Sunday, November 16, 2008

LOCKED AND UPRIGHT
Dept. of Baggage: First, the Good News

United Airlines announced last week that it's dropping its plan to increase the price of a second checked bag to $50. The price will remain $25 for the second checked bag, and although the first checked bag will still cost $15, customers can get a 20 percent discount on the first checked bag by paying for it online until Jan. 31.

AirTran is joining the legacy carriers with its new $15 fee for the first checked bag, for trips booked on or after Nov. 12. Just in time for the holiday shopping and traveling season. The second-bag fee will remain $25.

After several well-publicized incidents involving air passengers stuck on the runway for hours, the Department of Transportation last December convened a task force. Last week, its final report was issued, but not much will change.

The report recommends several optional guidelines, including providing passenger updates every 30 minutes and making reasonable efforts "when practicable" to keep the bathrooms clean. But it doesn't recommend a limit on how long passengers can be kept on the tarmac. (To read the full report, go to http://www.dot.gov/affairs/Tarmac.pdf).

Passenger-rights advocates have argued for a maximum time limit of three hours on the tarmac. But the airline industry has fought against specific times. The Air Transport Association, which represents many airlines, said setting maximum tarmac times could force planes close to taking off to return to the gate. Not everyone agrees. Kate Hanni, president of FlyersRights.org and a task force member who voted against the recommendations, said in a written statement that the task force "approved a model plan that does not address the [airlines'] ability to hold passengers against their will in a sealed tube on the tarmac for an indefinite period of time."

If you're cooling your heels in Hosea Kutako International Airport in Windhoek, Namibia, looking for a place to plug in your laptop, it might help you to learn that under the fire hydrant on the left-hand side of the boarding area there is a power outlet that takes South African three-prong plugs. Not so useful? Well, maybe it would be good to know that the tables at the Vino Volo wine bar in C Concourse at Dulles (near Gate C3) have two electrical outlets at each table.

This info comes from AirPower Wiki, which offers tidbits on about 110 airports, from Albuquerque to Zurich. The information is spotty, sometimes punched in by travelers as they stumble across outlets. It also points out free WiFi in some places and a nice hidden staircase in the Minneapolis airport where there's a couple of outlets "and pure peace and quiet."

AirPower is the brainchild of a Microsoft team leader, Jeff Sandquist. It's the nature of a wiki that the information is only as accurate as the volunteers who feed it (such as listing DCA as Dubai's airport code -- it's Reagan National's). So feel free to check it out and see what you can add to the mix. Go to http://airpower.jeffsandquist.com.

Air Jamaica is offering savings on flights from BWI to Barbados. Round-trip fare is $360, including $81 taxes; fare is $621 on other airlines. Deal is good for travel through Dec. 15; booking deadline is Nov. 20. Buy online at http://www.airjamaica.com; enter coupon EGEVPGF and promotion code BGI08.

Reporting: Christina Talcott, Anton Ramkissoon, Carol Sottili

Help feed CoGo. Send travel news, road reports and juicy tattles to: cogo@washpost.com. By fax: 202-912-3609. By mail: CoGo, Washington Post Travel Section, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.