Posted by Seth on December 2, 2010 under frequent flyer, Internet, News, points | 
Two airlines made news this week with regards to in-flight internet connectivity with coverage growing both within the United States and across the Atlantic Ocean. Delta Airlines has announced plans to increase their already leading gogo deployment. With the installation of gogo nearly complete in their domestic mainline fleet, the company will add connectivity to another 223 aircraft, namely regional jets operating under the Delta Connection brand. The jets being equipped – larger RJs with 70+ seats – also have first class cabins and are used on longer flights as well as some targeted markets including the Delta Shuttle routes. Delta will begin the installation on these aircraft in January 2011 and expects to complete the deployment during the calendar year.
Also this week, Lufthansa is once again offering internet connectivity across the North Atlantic Ocean with the activation of the FlyNet service on their Airbus A330 aircraft. FlyNet takes over where Connexion by Boeing left off when it was shut down in 2006. At that time Lufthansa had 69 aircraft equipped with the necessary satellite hardware to provide internet service to its customers. The A330 was the first type to be certified with the new service; the A340 and 747-400 expected to receive their certifications very quickly. The service is not fully global, yet, but it does cover most transatlantic flights that Lufthansa operates.
This launch comes just over a year after Lufthansa announced their intention to restore the connectivity in partnership with Panasonic Avionics. The service went live on a flight from Frankfurt to New York City’s JFK airport. The Panasonic partnership also covers the acquisition of new antennae in order to provide connectivity on aircraft that do not have the legacy hardware installed. This will include the A380s that have been recently been delivered, with the intention to have them equipped “as soon as possible.”
The service isn’t cheap – €10.95 for one hour or €19.95 for 24 hours – but there are other options available to pay for the service. Based on the existing contract for lounge access with T-Mobile the carrier will offer seamless connectivity throughout the journey. There will also be roaming partners available and the opportunity to redeem Miles&More frequent flyer points for the service. The rates for points redemption are not great – 3,500 or 7,000 for the two defined levels – but it is nice to have the option available. Additionally, the service will be free through January 31, 2011 as part of the re-launch and there will be some free websites offered on the portal even after the trial period expires.
Unlike the gogo or Row44 services which are WiFi only, the FlyNet service offers both WiFi and GPRS/GSM connectivity for mobile phones. Voice services are not enabled for these devices. Similarly, Skype and similar VoIP protocols are theoretically blocked though there are generally ways around those blocks for the particularly resourceful folks out there.
I’m hopeful that the 747s are certified and operational within the next 4 weeks as I’m currently scheduled to fly Frankfurt – JFK on January 4th and it would be great to try out the service, especially for free. Otherwise I’ll just have to wait until next year’s StarMegaDo where we can live blog the flights and stream video from our first class picnics.
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Tags: A380, Airbus, Boeing, Delta, Flying, Frankfurt, frequent flyer, internet, Lufthansa, New York City, points
Posted by Seth on November 5, 2010 under News, Trip Reports |
When I saw the original itinerary for today’s festivities at StarMegaDo I thought that landing at Paine Field in Everett, Washington was going to be the highlight of the day. It is an airport that doesn’t see commercial airline service and flying in on a jet is quite rare unless you’re a Boeing test pilot. As we were panicking trying to find the driver of the luggage delivery company (that’s a whole ‘nother story) I was also chatting with one of the Boeing organizers and she let me in on an additional detail of the itinerary: We were going to be inside one of the 787 Dreamliner test aircraft.
Boeing has taken a few 787s on tour over the past few months but they don’t really let just anyone on board to look around. Indeed, several of our tour guides today noted that they had never been inside one either. Still, somehow we managed to convince them that it was a good idea for us to get inside. And they were incredibly gracious in allowing us to do so.
We bounded up the stairs and into the cabin and, in that moment, became part of the record books. We were the first non-industry folks to be inside the plane. With our near 200 participants touring the aircraft we also significantly increased the total number of people who have toured it in general. We didn’t have full run of the aircraft like we did on the Airbus A380 in Frankfurt, mostly because it is still a test aircraft and still mostly being used for making sure that things are really working as expected so that the planes can be delivered. It wasn’t even fully fitted with an interior.
