Airline News,  Air Tickets,  Frequent Flyer Programs & Service Fees.

News and Fare deals for airline tickets around the USA and the world  from Tom Smith Travel

Travelers who do not reconfirm their flights are really at risk.

It has happened a couple times this year.  A traveler calls me from the airport or getting ready to go to the airport and he finds out that his flight was cancelled by the airline or it has already left.  According to the passenger contract that each passengers has with the carrier, an airline can change the schedule and/or cancel the flight.  It is the responsibility of the passenger to reconfirm his/her itinerary.  This is so easy to do!  All you need do is call me or email me and I am always happy to reconfirm for you.  Or you can call the airline directly.  For domestic USA flights call 24 hours in advance for International flights call 72 hours in advance.  I wish more travelers would do this….it saves such alot of hassle and frustration!

——-

Icelandair now flies from Seattle to Europe (via Iceland) !

Fantastic Airfares to Europe.

Here are a sampling of the round trip airfares.  Taxes need to be added to these fares.  And there are some super specials for a stopover in beautiful Iceland!

 

 

Seattle to:
Amsterdam from $789*
Frankfurt from $719*
Paris from $769*
Helsinki from $909*
London from $699*
Stockholm from $829*
Oslo from $829*
Copenhagen from $849*

Travel Period:
Nov 13 – Dec 11

*plus taxes.

————————————————————————————————-

When Andrew Shrage discovered that his seatback TV wasn’t working on his JetBlue flight from Chicago to Boston, he didn’t wait until he landed to complain to the airline. Shrage, an editor at the website MoneyCrashers.com, tweeted @JetBlue before the plane took off, and the airline responded—with a $50 voucher.

 

Twitter may be changing how we complain to the airlines, but there’s still a lot to complain about. According to the latest Department of Transportation (DOT) report, the agency received nearly 3,600 complaints about airlines from January to June, 2011.

 

That’s a lot of complaints, even if it is an improvement from the nearly 4,000 received over the same period last year. Not surprisingly, complaints about flight delays and cancellations, rude or incompetent service, and baggage handling led the list.

 

But what these stats don’t tell you is that legions of consumers are now voicing their complaints directly with the airlines via Twitter. And the airlines—or at least some of them—are listening, responding, and in some cases being proactive and fixing the issues.

 

Of course, anyone can tweet anything; lodging an official complaint with the DOT means you have a serious gripe. Here are the U.S. airlines the DOT says have had the most—and least—complaints.

 

#10 Skywest Airlines

 

.77 complaints per 100,000 passengers

 

The largest independently owned regional airline boasts a low complaint rate even though it flew almost 12 million passengers over the first six months of 2011.

 

#9 Atlantic Southeast Airlines

 

.96 complaints per 100,000 passengers

 

Atlantic Southeast will merge with ExpressJet later this year. Ideally, the newly formed airline will have a Twitter presence, because this airline, which operates close to 1,000 flights every day in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean, does not.

 

#8 ExpressJet Airlines

 

1.01 complaints per 100,000 passengers

 

Express Jet has slipped from a rate of .70 last year, and its Twitter presence is an anemic placeholder. Let’s hope that when it merges with Atlantic Southeast later this year, a more dynamic social media presence will be part of the business plan.

 

#7 JetBlue Airways

 

1.07 complaints per 100,000 passengers

 

When JetBlue got on the Twitter bandwagon in the spring of 2007—one of the first big brands to jump in—its business plan was that it wanted to help customers. And according to the DOT, there are enough complaints to keep its customer-service folks busy.

 

#6 Delta Airlines

 

1.27 complaints per 100,000 passengers

 

Hands down, Delta holds the title of most improved. A year ago, it was ranked the worst airline for complaints in virtually every category. Now that the bumpy merger with Northwest has emerged from the turbulence, Delta has cut its complaint rate nearly in half.

 

#5 American Airlines

 

1.50 complaints per 100,000 passengers

 

American logged 636 complaints from January to June, 2011. With nearly a quarter of a million Twitter followers, though, the airline has upped its game to try and handle problems before they become complaints.

 

#4 American Eagle Airlines

 

1.67 complaints per 100,000 passengers

 

The country’s largest regional carrier reported the worst on-time rate and the highest flight cancellation rates, which certainly had a lot to do with its shocking jump from a respectable complaint rate of .87 over the same period in 2010 to a whopping 1.67 this year.

 

#3 Continental Airlines

 

1.70 complaints per 100,000 passengers

 

Flight problems and customer service issues are the bane of Continental, and its complaint rate edged up from 2010.

 

#2 US Airways

 

1.73 complaints per 100,000 passengers

 

Flight issues and customer service remain major problems for this carrier. It’s routinely at the top of the barrel when it comes to complaints, despite the fact that it carries less than half the passengers that Southwest does.

 

#1 United Airlines

 

2.01 complaints per 100,000 passengers

 

United didn’t fare well last year either—coming in at No. 2—but this year it grabs the title of worst airline for passenger complaints.

 

For those travelers who are members of a frequent flyer program with any airline, or for that matter any frequent guest with a hotel chain or car rental chain we are always happy to add your membership number to your reservation.  It is the goal of many of these programs to NOT give you your miles so you need to be aware of this when reading your statement from the mileage program.  If you have not been credited with your miles or stay or car rental you will need to proove that you in fact did fly, sleep or drive!  The only way that these programs will credit your miles should they not show it on your statement,  is if you provide them with proof, hard copy proof.  We will be happy to provide you the hard copies of your passenger receipt or reservation and in fact we do every time we make reservations and ticket you as our client.If you have a frequent flyer membership number in your personal profile with Tom Smith Travel it will automatically be posted to your air, car or hotel reservation.  Just give us your Frequent Flyer information and we will always add it to your reservations. We can however provide you with the exact proof they need.  You will need to deal with the program directly yourself and in some cases we have seen our clients have their attorney write a letter on their behalf to get their miles credited to their frequent flyer account.  Honestly, the airlines really do not want to give you your miles so you have to be diligent.  We will help you all we can by providing you copies of the passenger receipt of your airline ticket.  We cannot provide you with copies of your boarding passes (you receive these when you board an aircraft),  Nor can we provide you with copies of your car rental agreement ( you receive this when you pick up your car) Nor can we provide you with a copy of your receipt when you check out of a hotel (you need to get a receipt when you check out).  We can give you addresses to write to and the correct place to plea your case.  The good rule is to remember;  never to throw away any paperwork we send you or you are given while traveling until after you are back home and you see your miles credited on your frequent flyer account. The airline will quickly deny you the miles if you cannot produce the hard copy. Tom Smith Travel does not make reservations, search flights or ticket Frequent Flyer Award tickets or upgrades.  We are happy to refer you to a company that only does award travel:   www.bookyouraward.com  they are the experts and can take care of all of your award travel.  contact them at:   gary@bookyouraward.com

-

Why should you use a Virtuoso travel advisor?

With global connections and unparalleled expertise, we save you valuable time, and transform do-it-yourself trips into extraordinary customized travel experiences.  From everything from weekend getaways to trips of a lifetime, count on your Virtuoso travel agent.

Virtuoso travel professionals specialize in completely customized vacations for their clients in addition to a full range of travel services.  Whether you spend your vacation on this planet or beyond, trust a Virtuoso affiliated travel advisor to make a world of difference.  The world’s finest travel agencies and advisors are Virtuoso.