Well, it’s not the observation deck at NRT, but Lufthansa’s Tower Lounge has some spectacular views.

the next 2 are actually take from on the plane

This was my flight on that old Northwest 757 I mentioned.  We flew up the East Coast and it turned out to be a pretty clear day.  I snapped what I could from where I was seated.  Sometimes I see nothing, sometimes there’s a whole lot.  Enjoy!

the line-up at atl

rolling onto 26L

take-off

buckhead; atlanta, georgia

PHL

EWR

statue of liberty

jersey city, manhattan, brooklyn

LGA

bridgeport, connecticut

boston

BOS

BOS

I find it a bit more challenging to find relative value in coach class airfares as opposed to business class, but here is my shot at it. The fares below are coach class, round-trip and include all taxes and fees that I am aware of. I take into account not only price, but airline quality when selecting the fares. As you can see below, Australia and Asia, hands down, are providing the best bang for your buck right now.  Example dates are listed; use the flexible date search.

• Palm Beach-Sydney: $1194 Delta; 9/6-9/14 Orbitz
• Miami-Sydney: $1229 United 9/6-9/14 Orbitz 
• Atlanta-Hong Kong: $946 Korean Air; 10/7-10/15 Orbitz 
• Dallas-Hong Kong: $895 Continental/United; 9/8-9/15 Orbitz
• Dallas-Hong Kong: $913 Delta 9/8-9/15 Orbitz

I flew Northwest once, sometime ago, from Memphis to Atlanta.  Because I had purchased a last minute ticket, it booked into first class.  I don’t remember anything out of the ordinary, just a nice seat and plenty of snacks.  I was taken back when I boarded this Delta flight to Boston a few weeks ago.

I immediately knew this 757 (registration: N507US) was converted from Northwest-the outside of the plane anyway.  Typically, when one boards a Delta 757, first class is a separate cabin to the left.  On this bird, first class was to the left, but several rows of economy occupied the first few rows of the first class cabin.  Beyond that, I felt like I had stepped right into 1985, when the plane was delivered to Northwest.  I am sure this interior is on its way out, but I was amused and took a few photos for the Northwest nostalgists out there.

old logo still visible

what is this pattern called?

I stayed at the Mercure Narita while on a 2 night layover and found it to be a pretty solid airport hotel.   The free Mercure shuttle bus leaves from the airport about every hour, but unlike the Narita Hilton, the Mercure is in the middle of downtown Narita, so there are plenty of shops, bars and restaurants. While the Mecrure is not far from the airport, it took us a solid 30 minutes of transit during morning rush hour.

There is internet for a fee but it is painfully slow and sometimes doesn’t work. The breakfast buffet is 1,500 yen, but did not look terribly appealing and I never ate there. If you are on a different time zone, food can be a challenge as most restaurants close before midnight. There is a 24 hour McDonald’s and convenience store about 100 yards from the hotel’s entrance. Room service ends at 10:30pm.

My room was clean, modern and comfortable although the bathroom was small and felt like a head on a small boat-the shower head came up to my chest. The front desk was staffed 24hrs a day with friendly, helpful staff. There is a large, dated full service fitness center which can be accessed for a fee.

I would stay here again assuming the rate was competitive with the multitude of other options near the Narita Airport.

hotel lobby

looking down the street in front of hotel

downtown narita from 4th floor of hotel

one of many fantastic noodle bars in narita

I discovered this airport webcam a few months ago which probably means it has been around for a while.  The camera is live from the Countryman & McDaniel law offices and overlooks a good portion of runway 25R at LAX.  Some of the best sights can be viewed between 3 and 7pm EST when a lot of Asia departures can be seen.

There is a 2nd camera from the Countryman & McDaniel offices that overlooks a Cargo area near runway 25R.

These webcams are my favorite because:
A. Its LAX which means its busy with a lot of jumbos and a wide variety of airlines and
B. You can actually see departures and the camera is rarely “down”

Below are some screen shots from the web cam. If you know of other consistent airport webcams, please post a link in the comments. Thanks.

Singapore Airlines 747

United 747

Emirates 777

I don’t know what’s scarier, JetBlue rogue flight attendant Steve Slater’s reckless behavior this week or the fact that he just started following me on twitter.  None-the-less, I find it very ironic that in an industry which is bashed by the media more than any other for it’s treatment of consumers, especially for its rude employees, this one is set to write the newest version of JetBlue’s Code of Conduct.

Here are some of the most recent headlines:

“Steven Slater: From JetBlue Quitter to Latest American Folk Hero?”

“JetBlue Flight Attendant Gains Hero Status”

“An apology to JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater”

“Stupid passengers take the blame for wild flight attendant”

All of a sudden, this week, its not the airline’s fault, but the passengers.  Bravo! 

Why the flip-flop?

In case you have not noticed, JetBlue and Virgin America are the darlings of the media as far as airlines go.  I can only imagine the headlines had this incident taken place on a United, Delta or American flight.  If this were the case, I believe the headlines would be in line with the historical level of scrutinization:

“Sue them, fine them, how could they!”

While announced awhile back, the following 2 Delta Airlines Promotions are approaching their “book by/travel by” dates.

The first is Triple MQM’s (Medallion Qualification Miles) on Delta “shuttle” flights between New York LaGuardia (LGA) and Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD) and Washington DC (DCA).

Why is this promotion significant?

MQM’s are the miles that count towards Elite Status.  The most frequent airline mileage promotions consumers see only count towards “regular” redeemable mileage balances, although passengers will earn triple regular miles as well with this shuttle promotion. With this promo, one can earn almost the same number of MQM’s on a round-trip LGA-ORD flight as a round-trip LGA-LAX flight! Register, book and fly by August 31, 2010! Click to view all promotion details.

The second Delta Promotion includes no MQM’s, but does offer triple redeemable mileage (regular miles) on Delta’s new international routes such as Detroit to Hong Kong.  In order to earn triple miles, flyers need to book a business class fare, otherwise they will receive double miles.  For example: Normally, a non-elite Delta flyer would earn 15,700 miles round-trip from DTW-HKG.  Register for the promo, fly on a coach fare (saw a mid Sept. fare for $981) by September 30 and that flight will net you over 31,000 miles.  There is a lot of fine print HERE, but it all makes complete sense. There are also a lot more city pairs listed. Again, book and fly by September 30, 2010.

Time to make up for lost time with a double edition of the “weekly” post: Where the Good Fares Are.  These are fares I found this morning from various sources.  I select fares based on quantitative and qualitative factors.  The random dates I used were 10/6 – 10/12.  Use the flexible date search where applicable. All fares are round-trip, business class and include taxes & fees.  Some of the fares can be found on Planereality’s booking engine where you can browse until your heart’s content, but will need to create a user-name to book.  Thanks!

• Philadelphia-Shanghai: $3394 United & Continental
• Ft. Lauderdale-Shanghai: $3394 Delta, Continental & United
• LAX-Tel Aviv: $3375 Delta
• NYC-Tel Aviv: $3375 Continental
• NYC-Rio De Janeiro: $2389 US Airways
• LAX/SFO-Rio De Janeiro: $3114 Planereality Booking Engine
• NYC-Prague: $3191 Planereality Booking Engine
• LAX-Taipei: $2462 Planereality Booking Engine
• SFO-Tokyo Narita: $3703 Planereality Booking Engine
• Moscow-Hong Kong: $2243 Turkish Airlines; $2544 Qatar Airways
• Frankfurt-Johannesburg: $3102 Orbitz
• Istanbul-Sydney: $3684 Etihad Airways