Posted by Seth on January 18, 2012 under Flying, frequent flyer, News | 
I’ll be the first to admit that I was definitely betting against Philadelphia scoring service from Virgin America in their announcement yesterday. There were a couple other destinations on their "short list" which seemed more likely to me. Alas, I was wrong, and the carrier will be launching five daily frequencies starting in April.
As part of the launch release Virgin America pulled no punches, describing their competition in less than flattering terms. Said company CEO David Cush:
Travelers deserve more options than just the typical legacy airline cattle car, and we hope our unique brand of low fares and inventive service will be a breath of fresh air for Philadelphians.
I didn’t expect Philadelphia to be the new market based mostly on the fact that transcons are expensive and it generally takes a lot of capacity to compete in those markets; once daily service, especially between larger cities, is often frowned upon by customers. Virgin America is coming in big, however, adding three flights to Los Angeles which will increase the daily frequencies from 7 to 10, a reasonably significant capacity upgrade. Similarly, the frequencies on the San Francisco route will increase from 8 to 10 with the two new Virgin flights.
But are there enough passengers – profitable ones at that – to make the service work? Virgin seems to think so, suggesting that roughly half of the passengers on each of those routes takes a connecting flight rather than a nonstop option. So maybe there are enough people looking for nonstop options; the question is whether they’re profitable. Time will tell.
With all the hating that goes on against US Airways, this route might seem like a perfect assault. But attacking them at Philadelphia with only a couple non-stop destinations seems unlikely to be the way to go. Even Southwest, which attacked many more routes, is pulling back in their assault there, suggesting that US Airways is reasonably stable and willing to fight their competitors.
One thing it might do, however, is convince US Airways to compete on pricing for the routes. A one-way fare is currently $850 on US from Phillly to LA; the new numbers with Virgin in the market look to be a bit lower:
Interestingly, while US hasn’t been matching Delta fares on the route (or United Airlines on flights to San Francisco) they appear to be taking the Virgin entry into the market a bit more seriously. They aren’t completely matching the fare, but they are much closer, at least for San Francisco. Apparently they’re banking on their frequent flyers or the more frequent schedules demanding a $20ish premium for the route.
For Los Angeles, however, the price disparity remains, at least as of this morning.
It is also worth noting that elites in the US Airways Dividend Miles program can confirm that $850 fare into the first class cabin at the time of ticketing. Virgin is selling their first class cabin – admittedly MUCH nicer than that of the US Airways A321s – for about $1,000, a premium for elites, though still $200 less than the non-elite upgrade fare from US. Both are significantly higher than Delta’s first class fare on the route.
What does it all mean? I have no idea. But there are enough interesting bits at play here that it is worth watching. Oh, and prices on some of the inaugural flights are still pretty reasonable, so I might be headed to Philly for some fun in early April.
Tags: Delta, elite status, Flying, frequent flier, frequent flyer, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Southwest Airline, United, United Airlines, upgrade, US Air, Virgin America
Posted by Seth on October 31, 2011 under Dining, Flying, Mileage Run, Review, Trip Reports |
About half way between San Francisco and Beijing I awoke from my nap and headed to the lav. Time for a quick break to stretch my legs. I had absolutely no expectations of anyone waiting for me when I got out. Apparently I should have.
A flight attendant approached me in the aisle, addressed me by name and asked what she could get me from "up front." Knowing that a bigger seat – my likely answer – probably wasn’t going to actually do much in terms of being successful as a request I was rather dumbfounded. Partly because I had just woken up, I like to think, and partly because I honestly had no idea what I was supposed to answer.
She then offered up that they had no extra amenity kits as the forward cabins were both full, but that I could ask for anything else I wanted, finishing the suggestion with the phrase, "You know the drill, don’t you?" Alas, I was somewhat embarrassed that I have no idea what the drill is or what I’m supposed to ask for or be able to get. Eventually she suggested that perhaps a glass of wine or a snack would be suitable.
And the snack was.
Seriously, compared to the mid-flight snack offered up in Economy is was like a bit of heaven.
