United Airlines is reportedly spending $50 million this year to renovate and refresh many of its United Club locations, and I had the chance to visit the recently redone Denver West location yesterday.

Basically what they’ve done is swapped out the seating for new chairs, tables and counters identical to what’s in the newest club location at Chicago O’Hare’s Terminal 2 (F-concourse).

[My apologies for the poor quality iPhone images – the lounge was rather busy and I was trying to be as discreet as possible.]

United Club Denver West - Seating Area

United Club Denver West - 'Short' Tables

United’s clubs in Denver are known for their lack of power outlets and you’ll still have a hard time finding them if you’re seated in the new leather chairs. But they have at least added counters along the windows with outlets, as well as included plugs underneath some of the tabletops.

United Club Denver West - Window-side Counters

United Club Denver West - Seating

United Club Denver West - 'Hidden' Plugs Under Some Tabletops

The Denver East location has yet to receive the refresh and sports the same old worn furniture with highly limited access to power outlets. The view, however, remains one of the best features of either club.

United Club Denver West - View

Related posts:

United Club Membership Using Miles to Return, Plus More

First Look: United Club Redesign, New O’Hare Location

United Club Rate Increase

Last month I published a seat map of American’s “Standard” DC-10 from 1985 sporting a spacious coach cabin. I noted in that post that a mere two years later in 1987, this same aircraft was reconfigured with 22 additional seats in the rear cabin and promised to share the higher-density layout.

Here, then, is American’s DC-10 Luxury Liner seen flying the skies in 1987 for this installment of Vintage Airline Seat Maps.

The additional seats came by way of adding a pair of two-seaters on each side of the aircraft in between doors 2L/R and 3L/R, a pair of two-seaters in the rear-most section and three rows of middle five-seaters. If you’re doing the math, that’s one too many seats – note the very last row in the middle section formerly had four seats, but now only three.

Surviving this configuration, though, was a coffee bar in the very back along with two coat compartments (for coach!).

In first class you’d find me in a window seat mid-cabin, such as 3A or 3J. And in coach I always loved sitting near the engines as they had such a distinctly fantastic howl.

Where would you sit?

American Airlines DC-10 Standard Seat Map (1987)

Related posts:

American Airlines DC-10 ‘Standard’ Seat Map from 1985

American Airlines DC-10 ‘Dining in the Sky’ Seat Map

American Airlines DC-10 ‘International’ Seat Map

Here’s a United mileage run with oodles of availability I found this morning that I haven’t seen posted elsewhere.

This $99 one-way base airfare between San Francisco and Charlotte was filed back on April 26, and given it hasn’t been pulled yet, this post might stay useful longer than my last mileage run tip. It works in both directions, but I focused on zero- and one-nighters available originating in San Francisco.

Here’s the nitty-gritty and an example itinerary.

Routing: San Francisco to Los Angeles to Washington Dulles to Charlotte r/t

Routing rules: SFO-LAX/DEN-WAS/HOU/DEN/CLE/CHI-CLT

Travel period: Now through January 5, 2014

Dates I found available: Dozens, particularly in Sept/Oct/Nov

Number of nights stay: Many 0-night or 1-nighters available

Day of week restrictions: None

Fare basis: NA14KN, 14-day advance purchase

Fare: $249.40 roundtrip all-in

Premier Qualifying Miles earned: 6,576 (assumes 500-mile minimums)

Cents-per-mile (CPM): 3.79

Example itinerary: (click the image for a larger view)

The above itinerary was found using ITA Matrix, but can be booked on United directly with ease using Hipmunk.

Related posts:

Save Time Using Hipmunk for Multi-Segment Mileage Run Bookings

How to Find Mileage Runs – 2013 Edition

Here’s a television ad you likely won’t see aired in the U.S. Anti-energy drink maker Zenonade from the Czech Republic launched a new ad campaign having a little fun with the flight attendant safety demonstration. I’ll let it speak for itself:

I got quite a chuckle out of it given my closeness to the industry, but would the average traveler or TV watcher think it’s funny? Discuss.

