Just got an email from AAdvantage advising that Marriott Rewards will no longer participate in the AAdvantage program effective July 1, 2010.  So if you have selected AAdvantage miles as your reward option of choice for your Marriott hotel stays, you’ll want to update your Marriott Rewards profile by July 1st.

I know flying is uncomfortable, especially in coach.  But given the premium on space in today’s standard commercial airliner, it seems a little common courtesy towards your fellow traveler might be in order.  I know airplane seats come with recline buttons for a reason.  But that recline can stop anywhere between none and fully reclined.

I’m sitting in First Class right now on a Delta 757.  The pitch on these airplanes is not overly generous, even in First.  The person in front of me decided to pop their seat back into my lap a few minutes ago.  That’s her right, but to say she was aggressive about it would be an understatement.  By not “easing” her chair back, she managed to recline right onto my laptop screen.  Had I not acted pretty quickly, I would be looking at a broken laptop right now.  These seats have video screens in the seatback, and that screen propped itself right onto my laptop screen making it impossible to move the laptop out of the way without pressing against the seat in front of me to pry it out.  I’m sure it’s difficult to imagine the scenario I’m describing, but it happened.

Moral of the story: recline away, but be thoughtful of your surroundings.  And if the person behind you is using a laptop, you might think about giving them a warning before you recline or do so slowly.

My apologies for the dearth of fresh information on the blog this week.  I hope to get around to some serious writing tonight, or certainly tomorrow on the flight home.  My day job has been keeping me on a tight leash this week.  I’ve spent the week at the Embassy Suites Sea-Tac Airport, and I will post a full review soon.  Flying home tomorrow.  Medallion upgrades have cleared.  Thank you Delta.

Write this down.  Today, I flew 5 hours in coach, and lived to tell about it.  I’m in Seattle this week for work, and departed on the “0 dark thirty” flight from DCA to Atlanta, connecting to Seattle.  My Delta Medallion upgrade on the short flight to Atlanta cleared in advance, but I was sweating the upgrade for the long flight from Atlanta to Seattle.  Turns out that I should not have been sweating…..I was 19 of 47 on the upgrade list.  No need to even bother sweating.

You haven’t lived until you’ve occupied the front row in coach on a Delta 757.  Actually, Delta has a few different configurations of 757.  This particular airplane has nothing in front of row 19 on the right hand side except empty space.  Nice for legroom, but the space attracts loiterers looking to stretch their legs.  At one time there were 5 people standing in front of me….none of which was actually in line for the nearby restroom…which is another issue all its own.

All that said, I think the thing I liked least about the seat was how narrow it was.  The tray table is in the arm rest which takes away from seat width.  I’m admittedly not skinny, but I doubt you’d think I was anything more than an average sized person if you met me on the street.  Frankly, the seat was so narrow that it was downright uncomfortable.  Note to self: watch those narrowbody Boeing exit row seats.  They’re simply too narrow.

The service was fine, and the GoGo Inflight Internet helped make the time productive and fun, so all in all, it wasn’t a bad flight.  But it surely made me realize how happy I am that my return upgrades have already cleared.  Medallion upgrade, oh how I love thee.

I’m actually sitting on an airplane now blogging via GoGo.  I’m traveling with 2 other colleagues whom I’ll spend the week with in Seattle on a project.  I’ll be there for a week, but both colleagues will actually be traveling on to Los Angeles for another week of work while I return home.

One had the misfortune to pack 57 pounds of clothing for her 2 week business trip, and was dinged by Delta for a whopping $90 dollars for the extra 7 pounds.  Frankly, I was shocked the fee was that high.  $50 dollars seems more the norm, at least that’s what I paid American back in February when returning from a cruise.

Our conversation inspired me to check the fees other airlines are currently charging for overweight baggage.  I started with American, and their fee for 51 to 70 pounds remains a far more reasonable $50 dollars, and $100 dollars is the going rate for bags in the 71 to 100 pound category.  For reference, Delta’s fee for bags between 71 and 100 pounds is a whopping $175 dollars!  Then I looked at United.  $100 dollars for bags between 51 and 70 pounds if you’re not an elite customer.  (Note: I like that UA elites get a 70 pound per bag allowance.)  Continental charges $50 dollars for a bag weighing 51 to 70 pounds.  Continental does not accept baggage weighing more than 70 pounds.  In contrast to these airlines and in keeping with its history of simple and easy to understand policies, Southwest charges $50 dollars per piece for baggage weighing between 51 and 100 pounds.

