 1 how to survive Economy Class
 2 taking off
 3 a survivor's guide to coping with coach
 4 sometimes you can get more room in coach
 5 hub cities
 6 kids+ pregnant
 7 business
 8 travel agents
 9 ALTERNATIVE AIRLINES
 10 Toward a Smoother Flight
 11 missed connection
 12 air pressure
 13 seating

\1 How to Survive Economy Class

Yoga, aisle seats and pillows: A frequent flier's tips for fending off  d the stresses of the modern airline flight  ANY of the great yoga masters of India spent decades sitting tightly  crosslegged in minuscule caves, sustained only by an occasional meager  meal slipped into the recesses of their cells.  I draw inspiration from these yogis as I sit, hour after hour,  strapped into the modern-day equivalent of a bed of nails: the economy class seat.  Philip Greenberg for The New York Times It's not a bed of nails, but the coach cabin can test one's composure.

Usually, the passenger to my front has reclined his seat, forcing meto follow suit to keep my nose from being broken by his head cushion.  The "recline" position is murder on the lower back, so I shove a pillow between the seat and the base of my spine.

Then there's the dilemma of knees. They bump against the seat pocket (filled to bursting with a thick stack of airline magazines, in-flight  hopping catalogs, and entertainment guides for the movie that is  being shown on a screen so small, and so far away, I wonder why they  didn't pass out binoculars with the headsets). I can feel a wave of  pins and needles coming on.

So I slip out my legs, carefully, and extend them, tucking one under the seat in the four-inch space beside my carry-on. I extend the  other, discreetly, alongside the aisle. It's a position that's better  for blood circulation, but not so good if the beverage cart comes down  the aisle while you're napping.  In the last two years, I have flown economy class three times back and  forth to Asia, eight times across the Atlantic, twice to California,  Florida and the Caribbean, once to South America and once around the  world. I've bought my tickets in a variety of ways, through travel  agents, through airlines, on Internet sites and through air  consolidator-brokers -- and I've found it possible, with a bit of  effort, to secure a discounted fare (sometimes an amazingly discounted  fare) for all my itineraries. Although my tickets have been cheap, my flights, in nearly every  instance, have been reasonably on time. I've traveled with airlines  ranging from Continental to Egypt Air to Lao Aviation, and not once  have I been bumped, forced to wait hours in an airport, or been  poisoned by the in-flight food. My baggage, which I usually check,  rather than carry on (more on this later) has never failed to arrive  at its destination when I did (although once, in Brazil, it arrived  before me). As far as the basics go, the airlines have delivered. Cheap, safe and efficient though my economy air travel has been, I  cannot recall a time, since my first Allegheny Airlines flight, in  1964, when flying coach class has been less pleasant. I am not talking  about frills, now largely jettisoned, like toothbrush kits, menu  cards, hot towels and hot meals on every flight over two hours. To get  cheaper fares, I'm glad to relinquish such little extras to the folks  in business class. But the Faustian bargain that the economy-class traveler strikes with  the airlines is not about frills, but basic human comforts. The  discount fares come at the price of personal space, hygiene,  breathable air and stress-free boarding and deplaning.  To offer these low fares, most airlines have reconfigured coach class  so tightly it makes me wonder whether they consulted behavioral  specialists to determine the exact number of centimeters of elbow room  human beings will tolerate before breaking out in fist fights with  strangers. The air circulation in cabins is often turned down to the  minimum level to save fuel -- increasing the possibility of  respiratory distress, and transmission of colds and flu. Food, never a  strong point, has deteriorated, or shrunk to child-sized portions, or  even, on shorter flights, disappeared altogether. And the same advances in computer technology that have allowed the  airlines to offer more last-minute discounts to customers have also enabled them to maximize passenger loads. As recently as a year ago, I could count on being able to snag a seat next to an empty seat at least half of the time. But in the last nine months or so, the empty seats have vanished. As a result, flying economy class for longer than about three hours at a stretch has become a physical, even emotional, challenge. Because I'm flying economy class so often, I prepare for flying as diligently as I would a race or a rigorous hike. What follows are some of the strategies I've developed to improve my chances of survival in the bean-counting skies. Preparing for Flying 've always practiced yoga, but since I started to write the Frugal Traveler column, I've become a fanatic, attending classes three or four times a week when I'm home. There's no better way to cope with waiting in a crowded airline terminal, or shutting out the loud, unpleasant conversation of nearby travelers. Another way I try to build up my stamina for long trips is with a light program of aerobic exercise, especially the day before I fly. I drink lots of water the day before a flight, and take my personal regimen of B-vitamins and Indian ayurvedic and Chinese herbs to toughen my immune system for those stifling, germ-laden cabins. When I book my reservation, I also try to make my seat selection. It always feels like a bit of a crapshoot. Ideally, I want to get a seat next to an empty one, or one with a bit more legroom. I used to ask for window seats and bulkheads. But bulkheads nowadays are mainly given over to passengers with children, and window seats are claustrophobic when flights are completely full, which they are more often than not. And so I usually ask for an aisle seat, in the center rows, which offer a better chance of having an empty seat in the middle than do side rows, and allow me to get up and walk. What to Take  chuckle when I read in fashion magazines about the various travel kits preferred by supermodels who fly around the world. They're usually the size of a picnic basket and contain "essential" items like blusher that doubles as eye shadow, and five different kinds of moisturizer. My kit is the size of a pencil case, and contains two pairs of foam earplugs, toothbrush and paste, a nail clipper a sample-size vial of moisturizing eye drops from my doctor that help prevent red eye, and a pillbox with two Sudafed and two Advil tablets, and one five-milligram Valium. The Sudafeds are in case I'm forced to travel with a cold -- to prevent eardrums from painfully stretching on landing. The Advil is for headaches, and the Valium, broken in half, is what puts me to sleep on those 18-hour Asia flights. After much experimentation with herbal jet-lag remedies, I've found the retro solution of the tranquilizer works best for me. And, yes, I pack a facial moisturizer -- but only one! Besides my kit, on flights five hours or longer I drag along an inexpensive lightweight Indian shawl (not a Pashmina), an inflatable collapsible neck pillow, and two liter bottles of spring water. And, if I have time, I pack a lunch -- a really nice one. The Baggage Dilemma or years, I stuffed all my belongings into one carry-on duffel bag, believing the adage that Real Travelers Don't Check Baggage. But in the last year, I've come to believe that that maxim is outdated -- and not because airlines have cracked down on carry-ons. The problem isn't the airlines, but that ubiquitous air travelers' accessory, the carry-on wheelie suitcase. Personally, I hate them -- they're bulky, make inefficient use of weight and space, and only make sense in airports and cities with paved sidewalks. But everyone else uses these wheeled albatrosses, which make boarding and deplaning an obstacle course fraught with peril. To secure overhead compartment space, you've got to get on the plane early, which is why there's always an unpleasant stampede at the gates. When the flight arrives, a reverse scramble begins as passengers try to heave their trolleys out without inflicting concussions on each other. I stopped taking my bags on planes when I noticed that the process of unloading a gazillion wheeled suitcases from the overheads took so long that by the time I emerged, the checked bags were already rolling around the carousel. So far, I've had no problems, and I enjoy being able to walk the ever-increasing distance from security checkpoint to departure gate relatively unencumbered. According to the Federal Department of Transportation's consumer air Web site (www.dot.gov/airconsumer), a fascinating array of statistics on United States airlines that's updated every month (it will tell you, for instance, what percentage of flights left a particular airport on time), baggage complaints among the major carriers are relatively low, on average about 4 per 1,000 bags. I think those are pretty good odds -- between them and the tiny, colored Brazilian good-luck ribbons that I tie on my luggage to insure positive baggage juju, I'll continue to check my bags. At least until the airlines ban the wheelies. In-Flight Survival t's a jungle up there in economy class, and while I strive to maintain the civility nurtured by many years of flying in the good old days, I've also learned that the skies belong to the quick, the pushy and the vocal. I don't wait for the flight attendant to get me an extra pillow (I always use two, one for back support, one for my head) -- I look for the bin with the extras, and help myself. If my seat turns out to be next to a passenger with an oversized child in his lap, or my seat is broken in some way, I'll find the head flight attendant and complain, and I've even resorted to standing immobile in the aisle to get attention. I get up and walk as much as I can, particularly on longer flights. If there's a refueling stop with an option to get off the plane, even for just a half-hour, I take it. Not only does this let me breathe real air but it has also provided me with some unforgettable travel experiences, like being handed a frangipani blossom at 4 a.m. in the Tahiti airport, and shopping for lipstick in the Hong Kong airport after 18 hours with no sleep. I strive to detach myself from the unpleasant surroundings and elevator-like crowding (earplugs and meditation really help) and concentrate instead on the small pleasures and unexpected surprises that in spite of the bottom line, airline companies (mostly foreign ones) still offer. Like the little terry cloth socks handed out by Japan Airlines (one of my favorite carriers) and Air New Zealand, the amazing Arabic music channels offered on Gulf Air (which also has some of the roomier coach seats around, and terrific food), or the vintage 1930's Malay films shown on Malaysia Airlines. I adore the new, sharply tailored, red and yellow uniforms of the Cathay Pacific flight attendants, and I was impressed by the hip in-flight entertainment offered by Varig coming back from Brazil: a full-length concert film of Caetano Veloso. But my favorite indulgence, perhaps the last vestige of the elegant early days of commercial air travel, is offered by Thai Airways to every female passenger as she exits the plane: a fresh orchid corsage. 

 With fresh flowers, fuzzy socks, good music and an empty aisle in which to practice my yoga stretches, I just may make it through another 100,000 economy-class miles.

\2 taking off..

TAKING OFF Traveler's File

As long as we're telling you how to get cheap, e-mail air fares and advising on other ways to save money on plane tickets (see Fare Game  on Page 1 and Fare Check on this page), we might as well pass along a few tips from the US Dept of Transportation's Aviation Consumer Protection Division on what it calls "Defensive Flying": Departure time: Flights that depart earlier in the day are less  likely to be eelayed than later ones. And if you book the last flight of thedday, a delay or cancellation could leave you stranded  overnight. Connecting flights: Suppose you have a choice of connecting through  either of two intermediate airports to get to your final  destination. If fares and service are equivalent, go with the  connecting airport that is less congested with traffic and less  likely to have bad weather. Fly now, pay later: Paying by credit card offers certain  protections. For example, in all recent airline bankruptcies, the  Transportation Department says that passengers who had paid by  credit card and were not provided service were able to have their  credit card companies credit their account for the amount of the  fare. That's the ticket: Pick up your ticket from a travel agency or the  airline ticket office. Procedures for replacing a ticket you claim  was lost in the mail can be inconvenient. Getting carded: Most airlines require a photo I.D. at check-in for  security purposes -- and the name on your ticket must match the one  on your I.D. Keeping tabs: Call a day or two before your flight to reconfirm your  reservations. Flight schedules sometimes change. And though most  airlines will try to contact you to let you know of changes, it's in  your own best interest to double check.

AirSafe.com Useful Information for the Traveling Public
 Top 10 Airline Safety Tips

Fly on Nonstop Routings  Most accidents occur during the takeoff, climb, descent, and landing phase of flight so flying nonstop would reduce exposure to these most accident prone phases of flight. 

Choose Larger Aircraft  Currently, aircraft with more than 30 passenger seats were all designed and certified under the strictest regulations. Also, in the unlikely event of a serious accident, larger aircraft provide a better opportunity for passenger survival.  Passenger fatalities by aircraft model

Pay Attention to the Preflight Briefing  Although the information seems repetitious, the locations of the closest emergency exits may be different depending on the aircraft that you fly on and seat you are in. 

Keep the Overhead Storage Bin Free of Heavy Articles  Overhead storage bins may not be able to hold very heavy objects during turbulence, so if you or another passenger have trouble lifting an article into the bin, have it stored elsewhere. 

Keep Your Seat Belt Fastened While You are Seated  Keeping the belt on when you are seated provides that extra protection you might need if the plane hits unexpected turbulence. 

Listen to the Flight Attendants  The primary reason flight attendants are on an aircraft is for safety, so if one of them asks you to do something like fasten your seat belts, do it first and ask questions later. 

