For months, you’ve been planning your dream trip. Your new bathing suit is ready, you’ve got a pile of books, and the sandy beaches await you. As you complete your packing, you here the dreaded news on the radio- a blizzard is on the way.

Your disappointment is great, and can lead to tension and anger. Here are some quick tips on how to best cope with the situation:

1. Don’t Get Angry At The Airline: The airline would like nothing more than to operate flights and get you where you want to be. Unhappy passengers, canceled and delayed flights are in nobody’s interest.  Work with airline personnel courteously- they’re human and they’ll be much more likely to help those who are nice to them.
2. Be Flexible – You may not want to be rerouted via Cleveland, but that may be the best option. Empower the agent to think of alternate solutions, but be aware that there may be limited options.
3. Be Patient – You encourage no one to go out of their way to assist you if you lose your temper. Vowing never to fly the airline again, a common threat to a customer service agent, doesn’t encourage them to help or the airline to want to give you anything they don’t have to.
4. Offer Suggestions – Develop some knowledge of where your airline flies, and thus where they might send you. Encourage the agent to think outside the box, but remember there is likely a line of people behind you, or waiting on the phone for help with a similar problem.

We know it’s hard, but it is hard for the airlines to find better solutions. They cannot have extra planes sitting around. A plane is such an expensive commodity and it doesn’t have very much downtime. Squeezing in a few extra flights is possible, but when you cancel hundred or thousands of flights, things will get overloaded quickly.

We’ll have more on this through the season.

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You’ve just suffered a horrible customer service experience with an airline. They’ve canceled a flight, lost your luggage, etc. You’ve decided you need satisfaction. Here are some simple tips for approaching the problem.

• Be Aware of Your Tone – While the squeaky wheel may get the grease, the wheel risks being disposed of in favor of another wheel, or as one airline CEO commented, “For every passenger who refuses to fly us again, there are two who will at the price I’m willing to charge.” Most of the time, acting this way will ensure no airline employee feels motivated to help you. The rest of the time, they will give you want just to get rid of you.
• If you vow never to fly them again, why should they want to do anything for you? – Never vow not to patronize a business. Always phrase your complaint in the following terms: “I have been happy with your service in the past, and I believe this is atypical, and these are the steps it would take to restore my confidence in you.” You may feel that a company generally is horrible, but why let them know that?
• Define what you think they can do to please you – Compensation can require a bit of haggling. We recommend you consider how reasonable your request will seem in proportion to what happened and pick a starting point. You can aim for the moon and ask for a lot if you wish, but it is usually safer to think what an airline might realistically give you.
• Follow Up – An airline is a big corporation. They expect you to make decisions immediately, yet they take a lot of time to respond. You should follow up, but give them time to respond to your query. Airlines receive a lot of complaints, and in the interest of fairness, they usually answer them in the order received. If you believe your complaint is in need of expediting, you had best contact them to follow up. But space your followup calls, as calling too much can hurt you.
• Ramp Up – As time goes by, become more aggressive, but never move away from being polite. Passive-aggressive behavior is also not helpful. Explain to those you are speaking to that you are frustrated and why. Don’t take it out on them. They are just doing their jobs.
• Empower Them – Empower customer service reps. Ask them for advice. Ask them what to do, and if you feel things are moving nowhere, making them feel as if they can help you may make them think of a new solution. Try to avoid phrases like, “I know it isn’t your fault your company is horrible.”

What we’re recommending here is the solid middle road of complaints. You can get aggressive more rapidly, or you can be more passive, and as we said, that may work. Or it may backfire? But do you want to live in a society where every problem turns that way immediately? We admire people who go toward the heart of a matter and come out guns ablazing. We just think you should escalate to that level, not begin at it.

What do you think?

In the recent movie, Up in the Air, George Clooney’s character, the frequent traveller, gives some important tips on how to get through a security checkpoint. Here is some sound advice from us on the subject. The airport checkpoint is an assembly line of sorts, with each person doing the same series of repetitive tasks before moving on.

