Companies which offer air transport services.
33
votes
3answers
11k views
How big is “too big” for an airline seat? At what point will you be required to buy two tickets?
As I said in another question, I'm bringing my parents to visit me here in Sweden next year.
My mother is around 280-300 pounds and 5'6" (130-135kg, 1.67m). I am concerned that she might be asked at ...
32
votes
12answers
2k views
What techniques, tricks or otherwise have you used to get upgrades on flights?
I've travelled a lot. Living in New Zealand or the UK means anywhere is likely a flight, but I've always flown economy. Twice between LA and Auckland I managed to get the exit row after talking ...
21
votes
6answers
5k views
Do you have to take the second leg of a flight?
Say I want to book a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Chicago. Say the airline also flies to St. Louis from Fort Launderdale but has a connecting flight through Chicago. If I book that flights from ...
18
votes
7answers
914 views
Is there any trick to checking in more weight on planes?
I soon have to move from France to Spain, one way no coming back. And as with most of the airlines carriers in Europe I am allowed at 23Kg checked-in and 10Kg on board with me. Packing lifetime stuff ...
18
votes
2answers
3k views
What are some tricks you use to buy cheap airline tickets in Europe?
I have been flying with Wizzair, Ryanair and Easyjet for some time already and have found that there is really a lot to be learned about how to achieve the lowest prices. It was not uncommon for me to ...
16
votes
3answers
1k views
Benefits of checking in online when checking bags
What is the benefit of checking in online for a flight when you intend to check bags at the airport? I understand some airports have special lines for people that are already checked in but are ...
15
votes
2answers
3k views
What happens if you miss a connecting flight?
What happens if you book tickets through an airline or travel agent, but on the travel date miss a connecting flight (either because the first flight was delayed, or because immigration/security took ...
15
votes
1answer
472 views
Planning to travel to Israel, what happens if Israel declares war on Iran?
I'm planning my second trip to Israel (being there Sep/2011), to visit my girlfriend's relatives again in February 2013 and stay a month there. This time we are planning to go with four people and we ...
15
votes
2answers
671 views
I need to fly today, where can I search for options?
A friend of mine needs to fly today. All typical aggregated booking sites don't allow searching for today. Anyone know where it is possible?
14
votes
7answers
605 views
How to fly on the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner?
Sooo, the new Dreamliner has had its inaugural flight.
The first flight was from tokyo to hong-kong.
In a bit of competitive fun, a friend and I are trying to beat one another to ride it (he beat me ...
14
votes
2answers
2k views
Are there still any “Fly as much as you like” air passes for the U.S.?
Back in 1993 I had a ticket called 'Delta Air Lines Travel America Standby Airpass' that allowed me to take an unlimited number of flights on Delta Airlines within a 30 day period. 60 days were ...
14
votes
2answers
323 views
Trick to breaking down air routes
For example, last year I was looking at Bogota, Colombia to LON. This was quite pricey, but it turned out if I bought separate tickets - Bogota to Orlando, Florida, and then an Air Berlin flight to ...
13
votes
2answers
251 views
How can I determine which airlines are relatively safe?
The world is full of different airlines ranging from ones with proven track records of safety and security to ones with old, poorly-maintained planes that are falling apart. Are there any resources ...
12
votes
4answers
322 views
Are there low cost airlines to travel within the US?
I'm from Europe where there are a lot of low cost airlines like easyJet, Ryanair, etc... But these operate mainly in Europe.
Then, my question is if there are airlines which provide cheap flights ...
11
votes
8answers
4k views
Which are the best airlines for travelling with infants?
We are planning to go on a trans-atlantic flight (> 10 hrs) with an infant. To help defray costs, we're considering just getting a "lap" ticket for our (would-be) 1 year old. Which airlines, in your ...
11
votes
4answers
2k views
China Airlines, safe?
I've got a long-haul flight booked with China Airlines (A330 and an A340) from LHR to SYD, and only after I booked it did I decide to read up on their safety record. Suffice to say I regret doing ...
11
votes
2answers
12k views
Which airlines provide free stopovers?
