Posted by Seth on February 3, 2012 under frequent flyer, News | 
Kingfisher was dealt a potential death blow yesterday when the airline was suspended from IATA’s ticketing clearinghouse due to reported non-payment. The clearinghouse is used by hundreds of airlines to process payments for interline tickets and other multi-carrier transactions. Roughly 80% of interline transactions worldwide are settled through the system so being suspended is a huge blow to the carrier.
The company claims the suspension was triggered automatically by the IATA systems when a technical glitch prevented their scheduled payment from reaching the clearinghouse:
As a result of a recent internal system failure, certain credits did not hit our ICH account in time, triggering an automatic suspension. Kingfisher would like to confirm that all its dues via ICH have been settled in full and it has absolutely no outstanding due as of date,
Despite claiming to be current it appears that IATA has not yet commented or reinstated the carrier to the systems.
Adding fuel to the fire is the announcement today that the planned February 10, 2012 ascension of Kingfisher into oneworld is being delayed, with no revised date yet announced. FlightGlobal is carrying the story, with quotes from both oneworld and Kingfisher executives on this latest development. Said oneworld CEO Bruce Ashby:
These are turbulent times for the airline industry in India and many other parts of the world. We have been working closely with Kingfisher Airlines over the past months and it has become increasingly clear recently that the airline needs more time to resolve the financial issues it is confronting before it can be welcomed into Oneworld. Will work with Kingfisher Airlines with the aim of setting a new joining date once it is through this current period of turbulence.
This delay is somewhat reminiscent of the frequent delays that Air India suffered in their attempts to join Star Alliance over the past few years. Those efforts were eventually scuttled after multiple delays.
Without access to interline booking revenue is seems unlikely that Kingfisher will be able to realize the revenue needed to pull themselves out of their financial morass. With many unpaid or severely delayed bills the future of the carrier is very much in question. It is not surprising that the alliance is not interested in bringing the carrier on board as their liabilities for interline travel could be significant.
This is a serious blow for oneworld, as another member carrier, Malev, ceased operations today, also under financial pressures they could not overcome.
Not a good day in the aviation world at all.
Hat tip to Flying With Fish for the head’s up on this one.
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Posted by Seth on January 27, 2012 under News |
Spanish regional airline Spanair is apparently ceasing operations effective immediately, shutting down their network of flights with virtually zero notice. The move comes as Qatar Airways has cut off talks with the carrier about becoming an investor and infusing cash to help keep the airline afloat. Additionally, the Catalan government has decided to cease providing additional loan funds to the carrier. Most reports from Spain suggest that the company will not be flying any more at all, though there are also a few updates trickling out which suggest there might be additional flights tomorrow. Most of the reports are in Spanish and I’m depending on Google Translate to get the gist of the situation but I’m guessing I’m not getting everything completely correct.
This move also cuts out a chunk of service for Spanair’s partners in Star Alliance. The carrier often had good inventory for awards and also generally a good regional network for connecting passengers on the Iberian peninsula. Then again, this is the same company which repeatedly sold codeshare inventory on US Airways metal at ridiculous discounts (or errors) to the point that US Airways cut off their codeshare agreement not too long ago.
Sad to see an airline fail and so many folks newly unemployed (estimates suggest ~4,000). Good luck with accommodation if you’ve got Spanair flights booked.
Posted by Seth on January 25, 2012 under Dining, Flying, Review, Trip Reports |
A trip from Stockholm to Istanbul shouldn’t take 4 days. That said, it can if you want it to thanks to the joys of airline scheduling and the rather impressive route network of Star Alliance within Europe, I managed to schedule just such a trip, with stops along to way to see friends and also three new (to me) cities. First on that list was Berlin and the flight down was on SAS.
The flight was relatively quick and uneventful. I actually remember very little of it thanks, in part, to a rocking hangover. But nothing really happened that was at all special. I was hungry so I bought the chicken salad snack box during the flight (all food AND beverages were BoB only!). The Swedish version of pasta salad isn’t really my thing, but it wasn’t bad. The chicken and the lettuce part of the salad were pretty good. I’d call it overpriced in general, though not really so bad once you figure in both the Scandinavia and airplane markups.
