The Travel Ringer

Quantas airlines, known for its stellar safety record, had a near catastrophic in-air incident when one of it’s jets suffered an explosive decompression at 29,000 feet. Flight QF30, en route from London to Melbourne, safely landed in Manila. Early reports state that terrorism was not suspected.

The pilot and crew were commended for their efforts in safely landing the plane without incident. And Quantas maintains its safety record.

I imagine this will now launch more investigations into the condition of aircraft, and in particular the fuselage.

More accounts of this story can be found on iWon and CNN.

In the midst of a weak economy and at a time when airlines are nickel and diming us all, there are still ways to find great deals on airfare.  In particular, Southwest Airlines continues to offer great deals to their email subscribers and through their desktop application - DING.

I recommend visiting the website for whatever airline or airlines that you fly most frequently are register for both the frequent flier program and any email subscriptions they may offer.  Here are two examples of email specials that I received in the past few days:

• Spirit Airlines continued to offer super airfare deals, such as their “$8 fares”.

• Recently, I got an email from Southwest about their upcoming anniversary special this Wednesday where they are going to offer some great fares.

So here are your steps to getting in the know and finding travel deals.

1. Visit the website for the airlines you use the most and either enroll in the frequent flier program. If you are already in,  then make sure your information is updated because many will also send you specials by mail.

2. Enroll in any subscriptions they offer to be kept up to date with specials they are having.  It certainly works - you want cheap travel and they want to fill seats.

3. Download DING from Southwest.com if you are a Southwest traveler.  DING is a desktop application that notifies you immediately through your computer whenever they post specials for your specific selected cities.  I don’t know of any other airlines that offer such a service, but if you do, I’d love to hear about it.
NOTE: You may not be able to install this on a work computer depending on your companies policy on downloads. If this happens, I would explain to your IT department what the application is.  Also, if you travel for business, they should want to allow you to use this as it will save the company money. You could always just refer them to this post and the DING page at Southwest.com.

Personally, I am hoping to get a deal tomorrow on my upcoming Vegas trip on Southwest.

Happy Travels

~ The Travel Ringer

Do you know how to get the best seats when you fly? This video by travel expert Peter Greenberg gives you the inside scoop.