US Airways Express flight 4560, a DeHavilland DHC-8 operated by Pidemont Airlines, traveling from Philadelphia to Newark managed to make a safe belling landing last night.

None of the 31 passengers or 3 crew members on board were injured.

According to a story published in the New York Times:

“After realizing that the landing gear did not deploy, the pilot circled the airport, trying several more times to get the wheels to come down.

Around 1 a.m., when it became clear that the gear would not work properly, the pilot brought the plane in on its belly.”

Here’s a video of the plane landing shortly after 1 AM eastern this morning.

The pilot certainly deserves a round of applause! US Airways may not serve meals on flights under three and half hours, but their pilots do know how to land planes.

Reader Giveaway – Win a Free Gogo Wi-Fi Pass

If you haven’t already entered, go here for my Gogo Wi-fi Giveaway.

Hope you’re having a great weekend!

So the other day I got an interesting comment from a reader. He’s traveling to London with his son and trying to decide whether to book their flight on American’s new 777-300ER with Main Cabin Extra seats and enjoy the extra room, or instead book their flight on one of the 777-200s that offers more privacy.

American Airlines 777-300ER with Main Cabin Extra

Pros: Main Cabin Extra not only offers more legroom (nearly six inches), the seats are almost three inches wider. They’re a lot more comfortable and roomy than main cabin seating, and there’s a lot more room underneath the seat in front of you. All the Main Cabin Extra seats are in a separate, forward mini-cabin and it feels less dense.

Much better entertainment system.

Cons: The downside for those traveling as a couple is that it’s in a three by three by three configuration. So unless you get lucky with an empty seat, you’re guaranteed to have a stranger sitting next to you.

If you want to sit together, one of you will have to sit in a middle seat.

My Advice: If you’re traveling as a couple, try to get row 16 – it’s the exit/bulkhead row. There’s so much room that everyone on the row (even the person sitting by the window) essentially has access to the aisle.

American Airlines 777-200

Pros: With the 2 X 5 X 2 configuration it’s easy to pick two seat that are together and you won’t have to share the row with anyone else. More privacy. And to access the aisle you only have to inconvenience an friend or family member.

Cons: Smaller seats. Less comfortable.

My Advice: The 777-300ER offers a few rows with 2 X 4 X 2 seating (rows 31, 32, 41, 42). Try to book seats on those rows, you’ll have a much better entertainment system, when the seat in front reclines it intrudes less on your space, and on most routes you’ll have Wi-fi.

777-300ER Rows 31 and 32

777-300ER Rows 41 and 42

(A big hat tip to David F. for an interesting question!)

Reader Giveaway

I’m giving away a free Gogo Inflight Wi-fi code (expires June 30th). To enter all you have to do is answer this question:

You and a family member are traveling together to London. Would you choose Main Cabin Extra with the extra room and a stranger on your row, or two seats together and privacy in the Main Cabin?

No right or wrong answer. Just leave a comment and on Monday I’ll pick a winner in a random drawing.

One entry per person. The deadline to enter is Sunday, May 19, 2013 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time.

American is the official sponsor to 30 Broadway and off-Broadway theatres in New York City. They’re also sponsor and official airline to Motown the Musical, and to promote their partnership they’re offering a new sweepstakes with a grand prize of 100,000 AAdvantage Miles and tickets to the show:

As a proud sponsor and official airline of MOTOWN THE MUSICAL, American Airlines invites you to be a part of this one-of-a-kind historical Broadway production.

Chronicling Berry Gordy’s incredible journey, MOTOWN THE MUSICAL features the legendary Motown catalogue and the exhilarating one-of-a-kind sound that launched the careers of renowned music superstars such as Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson and countless others while changing America forever.

Enter your information below for a chance to win the ultimate fan package:

• 100,000 AAdvantage miles

• Two Orchestra Seat tickets to MOTOWN THE MUSICAL

• A special meet-and-greet opportunity

• Accommodations for two-nights at the InterContinental New York Times Square Hotel

• Dinner for two at Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster Harlem restaurant

To enter just submit your name, contact information and your AAdvantage number. The deadline to enter is 11:59 a.m. CT on May 24, 2013.

