It’s been an interesting few months for this site. Late last year we introduced a crew of volunteer moderators and a few simple rules of engagement.
But like everything else, both the rules and the roles played by the moderators evolved.
Today, I’m proposing to clarify some of the rules of engagement and to more clearly define what the moderators do.
Until now, we’ve had a very succinct comment policy and no real definition of moderator duties.
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Your airline ticket isn’t what it seems to be.
I’m reminded of that whenever I hear from readers like Heidi Fox. Her husband tried to switch his United Airlines ticket from Chicago to Orlando to an earlier flight on the same day, and an airline representative assured him he’d only have to pay a $75 change fee.
But what the rep apparently didn’t say is that Fox’s husband would have to shell out a $744 fare difference, too.
“It was only after he received the emailed receipt that he was made aware of the $744 cost differential,” she says.
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Ryan Ludtke’s family vacation in Fort Myers, Fla., ended on a bad note when they flew back to Chicago on Spirit Airlines.
Oh, I know what you’re thinking: Of course it did. He was flying on Spirit Airlines.
Just the mention of the words “baggage” and “rule” in the same sentence is enough to raise the blood pressure of the average air traveler.
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If airfares confuse you as much as they confuse me, then I have some good news: Several new rules are going to make it easier to calculate the total cost of a ticket.
Maybe.
Starting Jan. 26, a new U.S. Transportation Department rule will require airlines to include all taxes and fees in their advertised fares. Other provisions of the rule — banning post-purchase price increases and allowing passengers to hold certain reservations without payment or to cancel them without penalty for 24 hours after booking — will take effect Jan. 24.
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You don’t have to fly frequently to know the airline industry has some of the most ridiculous rules in the travel business. But if you fly enough, you may not have to follow all of them.
For example: Most passengers are herded through boarding areas in large, disorganized groups. Unless you’re an elite-level frequent flier; then you skip through a “breezeway” or over a red carpet, away from the long line, directly to your preferred seat. Frequent fliers also get to shortcut the lengthy security line at some airports, and they don’t have to pay many checked luggage fees and other surcharges.
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More often than they do.
A majority of travelers (69 percent) said change fees and penalties should be suspended when bad weather prevented “a significant number” of travelers from from reaching the airport, hotel or port. Slightly fewer (62 percent) also said they should put the rules on “hold” when bad weather prevents the travel company from operating safely.
More than one-third (35 percent) said the rules should be waived when bad weather prevents an individual traveler from reaching the airport, hotel or port. And only 3 percent said a weather-related exception should never be made.
Your comments reflected the responses on the survey. Reader Jim Johansen said rules should be bent on a case-by-case basis.
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