Gadling

When a flight sells out, most people assume that the ledger book closes, the flight is full, the plane flies and everyone's a happy camper. Secretly though, the airlines don't do this. Depending on the market and the flight, often times airlines will ...

As much as I enjoyed watching I Survived a Japanese Game Show, there is no better way to vicariously travel than watching the Amazing Race when it comes to reality TV. It's been months since T.J. and Rachel, our favorite hippie couple won the million ...

Alright, go on ahead and file this one under: World Gone Mad. These are the kind of news pieces you read and say to yourself "what on Earth was this person thinking?" Wait, they weren't thinking. Apparently, Italian musician, Raffaele Artesi, who ...

According to the Department of Transportation, more people were involuntarily bumped from their flights last year than in over a decade. The total comes to a whopping 63,000 very angry passengers who had no choice but to give up their seats because ...

What are the odds of being upgraded to cockpit, if a flight is overbooked? Not great, but I will keep hoping. I read with envy the NY Times column of Greg Cohen, a corporate frequent flier, who got "upgraded" from business class to the cockpit ...

The US Dept. of Transportation has fined US Airways $140,000 for violating a number of regulations in the way they handle bumping passengers from overbooked flights. The fine came last month. In agreeing to the penalty, US Airways avoids further ...

When I'm in the airport waiting to board my plane, I always sit near the gate so that if the flight is overbooked I can volunteer to be bumped--for a price, of course. The regular going rate these days to bump a passenger is to offer up a free ...

I keep thinking about Carol Ann Gotbam, the woman who died in airport custody in Phoenix after she missed a Mesa Airlines connection from New York City to Tuscon. The story is so complex that it's hard to pick the one cause for what I consider an ...

Did you know that when you're bumped from a flight due to overbooking, under U.S. Dept. of Transportation regulations you can demand cash instead of a voucher for another flight? The goods news today is that the DOT says starting May 19 airlines will ...

We've all heard the announcement over the intercom at the gate asking for "volunteers" to take a later flight. And most of us know that you can earn a couple of flight vouchers or sandwiches for giving up your seat, but does anyone really want to do ...

Because airlines routinely overbook flights to insure against no-shows, some passengers must get bumped from their flight to one later. Still, only about 1 out of every 1,000 passengers gets bumped, and nine of the ten that get bumped do so ...

So you find yourself at the airport and you know the flight is overbooked. The first thing you want to do is go talk to the gate agent before he or she even makes the announcement. I've struggled to find the right words to do this, but usually I ...

In most airports I've traveled through, when confronted with flight delays or rude ticket agents, passengers quietly express their concern with the situation. Sure, there are a usually few outcasts who raise their voice or stomp their feet to show ...

I understand that airlines oversell seats as a hedge against passengers that cancel or do not show up to flights. But when you think about it, the concept of overselling -- that is, when that announcement comes over the PA at the gate feigning a ...

We'll file this one under "wacky PR news" - Amsterdam airport just opened the world's first hotel specifically designed for goldfish. The hotel is operated by "D-Travel", a major player in the Dutch travel booking market, and passengers who booked ...