Jaunted

Tags: Checked Baggage Fees / Delta / JetBlue / Baggage Fees / Southwest Airlines / US Airways / United / Continental / Airline Fees / → All Tags

Kayaks, Surfboards, and Antlers: How to Check 'Special Item' Luggage

Honestly we have enough trouble dealing with checking just one piece of luggage, so it’s difficult for us to imagine dealing with anything unique at the check-in counter. Surprisingly, airlines are pretty welcoming when it comes to your oversized bags, sports equipment, musical instruments, and anything else you might need to bring with you. However, it’s going to cost you a few extra bucks.

If you’ve got a big track and field meet coming up or just want to bring a nice present to Bruce Jenner, no need to worry about bringing your javelin on the airplane—it’s totally cool. It will need to be checked—no carrying it on please—and if you’re flying on Continental Airlines it will cost you the same as any other checked bag. American Airlines isn’t as friendly to javelin throwers, and they’ll charge $100 in addition to their usual checked bag fees. Vaulting poles aren’t allowed on American, but United will take up to two poles in a case for $175—at that point it might be worth just driving.

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Tags: Travel Tips / Tickets / Airfares / Airlines / Delta / United / JetBlue / American Airlines / Continental / US Airways / Southwest Airlines / → All Tags

How To Cancel Your Airline Ticket Within 24 Hours

We’ve all purchased airfare without really thinking, but sometimes the buyer’s remorse is just a little too much. Despite the chance at an incredible fare there’s always something that makes it seem not worth it—like hitting the limit on your credit card. Thankfully there are still a few airlines that allow you to cancel your reservation within 24 hours. We’ve rounded up some of the policies below to ensure that you can fire first and ask questions later.

· Delta
As long as your make your purchase through Delta or Expedia—that means no Orbitz or other booking engines—you can cancel your ticket up to midnight the following day. Just make sure that your trip is originating from the United States, US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, or Canada. You don’t even need to call them, because you can just head to their website and take care of everything.

More ways to get your money back after the break...

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Tags: Baggage Fees / Checked Baggage Fees / US Airways / Airline Fees / United / → All Tags

United Airlines and US Airways Happily Match Checked Bag Fee Hike to $25

WHEN WILL IT STOP?! Probably never, and that's our final answer.

This week's big airline news has been the abrupt increase in fees for your first checked bag, going from $20 to $25 on two airlines; first went Delta, then Continental, and now we add a third and fourth airline—United and US Airways. American is the last legacy carrier holding out and of course it probably won't take long for them because once there's blood in the water...

The United announcement was made late on Wednesday, and it took affect yesterday, with United charging $25 to check one bag at the airport and $35 for a second bag on flights within the United States, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and Canada. You can shave off a few measly dollars by checking it online and doing the airport bag drop for $23 for the first bag, and $32 for a second. What a rotten deal.

Now that we've been seeing these fees creep up over the last six months or so, we're no longer taken by surprise, but we can't say the same for leisure travelers and those who roll up to the airport with their bags, thinking that nothing has changed. These are the folks who will be hardest hit by the baggage fees, and who will be the most frustrated with check-in agents, so avoid waiting in line behind someone with lots of baggage of check, who maybe is also wearing Juicy Couture sweatpants.

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Tags: In-Flight WiFi / WiFi / Airline News / Airlines / Technology / Lists / Air Canada / Airtran / Alaska Airlines / American Airlines / Continental / Delta / Jetblue / Southwest / United / US Airways / Virgin America / Lufthansa / Virgin Atlantic / Emirates / → All Tags

Jaunted's 2009 Airline In-Flight WiFi Guide

Let 2009 be known as the year that the airlines embraced the internet. Whether through Facebook and Twitter or web-only specials, they really put themselves out there. But the most revolutionary change to come was the proliferation of In-Flight WiFi. The seeds of connectivity were planted in 2008 and they budded this year, but 2010 will see the bloom and boom of airlines with WiFi. Already we have eleven carriers that are either already online or signed up to start very soon. And that's not counting the international airlines with their grand long-haul plans.