It did have enough bits installed, however, to make our walk-through truly memorable. We got to poke our heads into the cockpit. It is all glass and huge digital screens rather than traditional instruments. Quite a change from the Bonanza I was sitting in earlier in the day during my Phoenix visit. The whole main console is LCD screens and the electronic flight deck is integrated into the cockpit rather than in huge binders. The cockpit is also rather spacious, with a couple jump-seats and standing room for another person or two.
The crew rest area – installed into the space above the passenger cabin – was surprisingly large. I suppose had they cut it to three beds from two it would have been incredibly cramped. Instead they appeared quite spacious and comfortable.
The overhead bins are apparently spec’d to hold four bags each at 12”x16”x25”. That’s HUGE. It didn’t look to me like the 25” dimension was real but I didn’t have a tape measure handy and they wouldn’t let me crawl up in one to check it out (the guy running that part actually noted that he’d been warned about me and overhead bins when I asked about that).
Perhaps most significant was that the aircraft was fitted with a few rows of economy class seating in a 3-3-3 configuration. There has been much concern in the frequent flyer community as most airlines announced their intentions to go 9-abreast on the 787 rather than the 8-abreast that Boeing originally claimed the aircraft was designed for. Sitting in the seats today I was pleasantly surprised by just how comfortable the cabin felt. I know that there’s a lot more to it than just seat width, but things might not be quite as dire as feared.
And that was it. The visit was short – only about 15-20 minutes – but incredibly fun and truly an amazing experience. And yet another first for StarMegaDo.
No photos (from us) because of corporate security policies but their folks took a few of our group that I hope to post soon.
Posted by Seth on November 2, 2010 under StarMegaDo, Trip Reports |
As we boarded the flight out of JFK last night we were treated to a bit of good and bad news. The flight time would be only 6:20 across to Frankfurt. Less sleep, but an early arrival so more lounge time once we did arrive. Win some, lose some.
The flight was reasonably pleasant and included a couple attempts (mostly unsuccessful) by Tommy to convince folks on board that Fernet Branca is not the devil’s elixir. I am decidedly in the not convinced camp but that didn’t stop me from joining the group in a toast or two.
Upon arrival we headed down to the Welcome Lounge in Frankfurt airport. With a few dozen showers and a pretty nice breakfast spread, the lounge is a great place to finish up a flight and to start your day in Frankfurt. Keeping with my personal time-honored tradition for fighting jetlag, I poured myself a beer from the tap and headed down to the shower room for a refreshing soak.
Back upstairs for another beer, some bacon & eggs and a fresh pretzel and I’m ready to go out and have a great StarMegaDo day!
n.b.- I’m participating in StarMegaDo 2010 all week long. There will be a few posts here as well, but the bulk of my online time will be on www.starmegado.com and twitter,com/starmegado. Follow over there for some great stories and adventures. Coming up later this afternoon, we climb around inside an LH A380 and later tonight dinner with executives from Star Alliance and several member airlines.
Posted by Seth on September 24, 2010 under frequent flyer, News, points |
Since they introduced their first class suites on the Airbus A380 a few years ago, Singapore Air has been unwilling to offer up those seats for award redemption. They consider the suites a product above first class and therefore simply have not published any award inventory for them, either for their own frequent flyer program members or for partners. That changed this past week for KrisFlyer members. They can now redeem points for travel in one of the nicest cabin experiences on offer. Assuming they have a ton of points, of course.
When Singapore decided to only offer their new business class at the “rule-buster” redemption level for their customers it was a bit gauche but at least the pricing was still somewhat reasonable. The suites pricing is anything but. The least expensive outright award is a one-way between Sydney and Singapore; it will set you back 550,000 points. A one way between London and Singapore tips the scales at a cool million.
The numbers are astounding not only because they are so high, but also because they do not even remotely parallel the cash costs of buying tickets outright. Every frequent flyer program will have some redemptions that are better than others but this is rather ridiculous. It is simply not possible to realize a decent value on the points being redeemed at this level. About the only way I can figure it makes sense is for someone who is spending someone else’s money on their credit card in a volume that is rather tremendous. And even then there are much better ways to channel that spend rather than into the KrisFlyer program if Suites travel is the ultimate goal.
I think that this one can be chalked up on the “thanks, but no thanks” side of the ledger.
Nod to Lucky for spotting the details on FlyerTalk and sharing.
