Have a complaint about air travel? Maybe your flight was delayed several hours or you lost your luggage. Now, the government is providing you with an easier way to vent about your frustrations. A new website - airconsumer.dot.gov - was unveiled by the Department of Transportation earlier this month and it includes a link for you to file a complaint online.
The DOT puts out an air travel consumer report each month that documents complaints by airline and category. November's report shows the number one complaint is about baggage (they received 117 that month) followed by flight delays, cancellations and misconnections.
Out of all the United States airlines, Delta received the most complaints (95). Southwest Airlines received the lowest number of complaints (14). But according to consumer groups, actual problems occur much more frequently than the report lets on. Many people may not be aware that they can complain or may not feel that it is worth the time. As a matter of fact, according to Cleveland.com, there were about 122,000 passenger reports of baggage incidents in November. That's over 1,000 times more than the number of complaints.
Tom Parsons of BestFares.com hopes more people will file complaints, "Hopefully now that we're becoming more Internet savvy, more people will take the time to make complaints."
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the website is part of an effort by the DOT to ensure airline passengers are treated fairly. Over the last few months, the DOT has had to pay some large fines for failing to comply with denied-boarding compensation rules. Passengers denied boarding due to oversold flights are supposed to be paid 200% of their fare to the next stopover or if need be, their final destination, up to $800.
In addition to filing complaints, users will find the DOT's aviation consumer website features guidance on aviation rules and statues, advice on airlines that have stopped operating or filed for bankruptcy protection, and several air travel tips. Several airlines have also been making it easier for consumers to complain using Twitter. Continental, Southwest, AirTran Airways and Frontier Airlines all have a Twitter presence.
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Anybody who has ever traveled before knows that if you are planning on traveling by plane, you should check the price of tickets regularly. One day they could be just the price you want and the next they could jump by $100. While nobody likes the fluctuations in airline tickets, there is one thing they hate worse. No, it isn't airport security, that is a whole other post. No, what people hate is when airlines permanently increase the price of their tickets, and at least two major U.S. airlines are trying to do that now. That's right, at least two major airlines in the United States are attempting to raise the price of round trip tickets once again by $10 on some domestic routes in order to counter the rising costs of fuel. US Airways initiated the fare increase late Thursday on most of their routes. Delta Airlines later followed suit by raising prices mostly on routes where they competed with discount airlines. JetBlue and Virgin America have already matched the increase according to Jaime Baker, an airline analyst. JetBlue, in addition to raising fares, also extended travel periods for the increased fares to include dates before and after the peak summer travel season. AirTran is another airline company which plans on raising fares on some of their routes. Their increase will not include those to and from Atlanta, where they compete with Delta. This marks the first time AirTran has attempted a major fare increase in several months, according to Baker. Apparently airlines have tried widespread price increases a total of nine times this year, six of which stuck. The last three times failed in a matter of days because other airlines did not increase their fares too. One certain way to tell if this latest attempt will be successful is to see if Southwest Airlines joins in and raises their fares as well. Southwest carries more passengers than any other airline company in the United States and also regularly undercuts the fees of other major airlines. Oil has now risen above $110 per barrel, which is a 21% increase in cost this year alone. Rick Seaney, a fare watcher, points out that the airlines successfully raised prices four times in April of 2008, a time when oil prices increased from $102 to $117. In this month alone oil has risen $4 per barrel. Source: MSNBC - U.S. airlines attempt to raise fares for the 10th time 
