In the news: Top lawyers list includes Pullman & Comley
U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers have included Pullman & Comley on the 2023 Best Law Firms list. Twenty-two Pullman & Comley practice areas received Tier 1 ranking in the Hartford and/or Stamford regions, up four from last year. The rankings are based on surveys of law firms as well as client and professional references detailing a high level of expertise, responsiveness, understanding of a business and its needs, cost-effectiveness and more. The 2023 rankings incorporate more than 12.2 million evaluations of 115,000 individual leading lawyers from 22,000 firms.
Pullman & Comley has offices in Bridgeport, Hartford, Waterbury and Westport.
Home care agency has grand opening
On Nov. 1, the Waterbury Regional Chamber had a ribbon-cutting to mark the grand opening of the Reliant Angels HomeCare agency. Reliant’s companions and homemaker services include laundry, grocery shopping, card playing, walks, conversation, help with daily needs and other activities. Reliant is at 421 Wolcott Road unit 1, Wolcott.
Attending the ribbon-cutting were Dean Joseph, Reliant’s marketing team; Nicola Joseph, owner; Patrick McKinney, Wolcott’s economic development director; Rep. Gale Mastrofrancesco, 80th District; Lynn Ward, president and CEO of the Waterbury Regional Chamber; Sen. Rob Sampson, 16th District; and pastor Jasmine Ward Vassel.
For more, call 203-441-4097 or visit reliantangelshomecare.com.
Booking directly with airlines can cost more
Early in the pandemic, many travelers experienced headaches while trying to rebook air travel purchased through third parties such as Orbitz and Kayak. Yet as the dust settles on the pandemic and travel begins to return to normal, air passengers are experiencing a different reality: Booking directly through airlines involves navigating a maze of fees, add-on offers and confusing seat selection choices. The resulting price at checkout is often higher – much higher – than the advertised price.
The issue has become so problematic that even President Biden has joined the fray. “You should know the full cost of your ticket, right when you’re comparison shopping ,” he said in a press conference announcing a new Department of Transportation initiative to force airlines to disclose these fees. “So you can pick the ticket that is actually the best deal for you.”
Efforts to rein in airline fees are nothing new. The Obama administration tried and failed to enact similar regulations. And until meaningful changes are made, airline customers will be the ones footing the bill, especially if they use the airlines’ own websites and apps to make their purchases.
Since the rise of budget airlines such as Spirit and Frontier, U.S. airlines have dramatically shifted how they make money. Rather than earning profit margin on airfare itself, which is highly competitive, airlines are increasingly focused on “ancillary revenue” from add-on fees, credit card rewards programs and seat upgrades.
From 2019 to 2021, ancillary fees as a percentage of total revenue for major U.S. airlines jumped six percentage points, from 16.1% to 22.2% , according to a report by IdeaWorksCompany, an airline industry reporting firm. That follows a steady drumbeat of increased fee revenue going back to at least 2007.
The upshot for customers: Saving money on air travel depends less on the base cost of the ticket itself and more on the add-ons avoided while checking out. Some of these add-ons, such as fees for carry-on bags, are relatively simple to avoid, while others, such as the difference between basic economy and regular economy (or “main cabin”), can be far more complex decisions.
– Associated Press
