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Tagged With "low-wage"

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Re: France Train Service, SNCF, Expands Low Cost Trains and Buses

Travel Rob ·
It's great news for budget travelers. I took the Ouigo train from to Marseille in 2013 and loved it.
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Re: New trend? Some airlines end toll-free calls

DrFumblefinger ·
Yet another drop in service, but one that likely will have minimal impact on most customers. If it saves millions of dollars, and the savings are used to reduce company overhead (say instead of bonuses for executives), I think consumers will be supportive.
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline

Travel Rob ·
We flew Norwegian in May, Orlando-Oslo and were really impressed. The 787 made such a difference and we arrived feeling fresh. The moister air, bigger windows and lighting made a world of difference in how we felt post trip. We brought a decent sized carry-on and personal bag each for free too. As far other extra fees, we didn't pay any. They charge for food or drinks, but we just bought those at the airport. And I think they also charge for blankets, but we brought jackets to cover with and...
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline

PortMoresby ·
This is sounding very promising, Rob. I can think of no reason to pay more money to pay with miles than for a ticket on Norwegian. I have enough miles to go around the world and only the first leg (or last, depending) is more expensive using miles. It makes no sense. So you were able to carry on your main bag plus a smaller one? I'm speaking of the limits for discounted coach tickets (aka "steerage").
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline

Paul Heymont ·
Amazing the way these calculations work out. We're going to England next spring, using American Airlines points. The flight selection offered us flights on British Airways and American. The AA flights cost the points plus government fees. The BA flights cost the points plus the government fees, plus enough surcharges to make a $1000+ difference. If I only had the BA flights, I'd certainly rather find a low-cost carrier! It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming year as Aer...
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline

Travel Rob ·
The carry-on limits are posted on the site. Still we were a little worried but there were no problems. We each took a carry-on and a personal bag on for free. A note that my same carry-on was too big for Air China so Norwegian had decent limits.
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline

PortMoresby ·
The website states the limits for a carry-on bag are (approximately, stated in cm) 21 x 16 x 9 inches, and 10 kilos/22 pounds. Plus a "small" item that fits comfortably under the seat. Were your bags within these guidelines, Rob?
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline

Travel Rob ·
I think that's very similar to American Airlines carry-on allowance. A lot better than EasyJets etc. Whether my bag was over, I can't say. My original bag was lost by Megabus, if you can believe it, so I had a different bag and clothes than what I was planning on The thing about the 787 is there's actually room for the carry-on. in the overhead.
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline

PortMoresby ·
I've checked my bag for years but it sounds like in this case it'd be worthwhile to pack light and carry it on. My usual, without trying, is about 13 kilos, so 10 isn't a huge stretch. Sounding like an interesting possibility.
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline

Travel Rob ·
I was just reading a Chris Elliott piece on when people get so fed up with air travel they stop flying altogether. He interviewed a man who owned a travel company, Spencer Carlson and the positive airline example he gave was Norwegian. So it seems like my good experience is the norm with them. Here is this link: http://www.seattletimes.com/li...-to-take-it-anymore/
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline

PortMoresby ·
I can live indefinitely with 2 sets of clothes, 1 to wear & 1 to wash, 1 extra pair of shoes, all in a day pack. I wouldn't necessarily WANT to do it, but I could, rather than stop flying if, say, the airlines reduced baggage limits to 10 pounds altogether. It's the same old story, I figure, if for any reason, you can't or won't travel (time, money, fed up, whatever), you just don't want to enough. One excuse is as good as another. Good to hear about Norwegian. I repeated the exercise...
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline

PortMoresby ·
Continuing my search for an economical way to use my miles and avoid absurd fees, I tried a combination of 2 one-way flights, one with miles, one on Norwegian. One way on Norwegian is as low as $286. If I avoid using BA with points, flights on AA to Paris are 20,000 miles (before May 15th) plus a $5 fee (excellent!) but with a stupid schedule, 3 flights and 2 days to get there. And 1 possibility available. All the rest are BA flights, $326 in fees + 20,000 miles. Next thought, why is AA...
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline

