Image by Getty Images via Daylife The Premier Baggage program unveiled by United Air Lines yesterday is something of a mixed bag. For $249 a year, you (plus up to eight people traveling with you on the same reservation) get to check up to two bags per person, per flight for free all year. United…
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:10 — 11.2MB)
Subscribe: RSS
Earlier today, the Cranky Flier announced he was starting a new business, The Cranky Concierge, a personal travel assistance company. We saw it as a good opportunity to break out the podcasting equipment and interview Brett Snyder, the Cranky Flier. Our Editor, the Flight Wisdom Guru reports:
Image by Nick Chill via Flickr On August 28th, according to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport manager Mark Brewer, JetBlue hinted that a local demonstration of enthusiasm about the company’s arrival would be important. With airlines reducing seats and fewer passengers flying Manchester, airport officials recently offered incentives to attract new airlines and existing airlines to begin…
Image by Getty Images via Daylife Airline Route Updates has a comprehensive list of the new JetBlue-Lufthansa codeshare, found here. The flight numbers will be between LH8500 and 8700 and cover both Boston and New York-JFK routes. Booking are already open for service on or after November 1st. Also effective today, South African Airlines will…
Image via Wikipedia British Airways Flight 001, service from London City to New York-JFK via Shannon(where passenger’s pre-clear US Immigration and Customs), which was operated using an all-business class A318, arrived 10 minutes ago into Kennedy Airport. The service features 32 sleeper beds, a 15-minute check-in, London City’s proximity to key parts of the city,…
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="231" caption="Alaska Airlines Arrives at Houston"][/caption] This is a busy month for us, and it is often hard to keep up on things. So we want to try to catch up on some route developments over the last few days we may have missed. Matching competitor AirTran, Delta Air Lines will inaugurate…
[caption id="attachment_1711" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="In Flight Service - Virgin America"][/caption] Here is the news: The CW announced today that its new docu-series Fly Girls, which gives a glimpse into the lives of five “beautiful Virgin America flight attendants,” is set to debut midseason. The network describes the series as being “about real, down-to-earth young women…
Image by widybrad via Flickr U.S. Helicopter terminated its service on Friday between Manhattan heliports and JFK Airport. While they hope to resume it after new financing is secured, it may not be the best time for such a luxury product. Prices averaged up to $159 for an 8 minute ride to the airport, but…
Yesterday, we were reading Chris Elliott’s Travel Troubleshooter blog. He posted excerpts from letters sent and received by a regular flier and US Airways. And we started contemplating the issue of how airlines might handle things when the airline and the passenger cannot see eye to eye.
The Middle Seat Terminal blog reports that the rate at which passengers were bumped in the second quarter of this year increased forty percent compared with the same period a year ago. As carriers have slashed capacity to the bone, and with overbooking a common practice, there are too many people crammed onto flights.
Trans World Airlines was one of the great U.S. legacy airlines. In fact, until the 1970s, it and Pan Am(also now defunct), were the only U.S. airlines to serve Europe. For their flight attendants, however, the airline still lives, which prompted our reminiscence.
United Airlines will retire the last Boeing 737 jet from its fleet on October 28th, after forty-one years of service.
American Airlines has given up on St. Louis’s Lambert Airport. Back in the day, TWA had an extensive hub operation at the airport. American has gradually reduced service and now after these cuts, the airport will have only 36 flights a day to nine cities, LAX, Chicago-O’Hare, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Miami, New York-JFK, Boston, New York-LaGuardia,…
Lee Lipton, Southwest’s Director of Network Strategic Planning sees a future in low cost long haul in addition to its existing shorthaul products, but emphasizes there is no timetable for the move. Their chairman, Gary Kelly, said that the carrier is seriously considering operating flights to Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean as soon as 2011.
Ebags, the online luggage retailer, is offering a 20% off sale this weekend. To browse their selection, click the link below. Save 20% through Monday 9/14 at eBags.com
Saying something about 9/11 is almost obligatory, especially for a commercial aviation blogger. The scope of the tragedy was nearly unimaginable at the time…that such a thing could happen. Our hearts continue to go out to those who lost loved ones that day and we will never forget the sacrifice of those who rushed to assist. The two biggest security developments that came in a post-9/11 world were…
We haven’t done a service roundup in a while. Mostly because there hasn’t been as much news in this area as there once was. Airlines don’t announce discontinuance as much as they do inauguration. But this week had some interesting developments.
We reported on this last week. But the “Travel Promotion Act” was approved by the Senate yesterday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid(NV) praised the job-creation of increased tourism to the U.S., calling it a “win-win-win.”
As we said yesterday, the age of traditional hijacking in North America is gone. Aside from 9/11, which ushered in a new age of hijacking for the purpose of using a plane as a weapon, the traditional hijacking, which involved individuals taking over a plane and holding the passengers hostage for a political agenda, is almost dead
Our spin-off blog, Transit Wisdom, reported today on a vote on a proposed commuter rail extension to T.F. Green Airport. Once approved and completed, passengers would be able to travel from South Station in Boston to the airport in approximately one hour and fifteen minutes.
An Aeromexico flight carrying 104 passengers was hijacked on the tarmac at Mexico City Airport. At least three hijackers, who may be Bolivian or Columbian, are threatening to blow it up if they do not speak to President Felipe Calderon, who happened to already be at the airport, preparing to depart.
JetBlue inaugurated service today from its focus city at Boston’s General Edward Logan Airport to Thurgood Marshall Baltimore-Washington International Airport. In honor of this inauguration, which is in direct competition with Southwest Airlines, JetBlue is offering a one-day only $9 each way sale. The offer ends September 9, 11:59 p.m. MDT and is for travel…
JetBlue announced today a fare sale. Book by 9/10/09 for travel between 9/15 and 12/16/09. Click on the banner above to purchase and support our blog. Fares start at $29 each way on some routes.
Image by maddox via Flickr We’ve never been able to understand why the more expensive hotels charge for wi-fi and the less expensive offer it free, especially when those same hotels are trying to attract business travelers, who want to get work done. The simple answer, of course, is that they can. Many business travelers…
Image via Wikipedia On Friday, we posted about two JetBlue Embraer 190s that made emergency landings due to smoke and fire situations. In addition to Flight 654, which last Monday made an emergency landing at Kennedy after taking off for Rochester due to smoke in the cabin, and Flight 1781, which made a landing with…