I have heard that British Airways provides free stopover in London i.e. a flight by British Airways via London costs the same as two separate flights from departure city to London and from London to ...
11
votes
3answers
2k views
What direct flights connect South America and Africa?
I'm curious, what airlines offer direct flights between South America and Africa and what cities do they connect?
10
votes
4answers
556 views
Why do airlines require an address when booking?
Whenever I book tickets for a flight, I have to provide my address details, contact numbers and an email address. A contact number I understand and they'll email me confirmation to the email address. ...
10
votes
2answers
894 views
What are the “rules” for multi-city flights?
As I understand things, airlines generally give discounts for round-trips that consist of a flight from A to B followed by a flight from B to A. How does this logic work for multi-city flights? As ...
10
votes
1answer
565 views
Can I Listen to Air Traffic Control on a flight?
What airlines have an audio channel where you can listen to Air Traffic Control communications during the flight? Do any airlines allow you to bring a scanner or aviation radio aboard to listen ...
10
votes
2answers
198 views
What steps can you take to avoid being bumped from a flight?
Following on from this question about Overbooking, we know that airlines will often sell more tickets than there are seats on a plane, and from time to time they guess wrong and too many people ...
10
votes
1answer
113 views
What's with the Star Alliance / SkyTeam decal planes?
On Saturday I was at YVR airport and saw what I've seen a few times before - a plane painted with a Star Alliance decal. No "Air New Zealand" or "Air Canada" or whatever, JUST Star Alliance.
Then ...
10
votes
1answer
402 views
How do I get compensation for messed-up flights?
Short form: the airline I'm traveling on managed to mess up every leg of my round trip (international trip), ultimately costing me most of a day at each end and also some money for expenses along the ...
9
votes
3answers
292 views
Why airline websites charge more money than discount travel websites
What is the reason that when you book a flight between 2 destinations from an airline website (aircanada.com), the prices are much more than when you book the same through a discount website like ...
9
votes
4answers
2k views
How to insure checked luggage?
I know that you are not supposed to put valuables into checked baggage, but in some cases it is necessary. For example if you have large valuable items that do not fit in carry-on or if you have ...
9
votes
6answers
234 views
Is there a frequent flyer program catering to children?
I am with my current bank, because I have been with them since very early age. My bank is very smart in knowing that if you have been with a bank for years, you are not likely to change.
I am ...
9
votes
2answers
198 views
Would I delay flights, when not showing up for part of the journey?
This is a hypothetical question.
Say you book a flight from A through B to C. For some reason or another, you choose not to board the last part of my trip. Would this create problems for other ...
9
votes
2answers
243 views
How to find an appropriate frequent flyer program?
In the last months I flew a lot with different airlines, mainly Swiss, AirBaltic, Aeroflot and AeroSvit. Now I was wondering if there is a frequent flyer program covering as much as possible of these ...
9
votes
1answer
223 views
Are flights actually cheaper *to book* during the week?
Last week I was eyeing up flights to Vegas from Vancouver. I had vaguely chosen the flight that I wanted. On Saturday I found that the flights I wanted weren't there, and in general, it was more ...
9
votes
2answers
200 views
Knock-on of different airline flight being cancelled on same booking
I'm eyeying up a flight booking.
First from Auckland (AKL) to Sydney (SYD) with LAN Chile.
Then 3 hours later, from Sydney to Vancouver (YVR) with Air Canada.
However, LAN has a poor rating for ...
9
votes
2answers
287 views
Are there any trans-Pacific budget airlines?
Are there any trans-Pacific flights from the North American countries to the Antipodean ones (Australia, NZ) that would be considered cheap or budget airlines?
The only budget international Pacific ...
8
votes
5answers
3k views
Booking flight tickets together or in separate parts?
I'm flying from A to C via B with Norwegian. Booking flight ticket from A to C costs 285.20 euros. If I buy flight ticket first from A to B and then from B to C, total price is 253.20 euros with ...