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Posted by Seth on July 20, 2010 under Internet, News |
As new aircraft models are launched the airlines often do fun, interesting and new things to attract additional business and help cover the costs of those multi-million dollar pieces of equipment. When the Airbus A380 went into service things like double beds (Singapore Air) and showers (Emirates) came about. With the eventual entry into service of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner there are similar promises of grandeur and benefits being made. Sortof.
Thomson Airways, the UK-based charter/tour operator, is expecting to take delivery of their first 787 in a bit more than 18 months. And they are starting the PR push now. Among the benefits being touted, more legroom in long haul economy that any other European leisure airline, in-flight broadband internet access and aromatherapy fragrances. The carrier also intends to fit the plane with a bar area that will provide, among other things, unlimited fresh fruit smoothies and mineral water.
Yup, all-you-can-drink smoothies. That’s something to look forward to in the air.
Posted by Seth on May 14, 2010 under News |
Looking for an opportunity to experience the Airbus A380 but not willing to commit a ton of time or money to that search? Air France just might have the solution you’re looking for. The airline has announced that they will be operating one of their A380s on the London Heathrow – Paris route 3-4x weekly this summer. This will be the only short-haul route that the aircraft operates on and the fares aren’t bad at all.
The fares range from £80 in coach to £280 in business class. Service will be offered once daily on Saturday, Sunday and Mondays all summer long, as well as Fridays in July.
I just checked my schedule for the summer and I don’t have any weekends in either Paris or London, at least not yet.
Posted by Seth on April 26, 2010 under Trip Reports |
Los Angeles International Airport is a bit quirky. It is pretty much smack in the middle of town, but it is also an enormous facility that sees an incredible range of aircraft passing through on a daily basis. There are almost as many Embraer E-120s (tiny prop planes) as there are Boeing 747-400s. And there are the Qantas Airbus A380s, too. Indeed, if it is flying in the western world odds are it passes through LAX at some point during the day.
Did I mention that it is pretty much in the middle of town? The airport is wonderfully accessible and there are two prime spots where folks so inclined can hang out and watch the planes come and go. One is on the south side of the airport, up on Imperial Hill. That position is elevated and built out with benches and such to accommodate the folks watching the planes. The other location is on the northeast corner of the field. It is a small grassy park area immediately adjacent to the Parking Spot Sepulveda location and an In-n-Out franchise. I like the views from Imperial Hill, but the snacks at the In-n-Out location are better so that’s usually where I end up when I’m in town. Plus, you can take the Parking Spot shuttle (tip a couple bucks!) and drop in for a visit during a layover of 3-4 hours.
This past Sunday morning the park had a whole bunch of folks out and about. Families with kids running around whooping and hollering as the 747s came in around noon (mostly the adults, actually) and otherwise running around and having a good time. Plus, a Double Double meal is a great breakfast to follow up a night of drinking.
Without further ado, a few photos from the collection I shot on Sunday morning…
The KLM 747 did a go-around on Sunday morning, passing way high over the field on its first approach. This is from the second time around.
China Airlines was the fourth of the 747s I saw on this morning.
Singapore Air’s 747-400, with vapor trails coming off the trailing edge of the flaps.
Walk across the street from the park and you’re directly under the approach path, in the midst of all the orange towers with the lights on them. They help frame the photos nicely…
A United Airlines A320 about to touch down.
I think the KLM 747 might be speeding.
The Qantas A380 arriving as seen from my hotel room Friday morning.
A bunch more photos can be seen here.
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Tags: A380, Airbus, Boeing, Embraer, Flying, KLM, Los Angeles, Photos, Qantas, Singapore Air, United
Posted by Seth on December 1, 2009 under News |
It is hard to pick up top-tier airlines to join a global alliance these days. Most that want to be in an alliance already are and the others that are desirable are either happy going it alone or working slowly towards other options. So it is always interesting to read the announcements of which airlines are joining up. The past couple weeks have seen some announcements out of SkyTeam and, well, they are interesting.
First up is the official word that Vietnam Airlines and Tarom will become members in June 2010. I had the pleasure of flying on Vietnam Airlines for a couple domestic flights a few years ago and they seemed to be a pretty well run organization. They’ve announced orders for four Airbus A380s with expected deliveries in the coming years and they’re expanding their international coverage. Plus the economy in Vietnam seems to be still growing so they seem like a nice addition, especially if there are options for transit visas.
