Thursday, December 3, 2015
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
top 10 travel tips (Adapted Feature)
TOP TEN TIPS
Fliers, beware of your choices!
By:
Daniel Friedman
1. TRAVEL PROCEDURES:
Traveling home for the holidays just
became more complicated—Spirit and Frontier, both no-frills airlines, just
raised their baggage fees. Does the
claim that it’s still cheaper to fly budget airlines still stand, or is legacy
the way to go?
Let’s compare a flight on December
12th, after finals, from Tampa to New York area airports on different carriers.
Budget carriers, which includes, Frontier, Spirit, and JetBlue, and legacy
carriers like Delta, and United.
2. SATISFACTION COMPARISONS:
Please proceed to airline ratings blog post.
Please proceed to airline ratings blog post.
3. NO FRILLS CARRIERS:
Different airlines appeal to
different types of people. For example, people on a budget may stick with airlines
like Spirit and Frontier Airlines. These airlines our what the industry calls
“no frills”, this means everything comes at a premium including:
· Seat selection
· Baggage allowance
· And yes snacks.
4.
LEGACY CARRIERS:
Often offer higher standards of comfort
and reliability, though at a higher price. But recently, carriers like,
American Airlines, are copying the formats of their low budget competition in
order to keep their customers, charging for add-ons as well.
5. HELPFUL HINTS
Here’s some tips to selecting the
cheapest, friendliest, and most comfortable method to travel home for the
holidays. In order for a traveler to decide legacy versus budget, one must
first compare the fares. In fact, some third-party websites, like Expedia or
Kayak, stand apart from their airline counterpart websites in that they often
offer better pricing, and more choices from various travel websites.
6. BOOK
OFF PEAK
According to websites like Expedia
and Kayak, the best days to travel are often Sunday, Monday, or Wednesday,
these are often the days airlines launch sales.
7. DON’T PRE-SELECT A SEAT
Waiting to choose your seat until the
day of the flight or twenty-four hours before; in order to avoid seat selection
fees, also take only carry-ons, a
8.
CARRY ON BAGGAGE
Avoid paying a fee for checked
baggage; although some airlines, like Spirit are now charging for carry-ons as
well.
9. PLEASE DO:
If you can’t avoid the fees of
luggage, at least consider purchasing your own food. Food on board can cost a
bundle, plus the airline food is notoriously mediocre.
10.
FINALLY REMEMBER:
· Book Early, at least six months
before travel for best deal
· Use Travel websites, like Kayak.com,
can assist students in cheap travel
· A budget Airline does not mean it’s
the cheapest airline
· Make travel easier with airline
travel apps
· Arrive to the airport at least two
hours before flight to avoid holiday lines
.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Travel Websites
Websites like Expedia and Kayak, can help a student choose the cheapest and best options to travel home for the holidays!
Saturday, October 24, 2015
TV Spot (Airline)
|
Timing
|
Video
|
Audio
|
|
00-00.10
|
Camera (Close up) on students walking around the
University of Tampa
|
Noise of students walking around
|
|
00.10-00.20
|
(B-roll) shot of students packing and loading up vans to
go to airport
|
Daniel Friedman: It’s
almost the holidays, and many students are preparing to travel home for the
holidays. Some students are debating whether to try the discount carriers
serving the Tampa Bay market
|
|
00.20-00.30
|
(Camera Zoom in)
V/O-Daniel Friedman
Students answering questions somewhere around campus,
about whether they prefer legacy or discount carriers and why
|
(V/O) Daniel Friedman
(students response) to question
|
|
00.30-00.40
|
(Camera Zoom out)Scenes of planes and Tampa Airport
departure airplanes and airport noise with people walking around area
|
(V/O) Daniel Friedman
other travelers are discouraged about legacy carriers like united who have
fallen on hard times.
|
|
00.40-00.50
|
(Camera Zoom in) Holiday
decorations at airport in background and people walking around
|
(Interview passenger at Tampa International Airport,
preferably a college student about their holiday travel choices
Student says: I always flew united to Chicago, but
recently they have cancelled flights and kept me waiting, “but I still prefer
quality and experience over price”, that’s why I am Taking Delta today.
|
|
00.50-00.60
|
(Camera zoom out) with scenes of busy airport and families
reuniting for the holidays /display chart comparing websites and prices.
|
(Audio) Airport background noise
(V/O) Daniel Friedman : this holiday, students may have to
do more than check kayak or expedia, in order to find the best deal on legacy
verses budget, verses quality.
|
|
00.60-1.10
1.10-1.20
|
(Camera B-roll)Back to newsroom
Show graphic of chart comparing airfares between legacy
and budget one more time
|
(V/O) Anchors discuss their travel plans
News anchors discuss chart, and sign out of the news for
the day
|
Ways to Save (Airline) News Article
Daniel Friedman
Media Writing
9/30/15
Ways
to save on the “not so budget friendly” Budget Airlines
Free peanuts
and drinks, are a thing of the past on most airlines in todays market, now
airlines are trying to “nickel and dime you in any way possible", as one University of Tampa student said .
Everything from selecting your seat, boarding order, legroom, carry-ons, and checked luggage, all come at a premium. So why do airlines add all of these fees to their ticket prices, and what can one do to save money while traveling by air. For that answer, we turn to research of flight patterns, costs, travel websites, as well as the interviewing of fellow passengers and travelers. As you will notice later on in this article, a non-budget friendly airline is actually the cheapest! But why is this? Read on to find out.
