Flashermac Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 NEW YORK - United Airlines said Friday it will start requiring minimum stays for nearly all domestic flights beginning in October. It is also raising its cheapest fares by as much as $90 one-way. The second-largest U.S. carrier said the moves are among a number of changes it is making to combat record high fuel prices. The Chicago-based airline has been among the most aggressive in the industry in pushing fares and fuel surcharges higher in recent months, and its latest policy could prompt other carriers to consider following suit. Starting Oct. 6, most United fares will require a one- to three-night or weekend-night minimum stay, spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said. The new rules, which apply to nearly every ticket, are bound to be unpopular with business travelers who prefer to catch a flight out early in the morning so they can make it back home in time for dinner. Major carriers scrapped most minimum-stay rules â?? put in place largely to discourage big-budget corporate travelers from snatching up the cheapest seats â?? years ago, although a number of airlines have been tightening up restrictions and tacking on fees in recent months as the price of fuel has soared. Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted June 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 Travelers Shift to Rail as Cost of Fuel Rises WASHINGTON â?? Record prices for gasoline and jet fuel should be good news for Amtrak, as travelers look for alternatives to cut the cost of driving and flying. And they are good news, up to a point. Amtrak set records in May, both for the number of passengers it carried and for ticket revenues â?? all the more remarkable because May is not usually a strong travel month. But the railroad, and its suppliers, have shrunk so much, largely because of financial constraints, that they would have difficulty growing quickly to meet the demand. Many of the long-distance trains are already sold out for some days this summer. Want to take Amtrakâ??s daily Crescent train from New York to New Orleans? It is sold out on July 5, 6, 7 and 8. Seattle to Vancouver, British Columbia, on July 5? The train is sold out, but Amtrak will sell you a bus ticket. â??Weâ??re starting to bump up against our own capacity constraints,â? said R. Clifford Black, a spokesman for Amtrak. The problem is that rail has shriveled. The number of â??passenger milesâ? traveled on intercity rail has dropped by about two-thirds since 1960, and the companies that build rail cars and locomotives have also shrunk, making it hard to expand. In 1970, the year that Congress voted to create Amtrak by consolidating the passenger operations of freight railroads, the airlines were about 17 times larger than the railroads, measured by passenger miles traveled; now they are more than 100 times larger. Highway travel was then about 330 times larger; now it is more than 900 times larger. Today Amtrak has 632 usable rail cars, and dozens more are worn out or damaged but could be reconditioned and put into service at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars each. And it needs to buy new rail cars soon. Its Amfleet cars, the ones recognizable to riders as the old Metroliners, are more than 30 years old. And the Acela trains, which have been operating about eight years, have about a million miles on them. Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drogon Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 Could not imagine what it would mean for me and my colleagues this crap about "minimum stay" if we were in the USA... "The iron horse" might have some nice days ahead (provided they extend their network) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Central Scrutinizer Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 What is silly and stupid in the US is the lack of future and past planning for speedy travel on commuter rail and long distance rail. The tracks were there, the areas needed for this were there, and they just abandoned this and left it all to air travel, because it became so cheap after deregulation. Now it will be a game of catch-up. We should have already had high-speed cross continental rail service. We have none, or basically none. 'Mass' transit by land is a total mess there for the most part. Rail is the most efficient way to do this, over busses at least, and more fuel efficient as well. Once again we fall far behind other 1st world countries. It's a shame the idiots who run our country can't think ahead and spend money on things that would benefit the tax-paying public, rather than the big-business industrial complex cronies of theirs. Our tax monies are spent for the benefit of the war profiteers rather than the people of America and the infrastructure of the country. Instead we build for others we conquer in our oil wars rather than ourselves. It's enough to make one puke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted June 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 Unfortunately, many rail lines in the US have been TORN UP! There was a rail line near my home that dated back to the 1850s. My gg grandfather had actually taken part on a raid against a Union fort on the rail line in 1862. It's gone now, the rails pulled up for scrap and the trestles dismantled. Only the roadbed shows roadbed that it existed. One of the oldest rail lines in the country passes through my home town. There is no passenger service on it, just freight. WTF not??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted June 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 p.s. How about bringing back steam engines??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanddawg1 Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 It's a shame the idiots who run our country can't think ahead and spend money on things that would benefit the tax-paying public, rather than the big-business industrial complex cronies of theirs. Our tax monies are spent for the benefit of the war profiteers rather than the people of America and the infrastructure of the country. Instead we build for others we conquer in our oil wars rather than ourselves. It's enough to make one puke. I disagree Cent; greed on everyone's part in the US has caused the current situation. Not just corporations but the man on the street, the money lenders and banks. Upgrades in train passenger services slowed way down about 75 years ago because of cars. Unlike Europe cars were cheap and plentiful and Americans got spoiled and quit riding trains. Now our rail system is in the shitter. Hell I know alot of the red-necks were I used to live have 1-ton 4x4 duelly pickups that get 6 MPG and they commute to work in those things. They are the first ones to bitch about gas prices!! They should park it and car pool in a Kia! This crap is everybody's fault!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 Why not boats? Sounds strange from a person who lives in Southern Arizona where you can drive your vehicle in the rivers most of the time. They say, the state that has the largest percentage of registered boat owners, is Arizona. Figure it out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 Those rules existed long ago. They were used to give lower fares. The same day/short stay traveler always paid more. The new rules, which are basically the old rules will mean you have to buy 2 one way tickets, and thus pay more. Of course it won't save fuel costs but hey, anyway to screw people in a bad economy right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh_Hoy Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 One way to keep fares lower is to cut the salaries of those overpaid airline employees. HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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