Hurricanes and Hawaii - What Does That Mean For Travelers?

Hurricane Iselle, Genevieve and Julio Threaten Hawaiian Islands

For the first time in 22 years Hawaii braces for its first direct hurricane contact as Iselle heads towards the Big Island with a second storm on its tail!

Currently, the Hawaiian Islands have been issued an advisory by the Central Pacific Hurricane Center for Hurricane Iselle which is 365 miles east-southeast of Hilo with sustained winds of 90 mph and Hurricane Genevieve, 1,140 miles west-southwest of Kauai with winds at 75 mph.  As if two hurricanes is not enough, Julio is now a named hurricane and is heading towards Hilo as well with 75 mph sustained winds.  But only two of the storms, Iselle and Julio, are tracked to hit the islands.  

Saffir-Simpson Scale

• Tropical Storm - winds 39-73 mph (34-63 kt)
• Category 1 - winds 74-95 mph (64-82 kt)
• Category 2 - winds 96-110 mph (83-95 kt)
• Category 3 - winds 111-129 mph (96-112 kt)
• Category 4 - winds 130-156 mph (113-136 kt)
• Category 5 - winds 157 mph and up (137+ kt)

Hurricane Eselle right now is a category 1 and is expected to make impact tonight! For those of you who are not familiar with hurricanes, do not under estimate a cat 1.  I am from eastern North Carolina and no matter what strength the storm is, nature is a force to be reckoned with.  I have seen entire neighborhoods taken out in floods in a category 1, it all depends on which way the wind blows, the tidal phases and how the water is pushed and pulled.  Eselle is expected to produce 5-8 inches of rainfall with isolated maximum amounts to 12 inches.  The amounts could cause life threatening flash floods and rock and mud slides.   

Then Hurricane Julio, now category 2, is expected to make landfall this Sunday.  Maximum sustained winds are near 85 mph with higher gust but could strengthen even more by Wednesday night but then, thankfully, weaken starting on Friday. 

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What does that mean for your travel???

If you were planning on joining the two hurricanes for a vacation in Hawaii this week United, American and Hawaiian airlines, among others, are going to waive reservation change fees and differences in fares for customers who have tickets booked for August 7 and 8.

Also, due to concerns over the possible effects of Iselle and Julio those customers can change their reservations without charge to flights departing through August 12.

If you have a trip booked through United Military Travel give them a call and see what their policy is on changing existing reservations.  Or if you want to head to Hawaii after these storms have passed - give them a call :) 

866-582-9579

Flying over war zones - do you have a choice???

War zones, trouble hot spots, or bad weather....which do pilots prefer??

In light of the recent plane crash near the Ukraine/Russia boarder this past Thursday it made me wonder if passengers have a choice of flight route or if we are even able to know our route before hand.

Apparently, others have wondered it too. 

For those of you that are unaware, a Malaysian passenger jet crashed killing all 298 people on board July 17, 2014.  Western nations are now saying that there is growing evidence that the plane was hit by a Russian supplied missile fired by rebels but Russia claims that the Ukrainian government is to blame.

 Here is an article from NBCnews.com titled "Will I fly over a war zone?  Why you can't know."  By Rob Lovitt

While most travelers think of their flights as Point A to Point B experiences, the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 has proven that it’s just as important to consider the points in between. And with news reports describing another Malaysia flight flying over war-torn Syria on Monday, you might be asking yourself, how can I tell if my flight is going to fly over a war zone or other trouble spot?

Unfortunately, you probably can’t — at least not until you’re about to step on board.

“Routes aren’t known until one or two hours before a flight when the dispatcher makes a decision as to which route to operate and then files it with air traffic control,” said former airline dispatcher Phil Derner, founder of aviation-enthusiast site NYCAviation.com. “And once a route is filed, it can change multiple times — it doesn’t become ‘Bible’ once it’s filed.”

Once a flight plan is filed with the FAA, however, the itinerary information then becomes available to third-party sites and apps, such as FlightStats and PlaneFinder, which do an admirable job of showing a plane’s current location. Others, including FlightAware and WindowSeat, show complete route information but are limited to North America and, of course, rely on flight plans that are subject to subsequent changes.

“If there's no choice but to fly over dangerous weather vs. a possible geopolitical hotspot they [face] a tough choice.”

Determining an international flight’s exact path is even harder. “The timeline for filing routes is about the same,” said Derner. “But there are a lot of areas in the world that don’t have as amazing resources to track weather, volcanic activity or war zones.”

Complicating matters further is the fact that different aviation authorities approach problem situations differently. While the FAA had previously prohibited U.S. carriers from flying over parts of Ukraine back in April, European authorities only did so after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down.

