In other airline, hotel and travel industry news this week… The Transportation Security Administration has officially started a “trusted traveler” program this week. According to the TSA, “This pilot program will help assess measures designed to enhance security by placing more focus on pre-screening individuals who volunteer information about themselves prior to flying in order…
Commentary
Category Archives for Commentary.
Oversold airline flight? Show up early to volunteer your seat and fly for free
Last month I flew a roundtrip same day mileage run on United Airlines from Los Angeles to St. Louis connecting through San Francisco. It was just an “okay” run since it didn’t net a huge amount of elite qualifying miles. The fare was $160.80 and I received 4,470 EQMs, which comes in at 3.60 cents-per-mile.…
Bereavement airfares still exist, but policies vary widely by airline
When a family member or loved one is seriously ill, possibly near death or has already passed, airlines used to have very generous bereavement airfares back in the 1980s and 1990s. They have generally disappeared and I believe when I worked for United Airlines in the 1990s such airfares no longer existed. During a recent…
Mileage Run Opportunity: $208.20 nets 6,712 United Airlines elite miles LAX-MCI
From time to time when I find a great airfare I’ll immediately tweet some of the basic information – airline, fare, routing, mileage total and “cents per mile†calculation – and just now thought it might make for a good recurring category to feature here on my blog. For a detailed description of my process…
Vintage Airline Seat Map: Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-400 (1988)
I’m definitely on a Cathay Pacific kick right now having just finished my complete trip report, so I’ve selected a Cathay Boeing 747-400 for this installment of Vintage Airline Seat Maps. This particular configuration was flying the skies in 1988 and I have to once again give special thanks to reader Will who graciously sent…
CX Trip Report: Cathay Pacific flight 884 Hong Kong-Los Angeles
CX Trip Report: Introduction & American Airlines flight to San Francisco CX Trip Report: Check-in and British Airways’ Terraces Lounge San Francisco Airport CX Trip Report: Cathay Pacific flight 879 San Francisco-Hong Kong CX Trip Report: Amenity Kit Review – Cathay Pacific First Class men’s kit CX Trip Report: Cathay Pacific “The Arrival†lounge Hong…
Amenity Kit Review: Cathay Pacific First Class men’s kit (Summer 2011)
As part of my Cathay Pacific trip report, here is the next installment of my series on Amenity Kit Reviews featuring the men’s First Class kit. I was also able to get a women’s version that I’ll review another time. For a better description of each category and the 7-point scale for scoring, please review…
Video: United Airlines Family Day at San Francisco Airport 2010
Next Sunday I’ll be once again attending the United Airlines Family Day event in San Francisco. It was a fun afternoon last year walking the grounds at the carrier’s Maintenance Operations Center with exhibits, multiple aircraft to walk through, vintage cars on display, speeches by executives and the opportunity to talk with some of the…
787 delivered, A380 ordered, pilots suing & losing, hotel fees & promos, premium cabin rebound and DOT fines Virgin
In other airline, hotel and travel industry news this week… All Nippon Airways (ANA) took delivery of its first Boeing 787 this week and it flew to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Wednesday. Regularly scheduled service doesn’t begin until November 1st, but the carrier plans to fly a charter flight from Narita to Hong Kong on…
How mobile technology is advancing our air travel experience
I listened in to another Air Transport World webinar last week discussing how mobile technology will transform the future of air travel, and I offer up some of my notes below. The full presentation, including audio and slides, can be found here. The advent of smartphones has created a world where we can literally search,…