And the mid-flight snack was probably better than the first meal. That first meal was a piece of sponge-like reconstituted chicken-esque product soaking in a tomato-based sauce. It was pretty bad.
The last of the three meals was the most edible of the bunch, but still not phenomenal. I chose the noodles over the turkey sandwich.
And then I was in Beijing. Woohoo!
As always, more to come…
Tags: Beijing, China, Dining, Dream2011, Flying, Mileage Run, Photos, review, San Francisco, Trip Report, United
Posted by Seth on October 31, 2011 under Dining, Flying, Mileage Run, Review, Trip Reports |
When the check-in machine at the airport informs you that it is unable to rebook your connection that’s a bad thing. When the agent behind the counter has to back away from the computer and call in reinforcements to figure out the rebooking it is even worse. But, when they eventually work together to figure everything out it isn’t all bad.
With the snow in New York City not expected to begin until early afternoon I figured my 10:30am flight out of JFK was going to be just fine. And the connection on from Dulles to Seattle would be fine, too. After all, Dulles has plenty of spare capacity and nicely separated runways meaning that operations there rarely suffer. But they did. And so the issues in DC, combined with the rain in NYC, meant that my reasonably easy connection on the way to Seattle was not going to happen. Ruh roh.
The issue was made even more challenging by the fact that the United Airlines operations at JFK are so limited. There aren’t a whole lot of alternate options out there once you’re stuck. Fortunately they managed to scare up space on the JFK-SFO flight and then connect me onward from there. I’m pretty sure there was some sort of overbooking involved to make that space appear but the flights ended up going out with folks clearing the standby list so that was apparently not a huge issue. And, even though I didn’t get the new line on my flight map (IAD-SEA) I did actually get to Seattle the same day I intended to. And that was pretty critical for catching my onward flights to China. Even better, I did it from the comfort of United’s p.s. Business Class.
The seat was much more comfortable for sleeping than the A319 seat I was supposed to be on. And the food was, much to my delight, quite good.
The past few times I’ve done the p.s. flights it has been on the morning departures and the breakfast options aren’t much to get excited over, but the lunch I had was most impressive.
If I had to quibble at all it would be on the fact that they don’t have as many toppings on offer for the sundaes, but they have the ones I like and they have chocolate and vanilla ice cream rather than just one. Hardly worth getting worked up over.
Add in plenty of leg room and a blanket that I really should have kept for my onward flight to Beijing and I managed to both eat and sleep quite well for the five and a half hours I spent on the plane.
The onward connection to Seattle was on a CRJ-700, not my favorite aircraft by any stretch. But it was a smooth flight and the approach in to Seattle offered up phenomenal views of downtown as we flew up the Sound and then circled back to land to the South.
Only about 3 hours later than originally expected and many, many hours ahead of my originally scheduled flights, even if I hadn’t missed the connection. Not bad at all in the end.
Tags: Beijing, China, Dining, Dream2011, Flying, Mileage Run, New York City, Photos, review, San Francisco, Seattle, Trip Report, United
Posted by Seth on August 21, 2011 under Flying, News |
United Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek has stated a few times that the company had some deficiencies in their in-flight product, bits that would be addressed as part of the merger process between United and Continental. The first of many bits detailed on that topic was the announcement that Economy Plus would be expanded to the Continental fleet starting in 2012. Other than that, however, not many specifics have been discussed. That changed today with the release of some upcoming changes that can be expected from the company to the tune of a $550MM investment.
Economy Plus Seating
While the Economy Plus efforts on the Continental fleet were initially expected to not be seen until 2012 the new release suggests that the conversion will be starting sooner. The company expects to see the E+seats on 38 Continental aircraft before the end of the year. Based on some information received from other sources it is quite possible that these first Economy Plus aircraft will be 757-300s or 737-800s. Those aircraft have been operating with temporary seats and without any in-flight entertainment systems for a while now due to issues with the Koito seats.
By the end of Q1 2012 the company expects to have 100 Continental aircraft equipped with Economy Plus seats. That number will include 29 Bombardier Q400 commuter turbo-prop aircraft which will be equipped with both a first class and economy plus section.
