Air Travel

I read the piece in Travel Briefs about bidding for a seat upgrade on Etihad Airways (Sept. ’17. pg. 4). My wife and I have successfully done this twice, most recently in January 2017.

In our case, we received an email about 10 days before our flight with an invitation to bid on an upgrade. We could determine the minimum amount that Etihad would consider by dialing the “strength indicator” to its minimum, then doing the same for the maximum, which was substantially lower than what we would have paid to upgrade the seats initially.  

Around May 2016, when I was searching on Kayak.com for flights to Guadalajara, Mexico, the Mexican airline Volaris (www.volaris.com) always showed up as having the cheapest fares. When I looked at its Yelp.com rating, it was a dismal 1.5 stars. Despite all the negative reviews, I had a budget to meet (under $1,000 for a 10-day trip), so I booked tickets. 

I was scheduled to fly on United Airlines from Dublin, Ireland, to Washington, DC, on June 16, 2017. After hours of delay, United canceled the flight for mechanical reasons. 

In addition to putting passengers up at an airport hotel and rescheduling their travel for the next day, United provided a sheet explaining our rights to compensation under European Union (EU) rules.* 

The US Customs & Border Patrol (CBP) launched on-site Global Entry Enrollment Centers at five airports on July 7: Vancouver International Airport (YVR), San Francisco International (SFO), Austin-Bergstrom International (AUS) and, in Houston, George Bush Intercontinental and (IAH) William P Hobby Airport (HOU).

Global Entry gives enrolled travelers faster entry through Customs when returning to the US from another country. It also makes them eligible for TSA Preê (Pre-check), which provides a separate line for expedited security clearance for departures.

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 499th issue of your monthly foreign-travel magazine.

This is your magazine in that, if you are a subscriber, you can submit letters, articles and photographs to be printed here. Tell us about a really nice place to stay or an interesting day trip — or about something you feel should be avoided — or just express your feelings on a particular issue related to travel.

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Vilnius, Lithuania

(First of three parts)

Emily Moore’s report on Switzerland (June ’17, pg. 50) brings back memories of one of our favorite haunts, namely Mürren. At the same time, her detailed account of leaving personal belongings behind in transit and of her husband injuring himself after losing his balance should serve as a wake-up call for travelers taking long flights, especially those with one or more connections.

Prior to my flight to Italy on April 25, 2017, I called Delta Air Lines to request meet-and-assist services. I informed the agent that I could walk perfectly well but, since I was now 82 and traveling alone, I wanted to have help in Amsterdam on May 9 to make the 90-minute connection to my flight home to Portland.