Tarom, on the other hand, is a rather notable question mark. They have one true long route – Bucharest to Dubai at just over 2100 miles. The next farthest destination is London at just over 1300 miles. OK, so they’re a regional player. More options is always a good thing and I’m sure it is great for them to get in the alliance, but it just doesn’t seem all that special to have them joining up. Coverage of Eastern Europe will be phenomenal with both Tarom and Czech Air in the alliance, so that is something. Tarom will be joining as an Associate member of the alliance and will be adopting the FlyingBlue loyalty scheme from Air France as part of this move. That probably isn’t great for their direct customers but it means having the alliance so a fair trade.
The last move – somewhat unexpected to me – is that Garuda has also announced intentions to join SkyTeam. Yup, Garuda, the Indonesian airline that just a couple years ago was blacklisted from flying to Europe because of safety and maintenance concerns. But now they’re back, with service from Jakarta to Amsterdam via Dubai returning in June 2010 and ten Boeing 777s on order to allow for non-stop service in the coming years. So I suppose they are getting better, but they really had nowhere to go but up. Maybe having them in the alliance will force them to continue their improvements.
So there aren’t a whole lot of options out there and SkyTeam is doing the best they can. Their coverage in SE Asia is about to get a serious boost and they own Eastern Europe. I suppose things could be worse.
Posted by Seth on November 12, 2009 under News, Trip Reports |
I’ve never been particularly coherent or eloquent about explaining my passion for travel. Fortunately there are some professional writers out there that I can babble at who seem to make pretty decent sense of my ramblings. During last week’s crazy adventure across Europe we were accompanied by Scott McCartney, a WSJ writer. He’s posted a video this morning showing just a few of the things that we got to experience during the week.
That left ear you see in the opening sequence is mine. I’m also the guy drinking from one of the glasses in the drink try while collecting the empties from passengers. Typically me.
Posted by Seth on November 9, 2009 under Trip Reports |
Damn, that plane is big. Huge. Just plain (plane??) enormous. And going to the facility where they assemble such planes means several of them around in all their enormity. As one of the main events of the Star Alliance Mega Do event last week we visited the assembly facility in Toulouse and got to see the planes up close. And I was part of the press crew working the event which meant that I got to bring my cameras in. Yeah, I’m still experiencing a bit of a high from that.
We walked through the facility with representatives of Lufthansa and Airbus, with access that most don’t have. They were quite happy to speak with us about the planes and some of the plans that are in place. Things like how long it takes them to perform final assembly once all the parts come in to Toulouse (about 95 business days) and how they are seeing demand for travel on the A380 (very high).
We wandered among the planes for about an hour and it was truly an amazing experience.
Getting a sense for just how huge everything is on the A380 can be difficult from the photographs. Getting a person in the picture was hard enough because there were not too many folks actually working on the floor while we were there. And then to get it so that you can realize that the speck is actually a person in the photo AND that you can see just how small they are against the backdrop of the plane was just amazingly hard. Here’s one shot of a couple engineers up in the wheel well of the nose gear. There is plenty of room for both of them (and probably a few more) up in there. It is really a big plane.
Or check out how big the tires are compared to the normal sized forklift. Yeah. Big.
After the factory tour we headed over to their cabin demonstration facility. This is a building filled with fuselages of each Airbus series (A318/219/320/321, A330/340, A380 and a mock-up of the A350). Each model is configured with a variety of seat types from different manufacturers. This allows the airlines (and special guests on tours) to walk through and see how the plane would look with various seating arrangements. Sadly, no photographs permitted on this tour, but the variety of cabin layouts was quite impressive. While a typical airplane has three or four seating types in it those in the tour had as many as twelve (in the A380) to show off just how varied the options are. The first class lounge demonstrated on the A380 at the facility was ridiculously nice. I’m pretty sure that the space was larger and better appointed than my apartment. The “living room” space in the middle had a wrap-around couch that could seat six.
If you happen to find yourself anywhere near Toulouse, France and a fan of airplanes, I highly recommend that you try to get a tour of the assembly line. I’m pretty sure that they are generally open to the public. It is an amazing experience.