The most memorable bit of the flight for me was the final approach into Berlin’s Tegel airport. It was right a sunset and that let to some great views of the suburbs, Tegel airport and the general area as we made our way down.
Like most flights, this one wasn’t really all that special, either good or bad. That’s just the way I like them.
Tags: Berlin, Dining, EuroHopping, Flying, in flight, Photos, review, Star Alliance, Stockholm, Sweden, Trip Report
Posted by Seth on December 18, 2011 under News |
Star Alliance and the Global Hotel Alliance have teamed up to give away a pretty awesome RTW award to one lucky winner. The prize is a pair of business class RTW tickets and 30 nights worth of hotel accommodations in member hotels. Yeah, I’d enjoy winning that.
The contest is pretty simple. They release one clue per day via Facebook and you pick the correct city the clue refers to for that entry. Get all 11 correct and you get entered into the random draw to win the prize. So, yeah, you need to have a Facebook account and authorize the app to win, but it is worth a try. Entries must be submitted by 9am GMT on 21 December 2011.
If you don’t want to go through the effort of looking up the answers (or guessing) I’ve got my responses listed out below. I put them in white text just in case someone doesn’t want the spoiler so just highlight the list below to see the answers I’m using.
Good luck!
Start here: https://apps.facebook.com/global-pursuit/
Suggested answers:
- Washington DC
- Rome
- Stockholm
- Cairo
- Delhi
- Bangkok
- Singapore
- Hong Kong
- Sydney
- São Paulo
- Los Angeles
Good luck!
Posted by Seth on December 13, 2011 under frequent flyer, News, points |
Ethiopian Airlines became the third African carrier to join the Star Alliance network this week, growing the alliance to 28 carriers. Of those 28, 16 provide service to Africa, covering 110 airports in 48 countries. The move also integrates Ethiopian into the fare and award products, though some integration on fare products won’t occur until January 2012.
The move also integrates the carrier into frequent flier earning across the alliance. Thus far I’ve seen earing details for Asiana, Continental, United Airlines, Turkish, TAP Air Portugal, Air Canada, Lufthansa‘s Miles & More and Agean Airlines. Those earning rates have been incorporated into the calculators on the Travel Tools site. Generally speaking most of the carriers are providing 100% earning rates for all economy fares and a bonus for business class fares. Full details about the rates can be found on the Travel Tools Update here.
Tags: Africa, Agean, Air Canada, Asiana, Continental, Ethiopian Airlines, frequent flier, frequent flyer, Lufthansa, points, Star Alliance, TAP Air Portugal, tools, Turkish Air, United, United Airlines
Posted by Seth on November 22, 2011 under frequent flyer, News, points |
April 2012 is going to be a busy month for Star Alliance. That’s when Copa and Avianca-Taca are expected to become full members of the global alliance, culminating a process that has been ongoing for many months now. The official invitation to join was extended just earlier this month and it seems that the integration process will be completed incredibly quickly by global alliance standards. Normally the integration takes 12-18 months (or even longer if you’re Air India) but these carriers plan to do it much faster.
For Copa the process shouldn’t be too hard. They already use the same OnePass loyalty program as Continental and that will merge into the new MileagePlus program from United. There will still need to be bilateral agreements drawn up with the other alliance members and some adjustments on the inventory and computer systems side of things but they are pretty far ahead in the game.
For Avianca-Taca there is definitely some more work involved. Although the carrier has frequent flyer relationships with Star Alliance members United and Lufthansa there are still more steps required to get fully integrated. Still, Copa CEO Pedro Heilbronn confirmed that join date for both programs so it looks pretty good, at least for now.