(Hat tip: @theflyingpinto)

Related posts:

Cruel, Yet Hilarious, Airport Prank

American Airlines and Klout, a web service that scores your overall social media influence, teamed up for a new contest. They’re giving away free Admirals Club day passes to anyone whose Klout score is 55 or above, plus an entry to win an annual membership.

Just go to http://aa.com/klout and sign in with your Facebook or Twitter account to see if you have “klout.” For scores under 55, there’s a drawing for a day pass (or an offer for $50 off a membership, based on some reports).

I hadn’t signed into Klout in ages (there are just so many social media things I can do each day), but I did indeed score a free pass.

Klout was already an approved application on my Twitter account, but if you don’t like that type of thing, you can de-authorize them after checking your score for this contest.

The printable day pass I won is valid until July 31, 2013. Here are the T&Cs:

1. NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. 2. OPEN TO/ENTRY DETAILS: Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia who are 18 years (19 in Alabama andNebraska, 21 in Mississippi or older and no computer, mechanical device, or electronic device at a place of business in the State of Georgia. 3. Sweepstakes begins at 11:59 a.m. [Central daylight time (³CT²)] on May 6, 2013 and all entries must be received by 11:59 a.m. [CT] time on May 31, 2013. 4. PRIZE DETAILS: One Prize consisting of one (1) year membership to Admirals Club ARV $450. 5. ODDS: Odds of winning depend on number of entries. 6. ELIGIBILITY: Employees and agents of Sponsor, Administrator andaffiliates, agencies, distributors, wholesalers and retailers, and members of such employees¹ and agents¹ immediate families and individuals living in the same household with such employees or agents, are not eligible to win. 7. Void where prohibited. 8. Participation is subject to complete Official Rules by which all entrants are bound. Available at www.aa.com/klout. 9. Entrants release all parties from all claims/liability arising from this Sweepstakes or acceptance/use of any Prize. 10. Sponsor: American Airlines, Inc. 4333 Amon Carter Blvd., Ft. Worth, Texas 76155.

Related posts:

Yet Another Gift from American Airlines

A Surprise from American Airlines Arrived in the Mail

Review: American’s Flagship Check-In and Lounge at LAX

In this installment of Amenity Kit Reviews, I take a critical look at the business class offering of Star Alliance member Air China. A very special thanks goes out to Very Good Points for sending it my way. For a better description of each category and the 7-point scale for scoring, please review my introductory post.

Air China Amenity Kit

Bag/Container: The off-white, rectangular nylon zipper bag has a touch of pleather to it, particularly along the height of the case. It sports the L’Occitane logo on top, with the only identifiable Air China logo on the zippers themselves. Opening the case reveals a single compartment with four differently sized plastic pouches on the flap. Reusability is medium-to-high in my opinion, and while not overly luxurious, it is slightly higher quality than some other business class kits. Score: 5 out of 7

Interior of Air China's Amenity Kit

Skin Care: Air China partnered with L’Occitane to supply skin care items for this kit, which consist of Citrus Verbena Body Lotion and a Shea Butter Lip Balm Stick. The lip balm is your standard fare and sufficient, but the lotion in this kit is a step up from the L’Occitane ones found in the Asiana and Virgin Australia kits, for example. A nearly scentless disinfectant wet tissue rounds out the skin care items. Score: 5 out of 7

Oral Care: A tube of standard flavored Colgate toothpaste and a soft bristled toothbrush are the sole oral care items in the kit. I always appreciate it when airlines decide on a toothbrush that snaps back onto its casing to form a nearly full size apparatus. Plus, the casing helps keep the brush head clean for reuse. Score: 4 out of 7

Comfort Items: Here’s where Air China scores big. Inside the case are found your typical comfort items, including a folding brush, earplugs in their own plastic container (nice!) and one-size-fits-all eyeshades. But Air China also provides pajamas (plus slippers) to its business class passengers, a rarity for the middle cabin on most all other airlines. They’re cotton and come in a red fabric bag. Well done! Score: 7 out of 7

Air China PJs - Image Courtesy 'Very Good Points'

Intangibles: I believe Air China missed the mark in not incorporating more of its own branding to the kit, but it still comes off as an exclusive amenity filled with useful items.  Score: 5 out of 7

Total score & comments:

This kit was on track to be an average business class offering with a slightly above adequate final score. But the addition of PJs really sets Air China apart from many of its competitors, and the score of 5.25 is well deserved.

