Some travel news that does not SUX!!

There was a funny story on MSNBC.com recently about the airport with the worst designator code.... a code that really SUX.

As all of your athletic minded travelers know, all airports have a designator code. We use them on www.airportgyms.com to cross reference the airports with airport gyms and fitness centers, the airlines use them on your tickets & luggage to identify your stops, and ALL travel & airline websites selling tickers use that designator code when entering in your To and From when searching for tickets.

Well, it seems a town in Iowa has been wanting to ditch their designator for sometime. Why? Because it SUXs (sorry couldn't resist). That's right, Sioux City Iowa's Sioux Gateway Airport’s (yep, they have an 'international' airport in Sioux City Iowa it seems) designator code is SUX. It appears that in both 1988 and 2002 they petitioned to have it changed.. and were even given the option of GAY; which they turned down it appears.

Anyway... maybe this means that one day we will be able to provide some airport gyms listings for SUX.. assuming people workout there.

Coalition for an Airline Passengers’ Bill of Rights...

Check out this website. Hopefully someone within the airline industry will come across this website and give it a read, take it to heart, and deliver the message to the industry.

At AirportGyms.com, we think the writing is on the wall for the airlines as people are becoming fed up with unscheduled and lengthy delays and layovers - and they are making it known. This is how it starts... websites, blogs, word-of-mouth and stories all over the internet via the media at large.

FINALLY! The airlines propose a cool idea.

MSNBC.com reported today that the majors in the airline industry will allow travelers to use bar codes sent to their cell phones to check in. It was reported that, "Passengers will register their cell-phone number when buying a ticket and receive a bar code by text message." This would be shown at check-in time (yep, hold up the phone with the bar code) and they would scan the bar code directly from the cell phones screen, doing away with the need for an airline provided paper boarding pass. This should help in their efforts to phase out paper tickets by 2010.

Cool.

Now, one question that comes to mind AISI; will this be sent as an image as it is a bar code? If so, doesn't that mean people would have to have pix ability along with their text ability? Not all people who have text ability have pix ability as it is normally an additional fee, so we wonder how this will work?


P.S. - for those of you not up on TXTn, you could also receive the bar code by e-mail and print it out & bring that to be scanned.

Delta gets stiff on luggage with 'new' rule

MSNBC.com reports that Delta has a new rule... it will require domestic customers flying out of New York's John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport to check their baggage a minimum of 45 minutes prior to departure, 60 minutes for international flights. This new rule goes into effect Oct. 15. They claim this falls in line with requirements they already have in place at Atlanta, Los Angeles, Orlando and Denver.

The story reports that the airline additionally claims it will further work to reduce delays and air traffic at JFK by decreasing the number of flights operating during peak hours and raising the number of flights using larger planes.

Well, let's hope it works. Maybe it means you have to show up so early just to check luggage, you will need an airport gym to workout in to burn off the additional extra time needed to travel with Delta. We wonder what is next as a means of trying to address delays? 2 hours early to check in luggage? Next, the issue will be too many people at the airport hanging out just because they showed up way early to (1) get through security and (2) to check in a bag hours early.

1 in 4.... more great news

Nearly 30 percent of flights were delayed in August, the industry's worst air travel year continues. This was the topic in several news reports today. It seems these stories are far to frequent anymore that I am getting a little bored with posting them to be honest. But hey..... let's pile on.

A report on SignOnSanDiego.com stated, "With 1 in 4 domestic flights arriving late this year, the airline industry is hearing from passengers and the government that patience is wearing thin." They also report that the Transportation Department said 25.2 percent of domestic flights arrived late between January and August – easily the industry's worst performance since comparable data began being collected in 1995.

Some of the other highlights:

The airline industry and the Federal Aviation Administration blame the delays on outdated air traffic control technology, bad weather and increasing passenger traffic. Commercial airlines' use of smaller planes and an increase in general aviation by business travelers also increased air and runway congestion, analysts said.

There were 159 flights kept on the tarmac for more than three hours before taking off in August. Of those, three were delayed on the ground for more than five hours.

The airlines and the FAA are pressing for a new, satellite-based air traffic control system that will cost about $15 billion and take nearly 20 years to complete. Airline traffic is projected to double by 2025

What does all this mean to you? It means you better check for the latest listing of an airport gym or airport fitness center at, in, or near the airport you will be departing from or flying through at www.airportgyms.com

EXERCISE ON THE FLY!!

Ticket Agents Get Their Revenge On You... on the down low

Be nice to your ticket agent or else..... a story on MSNBC.com reports that after interviews with ticket agents, airline employees and travelers, it became clear that some unscrupulous ticket agents can punish 'problem' (as defined by who exactly) passengers in a variety of ways, often without anyone even knowing it.

They can, and do, exact their revenge on travelers by:

bumping them off flights - give them a reason by being overly argumentative, drunk (or smell like you are), too much luggage, too big (yep, size matters)

forcing them to check more luggage by rigidly enforcing luggage size rules

reassigning your seat - say, next to the bathroom, in the middle seat or towards the back of the plane

sending them to a 2ndairy security line from the TSA (denoted by a line of red S's stamped across the top of your ticket)

So, why is this behavior taking place? Well, surely there is some onus on the part of the rude traveler - and believe me, I have seen many. Sometimes I can understand given the number of hoops we have to go through as travellers. But as Ellen Simonetti, a former Delta Air Lines flight attendant who writes the Queen of the Sky blog, says it’s easy to understand why ticket agents resort to these tactics. There’s a sense of powerlessness in the ranks of ticket agents, and these tricks are often their only effective outlet for their frustrations. “It’s a really crummy job,” she says. “So I guess they have to get their revenge once in a while.”

Moral of the story.... be nice