when an airline changes your flight... scrutinize it!

which flight would YOU choose to fly from Denver, CO to Oakland, CA

Has your airline cancelled your flight and sent you a new itinerary? We received two notices over the past several days concerning my wife's flights this July between Oakland and Denver. Southwest eliminated the non-stop flights on her original itinerary. (Airlines are frequently doing this now due to decreased demand.) When a ticketed flight is cancelled, the airline's computer system goes into action and selects new flights for you. Unfortunately, Southwest's computer system will always suggest an itinerary that suits the airline's interests (choosing legs with less demand) rather than the itinerary that makes the most sense for the passenger (non-stop flights).

Always take a careful look at the new flights being offered. Southwest had rescheduled her on an outbound flight that stopped in Orange County (Southern California) enroute to Denver. Their choice of a return flight stopped in Spokane (eastern Washington State) before flying onto Oakland. Some quick research revealed that non-stop flights were readily available in the same time frame.

The graphic at the top of this article shows two return flights from Denver to Oakland. The 12:50 p.m. flight (onto which Southwest's reservations computer had moved her) has a duration of more than five hours from departure in Denver to arrival in Oakland. The 1:40 p.m. flight — leaving 50 minutes later — requires just 2 1/2 hours gate-to-gate and gets her home far earlier.

The solution is fortunately very simple. Call the airline! A phone call to the Southwest reservations number (with six minutes on hold) secured the desired flights. But be sure to make the call. If you don't, you'll be stuck with the undesirable new itinerary.

Bottom line: scrutinize the flights that an airline rebooks for you. You are entitled to ask for the flights you really want and (here's a pro-tip) ... an involuntarily rescheduled itinerary can sometimes score you a refund if you decide the airline's offer is unsatisfactory.

copyright (c) 2020 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

now that Southwest flies to Hawaii...

... where are you going to stay?

Today, Southwest Airlines launched its long-awaited service to Hawaii with the departure of Flight 6808 from Oakland, California (my home airport) to Honolulu. Passengers were greeted with leis both on boarding and upon their arrival into HNL. Service will continue to expand with a second OAK-HNL flight on March 24th, flights to Maui on April 7th, and service to Kona on May 12th.

These will be no-frills flights with nothing but Coach seats to be had for the long 5 1/2 hour flights. Neither will full meals be available. By adding seats to the Oakland-Hawaii market, the price of coach seats will likely come down. On the other hand, I highly recommend flying First Class on Alaska or Hawaiian. Pricing is surprisingly affordable, and both airlines offer comfortable First Class service and full meals. Some Hawaiian Airlines planes even have lie-flat sleeper seats.

Where to stay in Hawaii? I've listed my favorite hotels, and Ourisman Travel offers you added value by providing free breakfasts, $100 hotel credits, upgrades, and more — all at the same regular prices you're seeing online.

Honolulu
The Kahala Resort
Halekulani
The Royal Hawaiian
Four Seasons Oahu at Ko Olina

Maui
Four Seasons Maui
Andaz Maui
Fairmont Kea Lani
Ritz-Carlton Kapalua Bay
Montage Kapalua

Kona
Four Seasons Hualalai
Mauna Kea Beach Hotel
Fairmont Orchid
Mauna Lani, an Auberge Resort

copyright (c) 2019 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

treating customers like people?

photo from InsiderTravelReport

I stared incredulously at the headline —

          JetBlue launches program to treat customers like people.

That's what it really said. If you don't believe me, look here. But to turn the question around, how do the airlines treat us, their customers?

What do you call it when the airlines...

... squeeze economy passengers into tightly packed planes, six seats across a narrowbody plane with as little as 28" between the back of your seat and the seat in front of you. (I'm talking about you, Spirit and Frontier).

... institute a culture of fees: fees to check a bag, fees to use the overhead bin, fees to print boarding passes at the airport, fees to change or cancel flights. (Kudos to Southwest who actually treats us well in this regard).