Flat-bed Seats
Already the leader in total flat-bed seating capacity to and from North America, United has committed to expanding their installation starting in Q3 2011. There are 26 Boeing 767s – 12 of the -400 variant form Continental and 14 of the -300 variant from United – which will be equipped with the new seats. The 12 -400s were previously announced while the 14 -300s have only been speculative recently. These aircraft are also going to be receiving winglets to improve their range and performance. This does mean the likely reduction of wide-body service in the form of 767s on domestic routes as the -300s being converted are the aircraft that service that function.
In addition to the 767s being converted the company has committed to installing flat beds in 12 more 777s by the end of the year. The United aircraft being converted will continue to be in a three-cabin configuration.
In-Flight Entertainment
The announcement also highlights updates to the IFE systems on the Boeing 747 aircraft. Rather than installing dedicated systems in the seats of the economy cabin United will instead offer a streaming media option for users with their own wireless devices. While the release suggests the decision is still out to bid the only current offering that is installed is that of gogo and the product they currently have in operation on American Airlines 767s running their premium transcon routes. There is no indication that they will be adding power outlets to the economy cabin on the 747s so hopefully your wireless media receiving device has a good battery.
The IFE systems will also be updated as part of the full-fleet renewal of the p.s. aircraft operating between New York City‘s JFK airport and Los Angeles and San Francisco. Those aircraft will receive the lie-flat Continental BusinessFirst seats as well as a full AVOD system and will maintain wifi service.
Not included in the announcement but referenced above, the company also expects to begin the deployment of the DirecTV systems on the few 737s that were delivered without it as well as the 757-300s that have not yet been converted later this year.
Channel 9
While this could arguably be included in the regular IFE section of the report but it is worth highlighting separately as it is a pretty cool feature and one that it unique to United. The company has committed to expanding the Channel 9 systems on all legacy Continental aircraft. Woohoo!
There are a number of other improvements being made as well, including upgrades to the overhead bins and a retrofit of the interiors of the United Airbus narrow-body aircraft. They also reaffirmed the commitment to add wifi to the legacy Continental aircraft that have DirecTV systems, pending the launch of the additional satellite by LiveTV to bring that service into operation.
Related Posts:
Posted by Seth on June 15, 2011 under News |
Want access to the priority security lines at the airport without elite status or buying a first class ticket? Looks like it is time to start flying JetBlue. The carrier announced today the 15 airports at which their new "Even More Speed" program will be implemented, allowing customers access to the "priority" line that other carriers afford to elites or premium cabin customers. With JetBlue this perk will be an additional benefit of the Even More Legroom seats which are being rebranded as well as part of the move.
The initial airports for priority screening are:
Priority screening is also coming to Boston in the next 4-6 weeks as the reconfiguration of the checkpoint there is completed.
In addition to the priority screening access the company is changing the Even More Legroom moniker to Even More Space. The impetus for this change is the addition of early boarding for those customers, providing them the first chance to get at the overhead bins. The early boarding benefit isn’t particularly new but the branding is. Maybe they got a bulk discount on trademark registrations with "Even More" in the name.
Overall this is a nice addition to the offerings that JetBlue has. Combined with the previous indications that some sort of "elite" program (though they refuse to use that word) is coming and that some of these benefits are likely to carry over, it seems clear that JetBlue is working hard to woo the business traveler segment more than ever.
Related Posts:
Tags: Boston, Chicago, elite status, JetBlue, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, Newark, San Francisco, Seattle, TSA, Washington DC
Posted by Seth on June 9, 2011 under Trip Reports |
It would seem that, sadly, this is going to be a rather short post. Yes, I’m quite happy that I got to spend a couple days in Frankfurt, Germany as part of the Lufthansa A380 Inaugural flight from San Francisco, but there really isn’t a ton to do in town. We got by and managed to not go too crazy, but it was tough.
The Altstadt ("Old Town") is where we spent most of our time while in town. It is convenient to the river and where our hotel was so that definitely helped keep us there. And what few tourist-focused bits of town exist are rather concentrated in that area (though we did head across the river for dinner both nights).