Go here to enter and for complete terms and conditions. Good luck!

Photo: Mowtown 4 album set
Credit: vintage breda on Flickr

American is planning a one-time run of their new 777-300ER from San Diego to JFK on Sunday, August 4.

American Airlines Flight 12
Departs: San Diego (SAN): 8:50 AM
Arrives: New York (JFK): 5:15 PM

According to a rumor posted in a thread in Flyertalk, the plane is operating as a charter flight on August 3 and delivering some lucky passengers to San Diego to attend the Global Business Travel Association convention.

Despite the three class configuration, it’s being sold as a two class flight: the business class section is being sold as coach with the seats being reserved for full fare passengers and AAdvantage elites (as of 5 PM on Wednesday all the Business Class seats were taken).

According to the seat map the First Class cabin is wide open, but AA.com shows no availability  (I suspect it may be reserved for some special purpose and doubt it will open up).

So if you live in the San Diego area and you’re planning to travel to New York in early August anyway, well here’s your chance to ride the new 777-300ER!  You might even be able to experience the new mood lighting….because of the red and blue colors this is what the cabin crew jokingly refer to as AA Party Mode:-)

DFW Airport and American Airlines recently completed Phase 1 of their renovations to Terminal A.  American has described the project as the “Next Generation Airport Prototype for American’s Customers“.

The remodeled terminal includes a new Priority Check-in space that will serve as a model for future updates to American’s facilities at DFW and other airports.

Priority Check-in is a dedicated check-in area reserved for AAdvantage Elite customers and passengers traveling in First and Business Class. At American’s hubs, like JFK and LAX, it’s a special area semi-cocooned away from the rest of the check-in space. It’s (usually) less chaotic, there are fewer lines, and it provides direct access to expedited security lanes.

Priority Check-in is not to be confused with Flagship Check-in, which is reserved for ConciergeKey customers and passengers traveling in three-class transcontinental flights and in First Class on international flights.

Unlike LAX, MIA, or more recently JFK, and (soon) ORD, DFW doesn’t have a Flagship Check-in facility. But that will soon change!!

According to someone I spoke with at American Airlines, “Flagship Check-In service is offered at JFK, MIA and LAX and will be available at DFW in late 2013.”

Anyway, here’s a photo tour of the Next Gen Priority Check-in at DFW Terminal A. It’s set off in a room, away from the rest of the check-in area. It’s an enclosed space, surrounded by frosted glass.

Signage

Counters

Counters and Kiosks

Kiosks

Seating Area

Direct access to expedited security

Until the end of the month, American is offering reduced mileage AAdvantage awards to Las Vegas:

Limited Time Special To Vegas

Travel Dates: May 7, 2013, through May 31, 2013

Enjoy Vegas! With its magnificent shows, glitzy Strip, great food and bustling casinos, Vegas has something to offer for everyone!

Book an Economy Class award for travel on American Airlines, for only 10,000 miles each way, to Vegas from the contiguous U.S. for a total saving of 5,000 miles on your round trip!

A one-way, coach MilesAAver Award is usually 12,500 miles, so you’re saving 2,500 miles each way. You can book these reduced mileage awards online so you won’t have to pay the ticketing fee, but unless you have AAdvantage Elite status, there’s a $75 fee for booking the award within 21 days of travel.

I wouldn’t head off to Vegas just to take advantage of this offer, you’re only saving 5,000 miles and American usually offers some great bargains if you plan ahead of time.

But if for some reason you need to travel to Vegas by the end of May, and now you’re looking at some pretty steep fares, then using your miles might make more sense, and saving 5,000 miles is a great deal.

Travel has to be completed by May 31, 2103.  Go here to book online and for complete terms and conditions.