One interesting bit about Copa joining the program is that, as of today, there are no long-haul flights into the Panama City hub from overseas. There are connection options from Dulles, O’Hare, Los Angeles, Houston and Newark, giving great integration to the United Airlines network, but not much beyond that. It will be interesting to see if joining into Star Alliance can bring some more long-haul traffic into that hub.
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Tags: Avianca, Chicago, Continental, Copa, frequent flyer, houston, Los Angeles, Lufthansa, Newark, Panama, points, Star Alliance, Taca, United, Washington DC
Posted by Seth on November 3, 2011 under Flying, Review, Trip Reports |
It was day three of scheduled commercial service for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, operated by ANA, and I was on board. No, it was not the actual inaugural flight, but I still managed to get there within the first week of operations and I could not be more excited about the experience. It was awesome. That’s not to say that everything about the aircraft is perfect, but the experience certainly was.
My flight on the Dreamliner was from Hiroshima to Tokyo‘s Haneda airport. The trip is only about 400 miles and the total time in the air was just over one hour so it wasn’t really sufficient to try out everything on board, especially the effects of the higher pressurization (though I don’t recall my ears popping like usual, but I’m also not great at noticing that because it happens so often) and the more moist cabin air, but I still managed to put it through the paces as best I could.
Boarding was quick and efficient, as expected from the Japanese. Still, they allotted an extra 5 minutes to the process as they knew this was a special experience. There was something of a crush of gate lice to the self-boarding gates as they announced that boarding was available. Fortunately my Star Alliance Gold status (and being the big, ugly American) got me towards the front of the crush and on reasonably early in the process.
Business Class Cabin
Nothing really to say here; looks pretty comfy but this also is not their premium long-haul configuration so I’m not too worried about it.
Economy Cabin
There has been a bit of concern since Seat Guru published their guide to the seat map of the aircraft about the seat width in coach. The 2-4-2 layout (which really is more like 2-2-2-2 without an aisle in the middle) lends itself to a very generous seat width yet the reports on the site show the width as a hip-crushing 16.5". Good news, folks. That data is just plain wrong. The bulkhead rows, where the tray tables are in the arm rest, have the narrower width but the rest of the aircraft has a quite generous 18.5" or more width. The seats are quite roomy.
Seat recline is an interesting change from a typical airplane configuration. The seat back doesn’t actually move. Instead the seat-bottom slides forward about three inches and the back slides down a bit, creating the same effect as reclining. But it does so without imposing the seat on the passenger behind you. This sucks if you have long legs and also want to recline as you’re basically stuck but it is great for folks (like me) who hate having someone reclined into you.
The AVOD system is pretty nice, with 9" screens in coach. That’s about as big as you can get being so close to the screen and still be able to watch comfortably. There is a seat-to-seat messaging system and the screens can be used either as touch screens or with the controller. I was rather unimpressed with the music and video selections; no movies (though maybe because the flight was too short) and only a couple dozen short video programs plus maybe a dozen CDs for music. I hope that’s just because they don’t have the content fully loaded and not because it is going to be such a paltry offering going forward.
I’m also a big fan of the built-in cup holder in the tray table. They have two, one if it is open and one if it is closed, meaning that you can use the tray table for a laptop or other purposes and still have somewhere to stow a drink. Definitely a nice touch.
And then there is the mood lighting. Lots of fun there. The flight attendants were playing with this feature a bit, particularly during boarding and de-planing. It is fun, but I’m not sure it adds much value to the in-flight experience. It does demonstrate the ability to control the lighting levels to a very granular level, which I suppose is a very useful thing.
The windows are HUGE. It was a night flight so I’m not sure how much this really matters, but they were noticeably larger than on older aircraft. We’ll have to see what the net effects of this are in the long term but it certainly was nice. The electronic dimmers on the windows were a bit sluggish to react but they behaved exactly as advertised in the end. Again, a night flight made it hard to really evaluate the impact of this but it was certainly neat.
In the lav
The Japanese and their toilets. Touchless flushing (it puts down the seat, too!) and bidet functions (designed by Toto) are built in to the toilets. There’s also a window in the lav by 3L (though not at 3R). I do like a lav window.
