Yesterday at the JP Morgan Aviation, Transportation & Defense Conference in New York, Jeff Smisek gave a presentation on the status of United Airlines, the merger with Continental, and the future of the industry. A lot of it was high-level CEO talking points about the carrier and the future, but he did reveal a couple…
Denver mileage discrepancies between United Airlines & Continental Airlines
Many mileage and points addicts who travel frequently have some sort of spreadsheet or subscribe to a service to track and monitor their airline, hotel & car loyalty accounts. I pride myself on my spreadsheet, and although basic without much aesthetic beauty, it calculates everything I care about and is my tool for determining where…
Vintage Airline Seat Map: Delta Air Lines Boeing 727-200
I’ve selected a Delta Air Lines Boeing 727-200 for this edition of Vintage Airline Seat Maps. The carrier operated another version, with the only basic difference being that the rear galley was on the right starboard side of the aircraft. I liked the 727, as did the pilots. Takeoff thrust is eerily quiet when sitting…
Updated airline travel waiver chart due to the earthquake, tsunami & related events in Japan
I’ve updated the airline travel waiver summary I posted earlier in the week, as many airlines have extended the date ranges due to the events in Japan. As always, it is recommended that you call your airline directly for assistance with rebooking and/or canceling your trip. The updated chart is in the original post, which…
The United Airlines Tulip gets a star at the Los Angeles Airport
Anyone who flies United Airlines with any regularity out of LAX has probably seen the wall of photographs just before you reach the Red Carpet Club in Terminal 7. Named “United’s Stars in the Friendly Skies,†it’s a nice way for United to recognize their employees who work at the airport, both frontline and behind-the-scenes.…
United Airlines & Continental award chart changes effective June 15, 2011
Yesterday, United Airlines and Continental announced award chart changes to become effective June 15, 2011. The current & new award structure can be found here. Since the majority of travelers focus on pure round-trip travel at the Saver award level (lowest mileage amount required), I’ve reproduced the not so easy to read charts into a…
Summary of airline travel waivers due to the earthquake in Japan
The U.S. State Department had previously issued a travel alert advising citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Japan through at least April 1, 2011 due to the earthquake. That advisory has been lifted, but all airlines have some type of travel waiver in place to enable rebooking or cancelling current trips to Japan for a…
Compensation for service failures at the new United Airlines
When things go wrong onboard United Airlines, the pursers are armed with handy “Please accept our apology†cards, previously known as Skykits. They allow you to log onto United’s website, punch in the nature of the problem along with the unique serial number from the card, and you are presented with a few options to…
Amenity Kit Review: Continental Airlines BusinessFirst (2011 version)
I’ve selected the current international BusinessFirst kit from Continental Airlines for this edition of Amenity Kit Reviews. For a better description of each category, and the 7-point scale for scoring, please review my introductory post here. Bag/Container: The patterned gray, rectangular nylon/canvas zipper bag is branded with a navy blue BusinessFirst tag sewn into the…
Airline collectible & memorabilia show in San Francisco today
If you’re in San Francisco and have nothing to do today, why not head down to the Best Western Grosvenor Hotel near the airport. It’s on until 3pm today and you can likely get oodles of United Airlines tulip memorabilia before they’re gone.