1. Empty your pockets in advance…Have a pocket or crevice in your bag to put your metal…your keys, cell phone, etc into. The airport will give you little bowls to put these things in, but having them out of the way early will speed things up.
2. You are going to take your shoes off and walk barefoot on a likely none-to-clean floor. This means you want to not only have shoes that are easy to get on and off but take care on what socks you have on.
3. Start taking your outerwear off long before you get to the checkpoint. If you have layers and room in your carry-on, put some of those layers away in advance.
4. If you are carrying a laptop, have it in a sleeve. There are only a few checkpoint-friendly cases out there that don’t require you to remove the computer from its bag. The cheapest is a sleeve, which has no pockets for any accessories. It can be slid into another bag or case. But it is more secure than leaving your laptop alone in a TSA provided bin. Or look into one of those TSA-checkpoint friendly cases.
5. Pack your carry-on as neatly as possible. Any wiring should be bundled up neatly, and preferably separated from electronic devices. This ensures it will not confuse the agent watching the x-ray and delay your transit.
6. In regards to the liquid rules, even years after this policy has been in place, people are still confused about it. Take one-quart sized zip-top bag, fill it with liquid objects less than 3oz. Each person gets one bag. Remember, this is liquid. People who are putting medications and other solid objects in these bags are only losing space for more liquid. Try to pack the bag on top of your carry-on or in an outer pocket. Some airports ask you to take it out and separate it.
7. Have your ID and boarding pass out. Separate your ID from your wallet. The TSA will ask you to do it anyway.
8. Remain calm, be friendly. The screening experience varies greatly from time to time. Different TSA agents, different policies, different airports. You have to go with the flow if you want to make your flight.

We’ve never been able to understand why the more expensive hotels charge for wi-fi and the less expensive offer it free, especially when those same hotels are trying to attract business travelers, who want to get work done. The simple answer, of course, is that they can. Many business travelers are booking less expensive hotels, even if their employers will allow them to pay more.  The estimate is 40% of hotels charge. In defense, with no more revenue for gauging people for telephone calls, they need a replacement.

USAToday has a great table of hotel chains that do and do not charge, which can be found here. When we can, we’ll just pick a good hotel that gives us what we need. You can also scout nearby places to check email, such as bookstore, coffee houses, etc that may offer free wi-fi.

For another alternative, we recently field-tested Rovair. The Rovair model is a rather simple one. They offer rental by the day of a cellular modem. They offer it in USB, PC Card, and MiFi wireless hotspot form. It took us a while to fully understand how they calculate their day rate. Essentially, the more you buy, the lower the price is. You do not have to use all of the days you buy consecutively, and they expire after a year.

We used the Rovair-On-Demand service, which is for people who already own a cellular modem. We bought a cheap older Verizon USB modem on Ebay, and were able to activate it in a few minutes. When we had technical problems during the initial activation, they had Verizon contact us to troubleshoot. By owning your own modem, you eliminate the time it takes to ship it to you and the deposit for that card.

We bought ten days for $9.40 a day. Not quite as good as the lowest price if you buy 30 days…$5.95, but something we could live with if we didn’t like it. We were told the $5.95 rate is only available through Sprint, so let’s focus on Verizon. Let’s compare that to Verizon’s new prepaid day rates….$15 a day, $30 a week(comes to roughly $4.29 a day), $50 a month(Roughly $1.66 a day). The second issue is data caps. Rovair offers 1GB a week, prorated for less than a week. Verizon offers 75mb for 1 day, 250mb in a week, or 500mb in a month.

Ultimately, Rovair-on-Demand offered good customer service, a pricing plan we could live with, and prices lower or comparable to the price for wi-fi at most hotels that charge($10-15 a day). Rovair-On-Demand does say it isn’t for people who only use it a couple of times a year, but we don’t think they factored in cheap old Ebay modems. We like owning our own equipment and being able to activate at a moments notice. They, in fact, told us that even though they say 24 hours to activate, with the On-Demand, they might be able to get you up, if needed and if they are available, in minutes. Just remember to program their number into your phone, because we did suffer an outage in the middle of our service time. It was in the middle of the night, and it did take them until morning to get back to us. They have support from 8AM to 10PM EST.

The above may all become moot if you have a smartphone with a data plan. Verizon and other companies have offered tethering options to tie your phone into your computer for limited use, but the charges on this do not seem reasonable for what they are offering.