It isn’t perfect
OK, maybe my expectations are just too high. Still, like one of the notes in a review offered up by Kerwin I noticed a few quirks in the flight. It was VERY quiet at cruise, and I was sitting just aft of the wing so I should’ve had engine noise to some extent if there was much. During the flight there wasn’t. That said, the mechanical noises surrounding the operation of the flaps and other wing control surfaces were pretty loud. Again, maybe just because I was sitting basically on top of them, but Kerwin noticed it, too.
There was also a strange "whine" going on throughout the flight. It was very high pitched – like an old tube TV going bad – and I have no idea if others noticed it or not. It kept going even after the engines were shut down upon arrival so I’m guessing it has to do with the electrical power plant on board. No matter what, it was pretty annoying. Not enough to ruin the experience, but if it really is like that going forward I can see it being a problem for me flying on this aircraft.
Finally, the new overhead bins, while well designed for baggage, are not particularly well configured for an adult to climb in. I’m thoroughly disappointed in that development.
It was a great day and a great trip. I’m definitely looking forward to getting back on board soon.
Oh, and if you want to check out the pre-flight safety video it is here:
Read more from this Trip Report under the Dream2011 tag here.
Tags: 787, ANA, Boeing, Dream2011, Dreamliner, Hiroshima, Japan, Photos, review, Star Alliance, Tokyo, video
Posted by Seth on November 3, 2011 under frequent flyer, News, points |
Continental and Amtrak have been partners for many years, offering the ability to earn OnePass miles on certain routes in the Northeast Corridor as well as the ability to move points between both programs at a 1:1 rate. There are a number of incredibly attractive awards in the Amtrak Guest Rewards program and the fungibility of points between the two programs was a great benefit for members of both. That relationship is coming to an end at the end of the year.
The move is tied to the expiry of the OnePass program as the new United Airlines moves to their new MileagePlus program. Not too much of a surprise there as the partnership is with a program that will be dying. According to Amtrak, they are trying to keep the relationship alive with the new MileagePlus, but that deal has not yet been finalized so they are warning members now of the impending change according to UnRoadWarrior.
This announcement opens as many new questions as it provides answers.
Currently there is reciprocity between the Amtrak and Continental lounge memberships. But that is ending in February and there is not yet a finalized agreement to continue it. Amtrak’s top tier elites also get the lounge benefit and there have been many issues getting it honored in the newly re-branded United Clubs.
There’s also the relationship between Continental and Virgin Atlantic. Back when they didn’t have access to Heathrow the partnership was great for Continental. Now that they do have access to Heathrow – and flights from 6 US gateways – the value of that relationship is certainly lessened. And United has never had that partnership as they had the Heathrow slots. The two carriers both had arrangements with Emirates but both killed them. There’s also Eva on the Continental side (though they’ve applied to become a Star Alliance member) and Qatar on the United side.
Lots of open questions that still need answers. Perhaps this move with Amtrak is a hint. Or not. Nothing like the joys of speculation with minimal data to support a claim.
Posted by Seth on September 24, 2011 under frequent flyer, News, points |
The proposed merger of South America’s two largest carriers, LAN and TAM, precipitated many questions. Perhaps the most significant from frequent fliers was the future of the loyalty program. LAN is a member of the oneworld alliance while TAM recently joined Star Alliance. A merged program will have to pick one of those with the decision having great significance in the South American travel market.
Thanks to the Chilean government it appears that the decision has been made and that the carrier will be remaining in oneworld.
The Chilean Tribunal de Defensa de la Libre Competencia (Court of Defense of Free Trade) handed down their approval for the two carriers to merge this week with a laundry list of conditions attached. Here are details on a few of the most significant conditions:
Numbers 1 & 4 require that LATAM give up 4 landing slots in Sao Paulo to allow another carrier to establish service on the Sao Paulo – Santiago route in order to maintain a competitive fare environment on that route. Additionally, LATAM is prohibited from dumping inventory onto that route within 15 minutes of the newly scheduled service once the new entrant has declared their interest in operating the service. Rule 13 also prohibits the new carrier from raising fares on the route versus their aggregate historical averages for one year.
