Sensible traveler Destinations Where they went Travel gear Student travelAir traveler assistance, in writing
By Bruce Mohl, Globe Staff, 06/30/02
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Sensible traveler Destinations Where they went Travel gear Student travel |
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It's not exactly light reading, but it provides insights on when to travel, which flights to avoid, and which airlines have the best (and worst) records for on-time performance, baggage handling, and overbooking.
"Travelers are not always at the mercy of the airlines. There are strategies that you can use to lessen your chances of being stranded in the airport," said Jon Douglas, news editor at Smarter Living Inc., a Cambridge travel information company.
The latest government report (www.dot.gov/airconsumer) indicates that the later in the day you leave or arrive at Logan International Airport, the more likely you are to experience a delay. Approximately 88 percent of all departures and 87 percent of arrivals are on time at Logan, but the probability of being on time declines during the afternoon and early evening.
For example, on-time departures are consistently in the low 90 percent range during the early morning, but start falling in the afternoon, hitting a low of 74 percent between 6 and 7 p.m. In other words, nearly three out of every 10 flights depart late during that one-hour period.
On-time arrivals follow the same pattern, hovering in the 91 to 96 percent range in the morning and falling to the low 80s in late afternoon and early evening. A flight is defined as on time if it lands or takes off less than 15 minutes after the scheduled time.
Phil Orlandella, spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority at Logan, said the delays in the afternoon and early evening are caused by heavy traffic, primarily the arrival and subsequent departures of seven international flights.
The airlines with the best on-time arrival rates at Logan during April were Continental (92 percent) and United (91 percent). The worst records were held by Northwest and American Eagle, at 83 and 84 percent, respectively.
Interestingly, Logan's overall on-time performance was about the same as T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, R.I. (85 percent of arrivals and 89 percent of departures were on time), and better than Manchester (N.H.) Airport (82 percent and 88 percent), even though both the smaller airports are dominated by Southwest Airlines, which over the years has had one of the best on-time records in the industry.
. . . American Express recently offered its cardholders a baggage protection plan - $9.95 a trip for insurance that covers luggage, laptops, jewelry, and cameras. The credit card giant's sales pitch footnoted the air travel consumer report, noting there were more than 2.5 million baggage complaints on domestic flights last year.
Yet the report itself indicates the probability of having your baggage lost, damaged, delayed, or pilfered is low. For the 10 largest airlines, there were 3.69 baggage reports per 1,000 passengers in April. The odds of filing a complaint were slightly higher with American Airlines (4.2 per 1,000) and Northwest (4.7), and much higher with American Eagle (10).
. . . All airlines overbook their flights, to guard against empty seats when passengers fail to show up. When an airplane has more passengers trying to get on than it has seats, most airlines first offer financial incentives to get travelers to voluntarily agree to take the next flight. If that doesn't work, some travelers may be involuntarily denied boarding.
According to the government report, involuntary denied boardings are rare, less than one for every 10,000 passengers. At Southwest and Continental, the odds are slightly higher, 1.1 and 1.85 per 10,000 passengers, respectively.
The two airlines handle involuntarily bumped passengers differently. Continental agrees to put its passengers on the next available flight on any airline that is a party to the so-called interline agreement.
Most of the big airlines are parties to that agreement, but Southwest and other budget carriers have generally opted out, saying the costs of participation (airlines must pay walk-up fares to the airline carrying their passengers) are too high.
"We would end up paying thousands of dollars while they would pay far less," said a Southwest spokeswoman. "Generally, we're able to accommodate the passenger on the next Southwest flight."
If no flight is available that day, however, the passenger has to wait.
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Parking coupons
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Proving once again that there's a Web site for just about everything, anyone soon to be parking a car at an airport may want to check out Longtermparking.com.
The site is basically an advertising vehicle for private parking lots adjacent to airports. There are maps showing where the lots are located and coupons good for discounts.
At Logan, Logan Park & Go is offering a coupon worth a second day of parking for free, a $15 value. At T.F. Green, Preflight Airport Parking is offering a 20 percent coupon off posted rates of $11 per day and $49 per week. At Manchester Airport, no private lots were advertising on the site.
Bruce Mohl can be reached by
e-mail at mohl@globe.com.