8
votes
5answers
267 views
Flight deals from the UK
Can someone recommend a good website with flight deals from London/UK, which I could subscribe to? I mean promotions in different airlines, e.g. bmi used to have a bmifriday promotion (not sure if its ...
8
votes
3answers
146 views
Are there any airlines that offer WLAN?
Today I had a really long flight. A friend of mine mentioned before that there will be WLAN (wifi) on board of this airline on long-haul flight. I couldn't really believe it and indeed, there was no ...
8
votes
2answers
8k views
Flying with a desktop computer (as checked luggage)
On an upcoming trip, I will be taking a desktop computer and monitor as checked luggage (on a United/Continental flight). What should I be aware of when doing this? What needs to be done to properly ...
8
votes
3answers
271 views
Will I be able to use United Airlines ticket that was paid by a credit card of my friend from USA?
I am from Europe, and I live in a country that is not listed on the United Airlines site as an option country to buy a ticket from, and I need a ticket from NY to SF (I will get to NY with a ticket I ...
8
votes
3answers
439 views
Differences between China Southern and Cathay Pacific
I am flying to China from Melbourne to Sanya either by Cathay Pacific or China Southern. China Southern will give me a shorter layover, but it might not have the same service. Is there anything ...
8
votes
3answers
2k views
Is it more expensive to buy airline tickets together than separate?
I'm looking for tickets in despegar.com (a travel website for the American continent) and found out that a flight for just one person was about USD $350 incluiding all taxes, and I did the exact same ...
8
votes
1answer
221 views
Do airlines block out a large section of seats online?
A family friend tried to book a last minute holiday for their family but when they tried to book online they couldn't get seats together. When he rang the airline up they had no problem putting them ...
8
votes
1answer
98 views
Codeshares - Can I expect the same service when buying from different airline?
Singapore Airlines (SQ) is one of the best airlines in the world to fly. It's expensive as well. However, I found that Air India also sell ticket for an SQ-operated flight, and the price is like $600 ...
8
votes
3answers
195 views
Cancel airline reservation on hold
I was planning a trip through Aerosvit Airlines. Since I was unsure of my final itinerary and the cost for the particular flight (using sites like Kayak) looked like it was about to skyrocket in ...
8
votes
1answer
125 views
Airline (lowcost) has changed my reservation, what are my options?
An airline in question has 3 flight a day to my destination, one ridiculously early in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one late night. Because the afternoon one was the only one convenient for ...
8
votes
1answer
109 views
Is there a site with a list of active airline discount/coupon codes?
Ideally I'm after one with an alphabetical list of airlines, and available discount codes, with descriptions, without having to click through and manually check the conditions of each one, or test out ...
7
votes
3answers
212 views
With Airlines using the same programs, can I merge benefits?
I tried navigating the labyrinthine web sites for US Airways and Continental (both in the same alliance), and I gave up after the automated system made me rip my own ears off...
Does anyone know ...
7
votes
3answers
2k views
What are “500 Mile Upgrades”?
On my American Airlines AAdvantage account, I see a lot of references to "500 Mile Upgrades".
I don't quite understand how these work. Can someone explain what these are for (and what does the "500 ...
7
votes
2answers
124 views
How can you take advantage of an airline needing to bump people?
Relating to this question about overbooking and this one on being bumped, we know that sometimes an airline needs to bump people from the flight.
In many cases when that happens, there's compensation ...
7
votes
3answers
220 views
What is ticket reconfirmation and why does it exist?
I have never personally had to reconfirm the ticket, but have read that in some case you can lose a place on a flight, even if you paid for it!
Where does the idea of ticket reconfirmation comes ...
7
votes
4answers
162 views
Is there information if a given airline at a given airport is using a jetway or a bus to board?
I am not particularly a fan of boarding a plane with bus that drives you from the terminal building to the airplane. I know that most low cost airlines use busses for boarding. So then I could ...
7
votes
2answers
716 views
Why is there a 'secret carrier' option for a flight?
When searching for a flight on kayak.com (not for me, I don't fly business), it shows a "Secret Carrier" option.
What gives? Why are they unable to tell us even the code-share partner? What if you ...