You can opt for the easiest choice…doing without. But who wants to do that?

(Portions of this post originally appeared in the Flight Wisdom blog.)

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Every holiday, there comes the obligatory holiday advisory. Of course, US Airlines are predicting a 4% drop in Thanksgiving travel compared to last year, but since airlines have cut capacity significantly, travel on the busiest travel holiday of the year will likely be hectic.

Airlines also added travel surcharges of $10 for holiday travel, recently increased to $20.

1. Arrive early. On a normal day, you should arrive at least an hour and a half before the flight leaves, longer for an international flight. You might want to leave a little extra time, especially if the roads are congested. Better to sit around the airport than to miss your flight.
2. Be familiar with luggage allowances. If you can, and if applicable, prepay your luggage charges online. Not only is it usually cheaper, it is one less thing to do at the airport. If possible, try to avoid checking luggage. Holiday travelers tend to bring a lot, which will increase the percentage of lost luggage. Pack efficiently.
3. Be familiar with the TSA rules for what you can bring through security. Most infrequent travelers are unfamiliar with the confusing rules the TSA has added. Be prepared and get through screening quickly. Pack your carry-on neatly, as it will make it easier to check in the x-ray machine. Remember the TSA’s Liquid Restrictions. Review their Prohibited Items List.
4. Check-in online. Avoid long lines by doing anything you can do in advance in advance.
5. Check the status of your flight before you leave the house. It is easier to do this in advance than on a line at the airport.

Most importantly, keep a positive attitude. We’re all in this together. It can be frustrating, but we’ll get through it.

We caught this interview from the Today Show through the Consumerist. Nine Times Travel Insurance isn’t a ripoff.

1. Your flight is canceled.
2. Your bags are lost and your medication is in it. You need to have an emergency prescription filled.
3. Your passport and wallet are stolen, and you need emergency cash and a replacement passport.
4. You’re involved in an accident and adequate medical treatment is not available. You need medical evacuation.
5. You need to cancel your trip due to illness.
6. Your cruise line, airline or tour operator goes bankrupt. You need your non-refundable expenses covered and to get to your destination.
7. You have a medical emergency in a foreign country.
8. A terrorist incident occurs in the city where you’re planning to visit and you want to cancel your trip.
9. A hurricane forces you to evacuate your resort, hotel or cruise.

We have always believed travel insurance is never a ripoff if you’ve invested in your trip. Ask yourself these questions to help you decide.

1. If you are heading abroad, does your medical insurance cover you?
2. What are the rules of your fare? Will your airline allow you to cancel if you become sick?
3. What about any tours, hotels, or other arrangements? Can you get your money back?
4. If you are going to a particularly  dangerous or remote area, does the policy you are considering provide coverage for emergency evacuation should you be injured far from a hospital?
5. Does the insurance you purchase provide assistance if you have a problem in making arrangements?
6. If things go wrong, do you stand to lose enough to take out insurance?

(Originally appeared in Flight Wisdom Blog)

(Originally posted over at Flight Wisdom)

Anil Polat, who runs foXnoMad, which is a travel blog for “people who love the journey as much as they enjoy the destination. foXnoMad is a resting point to gather information on the best ways and gadgets vagabonds can use to stay in touch, save money, and make the most out of any vacation,” has written a guide to using the fundamentals of Sun Tzu‘s The Art of War to deal with even the most difficult airline employee. Some wisdom is timeless.

We’ve summarized and annotated our version below, but you check out the original post here.

