Final Flight Farewell

a man taking a selfie in front of an airplane

We are the parents of Frequently Flying author, Darren Booth. We are so saddened and grief-stricken to let you know that he passed away on January 4th. We know he would like to thank Boarding Area, of which he felt so honored to be part of the blogging “family”, and especially to all his readers…

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Special Edition BusinessFirst Amenity Kits on United Airlines

Today, United Airlines introduced limited-edition collectible Amenity Kits for passengers traveling in BusinessFirst through March 1, 2014. Each tin highlights one of United’s domestic hubs, and will reportedly contain the same Philosophy amenity items that are currently found in the BusinessFirst amenity kit. They also promote the “flyer friendly” campaign. The blurb on the United…

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Lie-Flat Is Great, but I’ll Miss These Cradle Seats

I was hunting for a certain picture in my iPhoto album earlier and paused several times when I passed by each of my trips on United’s Premium Service (p.s.) Boeing 757s flying between New York’s JFK Airport and Los Angeles or San Francisco. As you’re probably aware, United completed the redesign of the p.s. fleet…

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Vintage Airline Seat Map: Delta Air Lines Super 80 (MD-88) from 1987

It’s still quite the workhorse for Delta Air Lines today, and appearing below in this installment of Vintage Airline Seat Maps is the original seating layout for the airline’s “Super 80†MD-88s first delivered in 1987. Besides the amount of cabin real estate the rear galley occupied, there’s not too much to note about this…

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Dropping Elite Tiers or Losing Status in 2014? Do You Care?

As you’re undoubtedly aware, it’s nearing the end of the qualifying year for 2014 airline and hotel elite status with December 31 quickly approaching. And for the first time in, well, forever, I’m either dropping tier levels or losing status completely in all of my travel loyalty programs. If I were reading this post, say,…

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Premium Transcon Bonus Mile Offers from American and United

Both American Airlines and United are offering up to 15,000 bonus award miles for each paid roundtrip on premium transcontinental nonstop flights between New York’s JFK airport and Los Angeles (AA and UA) or San Francisco (UA only). Besides American excluding San Francisco, both offers are effectively the same where tickets purchased for travel January…

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Million-Mile Flight Review: United BusinessFirst, Seoul to San Francisco

[This is the final installment of my Million-Mile Trip Report. I’ve included links to the other posts below:] United Airlines Million-Mile Trip Report: Introduction and Background Flight Review: United Airlines BusinessFirst, San Francisco to Seoul Hotel Review: Conrad Seoul, Executive Floor King Room Lounge Review: Asiana Business Class, Seoul Incheon Midfield Concourse Whenever possible, I…

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United Improves iOS 7 Mobile App, Bizarre Bugs Fixed?

This past Friday, a new update for the United Airlines iOS 7 app became available with a few enhancements and improvements. I was a bit critical of the app when the first version was released about a month ago (and I still have dislikes), but I’m happy to see United make some rather quick and…

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Vintage Airline Seat Map: United Airlines Boeing 747-200 YR

It’s time for another Vintage Airline Seat Map and I’ve selected a United Airlines Boeing 747-200 seen flying the skies in the mid to late 1990s. This configuration, classified as “YR,†seated 369 passengers in the typical three- class international layout and featured a spiral staircase to the upper deck. Having two lavatories upstairs is…

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United to Remove Online Singapore Airlines Award Availability

UA Insider this afternoon announced on the forums that both United And Singapore Airlines have “agreed” to remove award inventory from online searches on the web or a mobile device… beginning tomorrow December 13. Regular revenue availability will still appear, where appropriate, is my assumption. From the announcement: Hi everyone, I wanted to give you…

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