Paul Heymont ·
The AA-BA mashup is tricky, yes, but not as devious as it may seem. Between New York and Paris, for instance, AA has only two non-stops a day; BA has a half-dozen (or more, including Open Skies). And, BA has many seats LON-PAR, so availability is greater. A similar situation exists on this side of the ocean, where BA feeds many AA domestic flights. It's sometimes possible to get around better if you don't mind one stop...we've used AA to Madrid paired with Iberia to Paris (Iberia's charges...
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Re: Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline

PortMoresby ·
Call it whatever you like, but I seem to have missed your point. But, no matter, MY point was simply that I see no excuse for charging astonishingly different prices for the same product, transportation from point A to point B, on partner airlines ostensibly selling the same thing.
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Re: Behind the Rides: Orlando leads U.S. in visits and low-wage jobs

DrFumblefinger ·
I am not sure if an employee working in tourism in NYC would have a higher quality of life even if paid more. Orlando at least is cheap. Also many folks in the tourist trade make a lot of their earnings from tips which rarely are fully reported as income. So I never know what to make of studies like this
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They believe they can fly...but signs are not good!

Paul Heymont ·
America's most persistent attempt at starting a new airline is out there again, looking for crowdfunding to get off the ground. First as Family Airlines, and since 2010 as Avatar Airlines, they've been trying for take-off since 1992, with plans for an...
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AA talks tough on discount competition, sees change ahead

Paul Heymont ·
American Airlines, the world's largest air carrier, isn't planning to let any Davids mess with its Goliath market share. CEO Doug Parker says that if smaller rivals take advantage of fuel price drops to add seats and then discount them to take market...
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Not just passengers want free WiFi...ask Spirit!

Paul Heymont ·
Spirit, Frontier and Allegiant are U.S. ultra-low-cost carriers famous for wanting a nickel for everything they don't charge a dime for—and they're also among the very few U.S. carriers not offering WiFi.    If you've wondered why,...
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More river cruises cancelled, but some hopeful signs

Paul Heymont ·
CroisiEurope's Leonardo da Vinci on the Neckar at Heidelberg   Continuing problems with low water in European rivers, as described in several recent TG NewsLinks, are disrupting more cruise plans by most operators...but at least some see hope in...
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New trend? Some airlines end toll-free calls

Paul Heymont ·
Pay-to-talk may be coming soon to more reservation and customer-service centers   Frontier Airlines has announced the end of its toll-free customer service line, joining a number of airlines and other companies who've decided that the cost of...
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Air Miles vs Low Fare Airline

PortMoresby ·
Looking for flights to Europe on which to spend my miles and being astonished by the fees, I had a look on the Norwegian site and was amazed in the other direction, by how cheap the fares were from the West Coast.  Until I started trying to...
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Low water puts some European river cruises on hold

Paul Heymont ·
Low water in the Danube, 2012   If it seems like only yesterday we were reporting on European river cruises being canceled because high waters were blocking ships from sailing under bridges...well, it was. On May 7, we reported problems on the...
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France Train Service, SNCF, Expands Low Cost Trains and Buses

Travel Rob ·
Frances train service, SNCF, is expanding its low cost TGV service, Ouigo and tripling it's fleet of coaches called Ouibus.   Ouigo was set up in 2013 to run TGV trains from Paris to the south of France, namely the cities of Lyon,...
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Dec. 8, 2017: Low Force Waterfall, Tees Valley

Ian Cook ·
A lovely English waterfall beautifully captured by photographer Ian Cook.
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Frontier cuts fares 12% and cuts amenities to 0

Paul Heymont ·
Denver-based Frontier Airlines, whose goal is to become an "ultra low-cost" carrier, has dropped its fares by about 12% (which works out to about 18% below Southwest on competing routes).    The fare cuts come with a big "but" but with no...
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Behind the Rides: Orlando leads U.S. in visits and low-wage jobs

Paul Heymont ·
Orlando last year passed New York as the world's and nation's top tourist city, but it also has the lowest median pay of the top 50 U.S. cities, with many of the theme park employees among those living at or below the poverty line, according to...
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Low water again affecting Rhine shipping

Paul Heymont ·
Low water levels in the Rhine are causing problems for shipping, and may affect river cruises.
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American joins the 'basic economy' movement

Paul Heymont ·
American is shifting gears on competing with the ultra-low-cost carriers; instead of discounting regular fares, it will add a new 'Basic Economy.'
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Cheapest airlines may not be the ones you think!