Triple AAdvantage Miles with Hilton HHonors

Speaking of Vegas….just a reminder that Hilton is offering 3X AAdvantage Miles at “select Las Vegas hotels” through June 30, 2013.

Photo: Vegas Chinatown
Credit: Edgar Zuniga Jr. on Flickr

Actually, Gary didn’t take “my” upgrade, the more accurate headline would be “How I missed an upgrade while on the same flight as Gary”.

I just got back from BAcon, which was the name of the Boarding Area blogging conference that was hosted by Randy Petersen in Colorado Springs, and one of the many great tips I learned was that it’s important to write an exciting headline, so pardon my enthusiasm if I got a little carried away with the title of my post.

Anyway, back to how I lost out on an upgrade. American started rolling out Main Cabin Extra (MCE) last year, and I’ve been really lucky since then because I’ve flown almost 85,000 domestic miles without missing an upgrade.

Frankly, I’ve been surprised that even with Executive Platinum status I’ve gone this long without missing one. Many of those flights have been on some pretty tough routes heavy with EXPs (such as DFW/San Jose, DFW/SFO, DFW/LAX, and DFW/LGA), and since American’s system assigns a higher upgrade priority to connecting passengers (within the same tier) I’m usually a little lower priority because most of flights begin or end in Dallas.

But through a mixture of luck, and carefully selecting my flight times, I’ve been able to enjoy the extra legroom and the baked on board cookie. I’ve had some close calls with breaking my streak and there have been a few flights when the gate agent came on board and moved me up to the front just before closing the door. But like I said, I’ve been really lucky.

American has finished installing MCE on most of their fleet, and it’s available now on almost all of their 777-300s, 767-300s, 757s, 737s, and MD-80s. I’ve been hoping, well maybe not hoping so much as planning, that when I missed an upgrade I’d turn lemons into lemonade and use the opportunity to try out Main Cabin Extra and review it for the blog.

That hasn’t happened, so when I booked my flight to Colorado Springs I decided to not request the upgrade on the return flight because it’s so short (about and hour and twenty minutes) and there’s no meal service. I figured this would be the perfect time to give it a try, take some photos, and get some material for the blog.

Well yesterday when I got to the airport and went to the kiosk to print my boarding pass I was presented with the option to stand-by for the upgrade.

I had every intention of riding in the Main Cabin…..I’m not sure what happened, maybe it was just habit, or perhaps a small earthquake caused my finger to hit the screen, a computer glitch, or just the overwhelming desire for a baked on board cookie, but my finger selected the “request upgrade” option. It was a last minute request and my flight was leaving within the hour, but I figured that since it was a fairly empty flight and a small airport, my chances were pretty good.

I was thinking “How many Executive Platinums can there possibly be on a flight from Colorado Springs on a Sunday Evening?” Well….more than I expected!

Gary, his lovely and gracious Executive Platinum wife, and AJ (from Live from a Lounge) were all supposed to be on an earlier flight from COS to DFW. Their flight had a flat tire and when the mechanics tried to change it, they found that it had a problem with the brakes so the flight was going to be delayed until later in the evening.

Of course, both Gary and his wife, and AJ had already called the EXP line, confirmed seats on my flight, and were wait-listed for the upgrade by the time they got off the plane. All three of them are pros, so all of this happened before I even checked in at the airport!

I got through security and ran into them and they told me what happened to their flight. At that point I realized my upgrade chances were’t looking so good.

Upgrade priority is determined by status, and then within each tier it’s determined by:

• Whether the passenger is connecting (connecting passengers have a higher priority over originating passengers)

• Fare class (full Y/B fare passengers have higher priority)

• Date/time of upgrade request

With a suddenly full flight, the fact that my flight was terminating at DFW, my super cheap fare, and the last minute request, my upgrade streak came to an end.

But having my streak broken by Gary is a little like holding the record low round at your home golf course, and having Phil Mickelson come play it and set a new record: it’s more of an honor than a disappointment to be bested by a legend, and it makes for a great story!

