Consumer Traveler Today: April 14

Consumer Traveler Today: Schumer has it wrong. Exempting baggage charges from excise tax benefits passengers
 
 
Schumer has it wrong. Exempting baggage charges from excise tax benefits passengers
Traveling with pets (but first, a Chihuahua-on-a-plane story)
What we’re reading: Schumer slams Spirit Air, Branson fights BA/AA alliance, re-engineering won’t slow CSeries
BA and Iberia agree to merger. Is this good for international travelers?
“It has now cost me $1,200 to go nowhere”
“The system does that sometimes”— When to ABSOLUTELY reconfirm a return flight
Schumer has it wrong. Exempting baggage charges from excise tax benefits passengers
Posted: 14 Apr 2010 05:58 AM PDT
I hate to be the one to say, “The Emperor has no clothes,” but in this case, a Senator howling about Spirit Air’s proposed carry-on bag fee being encouraged by a tax ruling, is wrong. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has contacted the Treasure Department demanding that they close a tax loophole that encourages airlines to [...]
       

Traveling with pets (but first, a Chihuahua-on-a-plane story)
Posted: 14 Apr 2010 03:10 AM PDT
There's an unwritten rule in travel journalism that any story about pets on planes must contain at least one Chihuahua anecdote. I know, because I've written many of them. So let's get right to Charlotte Coan and her travel companion, Cricket.
       

What we’re reading: Schumer slams Spirit Air, Branson fights BA/AA alliance, re-engineering won’t slow CSeries
Posted: 14 Apr 2010 03:00 AM PDT
Schumer calls for carry-on legislation, Branson considers legal action, re-engineering won't slow CSeries
       

BA and Iberia agree to merger. Is this good for international travelers?
Posted: 13 Apr 2010 08:30 AM PDT
Perhaps even more important that the merger agreements being considered here in the U.S.A., mergers in Europe are changing the landscape of international travel. This consolidation was just punctuated by the BA/Iberia agreement last week. During the past year or so, Lufthansa's purchased Swiss, Austrian, Brussels and bmi. And before that, Air France and KLM created a jointly run airline.
       

“It has now cost me $1,200 to go nowhere”
Posted: 13 Apr 2010 07:30 AM PDT
But Casey never imagined she’s be paying the airline for nothing — and paying it a lot more than $200. Hers is a cautionary tale about the value of frequent flier mileage programs.
       

“The system does that sometimes”— When to ABSOLUTELY reconfirm a return flight
Posted: 13 Apr 2010 06:30 AM PDT
Something didn't go right in the check-in process, whether it was agent error, or whether, as the nice agent I reached tonight said, it was just that "the system does that sometimes."