Number 9 requires that LATAM not oppose any foreign carrier’s application to operate with additional freedoms on domestic Chilean routes or to provide service that would otherwise be seen as cabotage. This would effectively allow tag-on flights for long-haul carriers or regional flights within Chile for other airlines in South America. LATAM is required to endorse such requests without demanding reciprocity.
And then there is number 6:
Latam deberá renunciar, dentro de un plazo que no exceda 24 meses contados desde la fecha en que se materialice la Operación consultada, al menos a una de las dos alianzas globales en que a esa fecha participan sus partes, LAN y TAM. En ningún caso podrá pertenecer a aquélla en la que también el grupo Avianca/Taca sea miembro o asociado, o se encuentre en proceso de ingresar.
Within 24 months of realizing the merger the airline is required to resign from at least one of the two global alliances in which is currently participates. Moreover, the carrier must not be in the same alliance as Avianca/Taca, the other powerhouse merging carrier in South America. With Avianca/Taca moving rather quickly down the path of joining Star Alliance this clause leaves oneworld the only rational result.
The other options are to go independent, a tough move to make in that region, or to try for SkyTeam. But with Aerolineas Argentinas set to join SkyTeam it doesn’t seem likely that the competition courts would be too happy to see such a move. They could also try to thwart the entrance of TACA/Avianca from Star Alliance if they want to stay with the group. That would be a most interesting political move and a most unlikely one as well.
The court ruling lays out a pretty clear framework for the carriers to work within and a reasonable timeline through which the changes must be made. Unless the Brazilian government comes up with a major surprise on their conditions for the merger it looks like this one is ready to happen in early 2012 with all the details finally falling into place.
Related Posts
Posted by Seth on September 21, 2011 under frequent flyer, News, points |
United Airlines announced a number of details regarding their 2012 Mileage Plus program rules today on both MilePoint and FlyerTalk. The announcement puts to an end much of the speculation about the future of the loyalty program for the world’s largest airline. The news is, unsurprisingly, a mixed bag. There are plenty of winners and losers with the upcoming changes. On the whole the changes appear to be a net positive (they certainly are for me) though there will be plenty of upset customers, too.
Qualification Tiers
The qualification tiers are pretty much staying the same, though some of the names are changing. The "Premier" tag from the legacy United is sticking around as are the metallic tier levels from the legacy Continental. The 1K and Global Services names survive as well. Qualification will be based on Premium Qualifying Miles or Points and the qualification levels are 25/50/75/100K PQMs or 30/60/90/120 PQPs. These numbers are consistent with previous announcements from the company. Global Services remains invite-only for the most part (more on that below).
Also of note is that qualifying for status will now require actually flying on United or Copa metal. Only four segments are required which isn’t particularly burdensome.
The benefits for each tier are changing a bit, especially on the award miles earning front. Most notable are the changes to the bonus miles earnt for being elite. Gold and Platinum elites will now earn 50% and 75% bonus miles respectively, down from the 100% they currently earn. This is a definite downgrade for those customers. At the same time the number of bonus miles accrued for buying a premium fare is going up. At the top end a full F fare on a 3-cabin aircraft will now net a 150% bonus on award miles; that’s way better than the current 50% bonus.
Upgrades
Complimentary upgrades are mostly following the legacy Continental pattern with pretty much every route that is not marketed as a premium product being eligible for free upgrades. Additionally the regional upgrades will be valid on all flights between Hawaii and the Mainland US, making the legacy CO wide-body service eligible while it is not currently. The exclusion of Guam – Honolulu is a surprising one from this list given the aircraft configuration but other than that the list is quite favorable for all customers.
