Posted by Seth on March 18, 2010 under News | 
Virgin America announced today that they will be increasing transcon service from their west coast hubs in Los Angeles and San Francisco, adding service to Orlando and Toronto. The service will start this summer (August 19 for Orlando, as early as June for Toronto) and will coincide with the closure of the carrier’s operations at Orange County’s John Wayne Airport, effective May 26, 2010. On the change in service, CEO and President David Cush noted:
With strong financial performance, a new ownership structure and growth in fleet size, we’re pleased to be able to expand to world-class destinations like Orlando and Toronto this year. Both cities are major travel destinations from the West Coast, and we’re looking forward to introducing our service to travelers in these and other new markets in 2010 and beyond.
Despite the strong downward pressure on transcon fares, Virgin America believes there is value in these routes and will be operating once daily service each from Los Angeles and San Francisco to the new destinations. The introductory price on the Orlando service from Los Angeles is not a huge discount over the existing non-stop service that United Airlines, Delta and American Airlines all provide. The San Francisco market is a bit more significant due in large part to the route only being served by United currently. For passengers willing to make one stop there are fares below the introductory sale prices. And there are Virgin America fares for less than the initial sale prices on some days. Go figure.
Still, Virgin America thinks they can make money on these routes and they’re committed to them. We’ll see how it works out for them.
Posted by Seth on March 18, 2010 under News |
jetBlue has made some waves in the transcon market with announcements this past week. The carrier is moving service around in the Los Angeles market to better reflect consumer demand. The main shift comes in the form of transcon service moving out of Long Beach, the carrier’s west coast hub, and into Los Angeles International Airport where they introduced service last year.
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| A view inside the Long Beach terminal |
The crux of the change is an increase in service on between LAX and the hub at New York City’s JFK airport. Starting July 1 service will increase from two flights daily to four. At the same time, transcon service from Long Beach will shrink by two flights, one each to Boston and JFK (hat tip to Dan for figuring out where the cuts came from). Considering the peak of eight daily flights between JFK and Long Beach this drawdown to only two daily is rather significant.
It appears that the market demand for transcon service in the Los Angeles area is heavily focused on LAX. That makes sense in many regards. But the overall number of flights at Long Beach don’t seem to be decreasing too much. Takeoff slots at Long Beach are highly coveted and jetBlue holds a lot of them. So cutting transcon flights does not necessarily mean a decrease in the total number of flights from Long Beach. More likely those slots will be leveraged by regional service on the west coast.
In this way the carrier is segmenting the service on the west coast between transcon customers and regional passengers, reducing the number of connection opportunities. But given the relatively low number of decent connections that existed previously the overall impact of that cut should be low. And the increased revenue from the new transcon operations should make up for it. LAX is still the premiere airport for the longer service options while the convenience of Long Beach is great for passengers making quick hops up and down the coast. Everyone wins.
Posted by Seth on March 18, 2010 under News |
Two of the worst airports in the country for tarmac delays are in the New York City area: Newark and JFK. And the carriers with the most operations out of those airports, Delta, American Airlines, jetBlue and Continental, have significant exposure to the impending DoT rule regarding 3-hour delays on the tarmac. The response of those carriers has been two pronged, one in the public and one to the government. The carriers are very publicly stating that they will be canceling more flights rather than risk the fines and they are also applying for exemptions from the rule at those airports.
The exemption applications started with Delta and jetBlue last week. American submitted a similar request a couple days later. And now, feeling a bit left out, Continental has now submitted an even broader request, claiming that all three NYC airports should be treated equally because the runway construction at JFK will have a cascading impact on the entire airspace, not just on JFK directly.
As ridiculous as I think the rule is, the way the airlines are responding is even more ridiculous. I fully expect that United Airlines will be applying for an exemption at Dulles US Airways at Philadelphia (they each more 3+ hour delays than Newark did last year) just to round out the party. I also don’t expect the DoT to grant the exemptions. If they do it will be an admission that the rule was never intended to actually be enforced in the first place.
Yes, flights will be cancelled. Yes, passengers will suffer for that. And there’s even a decent chance that a flight or two will actually cross the magical three hour limit and the carrier will suffer for it. But the cry-baby attitude that the airlines are displaying is pathetic.
No matter which way the DoT rules on these applications, the situation is a joke.
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Posted by Seth on March 17, 2010 under News |
The American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts (FHR) program is one of those benefits that their cardholders find either incredibly valuable or an incredible waste of marketing materials. The benefits are certainly tangible but the cost to get there can be quite high. Paying extra to be in a fancy hotel just to get the free breakfast doesn’t always make sense, especially when one wouldn’t otherwise be in that level of hotel.
