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Hell freezes over: Southwest makes its fares more widely searchable
(corrected) It’s a bizarre reversal of their earlier strategy of keeping their fares out of the major online booking systems and travel agencies, and forcing you to go to their website to check their prices. But they’ve opened it up: Southwest Airlines has signed on for a ten-year pact with Galileo, one of the major computer networks used by travel agents and online booking companies to pull up fares. What does it mean for you? Easier comparison shopping. (Some background here, from when jetBlue similarly linked up other sites.) Until now, Southwest has never shown up in airfare searches outside of their own site, so it’s pro-consumer to see their fares head-to-head with other airlines’ offerings. But there’s a catch: They’re keeping some of their lowest fares out of Galileo. Baby steps. (Clarification: Travel agents who subscribed to the Sabre GDS were able to book Southwest flights for their clients previously. But the big online agencies — Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia, etc. — couldn’t. It’s not clear if the new deal will integrate Southwest into those sites yet.)

Non-news: People aren’t happy with airlines
It should come as no surprise whatsoever that the general public is dissatisfied with the airlines in America. Only slightly more surprising is just how much some airlines’ ratings suck. United Airlines’ miserable showing is worst in the airline sector. But even more telling, the only company (in any industry) in the survey that out-awfuls UAL? Charter Communications. When you’re in a dead heat for last place with the cable guy, you know something is wrong. (As an aside, looking at the trendlines, I’m obviously not the only person who liked bankrupt United better…) Click here for the full ranking — for all companies, not just airlines.

Reason #7,619 to avoid checking luggage
The Today Show’s Peter Greenberg discovers the dark side of European low fare airlines when easyJet hits him with over $500 in excess luggage fees. Each way. He wasn’t transporting an entire apartment across the Channel, either. Flying on Air France, with those same suitcases, would have cost him less in the end. But Peter, why are you traveling low-rent on easyJet in the first place? (via Elliott)

Midwest and Northwest codeshare, but will it matter once AirTran buys Midwest?
Midwest Airlines and Northwest have started codesharing, which lets customers of both airlines earn miles on a lot more routes. Great, but considering that AirTran is launching a hostile takeover of Midwest, and already has nearly 57% of shares, will this deal survive the seemingly inevitable acquisition?

ID required, just not necessarily real ID
You may have to pull out identification in order to pass through airport security, but as a recent undercover investigation proves, the ID doesn’t need to be real. Just plausible enough to look real. That “Official Bikini Inspector” ID you got on the boardwalk in Wildwood, New Jersey in 1985 won’t cut it, tough guy.

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Website error? Or the truth laid bare?

On its help pages, British discount airline EasyJet categorized a question about assisting elderly passengers as an inquiry about “livestock.” (See the circled text in the left sidebar, and click on the image for a larger view.)

After the Register posted about it, the airline fixed the page. But the screenshots remain, and like gifts for loved ones, it’s the thought that counts.

What kind of livestock remains a question.

(Thanks to reader GH for the link!)

Traveling from (or through) Britain? If you’re departing on or after February 1, 2007, and you’ve already got your tickets, you need to check with your airline to make sure you don’t owe more money.

The reason is the increase in the Air Passenger Duty, announced in December, with monies intended to go toward projects that reduce global warming. (See here for a backgrounder, including some speculation on how the increased taxes might boost traffic at Frankfurt, Paris, or Amsterdam.)

For tickets purchased before the tax went into effect, you’re not exempted. British Airways is covering the tax for its customers, but (unsurprisingly) easyJet and Ryanair aren’t. And making matters worse, it’s YOUR responsibility to find a way to pay the taxes before your flight. If you don’t pay, you don’t fly.

How much can you expect to pay as a supplement?

Air passenger duty will rise from £5 to £10 for economy-seat passengers taking domestic and European short-haul flights, and from £20 to £40 for economy-seat travellers on long-haul flights. Business and first-class passengers will face bills of £40 for short-haul flights and £80 for long-haul.

Check your airline’s website as soon as possible. Expect plenty of angry flyers, and plenty of mayhem at British airports in February.

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This is a new one for me: Several airlines are refusing to fly into Bristol because they’ve lost faith in the safety of the runway. They’re afraid their planes will slip off the newly repaved surface in the lightest rain. After several days of boycott, the airport decided to close.

