Three biggest U.S. airlines to offer internet service on international flights

The three biggest American airlines have announced that Internet service will soon be available on international flights. United, Delta, and American Airlines have all announced that they are a few weeks away from having their first international flights with internet connection.

Passengers can already enjoy internet service while flying over the U.S., but the air-to-ground signal used by those planes does not work overseas. To make this service overseas possible, the airlines are installing satellite-based systems.

Those of you who are now looking forward to streaming Netflix or watching YouTube videos on an international flight will most likely be disappointed. While speeds on airplane Internet connections are getting faster, they are most likely only good enough for basic Web browsing and emails. However, most of the international Wi-Fi systems will have computer servers on the plane with movies and TV shows that passengers can view for a fee.

This news should bring a smile to the faces of many business travelers who will soon be able to access important business emails while traveling internationally. All three airlines will have this service within the next 2 months, with fees for this service yet to be determined.

Delta, American, and United Airlines adding more lie-flat seats

Three domestic airlines have decided to add to their availability of lie-flat seats on transcontinental flights. Delta, American, and United airlines have all announced plans to add additional full flat-bed seats to its Business Class.

Delta has announced that beginning in March 2013, it will be offering 26 full flat-beds in its Business Class on its Boeing 767 aircraft and 16 full flat-beds on its Boeing 757 aircraft operating between New York and Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle.

American Airlines has also announced plans to upgrade seating. Starting in November 2013 they expect to receive orders of new Airbus A321 aircrafts that will feature a first class cabin with 10 to 20 fully lie-flat seats. The A 321’s are set to replace American’s Boeing 767-200s currently flying between New York and both Los Angeles and San Francisco.

United Airlines is also in the midst of modifying its premium class seating for flights between New York and both Los Angeles and San Francisco. United plans on replacing 12 United First P.S. seats with 28 new 180-degree lie-flat seats. These newly upgraded seats will be enjoyed by customers starting in January and United expects a complete rollout of the seats by October 2013.

A huge collective sigh of relief can be heard across the country by frequent cross-country fliers. The domestic skies are about to get much more comfortable for those who can afford it.

Computer Glitch Leads to Overcharges for Delta Airlines Fliers

Delta has reported that customers have been overcharged and undercharged for the same seats due to a glitch in the Delta Airlines computer system. It is uncertain to how many customers it has affected.

The discrepancy was found after two Minneapolis business executives were given two different prices for two seats side-by-side in the economy class on an outbound flight to St. Louis. Patrick Smith was logged into his SkyMiles account and paid 300 dollars more than Steve Lisle, who was not logged into his SkyMiles account.

The two executives pursued the issue further and booked 5 more flights with the same dates and flight numbers and found that the frequent flier actually paid more 3 out of the 5 trips.

Delta spokesman Paul Skrbec released a statement to Today in the Sky:

“We have been investing in our website and the technology that supports it for over a year. Recently, we updated our search function as part of a phased approach to improve the site. Shortly after making the updates, we discovered that it produced inconsistent results for logged in and non-logged in customers. We evaluated the situation carefully and rolled back to our prior search function which resolved the issue."

Delta is handling refunds on a case-by-case basis. Customers affected by the glitch must contact Delta and provide proof of the discrepancy.

Pothos CEO Michael Patton believes that this is a prime example of why companies should use professional travel agents. Pothos assures no chance of any price discrepancy or erroneous charges. "Our GDS software provides access to the published tariff's without prejudice each and every time".

Those who book travel alone are vulnerable to these errors often without knowledge that they have been overcharged.