Scott Ford flies constantly, but he rarely pays for plane tickets. By getting bumped from flights, he has racked up so many travel vouchers and frequent flier miles that he spent all of 2011 on vacation without opening his wallet -- and he wants to share the secrets to his free travel success.
Take me up to the ball game -- thanks to a new offering from broadband provider Row 44, baseball fanatics won't have to miss one tobacco spit or big hit while flying, because Major League Baseball will stream games to airline passengers' WiFi devices.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index's annual report on airlines showed Southwest still on top of the rankings, and far ahead of No. 2 Continental. Southwest even improved its score, a rare bright spot in an industry that came in last overall in customer satisfaction among those the ACSI rates.
Of all the industries that have achieved record profits recently, none have posted more remarkable results than the airline industry. For the first time in a decade, the industry is on a glide path to profitability -- but it's getting there by squeezing its customers.
Those irritating fees aren't going away, but over the next few years, some of them will be attached to new a la carte services that travelers may be happier to pay for. Think personal concierge services, intercity rail ticket sales -- and even in-flight spa treatments.
