April 21, 2008

Las Vegas Airport Thanks You for... WHAT?

I just got back from a quick weekend trip to Las Vegas with some of the folks from KGW. No organized event - just a good time with some good friends and a good chance to getaway and recharge.

Our travels were fine: on-time, good people helping us, and no lost bags!

The funniest part of the trip... and the reason for this blog... as we were waiting at Gate D26 at McCarran something caught the attention of Evan Chevrier, our sports producer, and myself. A very interesting comment on the back of our boarding passes.

Sports Producer Evan Chevrier notes the odd comment on the back of our boarding pass.

This was an Alaska Airlines boarding pass, printed from an Alaska Airlines e-ticket self check-in machine. The pass thanks us... for using speed!

I guess it's fitting - it is Vegas, after all!

For those who don't know why we think that's so funny, "speed," in the world of law enforcement, is another word for methamphetamine - meth. Only in Vegas would your boarding pass look like that.

Turns out, the boarding pass is thanking us for using "speed check" - the computerized check-in system at McCarran. But that's not nearly as funny.

Time to get back to work. Thanks to everyone on our flights who stopped us to say hi. It's always nice to meet NewsChannel 8 viewers. And next time you're at the Vegas airport, be sure to use Speed (Check)!

E-mail Jack with your travel stories.

Posted by Jack Penning | 5:46 PM

April 10, 2008

Flying American? Some Tips If Your Flight's Cancelled

It's been a real mess this week at PDX for those flying American Airlines. The Airline has cancelled more than two-dozen Portland flights since Wednesday, and it's planning to cancel more through Saturday, at least.

The problem with the way the wiring is installed on American's Boeing MD80s (really built by McDonnel Douglas, which was purchased by Boeing, which subsequently gets its name on the plane) has been a tough one for the Airline to re-inspect and fix. Even now - Thursay night - NBC reports American has just 100 of its 300 MD80s back in service.

Portland was hit worse than any other major west coast city. The reason: American only flies MD80s here - unlike cities such as Seattle, San Francisco, and San Diego, where it also flies Boeing 757s. While the vast majority of Portland flights were cancelled, American's 757 flights in other west coast cities were zipping in and out on time.

Today I sat down with a travel agent I often work with, Don Francis, of Barbur Travel/Uptown Landing Travel in John's Landing. He's a good guy, who always tells it like it is. He's been swamped by people wanting help with their cancelled American flights. "A lot of people are just flat-out worried about their flights," he told me. "It doesn't matter if they're on American. They're so skittish now about leaving town at all, it's like, 'are we impacted, are we going to make our flight?'"

Don's been helping the best he can. His advice to those who have tickets on American through the weekend: check with the airline often, from the day before your flight, until the time you leave for the airport. If your flight is cancelled, ask to be confirmed on a new flight - don't go standby. If your flight might be cancelled, you can ask to be protected on another flight. That won't change your reservation, but it will reserve a confirmed seat for you should you flight eventually be cancelled. Don explains it better: "You basically have a dupicate reservation, which is usually frowned upon. But, given the circumstances, you need to have it if there's a high percentage chance your flight is going to be cancelled."

American has been willing to put travelers on other airlines, instead of forcing them to wait for the next AA flight. You just have to ask. As Don says, "They know that they've got to get you home. And they don't want to put you up in a hotel and waste a lot of per diem. They want to get the situation resolved."

The big question everyone's been asking me for the last couple days: what's next? Everyone wants to know which airline or which aircraft type will be next to be called out by the FAA, with its new emphasis on following directives to the letter. I wish I could answer that question. Don tells me these MD80 inspections, "Could be the tip of the iceberg." Certainly, the FAA could require similar inspections on any other aircraft. But it could, just as easily, be satisfied with how other airliners have been inspected. It's impossible to say.

If you're flying in the next few months, stay on top of the news surrounding your airline. KGW.com is a great place to do that. And I'll do my best to keep updates here - when I get them.

If you have a story you want to share, e-mail me at jpenning@kgw.com, or add a comment to the blog.

Posted by Jack Penning | 7:23 PM

December 18, 2007

The Return of Jack's Annual Holiday Travel Guide

Can you believe we've been blogging now for three years?! This is my third annual holiday travel guide, for everything PDX this holiday season. This guide also includes my favorite travel websites.

Photo Courtesy Airliners.net

Once again we're looking at the busiest Christmas travel week in PDX history. The Port of Portland estimates more than 48,000 of us will fly through PDX each day between now and the end of the season - after the first of the year. With that in mind, here are my best tips for getting through everything as quickly and easily as possible.

Check-in on-line.

Most airlines will now let you check-in for your flight, 24-hours ahead of time, on their websites. You can choose seats, and print-out boarding passes at home. Then you just drop-off your bags at the airport. This can save you an hour. And if you're flying Southwest, it can get you to the front of the line in the mad-scramble for the best seats.