Still, the annual update of the properties in the program is a much anticipated event by many as the changes can change booking habits for a number of customers. In previous years the property list came as a huge glossy book with tons of photos and detailed descriptions of each property. This year the update was a matte post card with only the new properties listed. Indeed, budget cuts are deep, even in the luxury travel sector.
So, what are the new properties this year? There are over 60 new hotels joining the program, about half of which are Four Seasons properties. In addition to the 30ish Four Seasons properties there are a number of Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Regency locations joining the program (Tokyo, Goa, Shanghai and Aruba) as well as a couple Mandarin Oriental properties added (Barcelona, Las Vegas and Jakarta). There are a number of non-affiliated hotels as well such as The Pierre, Montage Beverly Hills, The Resort at Pelican Hill, Lizard Island and La Momounia Marrakech.
This year’s new additions look like a solid group of properties and represent good growth in the FHR program. Too bad that I’ll still likely not use it this year.
Posted by Seth on March 16, 2010 under News |
Probably not the best way to start a trip. One passenger had a sudden realization at push-back that he actually left the car running at the curb rather than parking it. Whoopsie. Probably doesn’t matter too much if that was the white zone or the red zone, huh?
At least he got it back in one piece for only $200 and a ton of embarrassment
Posted by Seth on March 16, 2010 under frequent flyer, points |
You never know when frequent flyer miles are going to take center stage in a conversation. I’m sure that it is more often than it should when I’m around, though I have been better lately about trying not to always talk about travel. Still, when I sat down at the dentist a few months back and started chatting with my new hygienist the conversation turned to travel. She mentioned her recent engagement and honeymoon planning and my brain went into overdrive. I couldn’t resist.
We started talking about all the options available, which programs made sense (she was already pretty tied to Continental’s OnePass program and Hilton’s HHonors program) and which destinations offered the best bang for the spend. I don’t actually remember the cleaning that day so much or even if it happened (though I have the bill to suggest that it did). We talked about sign-up bonuses for credit cards and bank accounts. We talked about buying points through the US Mint dollar coin program. So much fun for me because she actually wanted to hear it all as opposed to my of my victims.
Six or so months later and I’m back in the office for another cleaning. The first thing out of her mouth was a huge thanks for all the help I provided. We spent the next ten minutes or so going through the itinerary (Hawaii and Fiji) and discussing how they got to use all the points that they earned from the last round of promotions (upgrades all the way through the trip). We chatted about hotels on Waikiki beach (Hyatt being MUCH better than the Hilton Hawaiian Village), a few of my favorite off-the-beach restaurants and things to do other than sitting on the fake beach there.
Finally, when scheduling my next appointment the receptionist mentioned that it will be just after the hygienist returns from the honeymoon, meaning I’ll get the follow-up report, too. It is always fun to have the conversation when the other person in them actually is interested in the information being shared, and hearing about the successful bookings makes it even better. I’m looking forward to hearing about the trip in a few months.
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Posted by Seth on March 15, 2010 under News |
For the past couple years Continental Airlines has made a point of advertising the fact that they still serve complimentary “meals at mealtime” for their passengers, even on domestic flights in coach where other carriers have all cut back service. That era is coming to an end later this fall as the carrier follows the trail blazed by a number of other US-based carriers: Buy on Board meals. The new purchased meal option will be offered on most domestic routes under six hours in duration as well as many Latin America routes. Intercontinental and longer international routes, as well as the longest of the domestic flights, will continue to have complimentary meals offered.
Perhaps most telling regarding this change is the quote offered by Executive Vice President Jim Compton:
Our traditional free-food model has served us well for many years, but we need to change to reflect today’s market and customer preference.
Yup, it is actually the customers who are clamoring for the opportunity to buy meals on board. Or demanding fares that aren’t profitable. Either way, definitely the customers’ fault.
To be fair, Continental has been watching the numbers for quite some time now and, just like their decision to initially not charge for a checked bag, they aren’t seeing any return on that goodwill towards customers. One executive recently noted that customers simply weren’t booking to Continental because of the meal on board; their corporate Twitter account said the same thing in reply to an earlier tweet of mine on the topic.
@WanderngAramean It’s true. We know that economy-class customers have not selected airlines based on free meals.
Sure, they loved to poke fun at other carriers in the past with some entertaining TV ads on the topic:
But at this point they’re simply following the cash flow in the right direction. The sad part is that this does mark the end of an era in commercial air travel in the United States. It also means that there is still the potential for more bits to be sold off as unbundled services. Exit-row seating was announced just a few days ago. Now this.
