276 votes
Accepted

My name causes an issue with any booking! (names end with MR and MRS)

Airlines were early pioneers in communication technologies, and have been very slow to modernize. For example, today, airline IT systems still communicate extensively using TTY: Type-A for synchronous ...
Matthieu M.'s user avatar
  • 2,557
209 votes

Took airline plane blanket by accident; didn't realize it was forbidden. What should I do?

To avoid any lingering feelings of guilt, you can call the airline and ask them what they'd like you to do with the blanket. Explain that you took it by mistake because you were not fully alert when ...
phoog's user avatar
  • 131k
163 votes

Took airline plane blanket by accident; didn't realize it was forbidden. What should I do?

We live in a strange world where manufactured goods (like blankets) are very cheap, and people's time is very expensive. Our moral (and legal) codes haven't caught up with this: so we feel bad at ...
Michael Kay's user avatar
  • 1,681
158 votes
Accepted

Dress for First Class?

If you've been on a plane before, I'm sure you've walked past first class; nobody cares. If you want to dress up, sure, but I'd prefer to be casual and comfortable.
casual_flier's user avatar
147 votes
Accepted

Why do flight attendants say in safety instructions that you should put on your own mask before helping others?

It's actually quite simple. The reason they do this is to make sure you are able to help others. What do I mean by this? During an emergency where the air in the plane is thinning, it is important ...
El Bromista's user avatar
  • 1,341
147 votes

Took airline plane blanket by accident; didn't realize it was forbidden. What should I do?

Or should I just forget about it, having learned my lesson? Just forget about it. No one is going to come after you for stealing a 2-euro blanket. Keep it as a souvenir and don't steal any in the ...
JonathanReez's user avatar
  • 82.1k
115 votes

Why can't airline tickets be booked far into the future?

It's less of a technical constraint and more of a practical one. The servers maintained by airlines could certainly hold another year's worth of flights. The issue is that it doesn't make much sense ...
cbw's user avatar
  • 3,208
111 votes
Accepted

Smartphone taken from baggage while on layover

The airline is liable. According to the Montreal convention the airline cannot disclaim liability via their contract of carriage or other terms and conditions. As in this analysis by the US DoT (not ...
Berwyn's user avatar
  • 28.4k
110 votes

Why don't airlines have backup planes just in case of an emergency?

Because it would be ridiculously expensive. Not only would it require a massive increase in the number of planes an airline has to purchase and maintain, it would not even garantee that there would ...
JS Lavertu's user avatar
  • 4,655
104 votes
Accepted

Will the cabin crew heat your own food up?

A cabin crewmember here. The answer is: No, it is NOT allowed! For various reasons, including: Security: We do not know what are you heating, is it a heat-activated bomb? is it something that might ...
Nean Der Thal's user avatar
85 votes

Dress for First Class?

and just wanted to experience it at least once. Dress up, dress as nice as you like and comfortably can for a flight and make it a whole experience. You want to enjoy it so enjoy it to the fullest. ...
Hanky Panky's user avatar
  • 32.8k
85 votes
Accepted

Would airlines increase prices for a customer who must travel at a certain time, e.g. to attend a funeral?

The bigger question is how would they know? People buy plane tickets all the time for all kinds of reasons. You are not required to tell an airline why you are flying, only when and where (so they ...
Dave's user avatar
  • 776
83 votes
Accepted

Can you sneak into Premium Economy Class?

Airlines certainly keep a passenger manifest (it looks something like this) that lists everyone on board and where they are supposed to be seated. These are either paper printouts or viewed on ...
Zach Lipton's user avatar
83 votes
Accepted

Flight departed from the gate 5 min before scheduled departure time. Refund options

If you check your ticket, it will say something like 'all passenger must be at the gate and ready to board x minutes before the scheduled time, or they forfeit their flight'. I have seen times ...
Aganju's user avatar
  • 28.5k
81 votes

Why do flight attendants say in safety instructions that you should put on your own mask before helping others?