• “Use Anger to Throw Them into Disarray” – Being slightly agitated can help you get your way, but getting too angry has the opposite effect. Be firm but not crazy.
• “Cause Division Among Them” – Using confrontational words will only decrease their willingness to help you. Get the airline staff to work with you, not against you, to get your way with the airline.
• “…Even if you are winning, if you continue for a long time it will dull your forces…” – Get to the point. Don’t dig a hole for yourself by making the same point over and over again. The representative will start to regret trying to help you in the first place. Don’t give up, be persistent, but move on quickly.
• “…Overcome Others’ Force Without Battle…” – Tell the representative they are doing a good job, and you’d like to offer to write or tell their supervisor. Motivate them to go the extra mile.
• “Even though you are Competent, Appear to be Incompetent” – Sometimes, being seemingly ignorant can be to your advantage(we find it hard to pull off). Keep your mouth shut. Sometimes, it is not the best idea to not volunteer information.
• “Those who know when to Fight and when Not to Fight are Victorious.” – Knowing who and when to put up a good argument is essential. You want to work with the agents and make them want to help you. If there is nothing to gain by complaining…don’t.
• “Using Order to Deal with Disorder, Using Calm to Deal with the Clamorous, is Mastering the Heart.” – Accept the circumstances, come up with a strategy, and calmly execute it. Watch old episodes of A&E’s Airline to see what not to do when circumstances leave you unhappy.
• “Matters are Dealt with Strictly at Headquarters” – Don’t be afraid to escalate. Keep escalating until someone addresses your concerns in a satisfactory manner. If not at the airport, send a letter or email.
• “Conflict without Fighting is the Greatest Victory.” – Use everything you know and you have experienced to that point to your advantage. Find vulnerabilities in the other side, ie under what circumstances might they do what you want? You may need to become a bit aggressive, but look at each time this happens as an opportunity to hone your skills as a travel warrior.

Remember, you may emerge covered in blood(figuratively) and sweat(literally), but you will be victorious.

Recently, Spirit Airlines was fined $375,000 by the DOT, the largest such judgement in its history, for failing to comply with rules governing denied boarding compensation, fare advertising, baggage liability and other consumer protection requirements. Spirit bumped passengers from oversold flights but did not provide compensation or a written notice of their rights to compensation. Spirit failed to resolve baggage claims within a reasonable period, on one occasion taking 14 months to provide compensation, and compensating for delayed baggage only for the outbound leg of round-trip flights and only for purchases made more than 24 hours after arrival.  Finally, they violated baggage liability laws governing international travel by refusing to accept responsibility for missing laptop computers and certain other items it accepted as baggage.

So, what are your rights as defined by the DOT? The basics are taken directly from the DOT’s Fly-Rights Handbook(not the most current source, we admit), with our additions and annotations. These rights apply to flights inside or originating in the US. We’ll cover EU rights another time.

Basic Advice

• Airlines don’t guarantee their schedules, and you should realize this. Despite what we may feel, an airline is not obligated to get you there at a specific time. Their obligations do increase on day of travel though.
• Airlines are not required to compensate passengers whose flights are delayed or canceled.
• Each airline has its own policies about what it will do for delayed passengers waiting at the airport; there are no federal requirements. If you are delayed, ask the airline staff if they will pay for meals or a phone call. Some airlines do not provide any amenities to stranded passengers.
• Airlines may not offer amenities if the delay is caused by bad weather or something else beyond the airline’s control. However, we have noticed a tendency of airlines to attribute everything to events beyond their control.
• If you find a flight on another airline, ask the first airline to endorse your ticket to the new carrier. Remember, however, that there is no rule requiring them to do this and they don’t want to, as they have to give that airline your money.
• Payment by credit card provides certain protections under federal credit laws. When a refund is due, the airline must forward a credit to your card company within seven business days after receiving a complete refund application. If you paid by credit card for a refundable fare and you have trouble getting a refund that you are due, report this in writing to your credit card company. If you write to them within 60 days from the time that they mailed your first monthly statement showing the charge for the airline ticket, the card company should credit your account even if the airline doesn’t.