What’s next?
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Posted by Seth on March 12, 2010 under News |
Sun Country Airlines, a small carrier based in Minneapolis that focuses mostly on leisure routes, has announced their intentions to start transatlantic service this summer, connecting New York City to London’s Stansted airport once weekly. The service will depart from New YorkMinneapolis on Friday evenings with return flights scheduled on Sunday mornings. The aircraft will remain at Stansted overnight on Saturday.
The Stansted airport is only marginally truly a London airport. It is about 45 minutes and £18 away from Liverpool Station by express train. Still, it opens a fourth airport offering service to New York City back up to London residents and it offers some convenience for residents in the northern suburbs.
The Stansted – New York route was served previously by Eos airline, an all-business class carrier, and American Airlines. American fought Eos aggressively on price, and the upstart carrier eventually was forced into bankruptcy and a cessation of operations. Shortly thereafter American suspended service on the route noting that it was not profitable. The Dallas-based carrier has not yet indicated whether they intend to restart operations on the route given the new competition but it seems unlikely.
The service is expected to be operated on the carrier’s 737-800 aircraft making Sun Country the only operator of coach or mixed configuration 737s crossing the Atlantic at this time. The necessary ETOPS certification was accomplished in late 2009 so there are no limitations to offering the service at this point. Pricing and final schedule details have not been released and initial inquiries to the Sun Country press office have not yet been returned.
UPDATE (17 MAR 10): The service will be from Minneapolis with a technical stop in Gander on the Canadian coast, not via New York City. So very disappointing for me.
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Posted by Seth on March 12, 2010 under News |
When I find a great deal on air travel I’ll buy a couple tickets. If the price is right having two or three of the same trip isn’t so bad. But some folks in Scandinavia when a bit further than that recently when Norwegian Air Shuttle offered a 1 Dutch Crown (~$0.20) sale fare to introduce their new Copenhagen – Karup service. One customer purchased more than 450 of the sale tickets. Others purchased 50-100.
OK, so that’s somewhat strange, but maybe they really like flying. It is possible, right? Maybe possible, but not what actually happened. In this case the tickets were all purchased under assumed names by employees of a Norwegian Air Shuttle competitor, Climber Sterling. The competitor bought out all the tickets to prevent real customers from buying the seats. Oh, and a couple of the offenders are even members of the Climber Sterling Board of Directors.
Of course, the CEO from Climber disavowed all knowledge of the fiasco, calling it “misguided loyalty” on the part of the employees. Sure…whatever.
Posted by Seth on March 11, 2010 under News, media coverage |
Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel magazine held a party in New York City last night to celebrate their 100th issue going to press. Unlike many other publication parties, however, the folks at BT decided to invite their readers to the event, not just others in media circles. The result was an eclectic mix of travelers, marketing folks and editors, sharing tales of travel and the history of the magazine and planning future trips, all in the comfort of the 3rd floor reception area of the magazine’s offices.
Standing in the corner, surveying the room I was somewhat surprised to hear an English accent over my shoulder, “Hey, you’re the Wandering Aramean, right? I recognize you from your photos.” That was a bit surprising to me but quite welcome. We chatted for most of the evening, trading stories of best hotels, meals and most overpriced indulgences around the world.
Being the attention seeking media glutton that I am, I was quite happy to spend a few minutes chatting with Kelly Samardak, a writer from MediaPost.com. And my unnamed “stalker” was apparently working overtime as a publicist at this point, trying to convince Kelly that, while I may be crazy, it is the good kind of crazy. It seemed to work well enough as I earned a mention in her write-up of the event.
Overall, a rather enjoyable couple hours of travel talk with a new group of friends. And some decent munchies to help absorb the open bar. I’m glad I came home a bit early from Burlington to make it to the event.
Posted by Seth on March 11, 2010 under News |
Good reasons for flight delays are very few and far between. Still, it seems that Air Canada discovered a pretty decent one, albeit by accident. Call it a passenger revolt that was successful.
Apparently the passengers on a scheduled Vancouver – Montreal flight a couple weeks ago simply refused to board the plane and the flight was delayed waiting for them. The flight was scheduled to depart right around the time that the Olympics gold medal match for men’s hockey went into overtime. Passengers watching on the televisions in the airport terminal refused to get on the plane, choosing to watch the end of the game instead.
Good for them, I say. Every now and then the airlines need to be reminded that the customers are the reason they are flying.
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