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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: luggage

luggage stories: 25 news summaries

1 - 20 of 25 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

Pissed Airline Passenger Back on YouTube

Glossier United Breaks Guitars: Song 2 is follow-up to viral hit

(Newser) - Dave Carroll, who so memorably commemorated his terrible experience with United Airlines in the YouTube sensation United Breaks Guitars is at it again, Consumerist reports. The singer/songwriter/guitar-rights activist has released a more ambitious video cleverly titled United Breaks Guitars: Song 2, with a slightly more conciliatory tone. And don’t... More »

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(Newser) - Over the past few weeks, items both practical and sentimental have been returned to the lucky passengers of Flight 1549, the New York Times reports. Even ruined belongings are packed carefully in tissue paper and dryer sheets. “It made a very emotional experience as positive as it could have... More »

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 Carry On! 
 Fewer Checked 
 Bags Cut 
 Lost Luggage 

Airlines lost 1.3M fewer bags last year as new fees convinced passengers to carry on

(Newser) - Through their relentless fees, airlines have managed to put the task of transporting often-lost luggage in much safer hands. Last year—as passengers carried aboard the baggage they previously checked for free—airlines lost 1.3 million fewer bags than in 2007, the Chicago Tribune reports. The 33% improvement was... More »

Flight 1549 Passengers Get $5K to Offset Lost Luggage

Investigation means possessions aren't coming back soon ... if they're even salvageable

(Newser) - Saying that passengers of Flight 1549 will not get their belongings back for months, if ever, US Airways sent each $5,000, CNN reports; the airline also provided “an obvious reimbursement” of the ticket price. As part of the investigation, all luggage must be weighed in its “current... More »

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 Luggage Glitch Snarls JFK 

American Airlines' computer system breaks down

(AP) - A software glitch continues to cripple the baggage-handling system in an American Airlines terminal at JFK airport. The malfunction is giving headaches to passengers flying out of Terminal 8, one of the newer buildings at the airport. Thousands of customers had to leave their luggage behind and hope it would... More »

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Delta Doubles Charge
for Second Bag to $100

Passengers hit with major hike just 3 months after fee was launched

(Newser) - Delta Air Lines has doubled its fee to check a second bag to $100 on domestic roundtrip flights, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The airline, struggling with sky-high fuel prices, is also hiking fees for heavy baggage and items like surfboards that need special handling. Delta officials said they have no... More »

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New Bags Let Laptop Users Fly Through Security

TSA is on board with a few different models

(Newser) - Eagerly awaited "checkpoint friendly" luggage is at last in the pipeline, and travelers will be able to clear airport security without removing laptops from their bags by September or October, the New York Times reports. The TSA-approved bags allow security personnel to see computers on X-ray machines through either... More »

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 United Adopts $15
 Checked-Bag Charge

Carrier joins American; industry passing oil costs to consumer

(AP) - United Airlines will follow rival American Airlines in charging $15 for a first checked bag. The new fee was announced today, 3 weeks after American set the precedent. United says the fee affects customers who buy tickets beginning tomorrow for domestic flights Aug. 18 or later. More »

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OPINION

AA Should Bag Boneheaded Luggage Fee

Or face more delays, lost baggage, and longer security lines

(Newser) - American Airlines’ plan to charge passengers $15 to check a bag is likely to cost the carrier more money than it generates, Joe Brancatelli argues in Portfolio. “Not only will it infuriate flyers—who are already annoyed with American’s lousy operating efficiency and its recent maintenance snafus—it’... More »

 Security Could Get A Bit Easier 

TSA will likely let laptops stay in (some) cases

(Newser) - In a few months, travelers likely will be able to take their laptops through airport security without removing them from their cases—if they buy special new cases, that is. The Transportation Security Administration will probably begin accepting new forms of carrying cases that allow unobstructed x-ray views of the... More »

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 How to Fit
 Everything
 in One Bag 

Save money by packing wisely

(Newser) - With airlines charging more for extra bags, the trick is to fly light. A packing guru offers these tips for stuffing it all in one bag, NPR reports:
  • Make a no-frills list, and stick to it (see onebag.com for ideas).
  • Don't let any space go unused (stuff
... More »

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Feds Bust Plane Passenger With Bomb Parts in Baggage

Fellow Orlando fliers not at risk: authorities

(Newser) - A Jamaican national was arrested after checking a bag at Orlando International Airport that contained the makings of pipe bombs, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The FBI detained Kevin Brown, 32, after a TSA “behavior specialist” spotted him during check-in yesterday. He was charged with attempting to carry an explosive... More »

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 Chaos Continues at Heathrow 

Hundreds of volunteer staffers work to sort out baggage crisis

(Newser) - Hundreds of volunteer British Airways staffers spent their day off yesterday helping to return some of the 15,000 pieces of luggage lost when the state-of-the-art baggage system failed at the airline's new terminal at London's Heathrow airport last week. Scores of tech specialists have also been deployed to fix... More »

Heathrow Mess Will Ripple Well Into Weekend

Reeling new Terminal 5 far short of capacity,
but full of irate travelers

(Newser) - Logistical disasters continued today at Heathrow airport's new Terminal 5—and flight cancellations, delays and luggage losses will likely continue all weekend, the Times of London reports. British Airways, the facility's sole airline, said it hoped to run 80% of planned flights today, the terminal's second. "I am a... More »

 Breakdown Snarls 
 New Heathrow Terminal  

New terminal opens with baggage meltdown, dozens of cancellations

(Newser) - The gleaming new Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport had a disastrous opening yesterday as its state-of-the-art baggage handling facility crashed and 34 flights were canceled. British Airways, the only airline flying out of the new terminal, suspended baggage check-in by the afternoon, and arriving passengers were forced to wait up... More »

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OPINION

Travel Costs Rise, But for What?

2008 is the 'year of the fee,' but one writer demands more in return

(Newser) - We can't duck travel fees imposed by air carriers, hotels, and Uncle Sam, so let's demand more in return, Christopher Elliott writes on MSNBC. Airlines are adding $25 baggage fees and "probably illegal" fuel surcharges, and the TSA will add a “temporary” bump in security fees—so can't... More »

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United to Charge Fee
for Second Bag

Other carriers may follow suit as airline tacks on $25 for extra suitcase

(Newser) - Many United Airlines travelers planning to check in more than one piece of luggage are going to have to pay for it, beginning this spring. Passengers buying nonrefundable economy tickets will have to fork over $25 for a second bag as the airline seeks to offset soaring fuel costs without... More »

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UK Air Travelers Allowed 2 Bags (Some Airports)

Baggage rules relaxed at Heathrow, not Gatwick, others

(Newser) - Confusion may be the rule for air travelers in the UK, where some—but not all—airports have been allowed to drop a one-cabin-bag-per-passenger limit. Passengers at Heathrow and 21 other airports will be permitted to carry two bags for the first time since the tightening of airport security in... More »

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Why Airlines Lose Your Bags

Carriers are trying to lose fewer checked bags, but it's an uphill battle

(Newser) - On the busiest single travel day of the year, the New York Times explores why the odds of your bags arriving safely at the carousel of your destination are still declining, despite costly efforts at many airlines to improve performance. So far this year, airlines have  misplaced one bag out... More »

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Surfers See
Red Over
Brit Airways
Board Ban

Petitioning to change gnarly new rule

(Newser) - Furious surfers hope to sink a gnarly new British Airways rule banning surfboards from the airline. Wave riders are petitioning the company to reverse its decision, which went into effect yesterday because the airline determined the boards are "simply not suitable for airport baggage systems," according to a... More »

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1 - 20 of 25 Stories | 1 2 Next >>