Unless they arrange travel for others or travel a lot themselves, most people tend to assume that all airlines ticket websites are created equal — all showing the same availability and fares. Not so.
At five in the morning, we left for San Jose airport, five bags to be checked and five carry-ons in tow, two adults and two kids leaving for a mostly annual vacation. I alone knew that the two weeks were going to be spent in Virginia, close to the Shenandoah National Forest.
The first leg of [...]
Dear American Airlines:
I object to being charged $100.00 (plus $5.00 in tax) for a frequent flier award travel change fee.
First, headlines during the past two months have touted American Airlines elimination of $100 change fees for mileage travelers. It isn’t until you actually try to change a flight that one discovers the unjust fee is [...]
I have a complaint about the way my family and I were treated at the American Airlines Admirals Club in San Jose, CA on November 17, 2003.
My parents and I were ticketed for American Airlines non-stop flight 268 from San Jose, CA to Boston, MA with a scheduled departure of 1:30 p.m. We arrived at [...]
Here it is, 5:00 p.m., more than three and a half hours after the supposed take-off time of American flight 268, and we are still sitting at San Jose’s Norman Mineta International (stupid name, I’ve always thought) at gate A9. First, our flight was delayed until 3:00 due to “mechanical problems”, then came the announcement [...]
Another space shuttle gone.
I was a senior in high school when the Challenger explosion took place in January of 1986, and the news came between classes as I headed to Ms. Wendell’s chemistry class. I distinctly remember hearing the news as I crossed the Los Gatos High basketball courts heading towards the small flight of [...]
Dear American Airlines:
This letter is a complaint concerning one of your most recent policies.
Apparently your policymakers have not experienced the difficulties of traveling with small children, as the airline personnel assisting with ticketing and boarding no longer allow those passengers needing extra time to preboard or even those with handicaps and wheelchairs early access to [...]
On June 4, 1996, the maiden flight of the European Space Agency Ariane 501 rocket engaged its self-destruct mechanism 39 seconds after takeoff, disintegrating itself and its four-satellite payload.
