Terrible news this morning, as I’ve just finished reading about the horrendous magnitude 8.9 earthquake in Japan, the corresponding tsunami & enormous loss of life. My sincerest thoughts are for the region and everyone impacted today. The vast majority of flights (if not all) headed to Narita Airport outside Tokyo were diverted to other airports…
Vintage Airline Seat Map: Eastern Airlines DC-10-30
I’ve selected an Eastern Airlines DC-10 for this installment of Vintage Airline Seat Maps. The series 30 model was a longer range version of the then popular Douglas Aircraft Company tri-jet. Instantly distinguished from the dash-10 series by the additional center main twin-wheel landing gear, Eastern initially operated this airplane on the Miami to London…
Review of Room 77: a new hotel search engine featuring floor plans & room views
A new and ingenious hotel search engine has entered the market of travel websites. Named Room 77, it allows you to search for a specific hotel, enter your room type preferences including bed type, floor level & distance from the elevator, and then displays a list of top-matching rooms at that hotel, as well as…
Continental and United Airlines mileage transfers plus elite status match & consolidation
While it has already been deeply covered by the other blogs, I would be negligent if I didn’t also mention the welcome news from yesterday. Effective immediately, you can now freely move miles between your Continental Airlines OnePass account and your United Airlines Mileage Plus account. In fact, you can move miles back and forth…
Halfway to United Airlines 1K status & revisiting the Systemwide Upgrade timeline
My latest trip pushed me over the halfway point to requalifying for 1K status for 2012, and I’m thinking now that I need to retract a statement I made back in November. United Airlines announced a variety of changes to the Mileage Plus program at that time, including the deposit schedule for systemwide upgrades (SWUs).…
Airline social media, lawsuits, leaky engines, top rankings & retiring birds
Here are a few more noteworthy news items from the airline industry in the past week: Airlines have wholly embraced Facebook and Twitter as important marketing and social media portals, and some are expanding it to include flight searches and bookings like Delta Air Lines has already done. Taking it a step further, though, is…
250 bonus Continental Airlines OnePass miles using MasterCard
Released today, Continental Airlines is offering 250 bonus OnePass miles for tickets purchased on continental.com using a debit or credit MasterCard. The offer is valid for U.S. residents only for tickets purchased now through June 30, 2011. Continental has offered a similar promotion in the past, and there are some date range discrepancies in the…
The United Airlines 1K Only website gets a major and long overdue overhaul
[Edited June 1, 2011] R.I.P. to the 1k-Only Website! It’s gone & was replaced simply with a link for the “1K Calling Guide.” For the myriad of United Airlines 100,000-mile flyers out there, let me save you some time and tell you I’m lying. For everyone else, a perk for being in the top mileage-based…
Video: Pan Am First Class trip report Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires in 1989
I’ve had Pan Am on the mind this week ever since hearing about the possibility of new drama series coming to TV this fall. I scoured YouTube and found this gem someone posted from a trip they took in First Class from Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires in 1989. My first reaction was, “Wow……
American Airlines taking strong control of the Los Angeles market with new service to 10 cities next month
Beginning April 5, 2011, American Airlines is adding the following ten destinations to their route offering from Los Angeles. All are operated by American’s wholly owned regional carrier American Eagle, with the exception of Shanghai, which is an American Flagship Boeing 777. Albuquerque, NM (ABQ – 3 flights daily) Boise, ID (BOI – 2 flights…