Check-in at an e-ticket machine.

If you can't check-in at home, use an e-ticket machine at the airport, instead of waiting in-line for an agent. These PDX airlines have e-ticket check-in: Alaska/Horizon, US Airways/America West, American, htContinental, Delta, Hawaiian, jetBlue, Northwest, Southwest, and United. Air Canada, Big Sky, Frontier, Lufthansa, and Mexicana do not offer e-ticket check-in at PDX.

Choose the shortest security line.

The Port has built a "concourse connector" linking the A, B, and C concourses to the D and E concourses, behind security. It's designed for passengers connecting from Alaska and Horizon flights (on A, B, and C) onto the international flights to Tokyo and Frankfurt (on D). But saavy travelers have quickly found they can use the D and E security checkpoint (with its typically shorter lines) to get to their gate on A, B, or C. It could save you 15 or 20 minutes at peak times.

Check with TSA.

Before you pack your carry-on, take a look at their list of allowed items. It changes every now and then, so you'll want to make sure you don't pack anything that will have to be thrown away at the security checkpoint.

Get there early.

I know... we hear this all the time. But it really does matter when the airport's jammed. They tell you 2-hours, but I always try for 90 minutes. Unless I'm parking there. Which leads me to my next tip.

Get there EXTRA early.

That is, if you're parking in the economy lot. Christmas of 2004 I flew out of PDX and tried to park in economy, but there were NO SPOTS when I got there at 6am. The lot was FULL. They had us parking on the side of the road. It took at least an hour to park and get to the terminal. I just made my flight (by about 48 seconds). So follow the 2-hour rule if economy parking is in your future.

Also keep in mind, with current construction on a second parking garage, parts of the long-term lot have been closed, reducing the capacity by about 500 spaces. So if you're parking for a long period of time (more than a few days) think about using economy parking instead.

Take the MAX.

It runs every 15-minutes in both directions, with the first train getting you to PDX at 4:45am, and the last one leaving PDX at 11:55pm. It costs $1.80 each way. A lot cheaper than $8/day for economy parking, or $12/day for long-term. For more information, check out Tri-Met's MAX page.

You're not flying.

If you have to drop someone off, or pick someone up, here's some things to speed-up that process, too.

- Park on top of the garage. We all want to park on Level 4, because it has the skybridges that go directly across to the terminal. But this time of year, it's always packed. You'll waste time trying to find a spot there. So just go to Level 7, atop the garage, and park right next to the elevator. It'll end up saving you a few minutes.

- Quick Pay is your friend. You'll find the Quick Pay terminals on Level 4 of the parking garage and in the underground connector between the Terminal and the garage. Pay for your parking here, and you'll breeze right out of the parking gate.

- Use the Cell Phone Wait Lot. The Cell Lot makes a comeback. There's a parking lot (on the left, off 82nd, near the air cargo area) that's free for people picking-up passengers. Park there, and have your family/friends call you when they grab their bags. Then you can drive around and have them hop-in, without having to pay for parking. BEWARE: You can not park here and leave your car. You'll get a ticket... or be towed.

- Pick-up on the upper level. Sure, the signs say the upper level is for departures. But most of the time, and especially at night, the lower level is jammed with "pick-ups." Avoid that by picking-up your family/friends up above. And save a lot of time by using the upper, outer roadway. But don't stay too long, and don't leave your car, because the Port of Portland Police aren't too excited about people who do that... and they'll likely tow you.

My favorite travel websites.

If you're still looking too book that holiday trip, I've compiled a number of websites I use when I travel. It takes a little extra work to do your booking the way I do mine, but it could very easily save you some money.

The first thing I always do is get a feel for what airfares are running by checking Expedia.com. Expedia is one of the best sites, I find, when comparing fares by airline, and by the number of en-route stops. But (the folks at Expedia don't want to hear this) I never book my ticket there.

Once I find a good deal at Expedia, I go directly to the airline's website. Almost always, I'll find the fare $5 cheaper per person on the airline's website... because that's what Expedia charges in fees. So if I find a ticket on Expedia, flying on United, for example, for $200, I'll go to the United website and book the ticket for $195. If you don't know the airline's web address, I've posted a full list for all the airlines that fly out of PDX at the end of this blog.

If you aren't finding any good deals that way, go to Hotwire. It's a website that offers discounted airfares. The airlines "dump" extra capacity on Hotwire, at 20 to 50% off the regular fare. Hotwire won't always have a good deal... but if you catch it at the right time, you can get a huge discount.

If you're trying to find a good place to go, or you want to know more about the city you've selected, I recommend Fodor's. Their website has great information about things to do, restaurants, and hotels. They also have a list of good deals on the left side of their homepage.