EasyJet was the first to cancel its flights. XL Airways was next, and British Airways followed suit shortly thereafter. Others joined in later.

Four planes have experienced “incidences on that runway in wet weather.” One aircraft skidded off the runway. The affected airlines are offering to reroute passengers through other airports, until Bristol’s runway is re-grooved.

But perhaps most interestingly: Not every airline refused to land at Bristol before the airport managers threw in the towel. For example, Continental’s Newark-Bristol flights were still on the schedule today. And European carriers like Ryanair and flyBe never stopped flying into the airport.

So why were these few airlines willing to take their chances? Why, when so many other carriers cut their schedules short?…

(For the latest status, click here for the Bristol Airport website.)

(Update 1/8/06: The airport has reopened following overnight work to add drainage grooves to the runway. How nice.)

The Cranky Flier points to an innovation of sorts in the world of airline seating: airlines charging for early boarding.

For some time, European discounter EasyJet has operated on effectively the same principle as Southwest Airlines in the United States: No assigned seats, first-come-first-served. But now, EasyJet passengers willing to pay between £2.50 and £7.50 can be assured of being among the first 20 passengers to board. The longer the flight, the higher the fee.

In the United States, Southwest passengers can still assure themselves of a good chance of getting a desirable seat by checking in early and thereby receiving a “group A” boarding pass. (See here for a list of services — some free — which virtually guarantee you a boarding pass in boarding group A.)

European travelers are accustomed to paying for every little thing on the budget airlines, so this won’t be any shock. Asian low cost carriers are right there with them. And most people won’t pay the fee, but for those that are willing to pay, this will be a welcome change.

When Southwest first experimented with assigned seating, I proposed that the airline might able to profit from a compromise, offering assigned seating to a small percentage of flyers who want it (perhaps for a fee), but retaining open seating for the majority of passengers. EasyJet is effectively doing something very similar.

I assure you that Southwest is watching EasyJet’s experiment very closely.

Related:
- A modest proposal for Southwest
- Getting the best seats on Southwest just got harder
- Opening day jitters? Southwest’s assigned seating gets mixed reviews

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Britain sees security improvements, while the U.S. languishes. Or worse?:

Granted, they’re just rumors, but if they’re even close to true, look out: A FlyerTalk message board offers a frightening glimpse into the thinking of TSA supervisors on the future of airport safety. Some of the proposals supposedly under discussion — and again, this is rumor, not fact — include:

1) A relaxation of carry-on liquid rules (yay!) BUT a prohibition on liquids in checked baggage. Why? Terrorists could allegedly construct containers that mix explosives automatically in the cargo hold, causing fire or worse.
2) A limit of one checked bag per passenger. TSA is having a hard time keeping up with the increase in checked bags, so they’d like to lighten their load. (Airlines might not object to this…)
3) A prohibition on entering security more than two hours before your flight. (I don’t see this happening.)
4) A ban on printing boarding passes more than three hours before your flight, or a ban on printing connecting boarding passes at the time of check-in. Online check-in would be nixed. (What would this solve?? Airlines would have a fit.)

Again, these are rumored proposals, not policy, and they’re worth what you just paid for them.

Over in the UK, the Times of London reports that Britain’s restrictions on carry-on bags will be changed soon, allowing for “normal” sized carry-ons instead of just the small briefcase-sized bags. (Yay.) Liquids will still be banned. (Boo.) Still, full-size carry-ons are good news for travelers.

However, kicking passengers while they’re down, discount carriers EasyJet and Ryanair are raising their fees for checked luggage.:

EasyJet is to start charging passengers booking from September 1 if they check in more than one bag. The fee will be £5 if paid online or £10 at the airport. The airline said the charge was to relieve pressure on check-in staff and to encourage people to travel light. The allowance for checked-in baggage remains 20kg, as does the excess charge of £5 per kilo, regardless of the number of bags checked in. Ryanair is to raise charges from September 1. Currently, every item checked in is charged at £2.50 for those who book and £5 if passengers pay at the airport. These fees will rise to £3.50 and £7 respectively. The airline has an excess baggage charge of £5.50 per kilo and, from November 1, the allowance per person will drop from 20kg to 15kg.

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tags: travel | airport security | Easyjet | Ryanair | TSA