Category Archives: airlines

Can an airline really be this inept?

Posted on August 2, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Every couple of months, U.S. Airways sends out an email describing the progress on their computer systems. As with most large-scale systems projects, they’re behind. The self-effacing emails try to reassure customers that the airline really cares. Here’s an excerpt … Continue reading →

Posted in airlines, customer service, travel | 3 Comments

Rocky’s fun-filled day at the airport

Posted on July 30, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Yesterday was my travel day from hell. I arrived at National Airport around 11 to catch a noon flight to Philadelphia. Because of a ground stop at Philadelphia they pushed back the flight to 12:45. We boarded the bus toward … Continue reading →

Posted in airlines, customer service, facebook, travel | 2 Comments

Virgin America set for takeoff

Posted on July 20, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Virgin America, a new low-cost carrier based in San Francisco, is set for an Aug. 8 takeoff. The carrier has faced some turbulent skies due in part to its partial ownership by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group. Initial routes are San … Continue reading →

Posted in airlines, travel | 1 Comment

Google Maps on jetBlue

Posted on July 7, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I recently had the chance to see the Google Maps on jetBlue that I wrote about earlier. The maps are pretty simple; no satellite views or other cool Google features. They rotate among zoom levels. (My photostream has other examples.) … Continue reading →

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Virgin America planes at SFO

Posted on April 20, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

As I was taking off from SFO yesterday, I noticed the Virgin logo on three smaller airplanes. On closer inspection, the Airbuses had Virgin America‘s livery. I was tempted to snap a picture, but resisted out of fear of being … Continue reading →

Posted in airlines, travel | 2 Comments

Google SMS – a way out of voice recognition hell

Posted on March 27, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Google is offering flight status information via SMS. Just send your flight number (e.g. UA 484) to GOOGLE (466453) and you get a return message with flight departure and arrival times, gate information and the airline’s phone number. (With most … Continue reading →

Posted in airlines, google, mobile, travel, wireless, wireless data | 3 Comments

Fare Guard – a (bad) option on low airfares

Posted on January 22, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Farecast is one of my favorite sites for checking out airfares. It’s a data junkie’s dream – Farecast does for airfares what Zillow does for real estate data. You can slice and dice airfare data in a number of different … Continue reading →

Posted in airlines, personal finance, travel | 3 Comments

Where does DC want to go today?

Posted on December 16, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

I was playing with Kayak and found a feature that’s interesting to explore – a map of where people want to travel. You enter an airport and it will show you the top 25 searched for destinations from that airport. … Continue reading →

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Bad incentives lead to bad results

Posted on November 8, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

I got an email from United Airlines yesterday announcing a closed beta test of a new version of United.com with enhanced booking, Mileage Plus account information and better award travel booking. (Which is sorely needed.) United offered a carrot of … Continue reading →

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Searching for the holy grail

Posted on October 15, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

United keeps moving my cheese. In a few days, United is dramatically increasing the number of miles required for a free award ticket to Australia. Trying to beat the increase, I called up United to try to book tickets. (I … Continue reading →

Posted in airlines, customer service | 1 Comment