Q Is it just my imagination, or have airplane seats become "thinner" than they used to be? I'm old enough to remember flying on Lockheed Constellations when I was a kid, and I seem to recall that the seats were as comfortable as a luxury automobile seat. Now, they're hard as marble.
A No, it's not your imagination. Airplane seats are getting thinner.
It's all about saving fuel (lighter, thinner seats weigh less) and allowing the airlines to squeeze more seats onto their planes. Because the seat backs are thinner (and, as you've no doubt noticed, have less cushioning) they provide more knee space (if not more legroom). So they give the illusion of providing just as much space as thicker seats that used to be spaced farther apart.
For domestic U.S. travel, JetBlue still offers the most legroom in economy class; Spirit Airlines offers the least.
Q I am retired and can fly on a flexible travel schedule. In past years, I've used Travelocity.com and Orbitz.com to pick and choose the cheapest dates to fly, using a flexible "fare calendar" on those websites. But recently I found that this function has disappeared. Where else can I look to find "I'll fly whenever it's cheapest" airfares?
A You're correct that Travelocity has eliminated its flexible date search tool, which used to allow you to search over several months at a glance.
Orbitz has hidden its flexible date calendar from its home page, although it still exists if you know where to look.
Q I was at an airport in Canada and noticed an airline called "Star Alliance." Is that a new airline? I had never heard of it or seen it before.
A No, it's not a new airline. Star Alliance is an alliance of several major and smaller airlines that have joint marketing agreements. It's similar to two other alliances, SkyTeam and OneWorld, which are both smaller than Star Alliance.
What you noticed is that airlines are repainting some of their planes with the logos of these alliances.
Some industry observers predict that eventually these allied airlines will morph into a super-consolidated airline across international borders, although current laws and treaties prevent this from happening. Such a consolidation might be decades off, if indeed it ever happens.
Today's column comes from George Hobica of Airfarewatchdog.com.