Posted by Seth on September 8, 2010 under AYCJ, All You Can Jet, media coverage | 
Just how crazy do you have to be to take advantage of the JetBlue All You Can Jet pass? How about no money, no job and selling out the entire contents of your apartment to fund the trip?
Or just a crazy guy who loves to fly and looks to book a ton of miles and fly all month long (that one’s me).
A couple great stories, and some quotes from the Senior VP of Marketing for JetBlue, too.
Definitely worth a look and a read over at the Travel With Val site. Or just straight to the video at NY1.
Posted by Seth on September 8, 2010 under Trip Reports |
Three of my four days in Guyana were spent in the capital city of Georgetown. There were a couple specific touristy things I wanted to do – see the market and the sea wall mainly – but those were not nearly involved enough to really consume my entire stay. Lacking much of any other guidance or any real semblance of a reasonable tourist infrastructure I found myself doing one of the things I do best: wandering around.
I walked several miles, criss-crossing the northwestern part of the city pretty well and getting to explore some of the less commonly seen parts of the town. Hiding out in a cafe while a storm rolled through or grabbing a healthy dose of curry at one of the scores of local shops, I managed to keep myself busy and mostly out of trouble. I shopped with a couple of the local merchants and generally had a blast.
That said, the city did present itself of multiple personalities throughout my visit. There were the moments where the market seemed like any other I’ve visited around the world – just a bunch of merchants going about their day. And there were times it seemed ready to swallow me up and spit me out, a few pounds (or dollars) lighter. There were definitely times I knew I needed to cross the street but the trouble never really followed.
There were moments that the canals which traverse Georgetown seemed serene and beautiful, nearly akin to those in cities famous for their waterways. But then the stark reality would come creeping back in. The canals in Georgetown are not there for transportation nor are the there for beauty. They are there because the city sits several feet below sea level and receives a ton of rain annually. The canals are a lifeline, allowing the city to collect the huge rainfalls and drain them out to sea at low tide. Unfortunately, however, it isn’t just the rainfall that the canals collect. They become refuse points, gathering waste of both the commercial and human varieties. They are bathing facilities as I witnessed more than once. In many cases the water stagnates, becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes (hooray, Malarone!) and for scents that I’m quite happy I don’t commonly experience. Indeed, the canals, like everything else in town, can be both beautiful and disgusting all at once.
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Posted by Seth on September 7, 2010 under AYCJ, All You Can Jet, Trip Reports |
The first day of All You Can Jet 2010 is here and I’m flying. Not really any way things could have gone much better. Well, maybe a little bit, but not enough that I’m complaining. I woke up this morning in Guyana so that meant a bit of a later start on the AYCJ adventure for me. I actually didn’t make it back to JFK until around 1:40pm but I was through immigration and customs and inside T5, boarding pass in hand and hanging out with some old and new AYCJ friends about 45 minutes later.
I knew that I’d miss the kick-off party because of the arrival time from Guyana. Still, I held out hope that there would be a few freebies around to pick up even after the main party had dissipated. The first AYCJ item I spotted was actually outside security in the ticket counter area. One of the crewmembers had an AYCJ 2010 pin on her lanyard. I was somewhat racing past to get inside to meet people but I stopped short upon seeing the button. A bit of chatting later and we agreed to a trade: one of the extra bag tags I had (thanks, Morgan!) for her pin. A no-brainer in my mind. Deal done, I attached the pin and headed in to the terminal.
Inside I immediately went to my usual seat. In the food court there are two raised platforms. The higher one has a plethora of power outlets to go with the great views of folks coming and going in the terminal. The very first day the terminal opened I sat up there for hours soaking up the experience; I haven’t left since. Just my luck as I got up there – I spotted AYCJ legend 30DaysOnJetBlue hanging out with a few other folks. Introductions and handshakes quickly devolved into conversations of itineraries, tips and destination debates. The AYCJ community truly is one, even if very much an ad hoc one that ebbs and flows depending on who’s around at the time. The common bond – a love of travel – is a great way to meet and engage with completely random strangers.
Speaking of completely random strangers, returning from the service counter where I was trying to get my return boarding pass printed I saw an AYCJ luggage tag hanging off a red backpack attached to a tall guy walking through the food court. Community needs fresh blood to grow. Before I knew it Adam was explaining the itinerary he and his wife had mapped out. They live in Toronto and drove down to Buffalo to start their adventures. A week in California followed by Bogotá and then maybe Bermuda. I invited them to join us for more travel talk which they did eventually once they realized we knew where the power outlets were.