Everything from selecting your seat, boarding order, legroom, carry-ons, and checked luggage, all come at a premium. So why do airlines add all of these fees to their ticket prices, and what can one do to save money while traveling by air. For that answer, we turn to research of flight patterns, costs, travel websites, as well as the interviewing of fellow passengers and travelers. As you will notice later on in this article, a non-budget friendly airline is actually the cheapest! But why is this? Read on to find out.
There are
many low-cost airlines flying across the continental United States. Allegiant
Airlines, which is receiving an award this year from the Tony Jannus Society for
outstanding service, Southwest Airlines, Spirit, and Frontier. Airlines like
American, United, and Delta, mimic these low-cost airlines with fare cutting
tactics, which means something about low-cost airlines is working, but are they
all really low-cost?
Think of it
this way, it’s school break, and students want to fly home for the
well-deserved break, but as many know, students are usually tightly budgeted,
so how can the typical college student save even more money on the low cost
airlines and the legacy carriers as well?
I often hear students at the University of Tampa say, "what is the cheapest way I can travel home for the holidays"?
Well, being a well-traveled individual, I can personally tell you the advertised fares on a website like Spirit.com for a $19.99 flight are usually too good to be true. Sure it looks cheap, because it is, but once you start the booking process, fees are added on left and right! Some of these fees include: choosing your seat. The best way around that one to wait 24 hours before the flight, so you can choose your seat for free and stick to the advertised price of $19.99! If you can’t wait, prepare to pay up to $30.00 for that extra bit of leg-room! I admit that I pay for extra leg-room, and let me tell you, it’s worth it for $20.00 on a three hour flight! Now that humble fee of $19.99, has gone up to $40, but that’s only the beginning. Let’s move to that humdrum process of boarding a plane. The process varies from airline to airline, but some airlines, do “speedy” boarding; this means for a premium, you can board the plane first. Well if you’re one of those who are impatient and must board before everyone else, you may pay $25.00, making your total $65.00! Thus bringing our grand-total to $40.00. Some add-ons though, are required; these add-ons include paying upwards of $50.00 for a checked bag or $25 for a carry-on, for something that use to be free! Also depending if you pay ahead for bags, or at the airport, you may pay even more than the base luggage fees. Thus bringing the current total to $115.00 for a one-way trip. But don’t forget taxes and final fees, which can total upwards of $150.00! Thus making our grand total $265.00, insane! Let us also not forget, since most students need to return after break, they will be paying the above grand total twice, thus the student spends a total of $530.00 for their travels!
I often hear students at the University of Tampa say, "what is the cheapest way I can travel home for the holidays"?
Well, being a well-traveled individual, I can personally tell you the advertised fares on a website like Spirit.com for a $19.99 flight are usually too good to be true. Sure it looks cheap, because it is, but once you start the booking process, fees are added on left and right! Some of these fees include: choosing your seat. The best way around that one to wait 24 hours before the flight, so you can choose your seat for free and stick to the advertised price of $19.99! If you can’t wait, prepare to pay up to $30.00 for that extra bit of leg-room! I admit that I pay for extra leg-room, and let me tell you, it’s worth it for $20.00 on a three hour flight! Now that humble fee of $19.99, has gone up to $40, but that’s only the beginning. Let’s move to that humdrum process of boarding a plane. The process varies from airline to airline, but some airlines, do “speedy” boarding; this means for a premium, you can board the plane first. Well if you’re one of those who are impatient and must board before everyone else, you may pay $25.00, making your total $65.00! Thus bringing our grand-total to $40.00. Some add-ons though, are required; these add-ons include paying upwards of $50.00 for a checked bag or $25 for a carry-on, for something that use to be free! Also depending if you pay ahead for bags, or at the airport, you may pay even more than the base luggage fees. Thus bringing the current total to $115.00 for a one-way trip. But don’t forget taxes and final fees, which can total upwards of $150.00! Thus making our grand total $265.00, insane! Let us also not forget, since most students need to return after break, they will be paying the above grand total twice, thus the student spends a total of $530.00 for their travels!
In
conclusion, if you are planning a flight anytime soon, my advice would be to
follow my advice, or visit websites like Travelocity, Expedia, Kayak, and
CheapOair.com, in order to find the lowest fare possible for your flight.
Radio spot (Airline)
Daniel Friedman
10/14/15
Media Writing
30 Second Radio Spot
And now, for
todays travel news:
Students often fret about splurging money to travel home for
school holidays. Some students are fed up with being nickel and dimed for
things like pillows, leg space, boarding order, food, and everything under the
rainbow. While low-cost carriers may be enticing because of their pricing.
One UT student confided prefers the legacy carriers. He says,“When I travel back up north for the holidays, I prefer quality and the experience over price!”
One UT student confided prefers the legacy carriers. He says,“When I travel back up north for the holidays, I prefer quality and the experience over price!”
Whether this student knows it or not, he may be making the
right decision. Add-ons result in high-ticket prices on many of the so-called
budget airlines. So, next time you fly, home for the holidays, make sure you
study your facts, because legacy carriers just might out-do the budget carriers
down the runway!
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