23 Jan 2012

The End of Bait-and-Switch Airfares?

Bait-Switch-Airfares

How many times has this happened to you?  You reserve an airfare costing, say, $455, but when you go to ticket it 10 minutes later, the fare has suddenly spiked to $498 when taxes were figured in. Starting Thursday January 26th, such bait-and-switch pricing will no longer fly. It’s just one of several regulations being imposed this week by the US Department of Transportation, covering fares, baggage fees and more.

Read the full story on my Forbes Seat 1A blog.

 

12 Jan 2012

I’ll Take Mainhattan – New York Chic

Socrates Sculpture Park

Socrates Sculpture Park

Story and photos by Andrew Bender for SilverKris, in-flight magazine of Singapore Airlines

Just a decade ago, the industrial and gritty neighbourhood of Long Island City, Queens was terra incognita to Manhattanites. Then the Museum of Modern Art in New York City closed for renovation, set up a temporary location here in 2002, and culture vultures started taking notice of the area. Today, art – and reasonable rents – make Long Island City a storehouse of masterpieces lying alongside former factories, hipster hangouts, old-world ethnic eateries and au courant restaurants and pubs. To get here, take the subway from Manhattan, and travel between venues by taxi.

Read the rest of the story here.

10 Jan 2012

Cakes On A Plane: Cupcakegate And You

Photo Courtesy of Consumertraveler.com

By now you’ve heard of the Incident of the Confiscated Cupcake. It seems that one Rebecca Hains, of Peabody, Mass., was returning home from Las Vegas last month, when Transportation Security Administration agents confiscated her cupcake on the grounds of excessive frosting, which the TSA classifies as a gel.

On the one hand, dude, it’s a cupcake! On the other hand, the incident raises questions about both airport security and the American diet.

Read the rest of the post on my Seat 1A blog on Forbes.com.

04 Jan 2012

12 Resolutions The Air Travel Industry Should Make (But Probably Won’t) – Forbes.com

Resolution #10: Welcome tired travelers with speedy, friendly service.

Resolution #10: Welcome tired travelers with speedy, friendly service.

When travel writers dream, it’s often of a better world for travelers. Sure enough, this New Year’s morning, I awoke from a blissful reverie that all the stakeholders in the air travel industry got together and made 12 resolutions for 2012. Here’s that list, to the best of my recollection…

Read all about it on my Forbes Seat 1A blog.

28 Dec 2011

Andy’s Top 10 Food Trends List makes CNN’s list of Top 10 “Top 10′s”

2011

One of my Top 10 lists on Forbes.com made the Top 10 list of Top 10 lists for 2011. It’s about the Top 10 food trends of 2011.

Thanks CNN Headline News!

Read the original Top 10 list here.