A brief sampling of industry news that caught my attention today: Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic received approval from the DOT for their joint venture. Of particular interest to business travelers will be new harmonized flight schedules on the ultra-competitive New York JFK-London Heathrow route. Reciprocal frequent flier earn and burn benefits can now…
Virgin Atlantic
Category Archives for Virgin Atlantic.
Forbes Lists World’s 7 Best First Class Amenity Kits
Forbes today published its list of the world’s seven best first class amenity kits, and they’ve selected some decent and not-so-decent ones. The article begins with: Whether you’re the person who gives the airline amenity kit a cursory rummage before stowing it away or a hoarder who drools over deluxe eye masks and luxury cosmetics,…
Virgin Atlantic Brings Upper Class Service to a NYC Park Bench
Leave it to the clever marketing folks at Virgin Atlantic to transform a park bench in New York City into an Upper Class experience. At Virgin Atlantic we fly in the face of ordinary with all that we do, and we wanted to bring a taste of that to the streets of NYC. So we…
Notable Airline News: June 24, 2013
Here are a few news items from the airline industry that caught my attention today: Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic received clearance for their joint venture from EU and U.S. regulators, bringing with it reciprocal frequent flier benefits for SkyMiles and Flying Club members. Starting on July 3, members of both programs will have…
World’s Top Airline Amenity Kits of 2012 – TravelPlus Awards
I posted the third annual TravelPlus Airline Amenity Bag Award winners over on my Road Warrior blog last week. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention them here, as many of you know I’m an amenity kit aficionado. Not surprisingly, the top honors in each category went to non-U.S. carriers. United Airlines, however,…
Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel Industry News: April 8, 2013
The 23rd annual Airline Quality Rankings were released showing passenger complaints have jumped by 20 percent over last year and denied boardings are also on the rise. Also noteworthy are Virgin America taking the “winning” spot for quality and United Airlines coming in last. United Airlines will cut its daily nonstop flight from Washington Dulles…
Love It or Hate It, Airlines and Travel Writers Do April Fools Right
There’s just no escaping April Fools’ Day, especially if you’re engaged in monitoring social media all day. And while I’m not an enormous fan of it, there are some good ones today in the airline and travel world. Here are my favorites: Exclusive: Memo Details New United Airlines ‘Super Elite’ Level by Christopher Elliott: Did…
Stick With United as a 1K or Switch to Virgin America as Elevate Gold?
Reader Elizabeth emailed me the following question yesterday: I am a 1k flier on United. I’m thinking of leaving them for Virgin Atlantic, as I moved from California to the UK in 2011 and have grown increasingly unhappy with their service. I fly back to the US from LHR 6-8 times a year. I have…
Notable Airline News – December 11, 2012
Quite a few notable events in the airline industry the past couple of days include: American Airlines today took delivery of their first Boeing 777-300ER, N717AN. It’s actually airborne as I type on its way to Dallas where it’ll eventually sport American’s new livery. Passenger service is scheduled to begin January 31 from Dallas to…
Virgin America Launches Status Match for American, United Elites
Virgin America today launched a status match program for elite frequent fliers with American and United. It’s a match/challenge combo, actually, where you’ll be matched outright until April 30, 2013 and offered the ability to extend your status through the end of 2013. First, here’s the chart of how the American and United elite tiers…