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Tags: Airbus, AYCJ, Bermuda, Boston, Embraer, Flying, Guyana, JetBlue, Las Vegas, New York City, Photos, Toronto, Trip Report
Posted by Seth on September 7, 2010 under Trip Reports |
Given that the entire city of Georgetown, Guyana is built along both a major river and the Atlantic Ocean, the fact that it is below water is something of a challenge for the locals. They’ve managed to do a pretty good job dealing with the problem. Houses are built up on stilts and the canals do a pretty good job of draining out the rains that come in to town. Still, with the Atlantic Ocean bearing down on you a couple canals isn’t the solution to the problem.
For the folks of Georgetown the solution is the sea wall. Essentially a huge embankment running most of the length of town, the sea wall is first and foremost a protection against the elements. But it serves another significant purpose, too. It is a gathering point for folks in town. Most days it is rather barren; with no shade to offer it is brutally hot out there. The area isn’t particularly lovely. There may be a couple folks walking by or harvesting coconuts that are washing up on the shore but it is not a particularly social scene. Lots of empty benches out there.
But as the sun goes down the area picks up some crowds. Come Sunday evening, the crowd balloons to roughly ginormous. Merchants of every type show up to hawk everything from trinkets to trampoline rides to a wide variety of food. It is the collective experience of the city moving to the coast for the evening. Benches that sit empty most every day are suddenly packed with families enjoying the sea breeze or couples out for a date.Definitely an enjoyable way to spend a couple hours on a Sunday evening.
With a rather limited number of options for true sights to see in Georgetown the sea wall is definitely worth stopping by. Just avoid it mid-day when there isn’t much to see and the weather is likely to get the best of you.
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Posted by Seth on September 6, 2010 under Trip Reports |
Want to find out what’s going on locally? Just read the newspaper. Seems simple enough and my mother has been doing it for years as she travels but, for some reason, I never really took to the habit. Still, sitting in a cafe having brunch on Saturday afternoon I spotted a copy of the Stabroek News, one of the local papers here, on a table. I grabbed it and started flipping through. Mostly typical stories that reminded me why I don’t read newspapers – crime, corruption & scandal aren’t really my thing – but there was also a story in the sports section about a local basketball league. The story was not particularly exciting – just the results from the game a couple days prior – but it also included a note about another match being played that night. All of a sudden I had plans for the evening.
Shortly before game time, just as the sun was setting, I made my way over to the partially renovated Burnham Basketball Courts. Named for the first Prime Minister of the independent Guyana, the courts approximated what we had in the parks near my house growing up. Not particularly great facilities, but that doesn’t stop this league from playing ball. They’ve had some lights installed and there is a set of bleachers that can seat a couple hundred if they were willing to be close enough together that they’d all be stuck to each other because of the humidity. This night there were roughly 100 folks in the bleachers and another couple dozen surrounding the court on all sides. Many of the spectators fancied themselves coaches or referees and then cheers, jeers and other comments from the crowd were equally entertaining to the quality of ball being played.
Apparently I missed the better of the two games; the late matchup was somewhat higher quality according to what I could figure from the conversations around me. Still, getting to see a bit of the local scene in that was was rather enjoyable. I even managed to grab a couple photos, though the incredibly dark court made it rather difficult to catch anything resembling motion cleanly.
Overall, quite the enjoyable way to pass a few hours on a Saturday night in Georgetown, Guyana.
Posted by Seth on September 6, 2010 under News |
Delta Airlines has announced plans to update their fleet of 16 Boeing 747-400 aircraft. The planes, originally delivered to Northwest Airlines, have not seen an interior revamp in quite some time. The plan, part of a $1 billion commitment to improve the product through the next three years, will see conversions beginning around summer 2011 with the entire fleet converted in about a year.
The new interior will include a much improved IFE experience, including AVOD at every seat. In the coach cabin the screens will be 9” while the BusinessElite cabin will see 15.4” screens. The coach cabin will also feature new, Slimline seats. While the actual spacing between the seats will not change, it is expected that customers will feel approximately 1-1.5” of additional pitch because of the thinner seats. The airline also benefits as the seats are rather lighter meaning lower fuel burn.
