixup Sends Dirty Bomb to St. Louis”

I can’t drive 55
The United States’ interstate highway system turned 50 years old yesterday. Chicago-based drivers celebrate on the Edens Expressway with a 55-minute drive from Lake Cook Road to the junction, blasting Sammy Hagar all the way.

Make you sweat ’til you bleed
Self-serving deodorant-maker Old Spice names “sweatiest cities in America.” In a shocker, Phoenix comes out on top, despite its legendary “dry heat.” Phoenix mayor Skip Rimsa received a year’s supply of deodorant as a consolation prize. But with three of the top ten cities in the desert, charges of foul play should be afoot. Reports of bribery, focusing on the Washington, DC judge, are unconfirmed.

Paging Mr. Freeze
Maybe the people in sweaty cities should just invest in an air-conditioned shirt. Hopefully you don’t have the get the freon recharged too often.

Free fallin’
Old news — from 1972, in fact — but still… Flight attendant falls from 33,000 feet (without parachute) and survives. If she’s not already there, Vesna Vulovic should be in the flight attendant exhibition at the International Women’s Air & Space Museum in Cleveland.

The free drinks are back, baby!

Well, sort of. Economy class travelers on Delta’s international flights will be able to have ONE complimentary alcoholic beverage with their meal, including their suggestively-named “Mile High Mojito,” starting Saturday, July 1.

Most US-based carriers have put a $5 price tag on booze in economy, while European and Asian carriers have still let the liquor flow. It seems that Delta will give you one free drink, but will charge you for any extra. Nonetheless, it’s nice to see any amenities restored to coach travel.

The airline will also reintroduce amenity kits with eyeshades, earplugs, etc., and printed menus to the economy cabin. (Couldn’t the menu simply be a business card that reads “chicken or pasta”?)

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tags: travel | air travel | free drinks | Delta Air Lines Inc

Reader Pete writes in:

Hi, I’ve got award tickets to Brazil booked on Varig. I used my U.S. Airways miles a while ago, and we’re going to a wedding in Rio. I’ve read that Varig Airlines is cancelling flights and is in danger of shutting down entirely. What happens to my tickets if Varig stops flying? Thanks!

Well, Pete, you may want to change those tickets to other flights, or you are going to be sweating it out. Varig (short for Viacao Aerea Rio-Grandense), was Brazil’s largest airline for years, though it’s fallen on hard times lately, and it’s been crushed domestically by competitors TAM and Gol. Recently, flights have been cancelled, planes have been repossessed, and even a last-minute bailout offer by Varig employees fell short — they couldn’t come up with the cash. Another offer is pending, but the airline is very much at risk of going belly-up.

You’d be in good company if you change your tickets. Even the Brazilian national soccer team rebooked their tickets. They’re flying home from the World Cup on Lufthansa.

If I were you, I’d call US Airways and see if you could rebook your tickets. Visit the Star Alliance website first to see what your routing options are, and offer these as suggestions to the phone agent when you call. Since you’re flying to Rio, presumably from the United States, you might ask for a rebooking onto United, a fellow Star Alliance member. If you’re flying from Europe, try for Lufthansa. But, since Varig is still technically flying (and you didn’t indicate when you’d be flying to Rio), any change will probably cost you money; it’s entirely up to the folks at US Airways. If Varig shuts down, you’ll probably be able to make changes for free. Ask for a fee waiver if they intend to charge you for the change.

Alternatively, if rebooking the award isn’t an option, consider cancelling the award tickets (recrediting your account) and buying tickets with real money. You’ll feel safer knowing you’ll actually attend the wedding.

If you must (or want to) risk it and stick with the existing Varig itinerary, you may want to look into travel insurance to cover you in case of flight cancellation. Check with the credit card you used to pay any taxes or fees, too, to see if some automatic coverage is included. Before you pay for any insurance, make sure they cover 1) frequent flyer tickets, and 2) Varig.

Good luck, and keep us posted…

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tags: travel | air travel | Varig | frequent flyer miles

Last week, British Airways, American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and United Airlines were named as subjects of an investigation into price-fixing, accused of artificially inflating ticket prices across the Atlantic by moving up fuel surcharges in tandem. The fact that fuel costs have risen is no surprise — the accusation rests on the means by which the airlines came to share common pricing, not the reasons behind the increase per se.

Adding some spice to the story, Virgin was the whistleblower, according to Reuters, trying to bring down BA. (All the while participating in the collusion. Nice work.)

