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U.S. fines airlines more than $7M for not providing refunds

nytimes.com

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Re: U.S. fines airlines more than $7M for not providing refunds

#191

Post by monksy »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #173
beebmam wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem fundamentally with the mask debate is that surgical masks barely make a difference in transmission. If we were serious about mask wearing to prevent respiratory viral transmission, we would be wearing well-fit N95s like 3M Auras, which are virtually impossible to fit improperly and are way more comfortable than surgical masks. They are also far more effective at preventing airborne/droplet viral transmiss…

Are you suggesting that less than N95 masks do not reduce COVID-19 transmission?

Yes. Surgicals are not meant for protection against airborne contaminants.

Re: U.S. fines airlines more than $7M for not providing refunds

#192

Post by stavros »

ghaff wrote: post #187
stavros wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about prepay VS postpay, though. It's about whether you HAVE to prebuy or whether you can pay at the door. Planes don't have the option to just show up and buy a ticket.

>Planes don't have the option to just show up and buy a ticket. Sure they do. Maybe not literally at the door because you have to go through security first. But they'll sell you one at the ticket counter if there are seats available.

Will they really? As far as I know, they stopped doing that years ago, but I might be wrong.

Re: U.S. fines airlines more than $7M for not providing refunds

#193

Post by techdmn »

spoils19 wrote: post #163
bagels wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Domestic flights in New Zealand are incredible. Single X-Ray machine, toss your bag on the conveyor, and it goes through just as fast as you can walk to the other side. No body scanners, no metal detectors.

The security 'theater' is what we pay for a high level of freedom in the US, especially in conservative states. You may reach the end of the queue faster, but what if there's a bad guy with a gun there? Where will the good guys be?

Presumably standing around outside, waiting for the SWAT team, and not letting anyone else enter the building. How the Uvalde PD didn't all get charged with aiding and abetting is beyond me.

Re: U.S. fines airlines more than $7M for not providing refunds

#194

Post by monksy »

wjmao88 wrote: post #165
beebmam wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem fundamentally with the mask debate is that surgical masks barely make a difference in transmission. If we were serious about mask wearing to prevent respiratory viral transmission, we would be wearing well-fit N95s like 3M Auras, which are virtually impossible to fit improperly and are way more comfortable than surgical masks. They are also far more effective at preventing airborne/droplet viral transmiss…

In the beginning everyone thought COVID is only droplet transmission and in that case regular masks work really well because it prevents someone carrying the virus from spreading dropdlets. It doesn't even have to be very tightly fitting because droplets will get attached to the fabric. Later there were some evidence that it can become aeresol in some high concentration situations like hospitals, but for all practica…

> Later there were some evidence that it can become aeresol in some high concentration situations like hospitals, but for all practical purposes in everyday life its droplet.

That's not true. There are good studies, followed up with full contact tracing in the environment it happened in, that show aerosol transmission in everyday situations (such as planes and restaurants)

Additionally on the poor fitting masks, triple layer surgicals are more effective (not effective enough) when double masking (which that situation is surgical first, cloth second.. this is the same as using a mask brace to ensure a tight fit)

However, the findings from Aaron Collins found that yes, they are better with a mask fitter.. but they still fail to qualify at the same level as an N95, KN95, or KF94 level of protection. (Those are the levels of protection you require when dealing with airborne based contaminants) On top of that it made it more difficult to wear.

Re: U.S. fines airlines more than $7M for not providing refunds

#195

Post by newbYhrly »

mcronce wrote: post #154
newbYhrly wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not against government jobs programs. Just wish it was something useful day to day, like healthcare, versus security theater.

I'd rather just provide UBI. Pay them to do nothing instead of paying them to make everybody else's lives worse.

Who is them?

A UBI is going to normalize condition and make “them” see there’s even more to participate in.

Sounds like you still prefer maintenance of a steerage class, assuming you’ll be a bit higher on the totem pole. But I mean, real talk is you’re still just one of billions. How you feel the world as-is is a meaningless measure for how you would fit into a UBI world. And I have no particular obligation to your sensibilities. shrug emoji You’re a “them” to me is not an unreasonable statement.

