Which Internet Provider Is The Best For Streaming Netflix?
How well you'll be able to stream season two of Breaking Bad on Netflix may depend largely on which company you're paying to provide internet service to your home. Netflix has just released the results of its own study on network performance and the results may not surprise you.
More »
Airlines Waiving Re-Booking Fees With Hurricane Irene On The Way
A really nasty woman named Irene is about to swoop in from the tropics and potentially screw up air travel for everyone. So in advance of the hurricane, many airlines are playing nice with their re-booking fees and policies for flights to and from destinations affected by the storm.
More »
An Airline Actually Reduced A Fee
Airlines have tacked on more and more fees over the years as a way to recoup costs without having to raise their base fares as much, but Frontier has broke with these seemingly relentless upward tradition and actually reduced some fees this week. Thunderclap!
More »
Frontier Takes Over Our Internet Service, Slows It Waaaaay Down
As Verizon builds their FiOS network, they've sold off their landline and DSL business in many markets to Frontier. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it has been for Nick and other former Verizon customers in his town in West Virginia. Their connection speed fell to one-sixth of what it was with Verizon. The speed has improved recently, but they've traded consistent slowness for intermittent outages. Nick can now stay online for about two minutes at a time.
More »
E-Trade, Borders And Frontier May Vanish This Year
Get ready to say goodbye to the E-Trade baby and Frontier Airlines. According to 24/7 Wall Street, the two businesses are among their 10 picks for companies that will not survive the year. Others that may not be long for this world: Sara Lee, Gateway and Office Depot.
More »
How Do Airlines Compare On Fees?
It's hard to keep track of all the extra fees airlines have invented to pad a ticket purchase, especially since they keep introducing new ones; USA TODAY says revenue from added fees have jumped
nearly 16% from a year ago. The newspaper reviewed fees from 13 airlines in the U.S. and compiled this
handy reference chart of current fee schedules, to make comparison shopping a little bit easier. As expected, Southwest continues to be one of the best values.
More »
What's The Best Airline For Your Pet To Travel?
Sometimes you don't have a choice—you have to fly with your pet. In memory of
Paco, the dog Delta Airlines lost back in May, here's Petfinder.com's updated list of the best airlines for traveling with kritters. All of the recommended carriers have changed from last year. Spoiler alert: Delta is not on it.
More »
Your Complete Big-Ass Guide To Annoying Airline Fees
As reported earlier today, the Government Accountability Office thinks
airlines could do a lot more to be transparent about the fees they charge. And buried about 45 pages deep in the GAO's report are two very helpful tables detailing fees for checked bags and other items that U.S.-based airlines charge extra for.
More »
Passenger Says Frontier Airlines Used Fake Weather Delay To Avoid Compensating Passengers
Scott says his flight from San Antonio to Denver was delayed last night because "the weather computer was not working," but two hours later that excuse was replaced with a "weather-related delay" in Denver. The problem is, Denver was sunny and clear at the time.
More »
Hawaiian Airlines Tops Quality Study, American Eagle Falls Flat
For the second year in a row, Hawaiian Airlines has topped a study that ranks 18 commercial carriers according to a formula that accounts for everything from on-time arrivals/departures to baggage handling to customer complaints. On the bottom end of the rankings was American Eagle.
More »
Midwest Airlines To Take Frontier Name, Still Offer Cookies
Since they both were acquired by the same holding company last year, it's been an inevitability that both Midwest Airlines and Frontier would eventually end up flying under the same brand, but it remained to be seen whether one would fold into the other or there would be a completely new name. That mystery ended this morning with Republic announcing that, as of today, Midwest will now be part of the Frontier family.
More »
What's The Best Airline For Bringing My Bike?
After yesterday's story about
cyclists being unhappy with United's exorbitant fee to check bikes on their planes, the folks over at Bicycling wrote to share their breakdown of the best and worst airlines for when you're taking your wheels with you.