The BusinessElite cabin will have new, fully-flat beds installed, similar to those on the Boeing 777-200LR that Delta flies. This should lead to rather improved passenger comfort however it also means significantly fewer premium seats due to their larger footprint. The 744s will see a decrease from 65 BusinessElite seats on each plane to only 48. It is going to be a bit harder to find award seats or upgrades on the new fleet.
More details about the new product can be found on the Delta Blog here.
Posted by Seth on September 3, 2010 under Trip Reports |
Local markets are the heart of a city. Particularly in areas where the concept of the supermarket or Super Wal*Mart hasn’t yet caught on, the local market fills the gap, providing access to a little bit of everything. From toilet paper to clothes to shoes to vegetables to meat and beyond, the Stabroek Market in Georgetown, Guyana represents that role in the city.
Starting with its iconic clock tower, a view that dominates what little there is of a skyline in Georgetown and which does not appear to actually reflect the current time on any of its faces, and moving down to ground level, there is plenty to see and experience in the market. There are secondary markets that have sprouted up outside the main building, overflowing into the parking lot that also serves as the main bus station for local service in Georgetown. Merchants outside are selling many of the same products that are available inside, with a focus on consumer goods (CDs, clothing, etc.) and produce.
There were also a few merchants hawking fish of various persuasions. Given that Georgetown is right on the Atlantic I actually had expected a bit more of the marine life to be on sale but what it was lacking in volume was made up in presentation. Bunches of crabs, still alive and tied together hanging on the barrel was pretty cool to see.
After making a couple laps outside the market I headed inside. While several sources suggest great caution inside the market area, I did not experience any troubles or ever even feel uneasy about the space. Maybe I’m more alert following the Togo experience I had but even when I took my camera out to snap a few photos I didn’t feel like I was being sized up unusually by the locals. Certainly keep your wits about you and pay attention, but don’t skip out on the experience out of fear of what’s going on inside.
Inside was rather different than out. There was a greater variety of products being sold, including a pretty decent collection of butchers offering halal meats. The inside also has a collection of restaurants along the southern wall. Curries of a wide variety were available and reasonably tasty and priced. I paid less than GYD 1000 (~USD $5) for a large plate of rice & dahl along with mutton curry and a red soda (really, I had to order by color, not flavor).
There aren’t a whole lot of tourist opportunities in Georgetown. A trip to Stabroek Market is a great way to spend a couple hours just soaking up the local culture and watching the heart of the city beat on.
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Posted by Seth on September 3, 2010 under Trip Reports |
It is a nearly universal fact of life: Flight delays suck. And yet, as I sat in the Delta SkyClub last night waiting for my flight to depart, I could not have been happier about the delay of DL 164 from New York City’s JFK airport to Dublin. Originally scheduled to depart at 10:40pm, the flight left nearly two hours late, at 12:34am the next morning. Why should I care? After all, I arrived this morning in Georgetown, Guyana, not Dublin, Ireland. Actually, that’s exactly why I care.
It turns out that Delta doesn’t really think that the couple very late night departures they have out of JFK – namely Bogata and Georgetown – really need lounge access. The Dublin flight is actually the last flight out every night that rates lounge access. On most days the lounge would be closing up right as I got to the airport, three hours prior to my flight. Instead, I got to enjoy the rather nicely renovated facility for a couple hours beyond its normal operating hours, complete with a couple free drinks and all the Biscoffs I could handle.
So, yeah, I was cheering on that flight delay. Didn’t make me too many friends in the lounge as the Dublin passengers came and went three different times when they thought their flight would be boarding, but I made out just fine.
Posted by Seth on September 2, 2010 under Flying, News |
Merging two airlines together requires a lot more than just slapping a new name on all the airplanes and updating the marketing slicks. On the operational side there are a number of steps that must be undertaken, many of which are regulated by the FAA. The merging of the operational certificates is a major component of the merger process and Continental announced to its employees yesterday just what the new operating certificate situation would be following the merger with United Airlines.
The planes will say “United” on the outside, but the pilots might just be saying “Continental” when they call in to Air Traffic Control as the new combined carrier will be keeping the Continental operating certificate according to the daily internal news update sent to employees of both companies on Wednesday:
We have decided that the merged airline will retain the legacy Continental operating certificate and the legacy United repair station certificate. This was a technical decision based on a variety of factors.
