Frequent Flyers, Frequent Frustrations

It didn’t surprise me to learn that frequent flyers are having a horrible time redeeming their miles for free tickets on just about every major carrier.  Rick Seaney over at Farecompare.com (a site that helps travelers find cheap flights and discount airline tickets) says airlines are operating at near full capacity and their revenue managers don’t want to give up seats for free.

I understand that philosophy but remember Frequent Flyer miles are part of a REWARD program.  Designed for the airlines best customers to use those miles as rewards.  Instead it causing passengers major headaches just trying to book those flights.

The reward programs are big business.  The airlines sell those miles to credit card companies to give to their customers.  They recieve billions in return.  The bottom line is too many passengers now have to many miles and everyone wants to use those miles for the same trip to Europe or Hawaii.

The expert advice is to book your frequent flyer miles trips early and be flexible.  Imagine that, “be flexible” when flying, that’s a novel concept.  Even when I fly from here to Austin, I’m prepared to waste an entire day in the airport.

To be fair, most travelers we spoke with actually said the only airline that does a nice job with their frequent flyer rewards program is Southwest Airlines.   Too bad flying anywhere out of Dallas on Southwest is such a hassle.  But that is about to change once the all those old Wright Ammendment restrictions are totally lifted.

UPDATE: Airlines Fly With Not Enough Fuel

The story I did on Airline Pilots complaining that their airlines were forcing them to fly with “Minimum Fuel” requirements is now getting national attention.  I am happy MSNBC.COM is featuring the story that has peaked the interest of lawmakers in Washington.

Here’s the deal, with the price of Jet Fuel skyrocketing airlines can save money by carrying less fuel.  It means the plane is lighter and burns less fuel in the process.  But pilots we spoke with insist it is causing many planes to be rerouted and diverted more often.  Their example, when they carry :Minimum Fuel” they don’t have a large enough reserve to circle an airport over and over.  That means they need to land at another airport simply because if they don’t, they will run out of fuel.

That seems unacceptable.  A commercial pilot I spoke with said, “you don’t want to be at minimum fuel, and then not have the landing gear come down.”

At the very least the problem is inconveniencing passengers by forcing them to land at an airport that was not their final destination. 

To watch my story, click here.

Trouble in the Skies, More Like Trouble on the Ground

 

 

As a traveler, it makes me steaming mad that Southwest, American and now Delta Airlines are grounding flights over safety concerns.  What’s going on at these airlines that management would allow safety inspections to slip through the cracks.And what about the FAA.  People are quietly saying FAA inspectors were so close with their airline counterparts that the inspections were just rubber stamped.  I don’t know if that’s true, but it all has me baffled and even confused by what is going on.  We fly in these planes, at 30,000 feet no less!  Our lives are in the airlines hands.  How could they take a chance with safety?  And even if management had no idea FAA safety inspections were not being done properly, that’s nearly just as bad as if they did know, but turned a blind eye.

American says the problem is possibly with wiring in the wheel wells of MD-80s.  Mechanics looking over the planes everyday don’t notice this stuff?  Unreal.

But what really grinds my gears is the fact that American Airlines choose not to comment on camera about all this.  I truly believe American  has an obligation to tell it’s passengers, through the media, what is going on.  When they zip up tighter then Jacque Cousteau’s wet suit, you have to wonder, what are they afraid of, and is there something more going on?