Believe me, my reaction was probably the same as everyone else’s when I glaced at the WSJ headline about Delta sniffing out the idea of a business deal for AA. “HUH?!” I’m not surprised that Delta, US Airways, and any other equity investment firms are doing their homework on the possibility of buying AA. Any smart businessperson should be looking at all possible scenarios, and my complaints about SkyMiles aside, I think Delta’s executives are among the smartest in the business.

That said, there are a lot of air miles between today and any kind of acquisition of AA by Delta or anyone else. Management has yet to present its own plan of reorganization which it has an exclusive right to do for several months. Then there’s the not so small issue of a Delta purchase of AA’s impact on the Oneworld alliance. The downlow on that – I don’t think there’s a snowball’s chance in hades that British Airways doesn’t find a way to keep AA independent and part of Oneworld as opposed to letting Delta buy the assets they can with the rest being parted out to other airlines. Long story short, no AA, no Oneworld, and I just don’t see it happening.

It’s going to be one heck of an interesting 2012.

Register in advance using promo code EUR11, and earn some serious bonus miles for premium class trans-Atlantic travel on American as well as Oneworld partners BA and Iberia. Earn 25,000 bonus miles for your first trip booked in purchased First, Business, or full fare Economy (Y, B, or H). Earn 35,000 miles for the second roundtrip, and 45,000 for the third roundtrip. That’s a total of 105,000 bonus miles after 3 roundtrips. Earn 45,000 bonus miles for each additional roundtrip flown during the promotion period. Register first, and travel between September 19, and December 31, 2011. Catch more details from AA here.

Makes me wonder what advance bookings for premium travel are looking like this fall and early winter?

Hat tip to AAdvantageGeek.

Certainly not under current law, but what about someday? This little snippet from The New York Times sure was interesting. What do you think? Let’s generate some discussion!

Seriously, jump on this.  And get your spouse/SO to apply too.  I don’t know what I’ve been thinking (or not).  (Hat tip to Gary)

You can win 1 million BA miles.  Love the joint contest with BA and AA.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had people mention to me about how they fly American a little and Delta a little….and occasionally they have to go to Seattle or somewhere on the west coast a little and then look me in the eye and say, no mileage program is ideal.  I always respond with the same question, “have you thought about Alaska Mileage Plan?”  Usually, I get strange looks, or in the case of one close family member…..a look of “are you stupid?”

Well, the answer to that question, like all questions is…opinions vary.  That said, I’m right about this one.  I never cease to be amazed by the number of people who refuse to think ever so slightly out of the box when it comes to mileage earning.  Alaska’s Mileage Plan has a list of partners that is nothing short of impressive.  Become a member of Mileage Plan and earn miles on American, Delta, British Airways, Air France, and several more.  Better yet, burn those miles on the same partners.  And of course, Alaska has a pretty nice network on the west coast all on its own.

I have to admit, the Alaska Mileage Plan option is something I think about often.  I haven’t been able to justify a move from Delta and American into Mileage Plan just yet, but this is certainly something I think about every year….heck…..every day.  Right now, I fly Delta enough to justify crediting to SkyMiles to earn elite benefits with Dela.  I’m not sure that will last forever.  Alaska Mileage Plan is a viable option for many travelers, probably many more than are even aware that its a good option.  When you’re evaluating your options for mileage earning, don’t forget about Alaska Mileage Plan, no matter where you live.

October 1 is turning out to be a big day for frequent travelers in a lot of ways!  We’ve known that the ability to earn AAdvantage miles on trans-Atlantic flights from the US was on the way since American and BA finally received long-sought anti-trust approval.  The airlines, along with Iberia, announced that effective immediately travelers can earn miles on all AA, BA, and Iberia flights.  Here’s an excerpt of the email I received from AA.

• More Ways to Earn Miles
  AAdvantage members can now earn AAdvantage miles on all American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia flights.* And the miles earned for flights on all three airlines count toward elite status qualification.

  In addition, when you fly discount economy fares on any British Airways flight or any Iberia transatlantic flight, you will now earn 100% of the base miles flown — just like when you fly on American.