Compensation

• Compensation is required by law only when you are “bumped” from a flight that is oversold. Airlines almost always refuse to pay passengers for financial losses resulting from a delayed flight. Since you aren’t likely to haul the airline into court to compensate you(which often works), you might want to allow a little extra leeway and take an earlier flight if you need to get there.
• DOT rules require airlines to seek out people who are willing to give up their seats for some compensation before bumping anyone in- voluntarily.
  • DOT has not said how much the airline has to give volunteers. This means carriers may negotiate with their passengers for a mutually acceptable amount of money-or maybe a free trip or other benefits. Airlines give employees guidelines for bargaining with passengers, and they may select those volunteers willing to sell back their reservations for the lowest price. If the airline offers you a free ticket, ask about restrictions. How long is the ticket good for? Is it “blacked out” during holiday periods when you might want to use it? Can it be used for international flights? Most importantly, can you make a reservation, and if so, how far before departure are you permitted to make it?
• DOT requires each airline to give all passengers who are bumped involuntarily a written statement describing their rights and explaining how the carrier decides who gets on an oversold flight and who doesn’t. Those travelers who don’t get to fly are frequently entitled to an on-the-spot payment of denied boarding compensation. That means you do not have to accept a voucher. They owe you money. The amount depends on the price of their ticket and the length of the delay:
  • If you are bumped involuntarily and the airline arranges substitute transportation that is scheduled to get you to your final destination (including later connections) within one hour of your original scheduled arrival time, there is no compensation.
  • If the airline arranges substitute transportation that is scheduled to arrive at your destination between one and two hours after your original arrival time (between one and four hours on international flights), the airline must pay you an amount equal to your one-way fare to your final destination, with a $400 maximum.
  • If the substitute transportation is scheduled to get you to your destination more than two hours later (four hours internationally), or if the airline does not make any substitute travel arrangements for you, the compensation doubles (200% of your fare, $800 maximum).
  • You always get to keep your original ticket and use it on another flight. If you choose to make your own arrangements, you can request an “involuntary refund” for the ticket for the flight you were bumped from. The denied boarding compensation is essentially a payment for your inconvenience.
  • To be eligible for compensation, you must have a confirmed reservation. A written confirmation issued by the airline or an authorized agent or reservation service qualifies you in this regard even if the airline can’t find your reservation in the computer, as long as you didn’t cancel your reservation or miss a reconfirmation deadline.
  • Each airline has a check-in deadline, which is the amount of time before scheduled departure that you must present yourself to the airline at the airport. If you miss a deadline, you may have lost your reservation and your right to compensation if the flight is oversold, although some airlines do have compassionate or ‘flat-tire’ policies without additional charge, they have every right to charge you.
  • If the airline must substitute a smaller plane for the one it originally planned to use, the carrier isn’t required to pay people who are bumped as a result.In addition, on flights using aircraft with 30 through 60 passenger seats, compensation is not required if you were bumped due to safety-related aircraft weight or balance constraints.
  • They don’t apply to international flights inbound to the United States, although some airlines on these routes may follow them voluntarily.

Baggage

• Valuables should be carried on your person.
• If your bags are delayed, lost or damaged on a domestic trip, the airline can invoke a maximum of $3,300 per passenger on the amount of money they’ll pay you. When your luggage and its contents are worth more than the liability limit, you may want to purchase “excess valuation,” if available, from the airline as you check in. This is not insurance, but it will increase the carrier’s potential liability. The airline may refuse to sell excess valuation on some items that are especially valuable or breakable, such as antiques, musical instruments, jewelry, manuscripts, negotiable securities and cash. (Editor’s Note: We’ve never heard of an airline offering this. We should call up and ask.)
• On international round trips that originate in the United States, the liability limit is set by a treaty called the Montreal Convention. This treaty also governs liability on international round trips that originate in another country that has ratified this Convention, and one-way trips between the U.S. and such a country. Unless you buy excess valuation, the airline’s baggage liability on a trip covered by the Montreal Convention is limited to 1,000 “Special Drawing Rights” per passenger. The value of the SDR changes daily.
• This international limit also applies to domestic segments of an international journey.
• This is the case even if the domestic and international flights are on separate tickets and you claim and re-check your bag between the two flights.
• Keep in mind that the liability limits are maximums. If the depreciated value of your property is worth less than the liability limit, this lower amount is what you will be offered.

Disabilities

• A person may not be refused transportation on the basis of disability or be required to have an attendant or produce a medical certificate, except in certain limited circumstances specified in the rule.
• Airlines must provide enplaning, deplaning and connecting assistance, including both personnel and equipment. (Some small commuter aircraft may not be accessible to passengers with severe mobility impairments.
• Passengers with vision or hearing impairments must have timely access to the same information given to other passengers at the airport or on the plane concerning gate assignments, delayed flights, safety, etc.
• Air carriers must accept wheelchairs as checked baggage, and cannot require passengers to sign liability waivers for them.
• Carriers must allow service animals to accompany passengers in the cabin, as long as they don’t block the aisle or other emergency evacuation route.
• FAA rules also prohibit passengers from bringing their own oxygen. Most airlines will provide aircraft-approved oxygen for a fee, but aren’t required to.
• Airlines may not charge for services that are required by this rule.
• Airlines must make available a specially-trained Complaints Resolution Official if a dispute arises. There must be a copy of the DOT rule at every airport.