The European Central Bank is in the area, and it looks just like a bank building but with a nifty Euro logo out front. The Frankfurt Bourse is also in the area. They went with the more traditional bull & bear theme for their statues.
And then there is the Dom. Like any good European town, the city of Frankfurt is more or less centered around a town square, with the local cathedral not too far away. In the case of Frankfurt Saint Bartholomeus’s Cathedral (Dom Sankt Bartholomäus) is located just a block off the central square and it is one of the main tourism spots in town.
The location has had a cathedral for several hundred years but, like much of the town, this iteration is relatively new construction from after the war. The Dom served as the election site for emperors of the Holy Roman Empire as well as providing a site for the anointing of German kings. Today it is just a cathedral, with no special powers (and not even a Bishop’s seat) but it still serves as a focal point in the community, for tourists and locals alike. Plus, at 95 meters tall it is a great navigational beacon in town.
Within the main square there is some interesting history to go along with the very tourist-focused shops and the Römer, formerly City Hall and now used by the local government for a number of functions, including wedding facilities in some of the halls. There is a lovely statue of Justitia, holding the scales for judging and a sword for carrying out guilty verdicts.
The square also happens to be where we got a snack our first day in town. There is a cute little würst shop selling sausages of various persuasion, along with the requisite sides, and beer. It was certainly not the best food we had during the trip but given that the options just north of the square included a Subway I’m pretty sure we made the right choice. Besides, standing out in the square eating and drinking was a great opportunity to people watch.
And that’s pretty much it. We did spend some time in a couple different food markets (one on purpose and one by accident); that will be another post as there are too many cool photos in that one. We also took a quick trip out to Mainz for 30 minutes and that was more fun than the several hours we spent in Frankfurt.
Don’t get me wrong, Frankfurt isn’t bad, per se, but there are much better cities to visit in Germany if you’re looking for more traditional touristy things to do.
Related Posts:
Posted by Seth on May 31, 2011 under frequent flyer, media coverage, points |
A couple weeks ago I recorded my first ever podcast. I’m rarely convinced that anyone wants to listen to me ramble about travel so I’m always pleasantly surprised to hear that someone really does. Or at least they think people do.
And chat we did. About my trip on the Lufthansa A380 Inaugural from San Francisco, Starwood promos, American Airlines promos, United Airlines changes and many other topics. I think the best part for me was that I was learning so much throughout the conversation, even as I also got to provide some information about the service and the trip I took.
Anywho, it is a great chat with a great group of guys and well worth listening to if I do say so myself. Oh, and it is a week old. Apparently I missed it going online last week due to working too hard or something. Whoopsie.
Check it out here: http://upgrd.com/upgrd/upgrd-86-springtime-travel.html.
Related Posts
Posted by Seth on May 23, 2011 under Review, Trip Reports |
As part of the prize package from Lufthansa and the A380 Inaugural flight from San Francisco we were given two nights in the Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof hotel. The Frankfurter Hof is arguably the flagship hotel in the Steigenberger chain. With over 130 years of history, a Michelin starred restaurant and a beautiful façade, it is readily regarded as one of the nicer properties in Frankfurt. Based on our experience there it is easy to understand why.
The property is located in the heard of the financial district, just around the corner from the Euro Central Bank headquarters and less than a kilometer from the main train station in Frankfurt. Add on the U-Bahn station just outside the front door and the location could hardly be better.
As best as I can tell the room we had was just a standard room. It was, however, anything but "standard" compared to other hotel stays I’ve had in the area. In addition to being rather large (and the fire escape map suggests that it was just the same as the others on the floor) it had a walk-in closet, high ceilings and was generally well appointed.
The room was nice without any over-the-top luxury at play. It also, as it typical of European hotels, was somewhat lacking on the air conditioning front. There was one and it mostly worked, but we had it set as cold as possible and with the fan on high and it barely cooled off the room; It was only in the mid-70s outside. Were it the middle of the summer I’d be worried about just how warm the rooms would get. Yes, this is typical, but I’d still be wary of it. The windows do open which can help with the ventilation if the weather isn’t too muggy.