And it’s likely that airlines will continue to fly over the world’s hot spots as they try to balance flight times, fuel burn, weather and a host of other variables.

“If there's no choice but to fly over dangerous weather vs. a possible geopolitical hotspot they [face] a tough choice,” said George Hobica, president of AirfareWatchdog. “It might only be a matter of 5, 10 or 15 minutes longer flight to avoid a country where there might be potential bad actors with access to surface to air missiles. But if a flight is already late, and there are connecting passengers who might miss their flights, I wonder if an airline might take a chance.

“With ISIS active in Syria, personally I'd rather that my pilot arrive late rather than flying over the country!”

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Honestly, never once in my entire traveling career have I thought about my flight path and what countries I would fly over.  And I am one that has always said I would travel to a place regardless of governmental status because life is just too darn short.  But this makes me reconsider some things.....

Does it you too??

TSA passenger security fee rises as of today July 21, 2014

As if rising gas prices isn't bad enough...

Now, TSA passenger security fees have risen but not to help pay for TSA security...

but to help pay off the national deficit!

I wouldn't mind the jump in price if it was going to give him  a raise

but its going here...

Thank you government - you are the best!  Lets make traveling even more difficult for the American people.

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Check out this article from CNN Travel

(CNN) -- The costs of your airline travel will rise a little today, thanks to the federal government.

Airline passenger security fees charged by the Transportation Security Administration are increasing because of the congressional budget deal passed in December.

The September 11 passenger security fee has traditionally been collected to fund the TSA's airport security measures, but not this time. Most of the new revenue will go to pay down the federal deficit.

Until Monday, a passenger was charged $2.50 for each leg of a journey. For a nonstop round trip, the cost was $5. For a round trip with a connection each way, the cost was $10.

The fee was capped at two flights each way. That means you couldn't get charged more than $5 each way or $10 round trip, even if you took three flights to get your destination.

Now, passengers must pay a flat fee of $5.60 in each direction, no matter how many plane transfers are made to get from one city to another.

For passengers flying a nonstop round trip, that means the fee will increase from $5 to $11.20.

Passengers flying round-trip with a connection each way will see their fees increase $1.20 to $11.20 per round trip, versus $10 before the fee increase.

There's one exception: If you book that terrible trip with a long layover, meaning at least four hours when traveling domestically or 12 hours when traveling internationally, the fees start over. Passengers with that much of a stopover between their flights will have to pay another $5.60 for the next leg.

The TSA's interpretation of the fee increase has been called into question. Though the TSA says the congressional budget deal eliminated caps on these fees, top congressional budget writers say that's not true. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, have written the TSA demanding an explanation.

The trade group Airlines for America has generally objected to government raising more funds from airline passenger travel and specifically objected to this fee increase and the elimination of the fee cap.

"Our government must stop using airlines and their passengers as its own personal ATM whenever it needs more money," according to a statement.

"A4A strongly opposes TSA's elimination of the regulatory regime that rejects congressional intent by removing the cap on the TSA fee increase per enplanement as it will disproportionately harm airline passengers who rely on service to small and rural communities."

Who will pay the fee? Though there's a chance the airlines could absorb some of the cost, don't bet on it.

Southwest Airlines added the fee to its list of taxes and fees charged to customers starting today.

"Effective for bookings starting on July 21, 2014, all domestic air carriers are required to implement an increase in the government-imposed September 11th passenger security fee," Southwest spokesman Nick Blampye wrote in an e-mail.

"The fee increased from $2.50 per segment (with a maximum of $10.00 per round-trip) to $5.60 per one-way trip," Blampye said. "Southwest customers can view a complete fare breakdown at the time of purchase, which includes the current security fee."

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, which both declined to comment, also appear to be putting the entire cost on passengers. A flight search Monday at Delta.com showed a charge of $11.20 for a nonstop round-trip flight from Atlanta to New York's LaGuardia Airport. So did a United.com search for a nonstop round-trip flight from Atlanta to San Francisco.

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Ok, here is my thing.  Why make the American population pay even more into bringing down the deficit when we already give half of our money to taxes anyways.  Also, travel is something that most Americans push to the wayside because flights are so expensive, so by increasing the fees the government is making traveling less appealing than it already is for some.  Granted, $5.60 each way is not going to break the bank but lets get real....its just the start.  I guarantee that it will just keep rising and rising.  There is no stopping it now.  And it is just the principle of the matter!  Why not make the airlines themselves pay for it instead of letting them tell their passengers to pay it.  They certainly have more money than we do.    

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All I have to say is that this makes me even more thankful for United Military Travel!

They will still be here for us to make traveling easy and more affordable no matter how much the fees increase.