Let's look at the status of the WiFi on each of these airlines, but first you'll need to know a quick bit about the major providers of in-flight WiFi, and there are three:
· Gogo, a terrestrial-based service that relies on signal towers on the ground. This is the most popular choice.
· Row 44, a satellite-based service that allows for uninterrupted browsing, even over bodies of water.
· LiveTV, used only by Jetblue and sadly lagging behind with extremely limited internet access.

And now, without further ado, Jaunted's 2009-2010 Airline In-Flight WiFi Status Update...

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Tags: Frequent Flyer Miles / Airline Loyalty Progams / Delta / United / → All Tags

Use Leftover Frequent-Flyer Miles To Give Gift Cards

Remember going to visit your Aunt Tillie in Des Moines, or when you had to take that business trip to meet with a new paper company in Scranton? Well if you don’t recall those travel experiences, it’s pretty likely that your frequent flyer account does. If you’re like most, you probably have a few extra miles left over that you might not use or that might expire. If that’s the case you can always use them for a little last minute holiday shopping. Just cash in your old miles for gift cards to your favorite stores and restaurants.

Last week, Delta had a little sale going on through their SkyMiles Marketplace. Gift cards valued at $50 could be had for just 5,000 Skymiles. It’s hard for us to get rid of extra miles when we know they could take us somewhere warm for winter, but 50 bucks is 50 bucks. However, as the program increased in popularity, Delta upped the cost for redemption up to 8,000 miles. Still, 8,000 miles that you forgot about is a decent deal to get a $50 gift card to Old Navy, Olive Garden, Macy’s, or another suburban shopping paradise.

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Tags: New Routes / United / Continental / Cathay Pacific / Iceland Express / Swiss Air / Airline News / Airlines / → All Tags

The Hottest New Airline Routes For 2010, Plus 36 From easyJet

While we're busy speculating on what destinations are next up for Virgin America, here's the need-to-know new routes coming your way:

· easyJet is expanding for summer 2010 on an astonishing 36 new routes. After all, they've got pale Britons to get to the sunny spots! The complete, drool-worthy list is here, but a few highlights are: Basel – Thessaloniki, Rome Fiumicino – Dubrovnik, Ibiza – Venice, Paris Orly – Mykonos and Doncaster – Prague.

· Iceland Express is an LCC we've had our eyes on now for some time, and starting in summer 2010, they'll be flying our way—a few miles away to be more specific, since Newark to Reykjavik is totally happening. Rest assured that we'll be all over this like syrup on some pecan pancakes.

But wait! There's four more...

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Tags: Airline Fees / Airline News / US Airways / Delta / United / Holiday Travel / → All Tags

Three Airlines Become True Grinches By Raising Holiday Surcharges

That's right lady, go ahead and type in our checked baggage fees and holiday surcharges; we now know to avoid your airline in future travels. You see, three airlines have become the grinches of the holiday travel season. Not only are they throwing down the baggage fees, but they're already upping recently-announced peak travel surcharges, some of which continue through to 2010.

The offending airlines are: United, Delta and US Airways. Might as well just throw all your spare change and travel coffee money at them now, with all the little additional nicks they're taking at your wallet...

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Tags: Airline Fees / Airline News / Airlines / Holiday Travel / Delta / American Airlines / US Airways / United / → All Tags

Random Airline Fees Continue Into 2010, Including Super Bowl Travel

Remember all those airline fees that were pouring in a few months ago related to this season’s holiday travel? Well the airlines must have really enjoyed what they were seeing, as they are now looking to tack in some additional charges for days well into 2010. Delta, United, and American Airlines are busy adding these presents to our tickets anytime they think travel will be busier than usual.

The website BestFares.com is reporting that Delta and United have added surcharges to as many as 40 days between now and next May. The fees can be as much as $30 each way depending on distance, time, and other factors that appeal to the airlines. Our favorite airline fee has to be the $50 one-way charge that has now been added to some flights on February 8. In case you don’t have the NFL calendar kicking around, that’s the day after the Super Bowl. Not like we could afford tickets anyway, but we can still be angry about it.

