Airline Travel

I have used Air Travel extensive in my life; over twenty International Roundtrips and hundreds of local flights on aircraft large and small. For the last fifty years Air Travel has been consistent and relatively inexpensive. However, since the Covid Scam, the Airline Industry has been in disarray. Today, it is a whole different animal. I ‘never’ purchased ‘trip insurance’ in the past. The assumption was that Airlines would go bust if there were too many cancelled flights or other adverse events. NOT SO ANYMORE. In addition, the scammers are involved in the Airline Industry to a bold degree. Recently, I booked a flight to Seattle. I used my ‘Cheapo Flights’ App on my iPhone. It was early evening and I was planning to leave on the trip in three days. Within thirty minutes of booking the flight, I received an email…not a telephone call…an email. The email was from the airline, informing me that my flight had been cancelled and that I urgently needed to call a listed telephone number. This I did. A foreign young man answered the line and, apologizing prophetically for ‘the inconvenience’, he told me that I needn’t worry…I could book another flight at the exact same time for an additional $150. Well, having been exposed to online scams for over twenty years, I now can smell them, I can see them coming and I know exactly how to allow them to think that I am a lamb heading to slaughter, waiting until the right time to expose the fangs. I laid into this fool with both barrels; shocked at first, he showed his true colors and then hung up on me. I called back. The number did not answer. So, the next day I contacted my bank, filed a fraud claim for the airline ticket purchase and I was issued a new debit card. Last night, I booked an International Flight for my wife and I paid the extra $50 for ‘Trip Insurance’ because even American Airlines can no longer be trusted. Having any one of three International Flights cancelled – or in any way disrupted – can be catastropically expensive. I know. Hotels at Airports around the world have a very special pricing formula…especially in Tokyo or San Francisco. More than ever, trips must be carefully planned with contingency options. I used to absolutely love International Travel. Since the Covid Scam, many avenues of our lives are ‘under construction’. Since April of 2020, ten airlines have filed for bankruptcy or collapsed completely…Spirit Airlines filed for Chapter 11 in November 2024. American Airlines will outlive the rest; a bailout by ‘We, The People’ would proceed their failure. So, I go with American now; it’s more expensive but, your chances of getting there are good.