In addition to this change, Continental and its Continental Micronesia subsidiary will be combining their operations under a singe certificate in the immediate future to facilitate the eventual integration with United.
From a customer perspective moves such as this don’t really make much of a difference. The same people will be doing the same work and the planes will all fly the same. It is also not an unprecedented move. When America West and US Airways merged they kept the the America West “CACTUS” call sign with their merged operating certificate.
UPDATE (12:23pm EDT) – I finally got my hands on a copy of the internal memo and got some additional details regarding the reasoning behind the certificate selections. Here’s the pertinent section:
Both the UA and CO certificates contain unique attributes that will be preserved following integration. CO’s Part 121 Certificate has enhanced technology authorizations and close conformity to current FAA standard language. UA’s Part 145 Repair Station Certificate enables increased maintenance capabilities, enhanced repair station authorizations and more maintenance volume when compared with CO’s 145 Certificate.
In other words, there are lots of details behind the scenes, but this is the best way to move forward for the new company to have the best chance at success. Not much of a surprise there at all.
Posted by Seth on September 1, 2010 under News, frequent flyer, points |
JetBlue has announced a promotion for their Even More Legroom seating product, offering double points for upgrade purchases between September 1 and October 31, 2010. Or maybe quadruple points. The promo terms state both “double points” and “a total of 400 points” which is actually 4x the regular earning rate of 100 per segment.
UPDATE: Turns out that JetBlue has also decided to up the regular earning rate from 100 points to 200 points so the double really is 400. Great news all around!
This isn’t a bad way to get a few extra points, especially on the shorter flights where the up-charge is lower. And with the 25+ flights I’ve got booked as part of the All You Can Jet adventures, there are certainly plenty of opportunities to earn them.
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Posted by Seth on August 28, 2010 under News |
In a move that was only surprising for how quickly it happened, the Department of Justice has stated that they are satisfied with the terms of the proposed merger between Continental and United Airlines. The new carrier will be the largest and there was some concern that various regulatory agencies would place undue barriers in the place of the merger. Given the conditions that the DoJ assigned, however, that seems to have been false fear.
The only significant condition that the DoJ applied was that a number of slots – amounting to 18 daily round trip flights – be ceded to another carrier in the Newark market. That number roughly represents the number of flights that United operates from Newark today. Given the relative domination of the Newark market by Continental today (64% of enplanements are on Continental or Continental Express), this requirement does not seem unreasonable. While Cleveland and Houston both have a higher percentage of service operated by Continental, the New York City market is apparently in greater need of competition. Plus there is the fact that Newark is slot-restricted while the other airports are not.
Those slots will be granted to a new entrant in the Newark market: Southwest Airlines. The carrier will be leasing the slots from the combined United/Continental and is expected to begin operations in March 2011. The full complement of slots will be transferred by June 2011. They have not yet announced destinations for the 18 daily flights.
Unlike the recently proposed Delta/US Airways slot swap, the Continental/Southwest deal was welcomed by the DoJ. It seems to reason that having a significant number of slots go to a single stakeholder, particularly a new entrant, is a better competitive solution than spreading a limited number of slots across a broad collection of carriers, effectively limiting any one of them from providing significant service and competition.
With this approval the number of potential road blocks for the proposed merger diminishes quite significantly. There are still potential union issues and the Department of Transportation will eventually need to rule on a combined operating certificate. And there is the pesky little issue of the stockholders needing to approve the merger, but that seems quite likely given the large number of institutional shareholders. At this point things appear to be progressing rapidly towards this deal being done somewhere around Halloween, if not sooner.
Speaking of the union issues, it is no real surprise that the pilots’ unions have brought up the scope clause in their initial negotiations with the companies. What is somewhat surprising is just how aggressive they are being with their stance. Currently the United and Continental pilots have differing scope clauses for their operations. With United the limit for regional operations permits the operation of 70 seat aircraft by regional partners, Continental has a more restrictive 59 seat limit in the agreement with its pilots. The initial stance of the combined union is that there should be zero flights operated by regional carriers. Yeah, a bit extreme. They’ve made it clear from the initial announcement that they’re looking to be as restrictive as possible on this and the initial position is not too surprising as a jumping off point for the negotiations. Still, it is a bit unreasonable to expect that will actually be the ultimate agreement.
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