Daily Roundup--May 22, 2012

A married couple are in jail charged with stealing luggage from airport baggage carousels at numerous south Florida airports. This isn’t a problem if you’re a “onebagger.”

Delta Airlines will lease the entire Boeing 717 fleet  formerly owned by AirTran. Air Tran is now part of Southwest Airlines and they prefer to fly one type of plane only—the Boeing 737. The move will allow Delta to replace its smaller 50 seat regional jets and its ancient DC-9 fleet.

In their neverending quest for new fees, many airlines are now charging for better seats. That could anything next to a window or on the aisle.

The “Happiest Place on Earth” is making some people sad. Disneyland is raising its ticket prices. In some cases, as much as 30%.

Comments

[Beth C]

I carry on when I can, but do end up checking luggage sometimes. Usually I see my bag as soon as it appears on the belt, but this story makes me want to go for one of those hideous bags with large pink polka dots or something else that would just scream to me if it was taken.

[Alan B]

I had not been familiar with the Boeing 717. Suffice it to say that was the final development of the Douglas DC-9, twin rear engine series, 2 + 3 seating, similar to the MD-80 now being phased out by American Airlines. The latter is an airliner NOT as comfortable as the Embraer 190 2 + 2 liner we recently took on Air Canada, albeit better than the CRJ series of 2 + 2 jets from Bombardier.

[Frank@OBOW]

The MD-80 is an updated version of the DC-9. When Boeing bought McDonald-Douglas they wanted to continue with the "700" series names and basically changed the MD-80 into the 717. There were a few minor changes to the aircraft but not many. Boeing also phased out the DC-10 and its successor, the MD-11. Boeing kept the 717 because of its popularity.

[Neil Gordon]

My wife was dead heading, so she stowed her luggage in the overhead bin. Since they seat her last and usually in the back, she stick her luggage in the first available slot. Her luggage was missing when she went to grab it out of the bin. She caught the guy and said, "ooh sorry it looks like mine". She asks where is yours, his reply, "I forgot I didn't pack". She uses those special metal reinforced bags that look like no other bag, unless you work in the airline industry. You can't trust your fellow passengers either.

Another boring story for you. Her friend had her luggage picked through while in flight by a fellow passenger. If you don't put your luggage where you can see it easily, a less ethical person can note it, see if you are sleeping, pretend it is their luggage, take what they want out of it, and nobody's the wiser. That is why I love my AirBoss. It fits width wise into the overhead bin, so you don't need a lot of space.

[CoCoYoYo]

I've paid extra for "better" seats on multiple occasions in the last 5 years. I prefer a window seat, not so much for the few but so at least part of my body is not touching a stranger LOL It's generally been a modest price increase IMO and well worth the expense when I have a 3+ hour flight.

I do recall one of my flights from PHL to LAS costing a bit more than anticipated due to my seat selection. Apparently I was going to be treated to spectacular views or some other such nonsense. They'll do whatever they can to make a few bucks, I guess.