Don't Bring Any Hazardous Material  There are rather long lists of hazardous materials that are not allowed, but common sense should tell you that you shouldn't bring gasoline, corrosives, poisonous gases, and other such items on the aircraft unless they were allowed by the airline and shipped in a proper container.  Details on dangerous baggage

Things You Should Not Bring on Board  

Some items should not be carried on an aircraft in either carry-on or checked luggage because of the danger they represent for the passengers and crew. Many of these items are commonly used at work or in the home, but may become a hazard in flight due to changes in temperature and pressure that can cause items to leak, generate toxic fumes or start a fire. Some exemptions are allowed for medical devices and personal care items. If in doubt, check with your air carrier. 

Classes of Hazardous Materials Explosives and Firearms: Matches, sparklers, other fireworks, flares, gunpowder, ammunition or other ordnance, blasting caps, dynamite, loaded firearms (in some cases, unloaded firearms and sporting ammunition may be carried in checked baggage if properly packed)  Note: In the United States, federal laws apply to aircraft and to the secure areas of the airport such as the gate areas. State or local laws concerning the carrying of concealed or unconcealed weapons do not apply. Attempting to enter these areas with weapons may lead to your arrest. 

Other Weapons: Knives with a blade length in excess of four inches (10.2 cm) are not allowed on board aircraft in the U.S. State or local laws in the U.S. may restrict the carraige of smaller knives. Other prohibited weapons include throwing stars, swords, or other items commonly used in martial arts competitions. Rules in other countries will vary with respect to the carraige of knives and other weapons. 

Gases and Pressure Cnntainers: Flammable aerosols like hair spray, spray paint, or insect repellant; carbon dioxide cartridges, oxygen tanks (scuba or medical), mace, tear gas, pepper spray, self-inflating rafts, and deeply refrigerated gases such as liquid nitrogen 

Flammable Liquids and Solids: Gasoline, propane, butane, and other fuels; lights with flammable reservoirs, matches, flammable paints, paint thinners, some cleaning solvents, some adhesives, cigarette lighters, and lighter fluid. Personal care items containing flammable perfume, aerosols, or other hazardous material may be carried on board if each container is less than 16 fluid ounces (473 ml) and the total is less than 70 fluid ounces (2.07 liters). 

Oxidizers and Organic Peroxides: Bleach, nitric acid, fertilizers, swimming pool or spa chemicals, and fiberglass repair kits 

Poisons: Weed killers, pesticides, insecticides, rodent poisons, arsenic, and cyanides 

Infectious Materials: Medical laboratory specimens, viral organisms, and bacterial cultures 

Corrosives: Drain cleaners, car batteries, wet cell batteries, acids, alkalis, lye, and mercury 

Organics: Fiberglass resins, peroxides

Radioactive Materials: Smoke detectors, radioactive pharmaceuticals, and other radioactive materials

Dry Ice (frozen carbon dioxide): Up to four pounds (8.8 kg) may be carried on board for packing perishables providing the package is vented

Magnetic Materials: Strong magnets such as those in some loudspeakers and laboratory equipment

Other items: Wet-cell batteries, chemical oxygen generators (either used or unused), or any equipment containing fuel or other flammable liquids

Declaring Hazardous Materials: In the U.S., you must declare hazardous materials to airlines, express package carriers, or the U.S. Postal Service. Violations carry a civil penalty of up to $27,500 for each occurrence and, in appropriate cases, a criminal penalty of up to $500,000 and/or up to five years imprisonment. 

http://airsafe.com/danger.htm -- Revised 1 December 2000 

Let the Flight Attendant Pour Your Hot Drinks  Flight attendants are trained to handle hot drinks like coffee or tea in a crowded aisle on a moving aircraft, so allow them to pour the drink and hand it too you. 

Don't Drink Too Much  The atmosphere in an airliner cabin is pressurized to about the same altitude as Denver, so any alcohol you consume will affect you more strongly than at sea level. Moderation is a good policy at any altitude. 

Keep Your Wits About You  In the unlikely event that you are involved in an emergency situation such as a precautionary emergency evacuation, follow the directions of the flight attendants and flight crew and exit the aircraft as quickly as possible. 

Threats to Civil Aircraft From Small Surface to Air Missiles  The proliferation of portable, shoulder fired surface to air missiles has for many years led to fears that an individual or group would attempt to use such a missile to bring down a large commercial jet airliner. For example, according to Jane's Weapon Systems 1988-89, there is a variation of the SA-7 Grail, an infra-red homing missile produced by the former Soviet Union and several other countries, which has a maximum altitude of about 14,500 feet (4500 m). It is used by military forces around the world in countries such as Iran, North Korea, Libya, and Sudan. The missile is not large, with a diameter of about four inches (10 cm) and with a launch weight of about 22 pounds (9.97 kg). This type of missile had been used to shoot down a propeller driven Viscount airliner in Rhodesia 1978.

Jin-Tai Choi in the book Aviation Terrorism mentions one documented case of an SA-7 striking an Omani fighter aircraft at an altitude of 11,500 feet. He also refers to a September 1973 arrest in Italy of five persons armed with SA-7s who had rented an apartment under the flight path to Rome's Fumicimino Airport. They had planned to use the missiles to shoot down an El Al airliner approaching the airport. In that case, the SA-7s had been supplied to Egypt by the Soviet Union.

In the Mar 1994 issue of Air Transport World, the magazine reported on an October 1993 conference on terrorists threats to civil aircraft that was sponsored by the American Defense Preparedness Association. At that conference, the FAA discussed 23 attacks by surface to air missiles against civil aircraft, about half of which were successful. All of these attacks had taken place in regions of active conflict. One conference attendee admitted that if terrorists targeted the air transport industry with surface to air missiles, that the industry could not institute effective countermeasures for five to ten years.

Should airlines have to actively counter this missile threat, there would be few effective countermeasures available. Military tactics such as tight, spiral turns into or out of airports, decoy flares, and severely restricting access within several miles of airports would be difficult or impossible to impose in the civilian world. There are other measures such as diffusing engine exhaust and using infra-red suppressing paint which would provide some level of protection but at a substantial costs to airlines. It is very likely that no serious efforts would be made to institute significant countermeasure strategies unless there were a significant and successful attack against some large jet airliner.

Thinking Like a Terrorist - A Field Trip to a US Airport  During a Nov 1995 airport security seminar organized by Todd Curtis of AirSafe.com, the seminar observed the security procedures at the Fort Lauderdale, FL airport. The intention of the group was to act like a terrorist group looking for targets of opportunity. What the seminar discovered was at times fascinating and at other times frightening.

In general U.S. airports have two areas where passengers and visitors have access: a public area with little active security measures and a more secure area in the aircraft waiting and boarding areas. The less secure areas usually contain ticket counters, baggage claim, gift shops, restaurants, and other airport services. Getting into the gate areas involve going through a screening process that includes x-ray inspection of carry on items and walking through metal detectors. Other security measures include limiting curbside parking at the terminal, securing unattended luggage, and requiring that all passengers be identified by the airlines by use of a picture identification. In the academic exercise, the group made several notable security observations.

Trash Bins: Most of the trash bins in the terminal area were set within larger concrete containers. An explosive set within one of these containers would likely be directed upward. However, in several cases there were metal and fiberglass containers, sometimes adjacent to the concrete ones, were also located around the terminal.

Unattended Baggage: During the visit, there were numerous announcements about how unattended baggage would be collected by the airport authority. At one point, one of the participants observed an unattended umbrella propped against a wall near one of the screening areas. The umbrella was in plain view and in close proximity to constant foot traffic. It was over 45 minutes before an airport staff member removed the umbrella  Most areas of the terminal were designed such that it was difficult to leave a bag unattended in a heavily traveled area of the terminal without it being seen. However, a large restaurant in the non-secure area of the terminal had a number of places in the facility where a large suitcase could have been left without being seen unless one were to walk very close to the bag. The implications of this restaurant design were quite obvious to all those in the seminar. 

Airport Staff: The group specifically observed custodial staff going about their duties to see if they were security conscious. We were impressed with their thoroughness. Many hidden places such as bathroom trash containers, bathroom stalls, and areas behind furniture or machinery were visually checked by the custodial staff. 

Treatment of the Group: At one point, different members of the group sat or stood in an area directly behind the staff at one security checkpoint to observe the x-ray monitor and general security procedures. Two females from seminar were able to observe for as long as they wanted and were not approached by airport or security staff. A male member of the group, who was also a police officer, was told to move along soon after he arrived. 

Identifying Passengers: Three of our party checked in for flights that day on two different airlines. At the time, all passengers were supposed to be identified with a picture identification. I was never asked for mine, another person used an ID with a name that did not match that on her ticket, and the third was asked for ID, but did not have to open up an oddly shaped package after being asked by a gate agent about its contents.  In general, we were quite impressed with the level of security. The most worrisome aspects of what we saw were that the effectiveness of active and passive security measures varied greatly, and that a group of people unschooled in the ways of terrorism could very quickly discover numerous opportunities for committing mayhem without being detected. 

Security Tips for Airline Passengers Purdue University Airport Pack all electric items in carry-on bags.  Declare all electrical items you have packed.  Do not carry gifts or packages for anyone you do not know very well.  Do not leave your bags or articles unattended.  Do not check bags for anyone else.  Do not let bags out of your control after packing.  Report any unattended bags to airline or security personnel.  Answer all questions asked by security personnel clearly and carefully.  Watch for and report suspicious activity to security personnel.  Be alert for suspicious items in airport wastebaskets or other locations.  Do not carry gift wrapped items.

\3 A SURVIVOR'S GUIDE TO COPING WITH COACH

Americans are flying more than ever before, but enjoying it a lot less, particularly in the crowded Coach cabin. Last year, the number of U.S. air travelers set all-time records: more than 600 million passengers. The upward trend shows no signs of slowing down. Within the next decade, the number of airline passengers is expected to reach 1 billion a year.

Yet, for many passengers, air travel is an increasingly unpleasant experience. More and more passengers are filing complaints with the Department of Transportation. According to the University of Michigan's "American Customer Satisfaction Index," the airline industry ranked 32nd in customer satisfaction last year, just ahead of the Internal Revenue Service.

In fact, the skies have gotten so unfriendly that U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) have recently introduced the bipartisan "Airline Passenger Fairness Act." (See story: Page 10)

How can the ever-growing number of leisure and business travelers improve their chances of having a pleasant flight? Here are some strategies to help you cope with some of the most vexing problems: fares, seat comfort, meals and frequent-flier programs.

A two-class system - For Coach air travelers to get the most from their flights, they must first understand what they're up against. The airline industry has basically created a two-class system. Think of the high-priced front of the plane (First and Business Class) as an aristocracy that is lavished with service and comfort, which keep getting better and better, particularly on transcontinental and international flights.

The much larger Coach section is the peasantry that gets minimal service and comfort. "Coach has become the Greyhound of the skies," says Joe Loundy, a travel agent at Chicago's Envoy Travel. "People, particularly leisure travelers, have voted with their dollars. They're willing to tolerate Coach conditions for the lowest possible fare."

But many people sitting in Coach are paying very high fares for cattle car conditions.

"What enrages people the most, especially business travelers, are the irrational, often sky-high air fares," says Peggy Kaz, travel specialist at Beale Travel in Chicago. "They don't understand why it is cheaper to go to Europe for the weekend than to fly to New York for a day of meetings. They don't understand why no two people on the same flight pay the same price."

What's going on? Airlines have enormous fixed costs: salaries, the planes, airport facilities, etc. To make a profit, they must fill as many seats as possible on each plane at the highest possible fares.

So, they sell the first tickets on each flights to cost-conscious leisure travelers. Because they can book their trips several weeks in advance, usually with a Saturday-night stayover, and because they can be flexible in their travel dates and their travel, today's leisure travelers can fly quite reasonably, spending perhaps $350 for a round-trip ticket between Chicago and San Francisco.

But the airlines don't sell all the seats on each flight at cheap fares. They also set aside a certain number of seats for business travelers who must attend a day or two of midweek meetings in another city, often on short notice. Many business travelers cannot book their flights well in advance. They often do not have a Saturday-night stayover. Nor do they have the scheduling flexibility of leisure travelers. And they must travel.

