Consumer Traveler Today:

Royal splash – luggage goes overboard
What we’re reading: AA/Delta bid to be rejected by JAL, 737 inspections, developments in Vegas
Airline baggage fees soaring again
Last week’s TSA incidents par for the course
Southwest bucks trend of falling traffic and loads
Vacations are a necessity, not a luxury
Royal splash – luggage goes overboard
Posted: 13 Jan 2010 04:18 AM PST

Stacey and Jason Bandish were looking forward to some much needed sun and fun on their September Caribbean cruise. The Pennsylvania couple boarded Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas in Port Canaveral in a festive mood and felt at ease when they handed over all their luggage to the porter, which would later be delivered to their stateroom. As the ship headed off into the sunset the festive mood turned into frustration when their luggage never showed up.
        

What we’re reading: AA/Delta bid to be rejected by JAL, 737 inspections, developments in Vegas
Posted: 13 Jan 2010 03:59 AM PST
American and Delta's bids to be rejected by JAL as they move toward bankruptcy, Boeing 737 inspections ordered by the FAA, new developments coming to Las Vegas this year
        

Airline baggage fees soaring again
Posted: 12 Jan 2010 03:39 PM PST
Led by US (I've never seen a fee I don't like) Airways who hiked luggage fees late last year, baggage fees are taking off again as Delta and Continental join in the money grab. Even with Southwest showing that no baggage fees is good business, the legacy airlines are marching into the world of increased fees and less passengers. It won't take legacy airline passengers too long to catch on to this disguised fare hike.
        

Last week’s TSA incidents par for the course
Posted: 12 Jan 2010 08:15 AM PST
A paragraph in a Wall Street Journal article caught my eye as I was collecting information about the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) frenzy following the Christmas bomber. It seemed to me that the evacuation at Newark, honey found in luggage in Bakersfield, drunks in planes above Colorado Springs and unruly passengers on the way to Hawaii were extraordinary.
        

Southwest bucks trend of falling traffic and loads
Posted: 12 Jan 2010 07:15 AM PST
It is interesting that the only airline not charging for luggage these days and airlines focused on customer service are increasing load factors and traffic. What is Southwest's special elixir to have a load factor jump by five times any of its competitors?
        

Vacations are a necessity, not a luxury
Posted: 12 Jan 2010 06:15 AM PST
Some people I know, when they are really stressed out, take an afternoon, evening or full day off. The next day, they are back to work. Others kick it for a weekend, and then dive back into the daily routine on Monday morning. I’m flipping through my mental rolodex of friends, associates and family and, to my horror, I realize that I don’t know anyone who really takes vacations.