The Web Warps Boundaries of Business and Consumer Behaviour in Travel
As different types of platforms and functionality are introduced to the web, quite often what was seen as a no-go area in terms of acceptable or normal behaviour is now open season.
Such changes are widespread, affecting both how consumers behave online, especially when armed with the ability to spread around the web instantaneously, as well as…Read more about the Web warping business and consumer behavior boundaries…
(CNN Travel – “Out of the Office”)
Don't do this on a plane! Photo: ThinkStock
Every time you get on an airplane, it’s a crap shoot. No, I’m not talking about safety but rather the person you’ll be sitting next to. All walks of life end up flying at one point or another. Maybe you’re stuck sitting next to someone who doesn’t quite understand that his actions impact others around him. Or maybe YOU are that person.
For that reason, I thought it would be fun to go through the top five things you really shouldn’t do on an airplane. Read more about the five things you should not do on airplanes…
(tnooz)
Anti-Social Seating on Air AsiaX
While KLM and Malaysia Airlines are offering passengers options to pick their seatmates through social network profiles, AirAsia X, in a contrarian move, is giving economy passengers the chance to guarantee that they will sit alone, stretched out across three seats.
The low cost carrier, with routes across Asia, Australia and Europe, introduced an Empty Seat Option in January in partnership with Optiontown, a Massachusetts-based revenue management specialist. Read more about Air AsiaX’s EmptySeat Option.
ExpertFlyer Hot Topics — Where the Rubber Meets the Runway
In our final Hot Topics installment with Cranky Flier and Cranky Concierge, Brett Snyder, we’ll do a deeper dive into government programs that are designed to help keep service in place to smaller cities.
Photo Credit: Robert Rausch for The New York Times
By Brett Snyder
Last week I wrote about why small cities were losing service, but can anything be done to prevent it from happening? When pure economics doesn’t work, the government often tries to step in. That’s what we see here, but the programs in place are not helping much.
The federal government has two subsidy programs. The granddaddy of them all is Essential Air Service (EAS). When the industry was deregulated in the 1970s, there was concern that some smaller cities would lose service. To prevent that from happening, the government authorized funding to keep service in those particular cities that were at risk. The result was the EAS program, and just like a zombie, it refuses to die.
This program works well in keeping lifelines open in Alaska, but in the lower 48, it subsidizes the wrong kind of service. Most of the EAS markets are served with very small turboprops on a relatively infrequent basis. Tickets can end up being pretty pricey. Many of the cities are close to other cities which already have broader service. The result is two big problems. Continue reading →
(Los Angeles Times)
TSA to expand PreCheck Program (Photo by: Mark Boster)
A program that lets preapproved air travelers zip through faster security lines will be expanded this year to 35 of the nation’s largest airports, Transportation Security Administration officials announced Wednesday.
The pilot program, dubbed PreCheck, lets travelers who get TSA clearance avoid what have become the most annoying steps of post-9/11 screening: removing shoes, belt and coats. Read more about TSA PreCheck Program…