... withhold accurate and up-to-date flight information? Ever been at the gate with "on time" still showing on the monitor even though it's past time for the scheduled departure. Have you ever waited hours for a delayed flight without being kept fully informed of the reason for the delay?

... delay boarding, then tell customers to "hurry up and get out of the aisles" so we can still have an on-time departure?

... sock us with fuel surcharges when oil is costly, yet keep the same surcharges even when the price of fuel goes back to normal? (I'm talking about you, British Airways).

... tempt us with points that "never expire," then expire the points — and devalue them to the point of near uselessness.

We, the flying public, are not blameless in this deterioration of service. Why do I say this? Because most people shop blindly. They click the lowest price, even if it means they've booked a trip with two connections just to save $5.

Once upon a time, American Airlines instituted a program called "More Room in Coach." They removed two rows from each plane in their fleet and used the space to provide more room for passengers, making possible a seat pitch of 34" or more. Had the public given its business to American in a major way, then all the other carriers would have upgraded their cabins as well.

Once upon a time, Midwest Express had 2x2 seating and quite good hot meals on all its flights — first class space at coach prices. Had the public given its business to Midwest Express, the rest of the industry would have followed that model.

The airlines will not treat us like people until we insist they do, until we insist on comfort in the air and courtesy at all times. How to do that? For starters, reward the airlines with the biggest minimum seat pitch: Jet Blue, Virgin America, Alaska, and Southwest.

copyright (c) 2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

a quirky Southwest Airlines rebooking policy

When does a refundable ticket become non-refundable? I just received the following Southwest Airlines Advisory from the Brownell Air Desk:

In order to maintain the refundability of your original REFUNDABLE ticket when changing itineraries, you should REFUND the original ticket and make a new reservation. Otherwise, if you make changes to refundable tickets, they become NON-REFUNDABLE!

Don't know whether this applies only to travel agency bookings, or whether it applies as well to internet and phone bookings with Southwest. While Southwest is tops in the industry in terms of charging no change or cancellation penalties, you pay top dollar for refundable tickets.

The solution is simple. Don't make date changes to a full-fare Southwest ticket. Just cancel and refund your ticket, then make a new booking. This will protect the refundability of your fare. This is a stupid policy, making more work for everyone ... but something to be aware of if you're traveling on Southwest.

copyright (c) 2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

$29 for a seat and $45 for a carry-on?

In the spirit of insanity, Spirit Airlines has just announced an absurd new policy: they are starting to charge customers up to $45 for carry-on bags.

Most of the legacy carriers are now charging to check your bags, another bad business decision. Travel journalist Joe Brancatelli makes an interesting observation. While airline bean counters celebrate the revenue that these charges bring in, they are blind to the fact that this policy is costing them passenger revenue. Passengers are booking away from the legacy carriers. They are choosing passenger-friendly carriers such as Southwest and JetBlue that do not charge to check your bags.

You don't have to take this nonsense. Vote with your wallets! Think it's absurd to pay $45 for your carry on? Then don't fly on Spirit Airlines. If enough of you do this, the company will either (1) accede to market pressure and change this absurd new policy or (2) deservedly go out of business.

But here's the biggest absurdity. Spirit Airlines is advertising some $29 fares (check out Atlanta to Myrtle Beach in August). What does it mean when your carry-on's space in the overhead compartment is worth more than the seats that Spirit provides for their passengers?



P.S. — This is one of my pet peeves — too many passengers aren't smart about voting with their wallets. Remember years ago when American Airlines was advertising "more room in coach" — 34 inches — for pretty much the same price as everyone else. Had we voted with our wallets, we'd have 34 inches of leg room everywhere - but we didn't. So the next time you're scrunched up in a cramped, narrow seat on a transcontinental flight, think about it. Reward airlines who treat us well - and punish the airlines who treat us badly.


$45 for a carry on (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2010 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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