So, many business travelers cannot qualify for heavily discounted fares. They must pay high "unrestricted" (and fully refundable) Coach fares. The airlines justify the high fares by claiming that they risk losing revenue by setting aside seats on each flight for last-minute business travelers, and therefore they must mitigate some of that risk with higher prices.

But how much higher is higher? Earlier this month, both American and United Airlines charged a staggering $1,900 for a midweek, unrestricted round-trip Coach ticket between Chicago and San Francisco. That's right. Business travelers spending $1,900 sat next to the vacation travelers who paid $350 for the same flights.

So, how can leisure and business travelers find the best fares, even for last minute trips? A little persistence, knowledge and luck can do wonders.

Shop the airlines Unless you're 100% loyal to "your" airline's frequent-flier program, call the other airlines that serve your desired destination. "An unrestricted midweek ticket from Chicago to New York on American or United is over $1,000 round trip," says Kaz. "American Trans Air (ATA) can charge as little as $200 round trip for an unrestricted ticket. But ATA only has three flights a day, which can be inconvenient for some travelers."

Chicago is blessed with service by several smaller low-fare airlines. "They act as a safety valve, particularly for business people who must take unrestricted midweek fares," says Loundy. "Of course, there's Southwest and ATA. But don't forget Reno Air to the West Coast and Vanguard. In mid-April, for example, Vanguard will start flying from Chicago to Cincinnati. That should drive down fares on that high-priced route."

Shop the airports The airport you fly out of (and into) can save you or cost you hundreds of dollars. In Chicago, often, you'll find cheaper fares flying out of Midway than the more popular O'Hare.

If fares from Chicago to New York's LaGuardia Airport are too high, ask about prices into New York's JFK airport or nearby Newark. Are you flying to Washington, D.C.? National Airport is close to the city, but passengers often pay for this convenience with pricey fares. Check out Washington Dulles or nearby Baltimore-Washington airport. You could save hundreds of dollars. And you may not be that inconvenienced by their location. Baltimore-Washington Airport is closer to some of Washington's Maryland suburbs than National Airport.

When you shop the secondary, non-hub airports, you often increase your chances of finding a carrier like ATA or Southwest that offers lower fares. On March 14, for example, Southwest started service between Midway and MacArthur Airport on Long Island in New York. The unrestricted, midweek airfare in mid-March was just $258 round trip, compared to more than $1,000 on American or United between O'Hare and LaGuardia.

Shop the Internet The Internet is an electronic international bazaar where you can buy airline tickets, make hotel reservations, book cruises and purchase other travel products. According to the Boston Consulting Group, travel-related purchases on Internet sites exceeded $1.6 billion in 1998, three times higher than in 1997.

Some genuine bargains can be found on the Internet, if you are computer literate and have the time and patience to seek them out. Every major U.S. airline sells tickets on the Internet. Unfortunately, the airline Web sites are often slow and overly complex, so it can be difficult to find the lowest fares and the best schedules for your travels. Few Web sites compare their fares and schedules to their competitors' flights.


So, why bother? First, you can find low fares. Secondly, and of particular importance to cost-conscious leisure and business travelers, airline Web sites provide weekly last-minute, bargain basement specials, including some real deals for U.S. and international flights. For weekend flights, for example, the airlines will post their specials on the Tuesday or Wednesday before the available weekend. These last-minutes fares can be as much as half the cost of a low cost, 14-day-in-advance, Saturday stayover, ticket. Some airlines even sell First Class tickets at the last minute at huge reductions. Finally, you can even get frequent-flier mileage for most (but not all) bargain flights.

Why are the airlines offering such great deals? These specials allow them to pack their planes, filling seats that might have gone empty. And all of that last-minute revenue goes directly to their bottom line, minus the cost of a little more jet fuel. The cheap tickets are actually profitable, if they attract passengers who would not have flown otherwise.

On most airline Web sites, you can register your e-mail address to automatically receive a list of specials every week. On some Web sites, you can even designate your favorite destinations and be notified when bargain fares become available for those trips. Some airline Web sites even offer last minute discounted hotel room and car rental rates.

Some travel Web sites allow you to tell the airlines what you want to pay for a ticket to a particular destination at a specific time. If an airline chooses to accept your offer, it will e-mail back an acceptance, or it may make a counter-offer. Check out www.priceline.com.

To Internet shop for tickets, you don't have to go to the airlines' Web sites. Many Internet travel Web sites provide fares from all the airlines. Check out Expedia Travel at www.expedia.msn.com and Travelocity at www.travelocity.com. You can also purchase Internet tickets through your travel agent, although the cost may go up.

Of course, there are strings attached to Internet ticket shopping. First, you aren't guaranteed that an airline will offer bargain basement fares for the destinations and dates that you want. Second, the ticket specials are restricted to quick trips like a Saturday departure and a Tuesday return. Third, the airlines offer only a limited number of last-minute reduced fare tickets on a first-come, first-served basis. Fourth, the best deals are available only a few days before your departure, and not many people can go away for the weekend on the spur of the moment.

Finally, remember that the airlines are not offering these last-minute bargains out of the goodness of their hearts. With their sophisticated computer systems, they can now determine in advance which flights are likely to have unsold seats, and how many. So, you are buying at a great discount what other travelers didn't want: inconvenient flight times, connecting flights rather than non-stops, secondary airports rather than hubs, etc. If you can live with those downsides, Internet shopping can save you hundreds of dollars on your airfare.

The right planes For many passengers, the single most important factor in having an enjoyable flight is a comfortable seat with adequate legroom. That's difficult to find in today's Coach cabins.

Ten to fifteen years ago, the average Coach seat (particularly on international flights) offered a 34-inch pitch providing enough room for all but the tallest passengers. Then, as deregulation transformed the industry, and ruthless competition became the norm. The airlines pushed the seats closer together, typically to an uncomfortable 31 inches, and sometimes less, so they could pack more seats (hence more paying customers) onto their planes.

Under these cramped conditions, getting the best seats possible is essential for the comfort of your trip, particularly now that U.S. carriers are reporting record passenger loads, which means fewer empty seats to let you spread out.

Finding the best seats first means choosing the right plane. All jets are not created equal in terms of passenger comfort. And each airline has different kinds of jets in its fleet, ranging from tiny commuter planes to huge 747 jumbo-jets.

Narrow-body planes On most carriers, the narrow-body Boeing 737 and 757 jets (which have a 3-3 configuration, i.e. rows of three seats on each side of a middle aisle) are cattle cars in Coach. The seats are narrow and lack any ergonomic support. Legroom is tight, typically a knee-crunching 30 inches to 31 inches. On-board luggage storage is inadequate, particularly on full flights.

The relatively new A-320 (made by Europe's Airbus consortium) probably offers the most comfortable Coach seating of the narrow-bodies. The cabin is eight inches wider than the Boeing 737. That extra space means one-inch-wider Coach seats. Legroom, however, is still tight for most adults.

Now, for the really bad news about the cramped narrow-bodies. Many airlines are now using these less-than-comfortable planes for their longer flights, such as Los Angeles to Chicago, their less busy transcontinental flights and on shorter international routes from the U.S. to Europe and Central America.

Some airlines, and some flight routes, don't offer you an option. You're stuck with narrow-body planes. If there is a choice, however, even if it means changing your flight times, choose a wide-body plane.

Wide-body planes Many wide-bodies offer more comfort in Coach, because the seats have an inch or two more legroom than the seats in their narrow-body brethren. They also have more spacious cabins and double aisles, which means less claustrophobia on full flights.

Unfortunately, most U.S. carriers fly their wide-bodies (like the 747, 767, 777, DC-10 and MD-11) only to their international destinations. You can, however, find a few wide-body planes flying from Chicago to a few U.S. destinations, like California. Ask your travel agent or the airline ticket agent to look for these planes when you book your flights. The airlines are constantly re-adjusting schedules and equipment.

But even wide-bodies have their pitfalls. Avoid the 747 on long-haul Coach flights, such as from Chicago to Europe and Asian destinations. The seats are narrow. Legroom is tight. Quite a few passengers get stuck with undesirable middle seats because of the 747's typical 3-4-3 configuration. With so many people jammed into the large cabin, claustrophobia and noise can also become real problems.

The DC-10 and the MD-11 typically have a 2-5-2 configuration, which also maximizes the number of undesirable middle seats. The smaller, narrower 767, on the other hand, has 2-3-2 seating which minimizes the number of middle seats, while offering the larger cabin and double aisles of a wide-body jet. The 767's Coach seats are even moderately wide.

According to most road-warriors, though, the Boeing 777 is the most comfortable wide-body plane for Coach passengers. The aisles are wider than on most other jets, and the cabin ceiling is higher than on any other plane, including the 747. Most important, the Coach seats have more space. They are typically 20.5 inches wide between the armrest mid-points, with 33 inches of legroom. Unfortunately, the 777 has 2-5-2 seating, which maximizes the number of undesirable middle seats. So, try to get an aisle or window seat.

The right seats Now that you know which planes are most comfortable, you need to find the most comfortable seats on those planes. Of course, each airline buys different kinds of seats for their planes and configures those seats in their own way. But some strategies can help maximize your comfort, particularly on a long flight.

1. Book the bulkhead seats just behind the partition (or bulkhead) that divides two different cabins (such as First Class and Coach) on the plane. Not only do these seats offer more legroom, there's no passenger in front of you to recline their seat into your knees.

Unfortunately, most U.S. airlines now hold these desirable seats for full-fare passengers and/or the most active "elite-level" members of their frequent-flier programs. (See "Frequent Flier Programs" later in this article.) If you're not a super-frequent flier, ask at the gate if one of the bulkhead seats is available. You'd be surprised how often a polite request will get you a still-empty bulkhead seat at the last minute.

2. Seats in the emergency exit rows also offer more legroom, but once again, most airlines hold these seats for full-fare passengers and/or their most loyal customers. Still you can always ask at the gate if any of these seats are still available.

3. Avoid non-reclining rows, which are located immediately in front of the emergency exit row on some (but not all) planes. The airline telephone representative or your travel agent can identify these undesirable seats on their computerized seat map when you book your flight.

4. Avoid the often painfully noisy last rows, particularly in planes like the DC-10 and the MD-80, which have a rear-mounted jet. These back rows are also a problem for passengers sitting in aisle seats who can be jostled by passengers going to and from the lavatories.

5. Keep calling to get better seat assignments.

6. If you really want to know more than you ever thought possible about inflight seat comfort, read the Consumer Reports Travel Newsletter's thorough airline seat comfort survey, published every other year. The most recent Coach survey was published in July 1997. Another report will appear later this year. A major article on low-fare airlines in the June 1999 issue will include information on seat comfort on those carriers. For subscriptions, call 800-234-1970. The rate is $39 a year.

The new Coach seats? In the past year, several airlines (including American and United) announced they will install new, more comfortable Coach seats on their planes. The new seats, similar to those on United's A-319 narrow-body jets, will be a great improvement for Coach passengers. The seats will have slightly sculpted bottoms, sides, and backs for greater ergonomic comfort. The headrests, which will extend the full width of the seat, will have up-and-down movement and adjustable "ears" to provide greater neck and head support for more comfortable sleeping.

Unfortunately, the new seats won't be any wider than their predecessors, because the width of the airplane cabins won't change. Nor will the airlines push the seat rows further apart for greater "pitch," or legroom. Nonetheless, the seats should offer a little more space, possibly up to an inch. How? The seats are slimmer than their predecessors, particularly in the lower half. So, that offers more knee-room, even though the distance between rows will remain the same.

Meals? What meals? Have you heard many jokes about airline meals lately? Probably not, because the airlines have discarded meal service on all but their longest (more than three hours) domestic flights. Even then, you're not really guaranteed a decent meal.

Last month, for example, shortly after an 11 a.m. American Airlines jet took off from Los Angeles for Chicago, one of the flight attendants cheerfully announced that "we'll be serving lunch shortly." A minute later, she came back on the intercom to say: "I'm sorry to announce that we won't be serving lunch today. Because it's Saturday, we'll be serving a lunch snack in the main cabin."