  Plus, AAdvantage Executive Platinum^® and AAdvantage Platinum^® members will now earn their elite status bonus miles for all of their travel on British Airways. View the details on more ways toearn miles.

• More Flights For Award Travel
  Your miles can be redeemed for all flights on American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia.* The three carriers’ combined route network serves over 400 destinations in more than 100 countries, to give you more convenient schedule options when you are ready to claim a well-deserved award.

• More Premium Privileges
  The new, expanded relationship will also bring you more opportunities to use miles to upgrade, and continue the reciprocal lounge access for transatlantic customers flying in First Class or Business Class, as well as oneworld Emerald^® and oneworld Sapphire^® status members. For complete details about upgrades and lounge privileges go to www.aa.com/upgrade andwww.aa.com/loungeaccess.

British Airways also announced that Executive Club members will now earn 100 percent of miles flown on discount airfares, and tier point credit on discount fares will rise from 25 percent to 50 percent.  I wonder if AAdvantage members will start flying BA across the pond a lot more regularly now?  Answer: heck yeah they will.  Hat tip to Gary.

Good morning from the American Airlines Flagship Lounge at London Heathrow.  We spent last night at the Hilton Airport by Terminal 4.  American departs from Terminal 3, so we walked to Terminal 4 and took the Heathrow Connect train to 3.  Easy transfer.

Checked in for our AA first class flight using American’s Flagship Check In counter at Heathrow.  Walked right up, and the whole thing was done in 2 minutes.  We’re traveling with hand luggage only, so no luggage checking drama.  Our first class boarding passes bought us access to Fast Track security at Heathrow.  I’d estimate we were through security in 5 minutes, if that.  And no stupid shoe carnival!  Joyous!

Lots of time to enjoy the Flagship Lounge, which by US airline standards, isn’t half bad.  American recently completed a remodel of the lounge along with the adjacent Admirals Club.  The facility itself is quite nice.  The furniture must’ve been replaced during the remodel because it doesn’t show the usual wear and tear you typically find at a US airline lounge.  Food offerings are not suprisingly weak compared to American’s partner British Airways.  I can’t help but think that AA is going to have to take some steps to improve its international lounges to match BA as their alliance finally solidifies following anti trust immunity approval by the various regulatory bodies.  All that said, the lounge is a very comfortable spot to wait for your flight.

The bottom line, London Heathrow hasn’t been nearly as nightmarish as I’d feared.  And I thought BA’s Terminal 5 was marvelous.  More on that later.

Hello from the BA Terraces Lounge in Glasgow. MrsMJonTravel and I are waiting for our flight to London. Our plan is to drop our bag at the Hilton Heathrow, and then hit the city for a little sightseeing. Tomorrow, we fly home on AA via Miami. Hopefully, the trip back will be smoother than the trip over!

I’ll have thoughts on the BA Concorde Room at Heathrow, a review of our Glasgow hotel (Marks Hotel), and much more for the blog soon.

We are here! I’m posting a quick blurb from a cafe in Rome. We made it here late, but our bags traveled with us and our car service was waiting. Loved our short BA flight and even the crossing on AA to LHR. Hope to post more this weekend from Naples.

Landed in London safe and sound this morning, after an average AA flight.  Not bad, not great, but good enough.  I’ll post a full review of my AA Business Class flight soon, including my thoughts on AA’s Next Generation Business Class seat.  I slept on the crossing, so that’s a good thing, but I can’t help but think that the seat could’ve been slightly better.  Full details coming soon.

For now, MrsMJonTravel and I are enjoying the British Airways Galleries lounge in T5 at LHR.  I’m sure there are better lounges somewhere, but for someone who almost always flies domestic US carriers, BA looks like a lounge hero!

One thing for certain, 3 week trip or not, I don’t think I can check luggage anymore.  Fear of the unknown (as in if our bags were rerouted appropriately) is killing me.  Stay tuned for more.  We will eventually get to Rome, and start our vacation!