Complaints about airline service may be registered with DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division (ACPD). You may call the ACPD 24 hours a day at 202-366-2220 (TTY 202-366-0511) to record your complaint. Calls are returned Monday through Friday, generally between 7:30 am and 5:00 pm Eastern time. To send a complaint, comment or inquiry electronically, you can use the web form at http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/escomplaint/es.cfm or write them at…

Aviation Consumer Protection Division, C-75
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20590

There is much more to say about this, but while we’ve said all this before, this is a good place to start if you want to know what you can do. Just know that while you have rights, airlines are large monolithic corporations and it can be hard to extract compensation from them even if they admit they owe it to you.

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A while back, we read an article on how to prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis. However, it was a bit technical. We wanted to simplify it.

Deep Vein Thrombosis(DVT) is a blood clot which can result in swelling, redness, or pain. On a plane, DVT may occur if your blood is not moving as it should…for example, if you are stuck in an airline seat for many hours and your blood isn’t moving as it should.

The simplest way to avoid DVT on an airplane is to keep your blood flowing. Get up and walk around every hour or so, if you can. There is also the option of compression stockings, which aid in the circulation of blood in the leg., but there is some disagreement of the helpfulness of this. If you have a broken leg and must travel, remember that you are at increased risk.

For most airline passengers, despite the danger, DVT is not going to happen. Just remember the following important piece of advice.

If you need to get up to stretch…do it.

Why should you suffer? Except when the fasten seatbelt sign is on, you have the freedom to get up. Just remember, keep out of the way if you are standing around stretching. People need to get by, especially the Flight Attendants.

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The other day, we were over at the Southwest Social in Bryant Park. We snagged Southwest t-shirts, refrigerator magnets, and a bunch of Southwest plastic  luggage tags. We had one of their old ones on our suitcase for a long while before Delta ripped it off(we’re sure unintentionally).

Then, the following day, Flying with Fish posted an article on how a baggage tag can make you the target of thieves. He makes a good point. What you put on your luggage tag may reveal too much about you. For one, anyone who hangs around the airport and sneaks a peak at one may know where you live and that you likely won’t be home that night.

Of course, the TSA’s website reminds you… “Don’t forget to place identification tags with your name, address and phone number on all of your baggage, including your laptop computer.  It is a good idea to place an identification tag inside your baggage as well.”

Firstly, your information should be, by most recommendations, both inside and outside your bag. For inside, a good tip is to have a business card sized paper or label attached somewhere noticeable. Some bags even have a holder for this. On the exterior, a luggage tag.

These labels should contain the following information:

• Name – preferably how it appears on your tickets. Which is also how it should appear on your form of ID, as they should match.
• Email – Email is a very anonymous method of communication. It tells little about you if it is at a service like Gmail. Even if it is a work address, that limits available information.
• Direct Phone Number – Preferably a cell-phone. Landlines can easily be looked up and associated with your address. You aren’t trying to fend off telemarketers here, although we suppose a clever thief could call you and get your information.
• Contact Info if Phone Unavailable – If you are going somewhere your phone won’t work, ie a foreign country where you aren’t going to pay international roaming, leave some method of contact on your luggage, ie a hotel phone number or such.

We agree that the following information should not appear on your bags.

• Home Address – The airline knows this, as you supplied an address to them when you booked. Why display it to the world?
• Home Phone Number – The reasons listed above for not displaying it apply, as well as the fact that if you are on vacation, who will be answering it?

There are a variety of ways to get luggage tags. Most airport counters offer paper ones. You can get a plastic one with a paper insert. And the most detailed…a custom luggage tag in plastic or metal with your information etched into it. A tag can even be adhered to your bag as opposed to tied around the handle. You have a variety of options from simple to complex.

What is important is that you have something identifiable inside or on your bag. You never know what might happen.

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