What exactly is a "lunch snack"? A two-by-four-inch ham and cheese mini-sandwich, a small bag of corn chips and a one-inch-square piece of chocolate. Bon appetit.

At least these passengers got something to eat during their 3 1/2-hour flight to Chicago. Pity the starving travelers with connecting flights, each several hours long. Because most carriers serve only peanuts or snacks on flights under three hours, these passengers won't have a decent meal in six or seven hours, unless they are able to grab a take-out meal when they change planes.

Going without food for four hours or more is a problem for most people, and it can create real hardships for travelers who are diabetic or hypoglycemic, those who must take regular medication with food, and for children.

Why have real airline meals nearly become extinct on domestic flights? In this age of fierce competition, airline cost cutters cannot easily control salaries (the airlines' 1 expense) or jet fuel (which is 2.) But they can save money on meals. In 1991, the major U.S. airlines spent $4.76 on food for each domestic passenger. By the first half of 1998, that figure had dropped to $3.17. (Those figures are not adjusted for inflation.)

While a few airlines have recently improved meal service on a few domestic flights, food service generally continues on a downward slide. Earlier this year, Delta announced that on 140 of its 2,600 daily flights it would replace the sandwich in its SkyDeli bags with cheese and crackers.

"My clients used to take refuge in special meals like kosher or vegetarian," says Envoy Travel's Loundy. "Now, they tell me to delete their special meal requests, because they were so disappointed with what the airlines provided."

Short of storming First Class and stealing food from its well-stocked galley, what can Coach passengers do? Many travelers pick up a sandwich or fast-food meal at the airport. But what if you arrive late at the airport, or if you don't have time to grab some food during a tight connection?

For travelers who are leaving home for the airport, the best strategy is to pack some healthy, easy-to-eat snack food like a sandwich, trail mix, apples and bananas, hard-boiled eggs or a thermos of soup in your carry-on bag or briefcase. Be sure the food is durable, so that it survives rough handling as you struggle down a crowded aisle and squeeze into your seat. Don't bring any food that requires refrigeration. Avoid food that requires utensils, unless you can remember to pack a plastic fork, knife and spoon.

If you're flying home from a business or leisure trip, pick up some sandwiches and snack food from a deli before you leave for the airport. A deli isn't your only option. Many finer hotels are now offering gourmet meals-to-go. For example, in Chicago, both the Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons hotels have special to-go menus for sale to their guests, including a breakfast bagel with smoked salmon, cream cheese, tomato, and shaved onion. For lunch or dinner, you can have grilled beef tenderloin medallions on rosemary focaccia and apple pie.

If you take a gourmet meal to-go on board, instead of gnawing hunger, the only trouble you'll have is avoiding the pitiable or envious glances of your fellow fliers.

Frequent-flier programs have been an unbelievable bonanza for airlines and passengers alike.

Through frequent-flier programs, airlines have created strong customer loyalty for a standardized, one-airline-fits-all "commodity" product -- the Coach airline seat. Frequent-flier programs have also become enormous profit centers for the airlines, because they are selling mileage (typically at one to two cents a mile) to credit card companies, hotels, rent-a-car companies, long-distance telephone carriers, even restaurants and florists.

Airlines are reaping other benefits from frequent-flier programs. Many travelers have become mileage junkies, often going through hoops to acquire their mileage "fix." They'll take a less convenient flight. They'll take a connecting flight when another airline offers non-stop service. They'll even pay more money for a seat on "their" airline. All to get the frequent-flier mileage.

The airlines use their travel awards, which they give in return for redeemed mileage, to fill seats that usually would not have been sold to paying customers. The same sophisticated airlines computer systems that set prices for bargain tickets on the airlines' Web sites, allocate the seats "purchased" with frequent-flier miles.

But it isn't a one-way street. Passengers are also reaping wonderful benefits from frequent-flier programs. Since these programs originated in the early 1980s, travelers have redeemed millions of free trips all over the world. On American, for example, if you accumulate 160,000 miles, you can get a pair of Business Class tickets for a dream vacation to Europe. The same two tickets cost 140,000 miles on United.

But free travel is just the beginning of passenger benefits. If you fly moderately often or generate plenty of miles through partners like credit cards or hotels, you can increase your travel comfort considerably by using your mileage to "buy" a one-class upgrade award on a domestic or international flight. For 40,000 miles, for example, you can transform most Chicago-to-London Coach tickets on United to a Business Class ticket, subject to limits on the number of upgrades available on each flight. That same upgrade costs 50,000 miles on American.

In fact, many passengers prefer the upgrades to free tickets. Look at the math. A free Coach ticket to Europe on American or United costs as little as 40,000 miles. A one-class international upgrade costs 40,000 or 50,000 miles, depending on the airline. Thus, a passenger could buy an $800 round-trip Coach ticket from Chicago to Europe this summer, and then spend 40,000 or 50,000 miles to upgrade to a Business Class ticket that normally would list at more than $5,700. They save thousands of dollars and they travel in great comfort. Because they purchased the Coach ticket, they even earn frequent-flier miles for the flight. (Note: Some ultra-cheap fares are not upgradable.)

The other way to increase your travel comfott through frequent-flier programs is to become an "elite" member of an airline's frequent-flier program. For example, if you fly (not accrue) 25,000 miles a year on American and designated partner airlines, you become an Aadvantage Gold member with many special perks. If you fly (not accrue) 25,000 miles a year on United and its partner airlines, you become a Mileage Plus Premier member.

"Being a United Premier flyer has real benefits," says Rick Strotman, a partner with Arthur Andersen LLP in Chicago. "At the airport, I don't have to stand in the long line to check in. I can check in at the Premier counter. I can get inexpensive upgrades into First Class on domestic flights with unsold seats. Premier members also get 25 percent bonus mileage."

Airlines set aside the desirable aisle and window seats in the front of the Coach cabin for the elite members of their frequent-flier programs. They also "block" the seat next to elite members, so that it remains empty unless the flight is quite full. "Having that empty seat is a great comfort, but it can have unintended consequences," says Strotman. "Last year, my brother and I were going to Augusta to see the Masters golf tournament. I made my reservations on our flight first. Then, my brother made his reservations. When he tried to get the seat next to mine, they wouldn't let him. I had to call back."

Of course, getting the most from frequent-flier programs requires knowledge and planning. Every airline's program has different rules and different award schedules. Members cannot always get the free flight (or a free upgrade on the specific flight) that they want, because the awards are subject to capacity controls. The airlines are not going to give away seats that they can sell, or at least seats that their computer systems say they can sell.

The success and popularity of these frequent-flier programs has led to some complications. "The airlines keep sweetening the pot by offering new ways to get miles, like getting a mortgage or opening a brokerage account," says Beale Travel's Kaz. "Then, they realize that they have a gazillion miles out there, waiting to be redeemed. So, they make travel awards and upgrades more costly. It's mileage inflation. The more miles out there, the less value they have." Earlier this year, for example, several airlines raised the cost of their mileage awards, thereby reducing the value of existing miles in members' accounts.

Like it or not, air travel -- at least in Coach -- will never return to earleer days of wide seats, plenty of leg room, and good meals. The Coach airplane seat has become a price-driven "commodity" product with little differentiation between carriers. Leisure travelers have accepted irrational pricing, cramped seats, minimal meals and so-so service in exchange for rock-bottom prices. Fifteen years ago, a Coach ticket from Chicago to London in spring cost approximately $800. Today, the Coach fare -- albeit for a less comfortable flight -- costs $300 to $400 in the current sales.

"To tell you the truth, the airline industry is the eighth wonder of the world, moving as many people as they do, as reliably as they do," says Loundy. "When you look at the gross numbers, and percentage of problems, it's a fairly functional system." The frequent-flier programs, moreover, have benefited millions of travelers, as well as the airlines.

But why, in a time of record industry profits, can't the airlines give the Coach passengers, particularly the beleaguered business travelers, a more rational ticket pricing system, a little more legroom and a decent meal?

\4 SOMETIMES YOU CAN GET MORE ROOM IN COACH

If you play your airlines right, you could get more legroom in Coach for your next trip to Europe. This greater comfort is the outcome of a welcome trend that began a year and a half ago.

That's when United Airlines rolled out its Economy Plus section on many domestic flights, giving some Coach travelers 4 to 5 inches more legroom. Shortly thereafter, American Airlines responded in kind. While the extra legroom it added--3 to 4 inches--was less than United's, it gave that space to everyone on applicable flights.

United Airlines proclaimed that it had won "the race for space." American's TV ads showed workers tossing rows of seats out of airplanes. And the other airlines, perhaps remembering TWA's failed efforts a few years earlier to attract more business with "Comfort Class," took a wait and see attitude. If United and American started grabbing market share, then they'd act.

Gordon M. Bethune, CEO of Continental Airlines, publicly pooh-poohed the idea of returning extra legroom to airplanes. Apparently, he doesn't fly Coach very often. By Mar 2000, United had installed an Economy Plus section in the first 6 to 11 rows of the Coach cabin on many of its planes, giving passengers enough room to cross their legs or work at their laptop computer comfortably.

The catch? Only passengers who purchase unrestricted full-fare Coach tickets (typically a high-priced B or Y fare) or members of United's Mileage Plus program who attain the Premier level in a calendar year (i.e., fly 25,000 actual paid miles--or 30 flight segments--on United or one of its partner carriers) can reserve Economy Plus seats. The majority of Coach passengers--those who don't qualify for Economy Plus--were left with the same knee-crunching tight seating as before.

In addition, United did not install Economy Plus in its own short-haul United Shuttle, its wide-body long-haul international fleet or the United Express planes that are flown by different airlines under the United name.

American took a different approach. Early last year, the airline started removing two rows of Coach seats from each plane in its entire domestic and international fleet, so that all Coach seats on all its reconfigured planes (excluding the short-haul American Eagle planes that are operated by a different carrier under the American name) gained 3 to 4 more inches of legroom.

According to Greg Rollings, manager of on-board product planning, American has now completed the reconfiguration of its two-class planes (Boeing 737s and 757s and MD-80s), except for a few Boeing 727s that will be retired shortly. The airline is halfway through the conversion of its wide-body long-haul Boeing 767s and 777s and Airbus 300s, which are primarily used on international flights.

Meanwhile, United--apparently satisfied with its domestic market for Economy Plus--announced earlier this month that it would create an Economy Plus cabin on its wide-body international fleet of 747s, 767s and 777s. Several wide-body planes with Economy Plus are already in service.

"By late April, all of United's transatlantic and Latin American flights from Chicago will have Economy Plus seating," says aatthew Triaca, manager of media relations for the airline. "The 747s and a few long-range 777s, which fly to Asia, will not be completed until the end of the year," he says.

Over at American, "9 of our 12 European flights [from Chicago] will have the new Coach sections by late April," says Rollings. "The new seating will be installed in the three remaining European flights and on our daily flight to Tokyo later in the year."

What do all these changes mean for Coach passengers? "United is marginally better than American for business travelers flying on a full-fare ticket or the Premier levels of its frequent flierprogram, because its Economy Plus offers an inch or so more room than American's reconfigured Coach cabin," says Ed Perkins, nationally syndicated travel columnist. "And American is better for all other travelers. If you are the ordinary consumer on United, someone who only flies a few times a year, the only experience you'll have of the Economy Plus cabin is a quick glance at the expanded legroom on your way back to the rear of the plane where the seating is still very tight."

Happily, other airlines have started jumping on the legroom bandwagon. Since last year, both British Air and Virgin have provided a fourth class on their wide-body jets from Chicago to London (World Traveller Plus on British Air and Premium Economy on Virgin) which have wider seats and 6 to 8 inches more legroom than the standard Coach cabin and, therefore, go well beyond what United and American offer.

Of course, such comfort doesn't come cheap. The regular one-way full-fare tickets for seats in these new cabins have run as high as $1,200 one-way, or $2,400 round trip--which is beyond the reach of most travelers. Recently, however, British Air announced a sale on World Traveller Plus fares: $1,183 round-trip, including taxes and other charges. Passengers must be ticketed by Feb. 28 for travel beginning by April 30.