Related posts:

Amenity Kit Reviews

Amenity Kit Review Introduction

My Top-Ranked Amenity Kits

World’s Top Amenity Kits of 2012 – TravelPlus Awards

On Monday I posted a quick snapshot of my 2012 flying showing a map of my travels. I’ve been LAX (pun sort-of intended) in updating my FlightMemory over the years, but I plugged my 2012 data yesterday to reveal the following:

In total, I flew 126,452 miles during the year. That’s less than 2011 and I have a feeling my travels in 2013 will drop even further – more on that in a moment. United was my top airline flown in 2012, I rode Boeing 757s most frequently and I traversed 21 different airports. My upgrade percentage was even better than it appears as the majority of my flights in coach were on single-cabin aircraft. I geek out in the analytics of it all (if you couldn’t tell) and I’m planning to load my lifetime data slowly but surely in the coming months.

What Lies Ahead?

It was a year of ups and downs for me in 2012, not unlike most years. And if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that I have absolutely no idea what’ll happen this year. On a personal note (which I tend to avoid on this blog), I’m very happy to close the door on last year. I lost my day job in January, had multiple medical issues throughout the year that had a significant impact on my life, and other events occurred distracting me from my vision for the year.

Looking back, though, travel remained very, very good considering my personal tribulations. I finally flew on an A380, I had an amazing trip to Australia including a spectacular time flying Virgin Australia domestically, I flew on United’s inaugural Boeing 787 flight(s), and I visited a new country. I hope 2013 will bring equally enjoyable travels.

One of the biggest changes recently is the fact I moved from Los Angeles to just outside of Reno. It’s quite a change, but a good one for multiple reasons. I’ll certainly miss LAX airport and the frequent mileage-runnable fares popping up there. But my travel goals may have changed for 2013. I’ll definitely hit million-miler with United this year (probably during the first few months) and I’m not necessarily gunning to hit 1K anymore. I say that now thinking lifetime Premier Gold status will be good enough for my travel patterns, but I sort of cringe at the prospect of dropping tiers. We’ll see what happens. And if airlines begin rolling out revenue-based frequent flyer programs as predicted, it might be the right time to slow down.

One of the things I definitely want to improve this year is Frequently Flying. After the loss of my job last January, I had visions of spending more time blogging. That (obviously) didn’t happen and I’ve been questioning an opportunity/decision I made during the year that has eaten up way more time than I thought it would. That might change soon, as I’ve learned some valuable lessons.

I hope your 2013 is off to a great start so far. I have my first flight this Saturday that I’m looking forward to… and it’s on Southwest!

First, a couple of blog updates. If you haven’t noticed, you can now subscribe to my posts via email. On the right-hand side near the top underneath the calendar, there’s a spot where you can enter your email address and receive my posts daily. Might be a good idea for some of you who don’t visit BoardingArea every day.

Next, at the bottom of each post appears a sequence of options to share my post with others, either via Facebook, Twitter, or a huge amount of other venues. If you like what I’ve written, pass it along.

Also, did you know I’m now on Facebook? Come follow me here as I tend to post more stuff there that’s not on my blog.

Finally, I was interviewed again recently by the founder of Cheapflights.com and will share a bit of that here. I revealed a bit more about my past, including my work experience at United Airlines and real suggestions for the occasional traveler.

I look forward to the years to come and please feel free to email me with any feedback or questions. I’ll do my best to get back to you within 24-hours.

Happy anniversary to me! I officially launched this blog one year ago today and when I look back at my initial posts I’m a bit embarrassed at their immaturity, but can see how I’ve developed my writing skills and I’m happy with Frequently Flying today. It’ll only get better.

This has been an amazing year and when I first started I had no idea I’d keep up with it, but my passion for the industry brought me back almost daily to write a new post covering topics of interest to me. Special thanks to my long-time readers and equally to those just finding me… I promise this blog will continue for a very long time featuring the same “airline, hotel & travel industry news, reviews & opinions.” I also intend to expand my coverage and possibly include new features and services. Stay tuned for those.