If you're travelling with someone who requires assistance, you need to remain conscious in order to assist them, especially if you have multiple people with you, say two children. Hypoxia can hit in ...
DTRT's user avatar
  • 32.6k
78 votes

Can a passenger predict that an airline or a tour operator is about to go bankrupt?

Yes, there were many, many indicators that Thomas Cook was in financial trouble, from analyst downgrades to their share price and their bond rate. But the company had been in financial trouble for ...
choster's user avatar
  • 42.9k
72 votes

I am travelling with a medication that needs to be cool at all times, will the airline allow me to use the onboard chiller?

As part of a flight crew (I flew for middle east regional for the last 4 years with a B747), I am trained to help my passenger as best as I can. But I'm also trained to stay away from any possible ...
egotopia's user avatar
  • 781
70 votes
Accepted

Why are airline websites blocking access through Tor?

Credit card fraud is a considerable problem for airlines. You would think the fraud risk would be low—after all, passengers usually have to appear in person with photo ID to make use of the service—...
Zach Lipton's user avatar
69 votes
Accepted

Why do Ryanair allow me to book connecting itineraries through a third party, but not through their own website?

Ryanair is working almost strictly point-to-point. With a very few exceptions, they simply don't do connecting tickets, which saves them all the hassle and costs with accomodating people who missed ...
TooTea's user avatar
  • 5,452
67 votes

What's going to happen to my booked AirBerlin flight now that they've gone bankrupt?

Called AirBerlin. They're saying that at the moment they are expecting all flights within the next 3 months to operate normally and that I should check back in one week to get an update about possible ...
Tal Bronfer's user avatar
67 votes
Accepted

Compensation for missed connection due to delay with same airline but separate bookings

No, you're not entitled to any compensation. You chose to book separate flights, so the airline did not guarantee your connection and the risk is fully on you. In addition, because your flight was ...
lambshaanxy's user avatar
  • 99.3k
66 votes

Why are airline meal portions so small?

They aren't! You are typically going to be sitting down and getting very limited exercise. On a long haul flight of 12 hours, based on a 2000 kcal/day requirement, the average person will burn in and ...
Richard's user avatar
  • 3,701
66 votes

Airline schedule flights to arrive at the same time its scheduled to depart

You are looking at the aircraft scheduling at a single point of time, which won't show the full picture. Most likely the aircraft that was planned to fly flight UA263 was delayed, or for some other ...
Doc's user avatar
  • 119k
64 votes
Accepted

I am travelling with a medication that needs to be cool at all times, will the airline allow me to use the onboard chiller?

It appears this is not possible for the Big Three US airlines. In fact, your assertion that "I know airplanes have" refrigerators on board seems to be not true in general. United Airlines: "Our ...
Nate Eldredge's user avatar
59 votes

Why do flight attendants say in safety instructions that you should put on your own mask before helping others?

As others have already said, it's precisely to ensure you are best able to help your family. And one reason they have to instruct you explicitly not to do that is that every mother's or father's first ...
Relaxed's user avatar
  • 104k
58 votes
Accepted

Which airlines might I have trouble taking to India, being an Israeli?

As a rule of thumb, if the country does not accept Israeli passports, its airlines will not accept them either. In the Middle East, this means primarily Iran Air, Kuwait Airways and Saudia are off ...
lambshaanxy's user avatar
  • 99.3k
58 votes

Why don't airlines have backup planes just in case of an emergency?

Look at a typical airline company on Wikipedia. Let's take KLM for example: Fleet size: 117 Destinations: 138 As you can see, in order to have a spare plane on every flight, KLM would need to buy ...
Dmitry Grigoryev's user avatar
55 votes

How can I prove an airline ticket is fake?

For starters, that's not a picture of an airline ticket! It's a boarding pass of the sort that is printed and given to the passenger no more than a few hours before the flight. That document, if it ...
phoog's user avatar
  • 131k
53 votes

Is flying with low-cost carriers (like Batik Air) as safe as other airlines?

Low-cost carriers (LCC) cut many corners, but they generally do not skimp on safety: having a single accident can easily bankrupt an airline. That said, it's a big world out there and not all LCCs are ...
lambshaanxy's user avatar
  • 99.3k

Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible