I booked a new United Airlines reservation over the phone yesterday using a canceled ticket from earlier this year… and the agent (or SHARES, United’s reservations system) made a mistake. I’m very much a do-it-yourself kind of person when it comes to making airline reservations and prefer booking trips myself directly on United’s website. Normally,…
Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: July 31, 2013
A sampling of industry news that caught my attention today: A Delta Air Lines passenger abandoned several of his bags in Seattle to avoid paying $1,400 in overweight luggage fees. It created quite a stir at the airport and a co-author of the linked article later tweeted that it ended up being four out of…
Mileage Run Opportunity: $179.60 Nets 6,974 United Premier Qualifying Miles
[Edited 2:00pm PDT: And zap… it’s gone. This fare was pulled in the last hour or so from all cities. Hope you got in on the deal while it lasted!] Here’s a pretty amazing 2.58 CPM mileage run on United. Availability is rather limited for the routing in my example below, but other connection city…
Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: July 30, 2013
A sampling of industry news that caught my attention today: The Department of Transportation fined Southwest Airlines $200,000 for violating the price advertising rule by not allocating a sufficient number of seats at advertised prices. One example: zero seats were available on any day during a $66 fare promo period for flights between Dallas and…
ANA Upgrading First and Business Class Amenities
Star Alliance member airline ANA (All Nippon Airways) will be upgrading some amenities for first and business class passengers beginning in September. New menus will appear in both first and business class featuring meals from the airline’s “THE CONNOISSEURS” in-flight catering project, comprised of 10 renowned chefs, five beverage specialists and nine of ANA’s own…
Notable Airline, Hotel and Travel News: July 29, 2013
A sampling of industry news that caught my attention today: A United Airlines customer service rep and his wife have been charged with theft after stealing checked bags from passengers who ended up being diverted from San Francisco in the wake of the Asiana Airlines crash. Speaking of the Asiana crash, the FAA is urging…
Amenity Kit Review: US Airways Envoy Business Class
US Airways this month introduced its new Envoy amenity kit for business class passengers, likely to become a collector’s item as the last version of a US Airways kit before the merger with American Airlines. I bring you my analysis of the kit for this installment of Amenity Kit Reviews. For a better description of…
Australia Trip Report: United, Virgin Australia, Hilton and Radisson Blu
At this time last year, I was in Australia for a couple of weeks and reviewed each portion of my trip here on Frequently Flying (or CNBC’s Road Warrior), including my United Airlines LAX-Sydney flight, a sponsored trip on Virgin Australia between Sydney and Perth, two Hiltons, and the Radisson Blu Sydney. Here’s a recap…
American Airlines A319 Cabin Specs: Coach Recline Exceeds First Class?
American took delivery of its first Airbus A319 this week and has published the cabin specs (and more) on their website. What strikes me as odd is that first class recline is only 3-inches, whereas regular coach offers 4-inches with Main Cabin Extra getting 6-inches. Is that an error? United, by contrast, offers 6-inches of…
Worst ‘Airline’ Pajamas Ever!
I think I’ve discovered the “airline†with the worst pajamas ever! There’s been a bit of silence here on Frequently Flying and I can sum it up in just one photo showing me wearing these horribly itchy and ill-filling garments. Sorry… I had to find my sense of humor given some recent events. Not to…