Our room rate also included complimentary breakfast. I’m not usually a breakfast person and when we missed it the first day because of jetlag I wasn’t all that broken up over it. When we woke up early the second morning before our flight home and did have time to dine I immediately regretted having missed it the day prior. For starters, the listed rate for breakfast was €32. I don’t know of any breakfast that is actually worth $50 and I’d never actually pay that, but if it is included in the room rate then why not, right? It was definitely worthwhile.
They had American (omelet bar, bacon, etc.), European (sliced meats & cheeses, breads, etc.) and Japanese (noodle bar, soup, etc.) options available. In addition to the traditional smoked salmon they had a house-cured gravlax; it was delicious. Plenty of fruit and other light options, too. Oh, and sekt. Lots and lots of sekt. We were in a hurry and there was plenty more in the Senator Lounge when we got to the airport so I wasn’t too disappointed at only getting a couple glasses in during breakfast, but it was a nice accompaniment to the great food being served up.
I certainly would not go so far as to consider the Hof a luxe property. Luxurious in many ways, but not luxe. Still, it has a sort of old-world style about it that makes it quite the lovely place to stay. Things like live jazz music on the patio in the afternoon for snacks or cocktails. Those bits add up to make for a wonderful hotel experience.
And, needless to say, it was a much nicer hotel than I would have had were I paying for my room.
Related Posts:
Posted by Seth on May 20, 2011 under frequent flyer, points |
United Airlines has finally stepped up in the ever escalating battle over the San Francisco/Los Angeles-Chicago market, adding a targeted double EQM promotion for locals flying between those cities. The new promotion, however, has sufficient fine print that it isn’t nearly as good a deal as it could have been or that American Airlines is offering. The promotion is valid through the end of August 2011.
Like usual, United is only offering the bonus to itineraries ticketed after the bonus was announced (19 May 2011). This is unfortunate but given the goal of driving new revenue it is somewhat understandable. And the offer is targeted at Mileage Plus members living in California and Illinois only. Also restrictive but most promotions are more targeted than not these days so not particularly surprising. The other significant clause, however, is much more limiting:
Offer valid on nonstop flights between Chicago O’Hare (ORD) airport and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO), on roundtrip itineraries for travel solely between Chicago O’Hare and Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO) and not on any connecting or additional city on the ticket.
That last bit is pretty severe. Historically this sort of promotion has been available so long as the passenger is flying between the cities mentioned, even if they continue onwards at one end or the other. By setting up the rules this way United is effectively increasing the costs of participating in the promotion. Hard to blame them for trying to be as specific as possible in rewarding targeted behavior, though it does mean that the promo is not nearly as useful for many folks.
Registration is required: http://united.com/offer/mpd771.
Posted by Seth on May 17, 2011 under frequent flyer, News, points |
A bit of excitement coming out of Australia this morning as Qantas has announced several changes to their frequent flyer programme. Most of the changes appear to be rather beneficial to customers, particularly at the high end, but there are a couple moves that quite likely will limit earning potential in the program as well.
Perhaps most significant is that a new elite tier is being added to the program. The "Platinum One" level will require 3,600 tier points to qualify (Platinum is only 1,200) so this level is not going to be something that many folks reach. It will require 20 paid one-way trips in business class between Sydney and San Francisco or 10 paid one-way trips in first class between Sydney and London in a year to reach this level, for example. The specific details of what benefits will be included are not yet published.
In addition to the new top tier level the earning rates for travel are changing, mostly for the better. Passengers who already have elite status will see their bonus miles earning rates grow and passengers flying in premium cabins will also see the bonuses they earn grow.
| Status-based bonus |
| |
Old bonus rate |
New bonus Rate |
| Silver |
25% |
50% |
| Gold |
50% |
75% |
| Platinum |
100% |
100% |
|
Cabin-based bonus
|
| |
Old bonus rate |
New bonus Rate |
| Premium Economy |
10% |
25% |
| Business |
25% |
50% |
| First |
50% |
100% |
All good news, right? Well, maybe not. There is one area where the earning is going to change a bit for the worse. As explained on the announcement page:
Currently members earn a Loyalty bonus of 5,000 points for every 450 Status credits earned. Loyalty bonuses will be calculated this way only until 30 November 2011.