After you find that good deal, but before you book, I recommend you get the most out of your travel by checking Flightstats. It's run by a Portland company. It compiles all the on-time information for every flight in the US. You can type in the flight number of the one you're thinking about booking, and it will tell you what your chances are of being on-time. It also tells you things like average delay, and number of cancellations.

Meanwhile, Seatmap.com has a comprehensive listing of all airline fleets in the US, and many from around the world. The site walks you through the seatmap of the plane that will be used on your flight. It tells you which seats are good, and which to avoid. I always use it before I book.

One more thing to remember: Southwest Airlines doesn't list its fares in any of the on-line booking engines. To get fares for Southwest, you must go to its website. Southwest also offers travel deals... but again... only on its website.

Other quick links.

- General flight delay information, from the US Department of Transportation.
- PDX arrival and departure information, broken down by airline, and constantly updated.
- Lost luggage tips from the Better Business Bureau.
- Portland weather information, from the good folks over in the First Alert Storm Center.

If you have any more tricks, tips, or websites you use, let me know. My e-mail address is jpenning@kgw.com.

Continue reading "The Return of Jack's Annual Holiday Travel Guide"

Posted by Jack Penning | 2:15 PM

November 26, 2007

Tips to Beat the Airfare Blues

As we're reporting tonight on NewsChannel 8 at 5 and 6, airfares are up 26% year-over-year according to a study by Harrell Associates. And don't expect them to drop right after the holidays, like they typically do, because the cost of jet fuel is up 52%. That means bargain airfares are going to be difficult to come by - even during the traditional "off-peak" times.

It's going to take some extra shopping to make sure you get the best deal. I have a couple of websites I like, and use, to beat the airfare system.

The first: Farecast.com. This site develops a prediction of the future fare in any market you search. It will tell you how the fare has fluctuated in the last 60-days, and if its likely to go up or down in the next 30-days. I find its predictions to be very accurate, so I always start my search here.

Another site I like is Yapta.com. This site will track the airfare in any market in which you've bought a ticket, and alert you if the fare goes down. What's more, it will tell you how to get a refund or an airline credit should the fare drop significantly.

With the price of oil at $97 a barrel and the price of jet fuel at $2.70 a gallon, airfares are only going to continue to rise. It's more important than ever to do your homework before you book.

Got another good tip? E-mail me at jpenning@kgw.com.

Posted by Jack Penning | 11:17 AM

November 7, 2007

More on the Q400

In response to yesterday's posting on this blog, about the problems with the Q400 aircraft landing gear, Dan Russo at Horizon Air e-mailed me to let me know the European Safety Agency has concluded its review on the airworthiness of the aircraft.

Here's that agency's press release:

European Agency Review Affirms Safety Of Bombardier Q400
Nov. 7, 2007
Dow Jones Newswires

A review by the European Aviation Safety Agency has affirmed the airworthiness
of Bombardier Inc.'s Q400 turboprop after ruling that a series of recent
accidents weren't caused by design flaws.

"We are very pleased with the report," Bombardier spokesman Marc Duschesne
said. "It shows that we have a very safe aircraft. This is very positive news
for us."

The review by European air authorities was called after Scandinavian airline
SAS AB permanently grounded its fleet of 27 Bombardier-built Q400s following
three accidents in the past two months.

While no one was seriously hurt in any of the incidents, the flurry of problems
raised concerns globally about the safety of the Q400.

According to the EASA, the most recent incident on Oct. 27, "was not due to a
design error" and said the airworthiness of the aircraft is maintained.

Danish aviation authorities had earlier issued a preliminary report that
indicated a piece of debris – a rubber o-ring – lodged in the landing gear had
prevented the gear from extending properly, causing the most recent incident.

Two previous incidents in early September were already found to have been
caused by corrosion in a bolt in another section of the landing gear. Following
those incidents, all 165 Q400s in use worldwide were temporarily grounded and
the part in question inspected.

EASA said its concerns about that bolt have already been met through the
previous directives that recommended airlines take remedial actions.

Officials of the airworthiness authorities of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and
Canada as well as representatives of Bombardier and the landing-gear
manufacturer Goodrich Corp. participated in the airworthiness review meeting at
EASA's headquarters in Cologne, Germany.

According to the EASA statement, Scandinavian airworthiness authorities will "
reissue the Certificates of Airworthiness relevant to this aircraft type in the
coming days."

Comments? E-mail me at jpenning@kgw.com.

Posted by Jack Penning | 2:11 PM | Comments (1)

November 6, 2007

Airfare Went Down After You Booked It? Get a Refund.

As I reported last week on NewsChannel 8 at 6, there's now a great way to get your money back if your airfare goes down after you buy it.