Re: U.S. fines airlines more than $7M for not providing refunds

#196

Post by nradov »

1024core wrote: post #49
MichaelCollins wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> major TSA delays. This infuriates me. Last week I was stuck in line for TSA for an hour and a half at Sea-Tac. The TSA clowns had one guy looking at the X-rays of luggage at the speed of molasses. Am I to believe that the TSA, FAA and airlines can't coordinate to determine when gluts of incoming passengers are expected? Bullshit. Why didn't they have more TSA workers on shift? Because they don't give a shit, nothin…

> Am I to believe that the TSA, FAA and airlines can't coordinate to determine when gluts of incoming passengers are expected? Same with the Customs and Immigration Services (the passport checkers) at SFO. I have seen lines going out to the walkway (leading into the big room). I can't even imagine traveling with a couple of little children; there's no restroom in that big hall. By law, these people get full passenger…

It's tough to live near SFO on a Customs and Border Protection salary. I'm not surprised they have trouble with staffing.

Re: U.S. fines airlines more than $7M for not providing refunds

#197

Post by partdavid »

ceejayoz wrote: post #185
ghaff wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Large non-cancelable expenses are probably one area where travel insurance can make sense. When you can mostly unwind things in light of travel disruptions, illness, etc. mostly not. (Or, when you can, maybe make refundable reservations even if there's something of a premium.)

Travel insurance can be bizarrely difficult, though. My travel delay coverage covers "mechanical" issues but not "operational" ones. Plane broke? Covered (if you can get the airline to admit it). Pilot couldn't be found? Not covered. Why the difference? No one knows!

It would be nice to have more consumer advocacy and information in this area. I have had two travel insurance claims and they were both like butter, I easily recovered my extra costs. I stuck with that company, but now their COVID rider doesn't seem very good, so I went with another for an upcoming strip. Some offer "for any reason" upgrades... yeah, it's complicated and not a very friendly place to buy products or understand what they cover.

Re: U.S. fines airlines more than $7M for not providing refunds

#198

Post by throwaway290 »

londons_explore wrote: post #92
MichaelCollins wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> major TSA delays. This infuriates me. Last week I was stuck in line for TSA for an hour and a half at Sea-Tac. The TSA clowns had one guy looking at the X-rays of luggage at the speed of molasses. Am I to believe that the TSA, FAA and airlines can't coordinate to determine when gluts of incoming passengers are expected? Bullshit. Why didn't they have more TSA workers on shift? Because they don't give a shit, nothin…

Outside the USA, especially at smaller airports, xraying all the bags is something thats only done to meet the rules. The staff don't care what you have in your bag - if security has a queue, they'll just pick 100 random people and tell them to skip security and go straight through to departures. Likewise, if there is only 2 people on duty to search bags identified that need searching, and they're busy, then any liqu…

Never seen anything like it anywhere. This might be a European thing?

Re: U.S. fines airlines more than $7M for not providing refunds

#199

Post by throwaway290 »

stavros wrote: post #192
ghaff wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Planes don't have the option to just show up and buy a ticket. Sure they do. Maybe not literally at the door because you have to go through security first. But they'll sell you one at the ticket counter if there are seats available.

Will they really? As far as I know, they stopped doing that years ago, but I might be wrong.

I've seen people buy tickets at the airport with cash before same day flight this year. I came to the airport and changed my ticket to depart on that day once.

Re: U.S. fines airlines more than $7M for not providing refunds

#200

Post by partdavid »

mindslight wrote: post #69
ceejayoz wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ticket in this case is for a flight, not a particular seat on that flight. Think of it like buying lawn seating at a concert. Best spot is taken? Tough luck.

With a general admission concert ticket, your grouping still remains intact. I haven't flown in a while (thankfully), but the original comment makes it sound like they sell you an unassigned seat ticket, but then assign you a specific sometime down the road, perhaps maliciously.

No, it doesn't, it's still a matter of luck. When you get to a general admission event, you might find that there's a seat in the middle two rows up, two seats together and then another seat three rows away. I've certainly experienced this; and I've experienced cases where I'm lucky and we can sit together. But it's very typical for parties to leave single seats between and for you to be stuck with scattered single seats.
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