More »
Frontier Communications Has To Pay Back Early Termination Fees
—>If you signed up for Frontier Communications' Price Protection Plan—a combo phone and broadband package—between January 2007 and September 2008, and you canceled the agreement and were charged an early termination fee (ETF), you may be getting some cash back. More »
Frontier's Computer System Lands Unaccompanied Minor In Security Room For An Hour
—>Ok, here's a crazy idea: if you're an airline, and you have a form with room to list two adults who are authorized to pick up an unaccompanied minor, wouldn't it make sense to have room for both names in your computer system? Because whoever is running Frontier Airline's system doesn't seem to think so! Kayla's mother spent a frantic hour, IDs in hand, trying to prove that she was authorized to meet her 13-year-old daughter at the gate. The form accompanying her daughter clearly had both her and Kayla's father listed, but the computer listed only the father's name. While Frontier sorted out the confusion, Kayla spent an hour waiting in Denver Airport's security room. More »
Frontier Charges Up To $10.80 Per Gigabyte For High Speed Internet
—>Frontier Communications, a Rochester, NY based DSL provider, has recently added language in their acceptable use policy that caps "reasonable" high speed internet usage at 5GB per month, after which they may "suspend, terminate or apply additional charges to the Service." Metered-internet-hating blog "Stop the Cap" calculated that at Frontier's most expensive price (for those who do not accept a multi-year contract) the ISP is charging a whopping $10.80 per gigabyte. More »
The Ultimate "Rule 240" List
—>Some airlines still call it "Rule 240" and others a "contract of carriage" but no matter what the name, it still means the same thing: power to the traveler. But which airlines still use it and how much does it protect a traveler? More »
Frontier Airlines has increased the fee for transporting antlers, yes, antlers, from $75 to $100. [Frontier via Rick Seaney] More »
Dealing With Frontier's Bankruptcy
Now that the airline with the fuzzy animals on their planes has also declared bankruptcy, you might be in the same position as reader Scott. Scott had Frontier cancel his flight and send him an email with a link to get a refund. While it's nice that Frontier made the refund option easy, a refund doesn't get Scott any closer to his destination, and a second ticket would cost Scott a bit more than he initially paid. Thanks to a little bit of research and 35 minutes on the phone, Scott was able to get Frontier to rebook him on a different airline. Find out how, inside. More »
Frontier Airlines Insists Man Who Missed Flight Was On Plane
—> Matthew is the center of a Hitchcockian mystery over at Frontier Airlines. He missed his flight from New Mexico to Texas with a connection through Denver (there was a total of 4 segments to the flight), and when he tried to rebook the flight and pay the change fee, Frontier told him he'd already flown to Denver. So who took the flight? One of the flight crew's friends? A woman too pretty for Southwest? A killer? There's probably a killer roaming the streets of Denver now.
Mary at Frontier keeps promising Matthew she'll look into it, but "after weeks and several calls," nothing's been fixed, and Matthew still can't rebook the flight he already purchased. More »
Frontier Waives $100 Ticket Change Fee Due To College Exam
—>Matt writes: "Back in December, we had booked a family trip in May for the four of us to Costa Rica to celebrate my sisters graduation from college (and also a long-overdue family vacation). Unfortunately, after booking the tickets, the final exam schedule for my college was posted, and of course I had an exam which conflicted with the travel dates. We needed to push the reservation back exactly one week, and had concluded that it would probably require the obligatory $100 change fee per ticket. Ouch." More »
Frontier Kicks Grandmother Off Plane, Claims Her Pre-Approved Pet Carrier Was 2" Too Long
—>Frontier airlines kicked a cancer-surviving grandmother in her sixties, Julie Fishback, off their plane because the pet carrier holding her Jack Russell Terrier was two-inches too long. This surprised Julie, who had made the two-hour trek to the airport several days before to confirm that she would be allowed to fly with the "universally accepted" carry-on pet carrier she had recently purchased. More »
Denver International Airport Reassures Passengers That There Have Been "Major Changes"
—>Last year Denver International airport closed for 45 hours when a blizzard descended on our nation's 6th largest airport. Now the airport and the airlines that operate there would like you to know that they've made a lot of changes. More »
Attention Flyers: Your Pilots May Be Asleep
—>A controversial hunk of data from NASA released recently had the following terrifying anecdote: On a red-eye flight from Baltimore to Denver not one but both pilots fell asleep. As in not awake. More »
Don't Fly Without A Copy Of Rule 240
—>If it's the airline's fault that your flight is delayed or canceled or you missed your connection, whip out a copy of their Rule 240. More »