Now I have some new material for the blog (including an update about the ‘Buy on Board’ menu items – American has introduced some new snacks since the last time I was in coach) and I’ve got a great story to tell: How Gary Leff ended my longest upgrade streak!

Actually I have another story to tell: Gary suggested turning down an upgrade.

I was telling him about how I haven’t had any luck trying out Main Cabin Extra yet and that I’d really like to write about it for the blog.

He said “Well, you could always turn down the upgrade”. I kid you not, Gary Leff suggested declining an upgrade!

Reader Giveaway

Last friday I asked readers to answer this question for a chance to win a free Gogo wifi code:

When traveling to other countries have you (or would you) stop at an American fastfood restaurant for a little taste of home?

Here are the results from the random drawing:

Congratulations to Spencer F.!!

And thanks to everyone who participated!

American launched service from DFW to Seoul, Korea today.  This is really exciting news because it’s not just a new route for American, this is also a new destination!

They’ll be serving the route with a 3 class configured 777-200.  I met someone that works in the inflight services department that was responsible for planning the meal service on this new route. She told me that in their focus group tests Korean customers indicated a preference for stainless steel chopsticks over disposable wood or plastic ones, so that’s what they were going to offer on the route.

She also mentioned that they were developing a Korean menu for the route, but at the time it was still a work in progress so she didn’t have any details.  Now that launch day is here and the menu has been finalized, I have some photos of items that will be offered in First and Business class.

Seared Cod with Ankake Sauce Rice cakes,
Broccolini, Baby Corn, & Carrot Flowers

Pork Tenderloin with Mojo Sauce Served over Rice with Herb Asparagus

Beef Pulehu Filet with Shiitake Mushroom Sauce

Brie and Leek Ravioli
Served with Grilled Shrimp, Broccolini, Carrots, Zucchini
with Ginger Coconut or San Marzano Sauce

Spicy Korean Noodles (Bibim Guksu) with Vegetables

Noodle Bowl with Shrimp, Scallop, Wakame, & Shiitake Mushrooms

During the month of May, American is offering AAdvantage member an opportunity to support breast cancer research and earn some extra miles:

This month, American Airlines invites you to celebrate all of the important women in your life by supporting breast cancer research through its Miles for the Cure campaign with Susan G. Komen. Through May 31, AAdvantage members will receive 15 miles, instead of 10, for every dollar they contribute with a minimum $25 donation.

Earn AAdvantage miles and support breast cancer research:  Through May 31, customers who donate to American’s Miles for the Cure fundraising campaign will receive 15 AAdvantage miles – instead of 10 – for every dollar contributed to Susan G. Komen with a minimum $25 donation.

Support the fight against breast cancer and give the gift of travel: Help American Airlines and Komen fund a breast cancer research grant at M.D. Anderson in Houston in by purchasing an American/Komen co-branded gift card. For every $50 of travel purchased, American will donate $5 to Komen for the Cure. Simply select Komen when making the purchase.

To learn more, to make a donation or purchase gift cards, visit AA.com/JoinUs.

Photo: Pink Ribbon
Credit: BriYYZ on Flickr

American opened their new premium Flagship Check-in counters at JFK this morning.  From the press release:

Flagship Check-In offers customers a private experience with customer service representatives who can assist with a variety of individual travel needs, as well as access to an expedited security line.

Customers eligible for Flagship Check-In include:

ConciergeKey members

First Class customers traveling onboard an American Airlines three-class transcontinental aircraft departing from LAX, MIA or JFK

First Class customers traveling onboard an international American aircraft or select oneworld alliance international aircraft anywhere in their outbound itineraries.

Customers of American’s Five Star Servicesm assistance program – a personal one-on-one airport service provided on the day of travel

Flagship Check-in service is also offered at LAX, Miami, and London Heathrow. Construction on a Flagship Check-in area at Chicago O’Hare is already underway and is set to open sometime this Summer.

More information here.