But sales come to an end and, as the airlines have proven many times over, so do new seating configurations. For Chicagoans flying in and out of O'Hare, the question is: How long will United, American and the other airlines continue to offer Coach passengers extra legroom?

As long as they can make a profit on it. So, support more legroom: reserve your Coach seat today. But be sure to get the best fare you can.`By late April, all of United's transatlantic and Latin American flights from Chicago will have Economy Plus seating,' says a United spokesperson.

--------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------- COMFORT IN COACH: A MATTER OF INCHES By Charles Lockwood CT Jun 18 2000 

Ask air travelers to name their biggest gripe about air travel, and you'll hear the same complaint over and over and over again: getting squashed in Coach.

Fifteen to 20 years ago, the typical Coach seat offered travelers about a 34-inch pitch (the amount of space between rows of seats) -- enough room for most adults to sit comfortably, even cross their legs. Then, as ruthless competition and cost-cutting swept the industry, the airlines pushed their Coach seats several inches closer together to a cramped 31-inch pitch so they could add a few more rows of revenue-producing seats to each plane, even though it jammed most passengers' knees against the back of the seat in the row ahead of them.

Many leisure travelers grudgingly accepted the cramped seating as the trade-off for heavily restricted, very cheap airfares. But other travelers, particularly business people who paid sky-high mid-week Coach fares, became resentful, even angry at the airlines. They could bring a snack on board if their flight didn't include a meal. They could be philosophical about weather-related backups and mechanical delays. But they couldn't do anything about getting squeezed into airborne cattle cars that had no room for their legs, or space to work on their laptop computers.

As Coach service steadily deteriorated, a few airlines offered less-than-perfect alternatives. TWA's experiment with Comfort Class, which provided extra legroom in Coach, lasted only a few years. On overseas routes, Virgin Atlantic's Premium Economy has large seats and comfortable legroom approaching other airlines' Business Class service, but at a price. The Premium Economy airfare between Chicago and London is $1,700 round-trip, versus Economy (i.e., Coach) fares that dip as low as $400 during off-season sales.

A few years ago, several airlines, including American and United, started installing more comfortable Coach seats, partly in response to customer complaints, partly to satisfy new government safety mandates. The new seats have slightly sculpted bottoms and sides that provide greater ergonomic comfort than previous ones.

But the new seats don't solve Coach passengers' nagging problem: Where to put their legs? Now, adequate legroom is finally returning to Coach on a few airlines.

Last August, United Airlines became the first major U.S. airline to begin restoring legroom to Coach -- for some passengers.On all of its domestic fleet, except for short-haul United Shuttle and United Express flights, United created Economy Plus sections occupying the first 6 to 11 rows of the Coach by removing a row of seats from each aircraft.

Economy Plus seats have a genuinely comfortable 35- to 36-inch pitch, an increase of 4 to 5 inches over the standard 31-inch pitch Coach seats. The key question, of course, is: Who gets to sit there?

The answer: Only those who have purchased a full-fare Coach ticket or are Premier level members of United Airlines' Mileage Plus frequent-flier program (which requires flying at least 25,000 paid miles -- or 30 flight segments -- on United or one of its Star Alliance partners in a specific calendar year).

Why did United essentially create legroom "haves" and "have-nots" in its domestic Coach cabins? "Our focus groups indicated that our most frequent fliers, typically the business travelers who pay higher fares, wanted greater recognition and comfort," says Matt Triaca, manager for media relations at United Airlines. "When we asked what we could do, they said, `more legroom,' and so, from that, Economy Plus was born.

"The leisure travelers who fly only a few times a year, however, are mostly concerned about price," he continues. So, they are assigned seats in the back two-thirds of the Coach cabin, where the seat pitch remains at the familiar 31 inches.

So far, the response to the $15 million Economy Plus reconfiguration, which was completed in mid-March, has been enthusiastic from United's frequent fliers. "If I can't upgrade, it's really enjoyable to sit in those seats," says Steve Stoner, a partner at Andersen Consulting in Chicago, who flies 100,000 miles a year. "I can cross my legs. I can breathe. Seat comfort is the most important thing on a flight. If an airline is trying to build loyalty, this certainly helps."

This past February, American Airlines upped the ante and began removing two rows of Coach seats from its domestic and international aircraft, giving seats throughout the entire Coach cabin 34 to 35 inches of pitch.

"Clearly, the public has not been pleased with the level of airline service in the U.S., and [Coach] passengers felt like they were being crammed into planes like sardines," says Al Becker, a spokesman for American Airlines.

"So, we felt that the single most beneficial step was to expand the amount of living space for all customers throughout the Coach cabin of the entire system," excluding short-haul American Eagle flights, which (like United Express) are operated by regional carriers.

This conversion program, which was two-thirds completed by early June, is removing 7,200 Coach seats from the American fleet, or slightly more than 6.4 percent of the fleet's total seat count. The total cost is $70 million.

American passengers are enthusiastic about the conversion. "When you board the aircraft, you can tell if your plane has been converted, because people are smiling," says Chicago native and University of California professor Susana Hecht. "While you're waiting for takeoff, you can overhear people saying how much they like the new legroom."

Now, British Airways has jumped on the Space Race bandwagon -- and added another dimension: width. Earlier this year, it announced the installation of a separate World Traveller Plus cabin. On 747s, the seats will be arranged in a 2-4-2 configuration (2 seats/aisle/4 seats/aisle/2 seats) versus the typical 3-4-3 configuration in a 747, and have a 38-inch pitch.

World Traveller Plus, which will appear in some markets by late fall, sounds like a great service for business travelers who cannot afford Business Class tickets and for leisure travelers willing to pay an increased fare for increased comfort. Fares will probably be at a slight premium over the unrestricted Coach airfare, which is $1,620 between Chicago and London round trip.

But like Virgin's Premium Economy, this will ease the pain only for travelers on long-haul routes to London and beyond. More practically, American's and United's new Coach legroom is great news for Chicago travelers because the two carriers control more than 83.3 per cent of the flights in and out of O'Hare.

But after years of cramped Coach seating, this does seem too good to be true. What truths and fine print are lurking behind the two airlines' cheery magazine and TV advertisements about their new Coach configurations? First, "extra legroom is great," says Sylvia Lewis, director of publications at the American Planning Association in Chicago, "but wider seats would be nice, too."

But don't expect more wiggle room on domestic flights any time soon. Although both American and United are installing the more ergonomic seats in their aircraft, the seats are still the same width as the old ones, because seat width is largely determined by the aircraft's width. And most of the carriers' domestic fleets are narrow-body aircraft without an inch of width to spare.

Still, not all narrow-body aircraft are created equal. The cabins of the A319, A320 and A321 series -- manufactured by Airbus -- are 8 inches wider than the Boeing 737 aircraft. "That translates into a slightly wider aisle and 1-inch wider seats in a 3-3 configuration," says Ed Perkins, a nationally syndicated travel columnist.

"From what I hear, the airlines -- like United, US Airways, Northwest and America West -- that operate big fleets with the A319, A320 and A321are finding a distinct consumer preference for the Airbus over the Boeing 737 planes." The second potential problem is the possible fallout from the unchanging law of supply and demand. Will fewer seats lead to higher airfares?

Of course, both American and United say no. The marketplace controls the price, they say. Besides, if American or United started pushing Coach prices much higher than the competition, passengers could fly their cheaper competitors, assuming they lived in a city with a real choice of carriers, not a fortress hub like Pittsburgh, Detroit or Minneapolis, which are dominated by single airlines.

Third, will fewer seats affect the Holy Grail of today's air traveler: the frequent-flier award? Specifically, will fewer seats lead to fewer free tickets and upgrades? Again, the airlines say no. "We recently looked at Mileage Plus award redemptions for the past year," says Matt Triaca of United. "Redemptions have gone up to record levels."

Al Becker of American Airlines also doesn't anticipate any problem for award redemptions. "On average, even in the busiest times of year, 30 percent of our seats fly empty," he says. "Most people who are using awards are planning leisure trips weeks or months in advance, so they can get one of these seats," he says. "Anyway, it would be counter-productive to disappoint our most frequent passengers, who earn the bulk of the award mileage."

Finally, the airlines may be increasing legroom, but that doesn't mean better service on flights or actual meals. Remember meals? Many other Coach travelers' woes will continue.

Will United expand the Economy Plus seating to all of its Coach cabin, its domestic United Shuttle planes or to its large international fleet? "We are looking at our options there," says Matt Triaca, "but we have reached no final decision."

Will other airlines like Continental, Delta, Northwest, TWA and US Airways follow United's and American's lead by improving legroom in their fleets? Not yet. Right now, they are watching and waiting to see if American and United start grabbing market share. And that could happen in competitive markets where passengers can chose from several carriers.

"Once people have experienced the vastly improved American and United product, they are going to be quite reluctant to get jammed into Coach on the other airlines if they have a choice of airlines in their city," says Ed Perkins. "Probably the airline that faces the biggest pressure is Delta. They're big, and they keep saying that they want to be the No. 1 airline for passengers, but today, if you don't give your passengers more legroom, you won't be No. 1."

As always, it is the bottom line that will determine the future of legroom in Coach. Remember: what the airlines giveth, the airlines can always taketh away.

Many Chicago residents are already familiar with the longtime champion of Coach comfort: Midwest Express. Flying out of Mitchell Field on Milwaukee's South Side, it is a relatively convenient alternative for residents of Chicago's northern suburbs. Midwest Express has all-Coach seating with a moderately comfortable 33- to 34-inch pitch, but their seats are laid out in a very comfortable 2-2 configuration on its fleet of narrow body DC-9, MD-81/82 and MD-88 aircraft. Other airlines usually have a 2-3 configuration on those narrow body jets.

Admittedly, Midwest Express, which has just 32 aircraft, doesn't have the complicated, far-flung route structure of major U.S. carriers. And Midwest is only a tiny fraction of the size of mega-carriers like American, Delta and United in terms of miles flown annually. But this airline's pamper-the-passenger formula works. Midwest Express' all-Coach service consistently tops passenger surveys of airline quality.

That's great for those who find flying out of Milwaukee convenient. But an even smaller airline might soon give Chicago its first pamper-the-passenger flights -- albeit to an extremely limited number of destinations.

Legend Airlines, which began flying out of Dallas' Love Field to Washington, Los Angeles and Las Vegas a few months ago, has received permission for four flights a day between O'Hare and Dallas. The airline touts itself as an all-First Class airline at Coach prices, flying planes with only 56 seats.

No date has been set for Legend's actual entrance into the Chicago market.