I’ll repeat my inspirations for starting this blog, and I hope you either currently follow them or will after reading this. The amazing Ben Schlappig of One Mile at a Time was an inspiration and I can’t tell you how much I admire him and how he’s turned his similar passion into a full-time gig at such a young age. Next up is Matthew Klint of Live And Let’s Fly. His insightful, honest, thoughtful and sometimes controversial reporting on industry topics drew me in to frequently leave comments on his posts, which made me think… “Hey, I should really start a blog.” Finally, Mark Ashley at Upgrade: Travel Better similarly wrote in a realistic and often thought-provoking manner about the industry I love. He fell off the radar earlier this year, which is sad… I hope he returns to blogging one day.

My other reason for starting this blog relates to my passionate background for the industry. I was an aviation geek from childhood. My Dad took me to O’Hare airport to watch planes depart, I still remember my first flight like it was yesterday, I loved going on road trips and staying in hotels and I initially made it my career path. I earned an undergrad degree in Aviation Business Management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, learned how to fly and completed two internships while in college. One was with United Airlines in their Flight Dispatch department (EXODD) at headquarters and the other was as an Airport Intern at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. I’ll eventually blog about those experiences.

After graduation, the only thing open with United immediately was being a reservations agent. That didn’t last long for a variety of reasons, and I soon found a gig with a travel wholesaler who specialized in travel packages to Las Vegas and Hawaii. That firm contracted with United, so I still was sort-of connected with my carrier of choice. I was recruited out of that firm to another tour operator/wholesaler and got deep into both marketing (having freshly completed a M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications) and technology integration.

I was a pro with Apollo – United’s GDS – and absolutely knew every in and out of that system. I ended up working at my new company’s three offices around the country.

Before working at the third location, though, I was re-hired by United in their Inventory Management department… the elusive IM that so many frequent flyers wonder about. That was my favorite job. It paid well, I had amazing travel perks and worked in the department that managed the hugely complex inventory allocation, for which I geek out on more than you can imagine. If you haven’t already checked it out, I suggest you read my Airfare pricing buckets and airline fare basis codes REVEALED! post. You’ll learn a few things that’ll pay off when you search for flights.

I was young and wet behind the ears, so when my previous employer came back to me and offered a significant pay bump along with other perks, I bailed on United. I still regret that to this day and I wish I had stayed at United. It offered incredible upward mobility, it was my “dream job” and I worked for my lifelong desired employer. The money thrown at me at that time by my previous employer was too good to be true, so I left. For any “youngins” out there… follow your passion, not the money!

At the third location, things didn’t look good at my final position with that firm as the office I was in was potentially going to be on the chopping block. I loved where I lived then, so left the industry and went into Project Management in the Financial Services industry.

Anyway… enough of my background. Do you really care? Maybe so, but I’ve gone so far off tangent to what this post is supposed to be about.

As you read this I’m doing exactly what I love… racking up more airline miles and probably staring out a window at the beautiful world below. There’s just something about leaving all your worries and issues behind and taking in the beauty of the landscape, sky and view from 35,000 or so feet. It’s incredibly peaceful and brings me an immense amount of joy and humility.

The mileage run I’m on today ended up being unnecessary as I’ve already hit the 100,000-mile mark with United, but I booked it at a time I was uncertain I would have hit that level. Still, though, nothing makes me happier than to travel. It’s been my passion for as long as I can remember. Today’s flights also bring me closer to United Million Miler status, so it’s definitely not a waste.

I hope your weekend is as enjoyable as mine. Thanks for reading my blog and I hope I’ve added to either your enjoyment of flying and travel, or brought you posts that increased your frequent flyer and hotel balances.

I’m looking forward to what year two brings for Frequently Flying.

I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the one and only Randy Petersen, founder of BoardingArea and basically the God of all things related to miles and points. I am truly honored to be a small part of his incredible team of bloggers here at BoardingArea. Thank you, Randy, for believing in me and opening up your generosity to allow my blog to be included with the “best-in-class” here on BoardingArea.