Rick Seaney, co-founder of FareCompare.com - is a world-class air travel expert.
FareCompare.com presides over a kingdom of sophisticated software that searches out fares and destinations at a billion combinations per query - while keeping track of 500 airlines serving more than 270,000 markets around the globe.
And all of Rick's data is updated continuously - in real-time.
No wonder he's the media's go-to guy for all things air travel. He's got the answers. And he loves to share his knowledge.
That's why Rick and the team created FareCompare.com - to help everyone become an air travel expert, and get the best deals first -- every time they fly.
My theory when flights are late is always: if it were safe for us to be in the air, we’d be in the air already. If airlines were pressured to eliminate delays, I would be afraid that safety would be compromised.
I’d rather be safe, late, and treated fairly when delays are necessary.
If I’m going to be delayed, fine, but at least have employees who are understanding and empathetic. Nothing worse than an airline employee who could give a darn.
And you asked, am I ready to pay more for flights when supply goes down and demand stays steady??? That’s when I begin driving more or travelling less (or choosing an airlines other than American).
It would be interesting to see how the delays are going to be regulated. Yes, some delays are avoidable. I’d like to know how Uncle Sam is going to change the whether so that we don’t see Thunderstorms in the NE and at ORD in the summer. Good luck with that.
Seriously, though…American’s announcement is interesting, but more than anything, a bunch of PR which makes it look good, but may not really have much of an impact.
Take selling fewer seats for example. What does this mean? Since flights at popular routes are often severely oversold, does this mean they will oversell just a few seats. Are they really going to leave seats “open” if they have the opportunity to sell them. And even if they are able to leave a few seats open – who is this really going to benefit if irrdgular opps do happen. It means a few of the airlines more frequent flyers will get out faster, because they get priority, usually. Meanwhile, the ones who fly just once or twice a year, or even just a few times, are going to be the ones who will still be impacted.
I wish I had an idea of to what a good solution would be. I’m not sure that this is it, exactly, though.
I would be willing to pay more if airlines gave us more legroom, wider seats, and better food. What good is it if you pay a low price to get where you’re going, but you arrive unrested and irritable? Ten hour long flights to Europe are unbearable and, with getting older, unhealthy to sit in these cramped conditions for so long.
People will pay for comfort, so if airlines removed a row of seats or two to make travel more pleasent, they could up the price to cover the loss and most people would still fly. The airlines would make the same amount of money and passengers would be more comfortable – everybody wins. Why do we need to be herded onto a plane like cattle? All to make an extra buck? It just doesn’t make sense to me.
I understand delays when the weather is bad or because of mechanical issues but when airlines schedule 40 takeoffs in an hour, knowing full well that the capacity is 30, that’s unnecessary & wastes everybody’s time. I’m also annoyed that flights are overbooked. If they’ve sold the ticket & the person doesn’t show, take off anyway. They’ve already gotten paid & they’ll save fuel on that flight because it will be lighter!
Folks, I work for a major airline, and I chuckle when you say that you will pay more for more legroom, better food, wider seats, etc. A few years ago, we invited our “Platinum and Gold Medallion” passengers to a luncheon to garner their suggestions as to how we can improve our customer service. They suggested these same things, plus better airport lounges, better onboard entertainment systems, faster check-in procedures, improvements to frequent flier programs, and so on. My airline spent millions based on these suggestions only to learn that the customer will only follow the lowest priced ticket. So based on our experience – yes, you would certainly like for us to provide all of these things to you; BUT, you will fly AirTran if they have a cheaper ticket.
I always flew AirTran and always had a great experience.
They pulled out of DFW; therefore, last year & this year I flew American to Vegas. Both years I had terrible experiences. This year 9/10/07 was the worst. My 9:55am
flight was cancelled from Terminal D, got transferred to another flight in Terminal A to leave at 10:55am. That flight was delayed so since there were over 85 stand bys, they put me on another flight leaving Terminal D at 2:45 pm. That flight finally left but my luggage was back in Dallas and finally arrived in Vegas & picked up at 9:00pm, but arrived at my hotel at 10:00pm.
Yes, I’m a once or twice a year flyer but does that mean I should be penalized because I DO LOOK for low rates? I wouldn’t mind if they “overbooked” a few seats to account for cancellations; but seems like there’s always enough “stand-bys” to handle the empty seats.
I also think I’d rather be on the ground and safe than in the air and sorry with mechcanical problems or weather, etc. but there seems to be more & more mechanical problems lately. Is this because the planes are getting older? Or not being maintained? I’m not in the business, so I really don’t know. I do know it seems like there’s more planes waiting to take off and standing in line for quite a long time.
Wish AirTran was back.
I don’t fly a lot, but with all the problems being published in the last few months, I don’t even want to fly anymore. Would rather drive to my destination if at all feasible no matter what the ticket price!!