But now, they’ve all also been named in a lawsuit that hopes to gain class-action status. The plaintiffs, building on the existing investigation, accuse the airlines of bilking the public. (My question: These four airlines all fly to London-Heathrow. Why isn’t Continental, who flies to Gatwick, included? Their prices aren’t any lower.)

It looks bad for British Airways, and they’re throwing some of their executives overboard. But common pricing doesn’t always necessarily mean illegal behavior. Airlines load thousands of fares (and surcharges) into the global computer networks every day. Seeing changes, whether up or down, other airlines respond. It might be collusion if secret meetings took place, during which airline executives conspired to raise the price of tickets. (This is what Virgin suggests happened — a BA executive allegedly contacted Virgin about the fuel charges.)

Perhaps in response to these accusations and the negative publicity, there are actually some deals on BA and Virgin from the US to the UK. Virgin’s economy class sale is worth checking out, and British Airways has an interesting luxury package offer for those interested in flying business class.

The business class deal — ~$6000 for TWO roundtrip business class tickets and a three night stay in top London accomodations (the Sanderson, the Berkeley, Claridge’s, or the Savoy) — is good value for business class tickets, and it’s a shot across the bow of all-biz class carriers Maxjet and Eos. (BA offer via Fodor’s)

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Taking a cue from the introduction of all-business class airlines like Maxjet and Eos, and supplementing that concept with some addiction-enabling, German entrepreneur Alexander Schoppmann is starting up an all-smoking luxury airline.

The BBC reports that Smintair, short for Smoker’s International Airline, hopes to launch flights between Dusseldorf and Tokyo using leased 747s configured with only 30 first class seats and 108 business class seats. No economy seats.

Trying to emulate a “grand hotel” atmosphere from the 1960s, smoking will be allowed throughout the plane, with the upper deck turned into a lounge.

While smokers might value the opportunity to light up on a long flight, the airline is bizarrely pitching itself to non-smokers as well:

Non-smokers will find the cabin air more refreshing than on any other flight with any other airline, as SMINTAIR adds fresh outside air to the conditioning system! This is more expensive, as it burns more fuel, but it is seen as an additional service to our guests.

Yeah, sure, nonsmokers will really love that tiny bit of outside air that’s mixed with 138 chain-smoking travelers. Hilarious!

Airfare prediction site Farecast, fresh from weeks of generally good PR, is now live for public beta testing. No special logins required any longer. However, the site still only covers Boston and Seattle departures.

Reader Jeff took the site for an extensive spin, and wrote this thorough review of his experience:

Thanks again for the farecast invite. I’ve been meaning to write back to you with my thoughts, as I’ve spent some time looking at their website.

1) The whole thing is a bit pointless, in that they don’t have international travel. Is the gamble of saving ~30 dollars on a domestic flight worth it by waiting a week? I go to Ethiopia once or twice a year, where ticket purchasing can range hundreds of dollars. If I could get a forecast on this ticket price, that could be really
valuable.

2) It appears that their forecast is based on the previous few months of data. They should also be looking at annual sales issues. Reminds me of a Simpsons episode where Homer is bragging to the guys at the bar about what a wise investor he is… he invested in pumpkins, and he said he though they were going to peak in price right around mid November. Flash to the day after halloween and he has lost the family’s savings.

Annual factors? holidays, the summer rush, increase in oil prices over the summer, etc.

3) And finally, we need more than Boston and Seattle. Its great if you live in those places, but if you don’t? The website (which is in beta) indicates this is coming in the future, so it is hard to complain too much.

I did sort of use the site to buy tickets for me and my wife to travel out of Bradley airport, CT, to Columbus next month (Bradley being ~100 cheaper than Logan on average, and we are staying with friends who live 1/2 way between the two airports). I looked up what was predicted for Boston prices for the same time frame (they were going to get cheaper or stay the same), and therefore decided that we could wait on purchasing until we were more sure of our exact travel dates. Turns out we waited a couple of weeks, and the price actually dropped by $15. So it sort of worked.

I think in the end, assuming the service was available for where I lived, I would use it more as a way to predict the urgency in buying tickets- if the price is climbing quickly over the past couple of weeks, act now! But I don’t know if I would be willing to gamble on flight prices dropping if I saw the right flight connections, and a reasonable price.

tags: travel | air travel | farecast

Marriott is installing computers in their lobbies which allow travelers to check in to their flights online and print boarding passes. The free service is available at 32 Marriott and Renaissance hotels now, and will expand to 400 hotels in North America by the end of September.

This is different from the business center computers, which I have used in the past to print out boarding passes. Those computers will remain as they are.