From 1 December 2011, Members will earn a Loyalty bonus of 8,000 points for every 500 Status credits earned within a single membership year – up to a maximum of four Loyalty bonuses per membership year.
At 1 December 2011, Status credit balances relating to the calculation of the Loyalty bonus will be adjusted to recognise only those earned within the member’s current membership year. Status credits earned in previous membership years will not be recognised in the calculation of Loyalty bonus after 1 December 2011.
Not a huge devaluation there, though the 4x maximum annually seems a bit limiting. Those passengers aren’t even at the top tier level (only 2000 tier points, just over half way to Platinum One) and they no longer will be earning the Loyalty bonus points.
Overall it would appear that these enhancements are actually that, changes that make the program better. It certainly is nice to see that happening in an industry where program devaluation seems to be more the norm lately.
Related Posts:
Posted by Seth on May 16, 2011 under Trip Reports |
A few weeks back Lufthansa held a contest via Twitter and FaceBook to give away seats on their inaugural flight of an Airbus A380 from San Francisco to Frankfurt. Given that I like to travel and I like to do it for free I entered. And I lost. But my friend Scott won and it was a trip for two so guess who eventually got the text message asking if I was available to go to Germany on May 10th? This guy!
A quick hop (as much as a transcon can be) from JFK to San Francisco had me out there in plenty of time to see the plane arrive in from Frankfurt and to join the party that the San Francisco Airport and Lufthansa hosted out in the Bayfront Park, just off the airport grounds. It was a surprisingly solid crowd out to welcome the first regularly scheduled A380 service to SFO.
They had box lunches and picnic blankets that they were giving away as well as a raffle to win free tickets and a trivia contest to win other toys. I didn’t win the raffle but, well, apparently I’m loud enough that I managed to win at least one of the trivia question toys. And I am pretty sure I got a few other answers right but no big deal.
After the party outside the airport we headed back into the terminal to the official party being hosted near the boarding gates. This one was a bit harder to attend as it was officially only for press and other invited dignitaries. Such limitations are trivial to me, however, and I managed to negotiate for access to the party for all three of us. Some good snacks and more cool toys (I seriously almost needed an extra bag to bring all the good stuff home), plus getting to catch up with a bunch of my Lufthansa friends. All good things.
Finally it was time to board and begin the long flight over to Germany. Boarding was, not surprisingly, a bit of a mess. Getting 500+ people onto a plane is always a bit of a challenge, even with three jetbridges in use on two different levels. And the walk to our seats (4th row from the back) was a long one. Still, we got into our seats, stowed our bags and started to make friends with the flight attendants and other passengers with whom we’d be spending the next 12 hours or so.
Part of my "settling in" process at my seat was to unpack the blanket I brought with me for the trip. I acquired it from United Airlines on my flight from JFK earlier that morning and it is wonderfully comfortable. It was also still in the plastic wrap when I put it down on my seat and headed to the back galley area to chat. Imagine my surprise a few minutes later when I returned to my seat to find that the blanket was missing. Sortof.
It seems that my seatmate also noticed that the blanket was really nice and she figured it was fair game since it was still wrapped up. Oopsie. I don’t know that I’ve had a more awkward conversation with a total stranger before this one, trying to explain that it was a blanket that I had rightfully stolen and that I’d like it back. On the plus side, we did chat off and on the rest of the trip so it was a decent icebreaker.
The rest of the flight was surprisingly uneventful. The meal was fine and the open bar was well stocked and free flowing. I did discover that I was unable to get my "favorite" beverage – Fernet Branca – as it is only available in business class. I had to make do with the brandy that they were serving in coach instead. And then I slept. Even wedged into an economy seat and even all the way in the back of the plane I managed to get a solid 6 hours of sleep. That’s definitely an advantage of the longer flights from the West coast; on a flight out of JFK sleeping 6 hours would have me in the hangar after they finished unloading and cleaning the plane.
Overall it was a great trip and a ton of fun. Plus we had 2 days in Frankfurt lined up for more grand adventures!