\5 Hub Cities
 Try to avoid hub cities. For example, since USAir's hub is Pittsburgh, they have a virtual monopoly on flights to PGH, so if you're so unlucky as to be flying to Pittsburgh, the rates are not cheap. Occasionally you may be able to take a flight which makes a stop or connection at Pittsburgh, and walk off the plane in Pittsburgh (i.e., a ticket from Boston to Cleveland on a plane which makes a stop in Pittsburgh might be cheaper than a ticket from Boston to Pittsburgh on the same plane). This only works when you can carry on all of your baggage. Or if your connecting flight is more than two hours after your flight arrives or on a different plane, you can usually arrange to claim your baggage at the hub and recheck it yourself. (See also [1-20] Hidden City Fares.) Several airlines are currently being investigated by the Justice Department for anti-trust violations based on their dominating the airports at their hubs. Here's a list of airline hub cities. I've asterisked those that I'm sure are monopolized by that airline. # indicates the main hub of the airline. Alaska Airlines (AS): Anchorage (ANC)#, SEA America West (HP): Phoenix (PHX)#, Las Vega$ (LAS), Columbus OH (CMH) American Airlines (AA): Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW)#, Raleigh/Durham (RDU)*, SJC*, SJU, ORD, BNA, Continental Airlines (CO): Newark (EWR)#, Cleveland (CLE)*, IAH, DEN, MSY Delta Airlines (DL): Atlanta (ATL)*#, Salt Lake City (SLC)*, DFW, CVG, LAX, JFK and FRA (Frankfurt, FRG), Orlando FL (MCO). Midwest Express (YX): MKE Northwest Airlines (NW): Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP)#, DTW*, Memphis (MEM)*, Milwaukee (MKE)*, BOS, NRT (Tokyo Narita). Southwest Airlines (WN): Chicago (MDW), St. Louis (STL), Dallas Love (DAL), Houston Hobby (HOU), PHX, ABQ TWA (TW): St. Louis (STL)*#, New York (JFK), Paris (ORY or CDG) USAir (US): Pittsburgh (PIT)*#, Philadelphia (PHL), Charlotte (CLT)*, Baltimore (BWI)*, LAX, SFO, SYR, IND United Airlines (UA): Chicago#, DEN, Washington Dulles (IAD), SEA, SFO, Raleigh, Tokyo, LHR (London Heathrow) Airport Abbreviations and Hubs: ABQ Albuquerque, NM WN ANC Anchorage, AK AS ATL Atlanta, GA DL BNA Nashville, TN AA BOS Boston, MA NW BWI Baltimore, MD US CLE Cleveland, OH CO CLT Charlotte, NC US CMH Columbus, OH HP CVG Cincinatti, OH DL DAL Dallas (Love Field), TX WN DEN Denver, CO UA DFW Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX AA DL DTW Detroit, MI NW EWR Newark, NJ CO HOU Houston (Hobby), TX WN IAD Washington (Dulles), DC UA IAH Houston (Intercontinental), TX CO IND Indianapolis, IN US JFK New York (Kennedy), NY TW DL LAS Las Vega$ HP LAX Los Angeles DL US MEM Memphis, TN NW MKE Milwaukee, WI NW YX MSP Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN NW MSY New Orleans, LA CO ORD Chicago, IL AA UA MCO Orlando, FL DL PHL Philadelphia, PA US PHX Phoenix, AZ HP WN PIT Pittsburgh, PA US RDU Raleigh/Durham, NC AA SEA Seattle, WA AS UA SFO San Francisco, CA UA US SJC San Jose, CA AA SJU San Juan, PR AA SLC Salt Lake City, UT DL STL St. Louis, MO TW SYR Syracuse, NY US AA American Airlines AS Alaska Airlines CO Continental Airlines DL Delta Airlines HP America West Airlines TW Trans World Airlines UA United Airlines US  US Air WN Southwest Airlines YX Midwest Express

If you live in a hub city, where the airport is monopolized by a single carrier, you can usually get nonstop service to most destinations. Unfortunately, you'll probably also be paying exorbitant prices for that service. Airlines only provide good prices for competitive markets -- those serviced by multiple carriers. If they are the main carrier in a given market, they keep the prices high, and will even (arrogantly) refuse to match prices with other carriers. The other national carriers might have one or two gates at this airport. If so, you may find them offering cheaper fares than the monopoly carrier. There is, however, one drawback to this. Since your airport isn't one of their hubs, the flights they offer will almost always involve first flying you to their closest hub, and getting a connection there -- even if their hub is in the opposite direction from your destination. On the other hand, if their hub is your ultimate destination, then you're in luck. There is another workaround to dealing with a hub carrier. If there's another major airport within an hour or two drive from your home, you could fly out from there. (The same thing is true of using frequent flyer certificates for free travel. If there's no seats available on the days you're interested in from your local airport, try another airport nearby. Also, sometimes regular air fares may be cheaper out of an airport in a different city. If driving 100 miles saves you $300, isn't it worth the bother?


\6 kids+ pregnant

Pregnant Passengers

If you're pregnant, check with your doctor before traveling by air, especially during the last trimester. There is a small but real risk that the flight could cause you to go into labor and induce a premature birth. Definitely do not fly if the baby has turned.

Many airlines won't let a visibly pregnant woman travel without a note from her doctor certifying that it's ok for her to travel and that she's not likely to give birth at 30,000 feet. Airlines may still refuse transportation to you, even with a doctor's certificate, especially if you're in the 8th month. The reasons for refusal vary, but often include the passenger's safety and airline liability. (If you give birth in the air, the airline will have to divert to the closest airport with a nearby hospital, even if there are no complications.)

If you do fly, keep your lap belt low around the hips. Also, ask the gate agent if there's an empty seat available in first class. You'll be more comfortable in the wider seats, and if you do happen to give birth, they can close the curtain to give you a little privacy.

Flying can also be a miserable experience for someone who is pregnant. Flying differs from other modes of transportation in the sudden acceleration and deceleration, frequent air pressure changes, and significant amounts of vibration. (Though pregnant women should be careful during any traveling, no matter what the means of transportation.)

Tips for Families Flying with Children

If you're flying with children, here are some tips for making air travel a more enjoyable experience -- for you, for your child, and for your fellow passengers.

When planning your trip:

 + Tell your children what to expect. Explain security procedures,
 customs and immigration, take-off and landing, baggage claim and
 claim checks, and so on. Be sure to tell them how they should
 behave in each situation and make sure they realize that
 misbehaving during the trip can have much more serious
 consequences than misbehaving at home. 

 + Establish firm ground rules for their behavior:

 Don't talk to strangers, don't ask strangers for help, and
 don't go anywhere with a stranger. 

 If they get lost, they should know what to do. For example,
 they should stay in one location -- you will find them,
 not vice versa.

 Don't go anywhere alone. Stay where your parents can see you.
 If you go anywhere, tell your parents where before you go.
 Don't wander off.

 Have them memorize your first and last name, the name of the hotel
 where you are staying, their home address (the town and state
 if they can't remember the street) and your home telephone number.

 Cross roads only with an adult and don't play in the street.

 + Include your children in the planning stages, and let them have
 some input into the decisions. Don't try to do too much each
 day, or they'll get cranky.

 + Keep in mind that young children may refuse to eat any of the
 local cuisine, so plan accordingly. Tell them in advance about
 the food and culture of the destination, especially if traveling
 to a foreign country. If you've been to the country before, tell
 them stories about your last trip.

 + If only one parent will be traveling with the children and
 you'll be crossing borders, bring a notarized letter of
 permission or power of attorney from other parent. Otherwise you
 may get stopped at the border under suspicion of kidnapping.

 + Write your child's name on the inside of all their clothes with
 indelible cloth marker, or sew in a name label. This will help
 if they get lost and forget their last name. For the flight,
 safety pin a card with complete information to their shirt.

When making reservations:

 + Ask for window seats for your children. Children love to watch
 the world move outside the window. 

 + Ask for contiguous seats so that you can sit together, and make
 sure you're in the aisle seat, so you can control your children.

 + Mention that you're flying with children, so your seats won't be
 in the emergency exit row. Children under age 15 aren't allowed
 to sit in this row, so if your seats are there, you'll have to
 be moved when you arrive for the flight, and may not get
 contiguous seats. 

 + If meals are served on the flight, ask for the special
 children's meal.

 + Ask if they have any special services for children. Some
 airlines provide pins and model airplanes for older children,
 and sets of puzzles, games and toys for younger children. Some
 airlines will provide "baby kits" with diapers and other amenities.
 British Airways now has baby seats, just like the ones in automobiles.

 All airports have changing rooms, usually in the women's restroom
 (and many are now including changing facilities in men's
 bathrooms as well). 
			
 Some airlines may send special discount travel coupons to your home
 (e.g., $50 off a children's companion ticket), if you join the
 kids klub. Joining usually doesn't cost anything, and gets your kids 
 a free magazine every so often.

 + If traveling with an infant, reserve the bulkhead seats and ask
 for a baby bed (bassinet).

 + If your child is traveling under a "lap child" fare, ask for a
 lap restraint. This is a strap that passes through your seat
 belt and is used to secure the child, so that if the plane
 crashes your kid doesn't go flying through the air.

 + If your child will be traveling alone, tell the airline the name
 of the adult who will drop them off in addition to the adult who
 will be meeting them at the destination. Include names,
 addresses, and phone numbers of each party, and also include
 your name and phone number. The party picking up your child must
 carry adequate identification. Provide the party meeting your
 child with a complete copy of the itinerary. Tell the airline
 and all parties about any special needs of your child, such as
 special meals, medication, needing assistance changing planes,
 etc. The child should carry identification, a small plastic
 baggy of change for telephone calls, and some cash. Your child
 should have no more than one small bag of carry-on baggage, and
 it should include their name and address information written on
 the inside. You will need to arrive at the airport at least an
 hour before departure to sign a special form, and you will have
 to stay at the airport until the flight has departed. Introduce
 the child to the gate agent, and remind the gate agent that your
 child is traveling alone. The gate agent will give all your
 child's travel documents to the flight attendant for
 safekeeping, and they will give them to the gate agent at the
 destination, who will give them, in turn, to the party meeting
 your child. Reiterate the standard warnings about talking to
 strangers, and remind them to not leave the airport alone or
 with a stranger. 

Packing:

 + Bring your child's favorite toys, reading material, game books,
 paper & crayons, deck of cards, disposable camera, teddy bear or
 blanket, and other amusements to keep them quiet on the 
 plane. If you bring along electronic games, be sure to turn the
 sound off, and make sure they don't use it during takeoff and
 landing. If you bring a favorite stuffed animal or blanket, be
 sure it is easily replaceable, in case it gets lost during the trip.
 A supply of the "prizes" from cereal boxes can be useful as
 rewards for good behavior.

 + Bring chewing gum and snacks to help them with air pressure
 changes during takeoff and landing. For younger children, bring
 a pacifier or a bottle of juice or milk. The flight attendants
 can warm your baby's bottle in the galley after they complete
 the safety dance. Hard candy or a lollipop may also work.

 + Bring several spare diapers and baby blankets in your carry-on
 luggage, in addition to the usual emergency change of clothing.

 + Make sure you bring enough food for the baby. Make an allowance
 for possible delays when planning what to bring.

 + For a stoller which qualifies as a carryon, get one of the
 folding "umbrella" strollers. Airports are a lot easier to
 navigate with a stroller, rather than carrying a squirming baby.

 + Bring at least one empty duffel bag in your luggage, in case you
 buy more stuff than will fit in your luggage.

 + Don't forget to bring your child's medicines, including cough
 syrup and medication for other common child ailments. Don't
 count on being able to find a drug store at your destination.

 + Bring a full color photograph of your child's face.

 + Pack the child's luggage in a bag that is small enough for them
 to manage on their own.

Before the flight:

 + If your children have never flown before, tell them how much fun
 it is, and try to build up some excitement (e.g., have a
 countdown calendar). 

Day of the flight:

 + For carrying an infant, use a "front pack" or "Snugli" -- it's
 among the easiest. Be sure to get one with extra padding on the
 shoulder straps. At six months, you can switch to a baby back pack.

 + Arrive early. Kids like to explore airports, and juggling kids
 AND bags will take time. Allow at least an hour in the airport
 for US domestic flights and two hours for international flights.

 + Watch your children carefully, to make sure they don't wander
 off. Never leave your children alone. If you need to make a pit
 stop in the washroom, bring your children with you. Even the
 most responsible child should never be left alone to watch
 luggage or keep your place in line. If you do misplace your
 children, airport personnel can help you locate lost children. 
 
 + Parents with children are allowed to board first, so take
 advantage of this "perk".

During the Flight:

 + Give your baby a bottle or pacifier to suck on during takeoff
 and landing. This will make the baby swallow, allowing his or
 her ears to adjust quicker to the pressure changes. Air pressure
 in the cabin is the equivalent of air pressure at 8000 feet, 
 not ground pressure.

 + If traveling with multiple children, don't be afraid to ask the
 flight attendants to watch some of them while you take one to
 the bathroom. 

 + Most airplanes carry one or two decks of airline insignia playing
 cards. These get replenished only once a day, so you'll be
 successful in getting them only if you fly early in the day.
 The flight attendants may have other items, such as pins and model
 airplanes to satisfy younger passengers.

End of the flight:

 + Wait until other passengers have gotten off the plane before you
 start gathering your belongings to deplane.

 + Don't forget to count noses.

\7 Tips for Business Travelers

If you travel frequently on business, here are some hints on making the process more tolerable.