It used to be you had to take a leap of faith, and book when you though you were getting the best deal. Now, a new website takes all the guesswork out of buying travel. You go ahead and book your ticket at whatever fare is available. Then, log onto yapta.com, enter your ticket information, and the website will e-mail you if and when the airfare on your ticket goes down. The site tells you exactly what to do to get your money back, or get an airline refund for future flights.

Check it out, and let me know how it works for you. Drop me an e-mail at jpenning@kgw.com.

Other News and Notes

September's Most On-Time Airlines

The Department of Transportation's September airline on-time rankings are out, and, once again, they're not pretty. Collectively, a little less than 82% of all flights in the US arrived within 15 minutes of their scheduled time. But large airlines including US Airways, American, United, and Northwest posted worse than average results. Meanwhile, Portland's largest carrier, Alaska Airlines, posted the worst on-time performance of any of the majors, and of all the airlines serving PDX, with 73% of its flights arriving on-time.

Here's where Portland's carriers stack-up:

Hawaiian Airlines 93.7%
Frontier Airlines 88.5%
Continental Airlines 88.0%
Southwest Airlines 85.8%
jetBlue Airways 85.7%
Skywest Airlines 82.9%
Delta Air Lines 82.0%
US Airways 80.1%
American Airlines 78.5%
United Airlines 78.2%
Northwest Airlines 77.8%
Alaska Airlines 73.3%

Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics

More on the Q400 - Horizon's Favorite Plane

Last week I reported on a major European airline deciding to permanently ground an entire fleet of planes because it says they're not safe after a pair of landing gear collapses, and another landing gear incident. We found those same planes operate more than 60 daily flights at PDX, and their operator, Horizon Air, has no plans to ground them here.

After the incidents, the European Union's aviation safety authority has ordered a "crisis meeting" to talk about the problems with Q400 landing gear. It says it wants the Canadian manufacturer, Bombardier, to prove the plane is still airworthy.

Sweden's SAS Scandinavian Airlines pulled all 27 of its Q400s from service. It's President said his confidence in the type has diminished considerably in the wake of the incidents, one of which was caught on tape.

Back in September, Horizon pulled its 33 Q400's from service for landing gear inspections. It says it found nothing wrong.

I had a good e-mail from Horizon spokesman Bill Coniff, but I wasn't able to include all of it in the report on TV, or ther report here on kgw.com. Here is the full text Bill sent me:

"Horizon, which has operated the Bombardier Q400 since 2001 in the western U.S. and Canada, has never experienced any issues like those SAS has encountered in Europe.

"Bombardier and Transport Canada, Canada's equivalent to the Federal Aviation Administration, have advised all Q400 operators worldwide to continue with normal flight operations. Horizon is following their guidance.

"Safety always comes first. We are fully confident of the safety of our Q400s. Otherwise, we would not be flying them.

"In September, as a purely precautionary measure, we successfully completed a thorough inspection of all of our Q400 landing gear before returning the aircraft to service with a clean bill of health."

I, personally, have flown on the Q400 a number of times. I've got to say, I think it's a really nice plane. It's big, quiet, and confortable... especially for a regional aircraft. I'd hate to see problems ground it here in the Northwest.

Posted by Jack Penning | 2:18 PM

August 9, 2007

Flying the Air National Guard's Stunt Plane

It's well documented on these pages that my friend and colleague Steph Stricklen got a chance to fly with the Blue Angels. Not to be outdone, as KGW's aviation reporter, I hooked-up a flight of my own. Major John Klatt of the Air National Guard invited me to come along for a flight in his aerobatic stunt plane.

Unfortunately, I don't have any cool photos of my adventure, like Steph did, but I do have video of the flight posted in our Video on Demand section, and here's a photo of the plane:

John's Extra 300 Aircraft

We flew out of the Scappoose Airport, so we'd have plenty of airspace to use. The flight started out gently, and I spent some time at the controls. Although I don't have my pilot's license, I have done much of the training, and I've flown a number of small aircraft. I've never flown anything like the Extra 300 (aircraft information courtesy Airliners.net). It was unbelievably responsive. John asked me to climb. I pulled back on the yoke. We were immediately headed almost straight up. The plane has so much power it can climb at a virtual 90-degree angle, and still gain airspeed.

When John took over we rolled inverted, to make sure we were both well strapped-in. We didn't fall into the canopy... so off we went. We did about 15-minutes worth of stunts. They're hard to explain, but they involved lots of rolls, loops, and twists... and looked something like this:

The big question everyone asks: did I get sick? The answer:

NO WAY!

I actually surprised myself. I get more sick looking at the cockpit video from the flight than I did when I was flying! I've flown aerobatically a little bit, and never had the misfortune of getting sick - so I must be doing something right.

But the real story is that John took it easy on me! I asked him how close what we did was to his airshow material and he told me, "nowhere near it!" But he also laid down the challenge - to come back and do the full show sometime.

John, I'm thinking about it!

Posted by Jack Penning | 3:43 PM

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