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Tags: Frequent Flyer Miles / Airline Loyalty Progams / Delta / American Airlines / United / Southwest Airlines / Continental / → All Tags

What Kind Of Crazy Loot Can You Score With Your Frequent-Flyer Miles?

Earlier this year we were attempting to cash in some miles from Midwest Airlines accumulated over a lifetime of visiting Mom and Dad, when we noticed something weird: Along with gift certificates and logowear, we were presented with the option of using our surplus miles to buy Amtrak tickets. Well, that's weird: Why would an airline that still handles a generous amount of short-hop regional flights want to remind us that for short distances we could get a guaranteed outlet and more legroom?

Common wisdom holds that frequent-flyer miles just aren't what they used to be, thanks to high occupancies and rampant blackout dates. Not to mention, if you have trouble committing to one airline you probably have a few thousand miles sitting unused with a variety of different companies, with whom you will never fly enough to get the elusive free ticket. So why not cash them in for something wacky instead? With our guide, you'll never forget that trip to Acapulco so long as you have the electric doggy-door opener you bought with its mileage.

After the jump, we break it down by airline

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Tags: Continental Airlines / Continental / Airlines / Airline News / United / Star Alliance / → All Tags

If Continental Combines With United, They'd Oust Delta As World's Largest Carrier

Continental Airlines has made a pretty smooth transition over to the Star Alliance. We’ve been talking about them dumping their former pals at SkyTeam for some new friends for quite a bit, but now the airline might just be rekindling an old flame.

Rumors from the past have once again been brought to the surface regarding Continental Airlines shacking up with United Airlines. Apparently now that the two major carriers are all cozy with one another in their new alliance they might just want to take their relationship to the next level. The head honcho over at Continental said last week that the airline hasn’t totally ruled out a merger with United Airlines. It looks like US Airways might become the third wheel in this potential airline love triangle.

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Tags: United / Airlines / Airline News / Alcohol / Drunk Travel / Pilots / → All Tags

United Airlines Flight Canceled Due To Alleged Drunk Pilot

We know layovers are difficult, and they often drive us to drink. But we’re passengers and it’s perfectly fine for us to knock back a couple before heading to a middle seat in the back of the plane so long as we keep to ourselves. However, it’s definitely not a good idea to have a few adult beverages before the flight if you are the person responsible for flying the airplane. Fortunately for all aboard a United Airlines flight, the pilot was stopped before take off as he allegedly had a little too much to drink.

Over 100 passengers and crew were ready to depart London to head to Chicago aboard Flight 949 yesterday when their flight was abruptly canceled. The cause of the cancellation was due to a pilot who was not fit to fly. The pilot was arrested at London Heathrow Airport and was later released on bail pending the results of alcohol tests. A staff member of United Airlines was purportedly the one that rang the airport police to check things out—good work.

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Tags: Flight Attendants / United / Airline News / In-Flight Fashion / Airline Uniforms / → All Tags

United Will Hit The Runway In 2011 With Cynthia Rowley-Designed Uniforms

It's amazing what you can learn on Twitter on a Friday afternoon, namely that United Airlines is all in a tizzy today over the announcement that a new look is coming for their flight attendants: uniforms by fashion designer Cynthia Rowley. Already, the Chicago Tribune is on the case, discovering that the redesign is the "first time in recent history that United has tapped a well-known designer for the job."

We're not so surprised however; Cynthia Rowley is a Chicago native, and United is not only based in Chicago, but calls the Willis (née Sears) Tower home. The new uniforms won't come until Rowley completes her trip to visit United employees in Chicago, LA, New York and London to ask them for their opinions. And although Rowley is known for her ready-to-wear designs for women, the United designs will cover all bases, literally: "The uniforms will be designed for flight attendants, pilots, customer service representatives and maintenance employees."

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