Credit Cards, Phone Cards:

 + Get the limit on your credit card increased (or use a card like
 the American Express Card, which has no set limit). Between air
 fares (especially for one-way flights), hotels, taxis, and the
 like, you can easily run up a hefty bill. Know how much credit
 you have left on your cards, so that you don't max out the cards
 while away from home. In addition, consider getting one of the
 cards that either gives you a cash rebate (Discover), rebates
 you on purchases of some products (GE card, GM/Ford cards,
 Citibank Apple card, Caldor card), or affinity cards that give 
 you frequent flyer miles for every dollar spent. Carry two
 different kinds of cards (e.g., not every place accepts American
 Express, and some places will accept Mastercard but not Visa, 
 or vice versa).

 + Get yourself a calling card from one of the major phone
 companies (AT&T, MCI, Sprint). Make sure it has a toll free
 access number.

 + If you travel frequently overseas, you probably should get
 yourself an American Express (AmEx) card in addition to a
 Mastercard and Visa. Foreign establishments are more easily
 impressed by AmEx than in North America, so you're likely
 to find it accepted in expensive restaurants and boutiques more
 than you would expect. Visa and Mastercard have, however, made
 significant inroads, so you can't depend on any one card. Best to
 bring one of each. Visa is currently accepted in far more places
 in Europe and Asia than AmEx, but there are still some locations
 that accept only one or the other.

 The real benefit of the AmEx card is for convenient currency
 exchanges. When you want to unload your foreign cash, go to an
 AmEx office in the foreign country and use the cash to pay your
 AmEx bill. They'll let you do this even if you don't have a
 balance. You can also cash up to $1,000 in personal checks every
 three weeks at an AmEx office ($3,000 with the gold card). 

 + When traveling overseas, replacing a lost or stolen credit card can sometimes be difficult, so bring two or three, and keep them separate to prevent yourself from losing all your cards at the same time. 


\8 Travel Agencies:
 + Use a travel agency which provides a 24-hour number to handle problems. 

Ticketing:
 + If you fly regularly to the same destination but not over a
 Saturday night, use the nested/overlapping tickets strategy,
 where one roundtrip ticket is bought from the destination's
 perspective, and you use the outgoing ticket of that ticket as
 your first trip's return and vice versa. This will save your
 company a lot of money, since both tickets magicly become Saturday
 night stay tickets. An alternative is to buy two round trip
 tickets in the same manner, but with the return flights 30 days
 or so after your first trip. You'll use the outgoing portions of
 each ticket as before, but the return portions can be used for
 standby travel or may be changeable with a $35 change fee. If
 worse comes to worst and you can't use either of the returns,
 the cost of your flight will still be no more than a single
 midweek roundtrip.

 + If you're visiting multiple cities, get your tickets as a circle
 trip instead of a series of round trips or one-way tickets. A
 circle trip has the savings benefits of supersaver fares, even
 if one of the segments isn't over a Saturday night.

 + If you book two legs of a trip separately, you can avoid long
 delays in the airport by reducing the connection time. Since
 you're probably paying for one way tickets anyway, this probably
 won't affect the cost. Make sure you allow enough time, though,
 in case your flight is delayed and the other leg is at the other
 end of a big distributed airport. Note that on some airlines, if
 you miss a leg, you will not be able to pick up a later flight,
 even on standby. When you buy the tickets separately, the
 airline is no longer responsible if a late flight causes you to
 miss your connection. But if your ticket is refundable, you can
 cash it in and use it toward a later flight. (If your original
 ticket was a discount ticket, you'll have to pay the difference in
 fares between the two flights, if any. If your ticket was full
 fare, you won't.)

 + Buy your tickets through an outfit like Price Club, which gives
 you a 5% rebate (which you pocket, of course).

 + Since you paid cash for your (non-discount, refundable, changeable)
 tickets, most carriers will be glad to honor them (even if they
 are on another airline). So if you miss a flight, find the next
 flight to your destination on any carrier and talk to the gate
 agent there. Some airlines, however, will require the original
 airline to endorse the ticket over to them before they will
 accept it.

 + If your flights are concentrated with one airline, get a copy of
 their flight schedules books. It will come in handy, especially
 when you miss flights.

Free Upgrades to First Class The main method of getting first class seating without paying the exorbitant fares is to belong to a frequent flyer program like TWA's program, where gold and silver members get unlimited free upgrades to first class on a space available basis. Some airlines, like USAir, sell booklets of upgrade certificates, at an average cost of $15 per certificate. Of course, with both programs, you won't always be able to get first class seating. The other method is to fly on an overbooked flight where first class is underbooked. If you have a confirmed reservation, the airline will usually prefer to upgrade your ticket over bumping you. Even though American gold upgrade stickers have an expiration date, American ticket agents rarely turn someone down because they tried to use expired upgrade stickers. The same goes for similar programs at other airlines. (It doesn't hurt to try.) Wearing business attire probably helps your chances of getting a free upgrade. Upgrades are often at the discretion of the gate agent. If you look like a businessman, you'll get treated better. So try wearing a suit the next time you ask. On the other hand, if you look like bum, you probably won't get the upgrade, if for no other reason than to not degrade the appearance of first class.


\9 ALTERNATIVE AIRLINES

 Let's find a new breed of airlines offering more for less...
 I hate the smell of planes. That stale, air-sickness-and-polyester-seat-cover perfume always puts me in a foul mood. The only thing that puts me in a worse mood is smelling that while crammed into a middle seat between (choose two) a fat man with hygiene issues, a mother with a wailing infant, an obnoxious preteen blaring Marilyn Manson through her headphones, livestock. And paying a fortune for the privilege. So, imagine my crotchety delight as I step into the plane for my 3-hour flight from Boston to Kansas City. Rows of tan leather seats, extra-wide, two across. The hatch closes, we taxi, and I smell chocolate chip cookies? Am I having first-class delusions? A sort of budget-travel denial psychosis? No, those are cookies and this is Midwest Express, an airline you've probably never heard of. Going coast to coast will probably take you through their Milwaukee hub, but it is a small price to pay for dining on poached Norwegian salmon, white and green spinach salad, and black forest brownie trifle served on fine china, with linen napkins and complimentary wine.  So, yeah, we're all about the thrill of the journey here at Let's Go, but as exciting as a flight to the beer capital of Wisconsin might be, it probably doesn't get you anyplace you want to go; cross-country flights require a pesky plane change.  For flights to Europe, try Virgin Atlantic, which offers service to London from East and West Coast cities. Traveling in the shoulder seasons (early spring and fall) rates dip as low as $200. Even economy passengers have seat-back tv monitors and all the Virgin Cola (and Jack Daniels) they can drink. That in addition to a waggish inflight mag (the title, Hot Air, may very well be a reference to blowhard boss Richard Branson), and a cool amenity kit that includes all the usuals (socks, eye shade, toothbrush) as well as a discount at Branson's music monolith, Virgin Megastore. Once in London, check out all the cheap flights to the continent (easyJet, British Midlands, Ryanair, and Go, a subsidiary of British Airways).  Come to think of it, most foreign carriers offer more bang for your travel shilling than their American brothers. A flight on British Airways will comes with a better meal, free (!) drinks, and friendlier service than most American carriers. Switching from regular Continental to Continental Micronesia on a marathon of a flight to Southeast Asia got me free headphones (a shocking $4 charge on the previous leg of my journey) and an open bar. Though the cheapest ticket might not always yield the most posh results, budget luxury isn't always an oxy moron. Send us your personal finds!  Alternative airlines you might think about: Midwest Express in the US; Virgin Atlantic Airways for intercontinental flights in and out of the UK; easyJet, Go, British Midland, and Ryanair offer cheap flights between the UK, Ireland, and continental Europe


\10 Toward a Smoother Flight
 IT'S your vacation, and every millisecond is precious. How much of it do you want to spend in transit?

Few people planning to travel by air this summer are likely to have forgotten the televised scenes from last year, when bad weather and labor unrest resulted in flight delays that broke records. The nightmare stories prompted Congress to consider several versions of an air passengers' bill of rights, but these efforts also seem to be delayed at the gate. 

The coming travel season shows every sign of being as bad, if not worse. So while Allan Sherman used to sing that "good advice costs nothing, and it's worth the price," it may be wise to consider the tips frequent fliers use, and engage in what the Department of Transportation creatively describes as "defensive flying."

Risk: Labor Unrest  The most ominous situation for summer air travelers is a threat on the ground: two of the largest United States airlines  United and American  face possible strikes. The last time there was such an alignment of labor unrest was in 1966, when machinists from five major airlines went on strike simultaneously, prompting President Lyndon B. Johnson to intervene. Now there are more than six times as many people flying, and both labor and management are aware of the power of a job action. As Clay Foushee, the vice president of regulatory affairs at Northwest Airlines (which just settled with its mechanics' and cleaners' union), put it, "The employee group can shut you down."

Even without a strike, labor unrest can affect travelers if employees engage in work slowdowns or job actions. The normal advice  avoid booking flights on airlines with labor disputes  won't be easy to follow: these two airlines carry a third of all air travelers in the United States.

"There are only a small number of airlines where travelers can go to seek shelter," says David S. Stempler, the president of the Air Travelers Association, an air passenger group in Washington. "And those airlines don't have enough capacity to offer a safe harbor." Of course, users of frequent-flier miles are out of luck in a strike.

So it makes sense to pay close attention to news reports about union negotiations and make ticket-buying decisions accordingly. Updates on the labor situation can be found on the Internet at airlinebiz.com/wire /labor. If you have already bought a ticket on Northwest, United or American, do a little research before you travel to find out what other airlines fly to your destination. Then call and find out the policy on accepting a striking airlines' tickets.

Alternative flight information can be found on the online reservations systems of most major airlines by entering departure and destination information and selecting "show all airlines." (For the New York area, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has an extensive listing of flights at www.panynj.gov/aviation/oagframe.HTM.)

If you absolutely have to be somewhere at a certain time, and are willing to pay for the assurance, back up your ticket with a fully refundable ticket on another carrier. If your original flight goes off without a hitch, you can get your money back on the second ticket. 

Tip: Stay Flexible  I can be absent-minded  I once reserved a car service to take my family home from the airport after a vacation, forgetting our minivan was in long-term parking  so when airlines began offering electronic ticketing, I was delighted. No more forgetting where I put my ticket, at least. But there is a price for such a convenience.

When a flight is canceled, the defensive traveler with a paper ticket can call the toll- free number of another airline and reserve a seat on its next flight or go to its boarding gate and present the paper ticket to the gate agent, and if there is room get on that flight. Sure, travelers with e-tickets can do the same thing, but they must first convert their ticket to a flight coupon, which means getting in line and waiting with everyone else. By then, people with paper tickets could have filled up the seats on the other carrier or the plane could have left.

Airlines have saved millions of dollars in paper and postage since the introduction of the e-ticket. They won't like it if passengers start to reject them. Some airlines have begun to charge a $10 fee for a paper ticket. Dean Headley, the author of the annual Airline Quality Rating report, thinks the fee is a worthwhile investment. "With an e-ticket, the issuing company has you locked in," he said. "A paper ticket is a piece of flexibility you can maintain for yourself."

Risk: Airport Delays  More than 450,000 flights were delayed at least 15 minutes last year, a 20 percent increase from 1999, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. If past is prologue, delays will be the biggest inconvenience this summer, too.

The airline industry's hub-and-spoke system plays a significant role. Unless you're flying from one major city to another, and only a quarter of travelers do, air travel involves collecting passengers from scattered airports and routing them to one of two dozen major hubs, then on to their final destination. 

It makes economic sense for the airlines, but it creates a house of cards at the airports. To make it work, arrivals and departures at the hubs must be closely timed, putting pressure on everyone involved, from the crews who clean and service the airplanes to the luggage handlers who load and unload them to pilots and air traffic controllers who must pack all those planes onto the same amount of concrete.

With a process so delicately balanced, a single deviation  and there can be many in a business as complex as commercial aviation  quickly cascades, creating problems that can affect an entire day and even an entire airport.


Tips: Fly Early in the Day  If yours is the first flight out in the morning, the plane and the crew have often spent the night in town. Even problems like weather and unexpected aircraft repairs are better dealt with when everyone is fresh. As the day wears on, molehills become mountains of trouble. And those friendly airline workers who helped board the breakfast flight can be impatient and irritable by dinnertime. 