The meaning of all this?  Learn to pack more efficiently.  I can handle a 5 day business trip with nothing but my 21″ Samsonite roller.  It takes a little practice, but its well worth your time and money.  And remember, it’s not a sin to do a little laundry on the road from time to time.  It’s certainly cheaper to do that than pay $100 bucks for your extra 7 pounds of clothes.

Now the rumor circuit is really flying on United and Continental.  The name will be United, the headquarters will be in Chicago, and Mr. Smisek from Continental will run the place.  Swell.  And now US Airways is back where it started, too small, and all alone.  US Airways could certainly benefit from a stronger alliance partner in a fortified United, but I just don’t get the feeling that there’s a lot of love left for US in this deal.

I speculated a while back that the idea of some sort of link between American and US Airways was a possibility.  I continue to think that American cannot just sit back and watch while the rest of the industry leaves it behind.  While management has its hands full with labor negotiations at the moment, I still wonder if US Airways might not be too tempting of a target.  This could begin with something short of a full merger, perhaps luring US into Oneworld and a closer domestic relationship, realizing many benefits of a merger without the hassle of combining disparate fleets of aircraft and labor groups.  Then perhaps a little further down the road, when both managements have successfully gotten themselves through labor talks, a bigger deal can be done.  Doug Parker, like so many other airline managers, got started at American so I don’t think the idea of him doing a deal with them is the most far fetched idea on earth.

This is all anyone’s guess at the moment, and let’s face it, I’m just some random guy who likes to talk about airlines.  Gonna be really fun watching things unfold in the next few months I think.

So, US Airways has pulled the plug on merger discussions with United.  The usual blabberers are running their typical spiel about how this was all a ploy by United to smoke out Continental, who they really want to merge with.  Yeah, maybe, but I think there’s more.  I really believe United would’ve done a deal with US Airways.  Only problem was that US Airways wouldn’t do the deal that United wanted, which left United’s current boss in control.  When they couldn’t come to some sort of mutual understanding, US Airways walked.

Question is, does anyone think the folks running Continental are more likely than US Airways to execute a merger agreement that leaves United’s current management in charge?  I don’t think so.  Perhaps United might be a little more flexible if there’s a possibility of linking up with an airline like Continental?  Time will tell.  Sure is fun to watch.

I’ve been nervously checking my AAdvantage account multiple times a day for several days now.  Why?  I knew I had some miles that were about to post, and when they did, I would be past the 1 million mark!  The magic happened on Monday morning.  1,003,033 AAdvantage miles!  Lifetime Gold status in the bag.  I’m Platinum already, but it’s nice to know that my status will never drop below Gold.

Considering that I was an airline employee until early 2004, and not earning any miles (except for credit card purchases), I’m pretty proud of this.  Only 996,967 miles to go to 2 million.  And I’m looking forward to earning every one of them.

I flew through Cincinnati last Friday evening on Delta.  I landed just before 7PM, prime time for a Friday night.  But it didn’t feel like a Friday night.  Walking off the airplane, I was struck at just how quiet the terminal seemed.  My flight was packed, but there just wasn’t much going on.  A look at the departure monitor bank told the story.  On Friday evening, only 2 of the screens (out of 6 or 8…can’t remember for sure) were listing flights.  I was shocked at just how few flights Delta is pushing through Cincinnati nowadays.  I’ve read about the cutbacks there, but seeing it was something.  Stopped by the Starbucks to pick up a cup of coffee, and they closed minutes before, right in the middle of what should’ve been a Friday evening push.  Reminded me of another hub I used to frequent, American Airlines at RDU.  We’ll see how long Cincinnati continues to be a hub for Delta.

Not as good of a deal as in the past, but if you haven’t had one of these cards for a while, or haven’t yet applied for the Citi AAdvantage Visa or Amex, or even the Business Card, why not go for this?  Apply for the card here.  Discovered via Flyertalk.

Updated @ 17:15 – Here’s a link to a no annual fee offer.  Hat tip to View From the Wing and Lindsay.

Just a quick note regarding my recent contest and your comments about travel related items of interest you’d like to read more about here on the blog.  I’ve printed them all out, and am researching as appropriate.  Some, I could blather on about at end right now, and others I need to do a little thinking about.  I’m working on all of them, and will be blogging about those and anything else in short order.