These new computers, which won’t allow e-mail or other services, are a great move, and one which I hope other hotel chains adopt. Travelers gain the convenience of online check-in (sometimes with bonus miles), airlines reduce their check-in related costs, and hotels are the good guys in all this, providing a value-added service. It’s win-win. (Or, win-win-win, actually.)

Unlike automated self check-in kiosks, which Hyatt in particular is pushing their hotel guests to use, just to get the room key, the boarding pass computers are an added convenience, not a way of cutting labor costs. I know many people who find checking yourself into a luxury hotel via a kiosk a little declasse.

Marriott is following Hilton’s lead on this, but is doing it in a bigger way. It’s a welcome move.

(image: D. James, photo of Marriott Atlanta)

Some good tips in the NYT this weekend for people traveling internationally, and looking to avoid onerous currency exchange fees while maintaining convenience. The short version:

1) Take out money from your home checking account from an ATM at your destination, instead of at an exchange counter. The 1% conversion fee that Visa/MasterCard add to the transaction is comparatively cheap. Avoid credit card cash advances.

2) Try to get a credit card that doesn’t add extra percentages to the Visa/MasterCard standard 1% conversion fee. I have an account with my longtime credit union (highly recommended, if you’re eligible to join), which adds no additional charges. Shop around.

3) Read up about your destination to see what will work best — some combination of credit cards, travelers checks, and cash. Bring small bills. Consider wearing a money belt.

On this last point, two small tales:

Over the weekend, I started some very preliminary research into a possible future vacation to the Patagonia region of Argentina and Chile. One hotel on the Argentinian side, and by no means a hovel, indicated that they only accepted cash, bank checks, or personal checks (!?). No credit cards. Given its location in a touristy area, I was surprised that a hotel of decent caliber would not accept cards, but this reinforces the axiom that you need to check ahead.

Second, there are rare moments when foreign currency is worth more than the exchange rate. This past December, on a trip to St. Martin in the Caribbean, I witnessed restaurants in the beach town of Grand Case that accepted both US dollars and euros — at a 1:1 ratio. With the euro worth approximately $1.25, these restaurants were giving a 20% discount to those paying in American cash. Why??

Apparently, the strength of the euro was deterring American visitors from spending their money on the French side of the island, so the discount was an incentive to attract American tourists. Discounts were for cash only; credit cards would be charged in euros. There were no similar discounts on the St. Maarten side, where the Netherlands Antillean Dollar is the official currency. Needless to say, we had some excellent meals on the French side, at great discounts.

Bottom line: read up on your destination before your trip to see what kind of cash to bring.

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For those readers who subscribe to the blog via an RSS reader, the days of truncated posts are over. We’re back to full posts.

I tested abbreviated posts beginning a few weeks ago to see if it would drive up traffic (and subsequently ad revenue). The difference was marginal, and I’d rather not irritate you. My apologies if you were annoyed by the experiment.

Naturally, all readers are always welcome to visit the site, but for those subscribing to the feed, your nightmare is over.

tags: travel | RSS

Less is more
CNN exposes nudist (or naturist) resorts. (Sorry for the pun.) Best quote, by retiree Adele Butler: “We love the freedom of being nude. And look at our view.” I’d rather not look, Adele.

Less is just less
Americans are using the internet LESS, not more, to plan travel, according to a new study by the Conference Board. Only 28% of men and 25% of women intended to use the internet to research airfares, for example, down from 41% and 35%, respectively, in 2004. I don’t get it. Have travel agencies risen from the ashes somewhere?

Less is less, and it’s all you’re getting
America’s national parks see more traffic, less upkeep. Budgets keep getting cut. Expect entry fees to rise.

Less competition, more fees
The Times of London claims to answer the question of how airlines set prices. (Shorter version: “supply and demand”) They forgot to mention collusion. British Airways, American Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, and United Airlines are under investigation for price-fixing, with attention focused on the remarkably similar fuel surcharges on flights to London.

More mac’n'cheese
Craving macaroni and cheese? That’s all they serve at S’Mac in New York’s East Village. Sign me up for the combo with Brie, roasted figs, roasted shiitake mushrooms & fresh rosemary. Yum! (via Gridskipper)

More musical fruit
Don’t leave home without it. Your credit card? No, your baked beans. Brits really love their beans. Love them enough to take them on trips.

More BYO inflight food, less effort
Conde Nast Traveler provides another installment in the quest for the perfect inflight meal. This month, Melissa Perello of San Francisco’s Fifth Floor offers up Soft Creamy Polenta with Roasted Vegetable ‘Caponata.’ It’s certainly easier than last month’s 30-ingredient bento box.