FLY AT OFF HOURS If the first flight of the day doesn't work for you, schedule your trip during the daily lulls. Reservation agents can steer you to the off-peak flights. Soon there may be a financial incentive as well: to reduce bottlenecks, the government is encouraging airports to increase landing fees at peak hours. 

Risk: Airport Overload  Some of the most notoriously delay-ridden airports  La Guardia (responsible for nearly a third of all flight delays last year), O'Hare and Logan, in Boston  were built many years ago, when air traffic was a fraction of what it is today. "It's just like the highway," said Mr. Foushee of Northwest. "The concrete can only handle so many vehicles."

But few communities are eager to add runways to existing airports. Only six new runways have been added to major airports in the last 20 years.  There are alternatives to the most congested airports. San Francisco's famous fog helped the airport earn its rank as the fifth most delay-plagued airport in the country. Across the bay, the skies are usually clear at Oakland International.

In Boston, the Massachusetts Port Authority, which oversees Logan Airport, began a campaign to encourage travelers to fly from one of the six other New England airports. The airports in Manchester, N.H., and Warwick, R.I. (T. F. Green Airport), are only a little more than an hour's drive from downtown Boston. 

"People associate the term 'reliever airport' or 'secondary airport' with secondary service," said Virginia Buckingham, the authority's executive director, "but that's clearly not the case. Once they break the habit of coming through a major airport and experience the ease of driving in  parking is cheaper, it's more comfortable because the terminals are less crowded  they find out what a positive experience it is." 

Tip: Avoid Busy Airports  Consider selecting less congested airports for both ends of your trip, and, if you have a choice, what hub to go through. Many major cities are served by more than one airport in cities or large towns nearby. In Miami it's Fort Lauderdale; in New York there are Westchester County Airport, MacArthur Airport in Islip on Long Island and Stewart Airport in Newburgh, N.Y. Information about alternatives in New England is available at www.flynewengland.com.

Risk: Denied Boarding  "On the planet Earth there is no airline that does not overbook," said Ed Stewart, director of public relations for Southwest Airlines. "Or else they'd be out of business." 

The peculiar economics of the airline industry seem to require some amount of overbooking. Ensuring that a plane takes off at least 65 percent full  roughly the break- even point  seems to require selling seats that on the day of travel might already have someone in them. On routes with a high no- show rate, an airline may sell twice as many tickets as it has seats. 

Sometimes, more passengers than expected show up for the flight. If the airline can't persuade enough of them to take a later plane, someone is going to get bumped.

Airlines are required to pay up if they can't get bumped travelers to their destination within two hours of the original arrival time, so some folks are happy to take a later flight and pocket the money or a voucher for free travel in the future. But not all vacation travelers will cheerfully see their plans changed without their consent. To those folks, a warning: when it comes to selecting which passengers will be removed from a flight involuntarily, a number of airlines start with the passengers who paid the least.

"People are astounded by that," said Mr. Stempler of the Air Travelers Association, "but think about it. Full-fare passengers constitute 15 percent of the people on the plane. They're paying full-fare coach, but the airlines don't give them an improved product. What they get is protection against being bumped." 

Smart travelers build a cushion of time into their trips when flying on discounted tickets, flying in a day or a half a day before they absolutely must be there. 

"If you build flexibility into your schedule and you are denied boarding, it can be turned into a benefit," Mr. Headley of the Air Quality Rating report said. "You can miss one flight and get a voucher to boot, and it doesn't hurt your attitude any."

Students and others on tight travel budgets have been known to schedule themselves on flights that are regularly overbooked. Airline reservations agents can check to see how full a flight is and will supply this information if asked. 

Flights in and out of popular vacation destinations like Las Vegas, San Juan and Orlando are known for offering opportunities for being bumped.

Tip: Follow the Rules  If you don't want to be bumped, first comply with the boarding requirements of your airline, which can be found on the back of the ticket, or with the e-mail or fax confirming an electronic ticket. Your seat can be canceled, even if you've paid for it, if you do not check in 15 minutes before flight time. "The time you are at the gate is the important time," Mr. Stempler said. "That way, you're among the shows instead of the no-shows." 

And by the way, loyalty pays. Most airlines protect their frequent fliers from bumping.

Risk: Lost Luggage  It doesn't happen that often, but mishandled luggage is the third most common complaint of air travelers. Business travelers are notorious for trying to stow all their belongings in the overhead bins; for vacationers toting things like golf clubs and portable playpens, this isn't an option.

Air travelers sometimes add to their problems by showing up late for a flight or failing to put identification on suitcases. Occasionally, a bag goes astray when another traveler walks off with it by mistake.

The now famous videotape of Northwest Airlines baggage handlers playing basketball with suitcases and packages in Minneapolis last Christmas should be sufficient proof that suitcases may not receive proper respect. Airlines constantly warn travelers not to pack irreplaceable, fragile, valuable or critical items like medication in checked luggage. Furthermore, if checked luggage is damaged or the contents are lost, the airline will not necessarily compensate what you think you're due.

On domestic flights, airlines accept a maximum liability of $2,500 for lost luggage, but that's not a given. "It's adjusted, like any other claim would be," said Emmet Schwartzman, an aviation lawyer with Carlton Fields, a Florida firm that represents airlines. "You've got to itemize what it is you claim you lost. If you can document it, that helps your case." Airlines will not pay for those valuable, breakable or electronic items it warned you not to pack, even if you've carried them on. 

Tips: Don't Push It  Checking in for a flight with minutes to spare requires hustle on the part of the airline. And while you may be willing to make an undignified dash through the terminal to catch your plane, not every airline bag handler will feel motivated to join you.

LABELS, INSIDE AND OUT Identification tags can come off. A second card with your name, home and destination information placed inside an unlocked compartment of your suitcase will help the airline reunite you with your bags if they get lost.

DOUBLE-CHECK THE CLAIM TICKET Before handing over your luggage, make sure the correct destination tag is on each piece. Check again when picking up the luggage on arrival: many suitcases really do look alike. A bright ribbon or a luggage tag attached to the handle will distinguish your bag from the dozen other black Samsonites on the carousel.

Commercial aviation in the United States is overtaxed under the best of circumstances, and summer vacation travel makes it worse. No matter how many precautions you take, you may find your trip disrupted. Which leads to the final tip:

Behave yourself.  You may be traveling with children, but don't act like one yourself. If your flight plans are disrupted, it is unlikely to be the fault of one airport or airline worker. Like most people, the workers appreciate patience and respect. 

"If you want to mistreat our employees, fly another airline," said Mr. Stewart of Southwest Airlines. "The customer is not always right." Since airline employees have a great deal of discretionary control over how passengers will be accommodated, being well mannered and polite is the best defensive flying technique of all.

\11 missed connection

If you ever miss a connection because your plane was late and the lines at the service desk are very long (e.g., everybody else on that flight needs rebooking), call the airline's 800 number. Sometimes they'll let you rebook because of a missed connection over the phone. You may still have to pick up the flight coupon at the service desk (though sometimes you'll be able to get it at the gate), but at least you'll make the next flight. If you wait on the line, you may not make the next flight if everybody in front of you is also waiting for the next flight, or the next flight leaves in a few minutes. Depending on the airline and the airport, you may be able to be rebooked on a flight by going directly to the gate. Some airlines will force you to go to the service desk. (For example, TWA in JFK requires that all changes go through the service desk.) If the flight you want to be rebooked on is "full", it may pay to ask the agents whether upgrading to first class will make a difference. It'll cost you, but it may save you from being stuck in the airport for a few hours. When buying a ticket with a connection, allow enough time to get from one gate to the next at the connecting airport. The airline computers have an estimate of the minimum time required to make a connection, but this isn't always accurate, especially if the gates are at opposite ends of the airport, or you're seated at the tail of the plane. The connection times are based on the arriving and departing airline, whether the flight is international or domestic, and other factors such as the flight number. The most common connection time for domestic flights is 45 minutes, which is the default minimum. Flights on the same airline at adjacent gates, however, may have shorter connection times. International flights will, of course, have greater connection times. With the new on-time rules, airlines are reluctant to hold flights for passengers coming from connecting flights that are late. The connection times, of course, do not allow for late flights (except insofar as there is a small built-in allowance for slight variations in arrival). If you're carrying your own baggage, have kids, walk slowly, or want to take a pit stop at the bathroom, allow yourself extra time the first time you fly a particular route. Ask your travel agent whether there will be enough time for you to make the connection, and if they think it's close, what other flights are available that leave the connecting city a little later.

\12 Air Pressure Problems
 (Colds) If you have a cold, traveling by air can be painful due to the fast pressure changes. The following are some suggestions for dealing with the pain:
 + Swallowing a lot during takeoff and landing (the times of the greatest pressure changes) can sometimes help. Some folks recommend chewing gum.
 + Drink lots of fluids (water, not caffeine or alcohol) to help prevent dehydration from the dry cabin air. Dehydration can make your cold feel much worse.
 + Ask the flight attendant for two hot moist towels (e.g., the kind they usually give to first class passengers to freshen up) and two styrofoam cups. Put the towels in the cups, and hold one cup over each ear. You may look funny, but the warm moist air will dramatically decrease the pain very quickly.
 + You can help equalize ear pressures by pinching your nose and blowing softly. Blow GENTLY, by a series of light puffs. Do this BEFORE your ears start to hurt. Do not hold your nose while sneezing, or you may damage your ears.
 + Talk to your doctor. There are drugs that he or she may be able to prescribe (e.g., Seldane). Some people report that taking Sudafed or other decongestants helps. A sinus spray may also help.

The FAA advises pilots to avoid flying when they have colds, due to the difficulty of equalizing ear pressures.

\13 seating

Seat assignment on most airlines starts 3 wks in advance of the flt (some are 30 days). No seat assignments on SW and shuttle flts. NW allows advance seat selection 30 days prior to the flight. Continental and Delta allow seat selection 60 days prior to the date of the flight.

After midnight is the best time to get the seat assgnts, since unpaid res are often cnxld just after midnight.

The safest seats in a plane are often over the wings in the exit row (extra reinforcement). Exit row seats also provide more leg room. But you must be physically capable of operating the emergency exit (eg, capable of lifting 40 to 50 pounds) and read/speak English fluently. 

Children under age 15 and blind/disabled passengers cannot sit in an exit row.  However, you can't reserve these seats, as the airline personnel want to see the people they assign to these rows to verify that they are physically able to open the emergency exit should the occasion arise. If you want a seat in the exit row, get to the airport early on the day of the flight, and request an exit row seat.

Note that some of the exit row seats on some aircraft (eg, MD-80 row 21 window seats) do not recline.

Aisle seats are better than window seats because: 1. You can get up and move around without having to climb over other people. On long flights you can get up for a stroll or to go to the bathroom without much of a bother. 2. There is more legroom (window seats aren't as wide, because they must fit into the curve of the plane). 3. You'll get off the plane faster, and have easy access to the overhead compartments. 4. You'll get a better view of the movie. (Depends on the aircraft, of course.) 5. You can chat with the flight attendants.

Window seats are better than aisle seats because: 1. You have a view, when it isn't cloudy. But the view may be limited to takeoff and landing, depending on the weather. 2. You've got something to lean against to sleep. 3. People don't elbow you, swing handbags/coats into your face, or spill drinks on you, like they do in aisle seats. 4. Other people don't have to climb over you.

Few people like middle seats because they have none of the benefits of the window and aisle seats, and you get squooshed by passengers on both sides (no elbow room).

Seats aft of center tend to have the most engine noise. These seats are also the most sensitive to turbulence.  If you don't dig the noise and a bumpy ride, try to get seats as far forward as possible.  On intl flts, the seats closest to the galleys are usually the quietest (except at meal times) because there is no middle row.

If you're going to watch the movie, get a seat 4-5 rows away from the screen, to avoid getting a neck cramp.

If you're lucky enough to have a row of seats to yourself, the armrests on many planes swing up, giving you room to sleep. It's also handy to swing them up while getting into and out of the seats, if you're not in the aisle seat.
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