Paul Heymont ·
Sharpen your pencil: The discount and ultra-lowcost carriers are not always the cheapest choice!
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Allegiant dips a toe into the NY market

Paul Heymont ·
Ultra-low-cost carrier Allegiant gets its first New York area flights, and also adds Denver and Ogdensburg.
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United, AA to offer "basic economy"—that's the Spirit!

Paul Heymont ·
Ultra-low cost carriers like Spirit are pushing the majors into the no-frills arena. United has announced it will follow Delta next year, and offer "basic economy" style fares with no baggage, upgrade or airport privileges, and American has indicated that it's exploring the idea, too.  Fares like that—Spirit calls it a "bare fare"—have been the staple of flying on the ULC carriers such as Spirit and Frontier, but the majors have resisted up to now because they have wanted to...
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Value Alliance unites 8 Asian low-cost carriers

Paul Heymont ·
Eight Asian low-cost airlines are hooking up their booking and ticketing to make it easier for travelers to choose them over growing rivals.
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Dry winter shakes up Alpine ski and travel industry

Paul Heymont ·
Low snowfalls are a big problem for ski resorts in France, Italy and Switzerland, with skiers waiting to the last minute to see where there's snow.
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Frontier adds 42 routes; $39 intro specials posted

Paul Heymont ·
Ultra-low-cost carrier Frontier is adding 42 new routes to its network, including two new cities in "over-priced and under-served" areas.
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Sweden's record lows snarl transport

Paul Heymont ·
Temperatures set record lows two days in a row (as low as -45F), stopping trains and immobilizing buses in northern Sweden
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Re: United, AA to offer "basic economy"—that's the Spirit!

PortMoresby ·
Change at the low end of American's menu of fare options isn't the only one they plan for economy flying. An upscaled version of premium economy will be rolled out, starting next year, for long-haul flights. http://www.aa.com/i18n/urls/pr...title=premiumeconomy
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Re: United, AA to offer "basic economy"—that's the Spirit!

Paul Heymont ·
They do have a great game going: Take it away from you, and then ransom it back. And there's more...in the next couple of days, Gumbo will have a news update about what may be ahead for the premium end of the plane, too!
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Re: Dry winter shakes up Alpine ski and travel industry

PortMoresby ·
This photo could be California for the last several years. I have a friend near Milan who mentions the drought regularly. But the CA snow pack for the last couple of months is well above normal now, with more expected, so I suspect the same will be true before too long in the Alps. If one's heart's desire is a having a business free from outside effects (weather, war, politics, etc.) maybe tourism isn't it.
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Re: Dry winter shakes up Alpine ski and travel industry

Paul Heymont ·
You may well be right about what's in store for those ski areas; below is the Accuweather summary for this winter in Europe. It appears that those ski areas are in line for some harsh weather before winter is over, although they've already lost considerable business. Our forecast in New York is for a "snow drought," and after last year, I'm ready for one!
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Re: Low water again affecting Rhine shipping

GarryRF ·
As the Jet Stream crosses the Atlantic Ocean it frequently finds a new line to follow. The rain bearing winds - destined for Europe - have now been pushed up to Iceland then onto Scandinavia for the past few months So while I've been out watering the Tomato plants - its been raining in not so sunny Spain. One man's meat is another man's poison I suppose.
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Savannah, Georgia Bus Tour

Jonathan L ·
Jonathan L takes us on a bus tour and mansion hop around Historic Savannah
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Low-Fare Florida-Scandinavia Flights in the Air Today!

Paul Heymont ·
Norwegian Air Shuttle's first Fort Lauderdale to Copenhagen flight is off today, to be followed by flights tomorrow and Sunday to Oslo and Stockholm.
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Mexico low-cost carrier adds U.S. flights

Paul Heymont ·
Volaris, a Guadalajara-based Ultra Low-Cost Carrier (ULCC) that has an extensive network in Mexico and also serves cities in the southwestern U.S. is pushing to increase its U.S. business by adding flights to further destinations, especially ones with...
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