The legacy Continental policy for "instant upgrades" will continue on full-fare economy tickets. Y fares will book into F for all elites with no capacity controls. B fares for all elites will book into a capacity-limited upgrade bucket. M fares for 1Ks will also book into the capacity-limited bucket. I’m a big fan of this policy balancing the value of long-term and immediate value to the company though I know some others disagree.
Companion upgrades will be implemented as a combination of the best of both programs going forward. A companion in the same reservation as an elite customer will be eligible at the same tier level as the elite, akin to the current United policy. The benefit will also apply to the Y/B/M-Up Instant upgrades described above. Finally, a companion that is not in the same reservation as an elite can be added to the upgrade list at the airport, keeping the legacy Continental approach to the benefit live.
Another significant change is in the access to Economy plus seating. The new program will restrict advance access to those seats to Gold elites and higher. A definite loss for the lowest elite tier on this one, though the Silvers will still have access once the flight opens for check-in.
Lifetime Status
Perhaps the most significant changes are coming with the lifetime status recognition program. The policies from Continental and United were quite different historically and aligning them was the subject of much consternation and debate amongst travelers. It looks like the company hit a home run on this one. Going forward the qualification for this status will be based on actual miles flown on United metal. Going into 2012, however, the existing lifetime mileage balances between the two programs will be combined. Even better, legacy United customers will have their existing actual miles balances upgraded to their lifetime EQM balances. That’s a HUGE win for those customers.
The benefit levels will mostly match those of the legacy United program, with Gold at 1MM, Platinum at 2MM, 1K at 3MM and Global Services at 4MM. Yup, Global Services now has a published qualification level. Additionally, the legacy Continental benefit of a spouse/partner getting the same status as the lifetime elite will survive. These changes make the new lifetime status program arguably the most compelling in the industry.
The rest
At the top end the benefits package remains pretty impressive. Platinum and 1K elites will receive a reimbursement for the Global Entry application fee and no charges for award bookings inside 21 days, award changes or award redeposits. Gold elites and higher get free same-day changes to tickets, 3×70# checked baggage and they’re keeping Star Alliance Gold status.
Silver elites are the biggest losers coming out of these changes (they lose a free bag, too) which isn’t all that surprising given the size of that customer pool. A credit card will likely get you the same benefits as Premier Silver status with a lower cash outlay. At the top end the benefits are top notch, particularly in the lifetime status benefits.
I can certainly see where there are winners and losers in the new scheme. I’m mostly just happy I’m in the former category.
Posted by Seth on September 20, 2011 under Flying, News |
Every now and then I find myself wondering if there isn’t a better way to get access to some nugget of data related to travel. More often than not I’m disappointed to find out that the answer is generally that the tools aren’t available. When I can, I try to change that. Welcome to my latest effort: The Round-the-World Fare Comparison Tool.
The tool holds nearly 13,000 data points for fare pricing from 197 different airports around the world (one per country for most countries). There are nearly 100 different fare types in the system, including not only RTW fares but also some regional options like Circle Asia, Circle Pacific and Circle Japan options.
That’s a whole lot of data that needs to be managed and filtered. I certainly won’t go so far to claim it is perfect yet – the site is very much in beta right now – but there are options to sort by point of origin, fare type and cabin of travel available right now and more in the works.
Currently there are six different airlines being used as data points for the fares, two each from the three global alliances. In nearly every case the fares match but there are enough quirks and variances that I’m keeping all the data in there and available. The fares do not include taxes, fuel surcharges or aircraft-specific fees but the goal of the tool is to facilitate comparing prices between alliances or to figure out the best place to start a trip rather than get to final pricing.
Here’s what it looks like if you choose a specific origin country/airport:
The different cabins are color-coded so you can quickly see the different types of fares available to you.
Want to search by fare product. Here are the nearly 100 available to you:
Pick one and you’ll get a clickable, color-coded map:
The green icons represent the cheapest 20% of the markets for that specific fare while the red are the most expensive 20%.
I’m still working on options for other ways to "slice and dice" the data. Got a suggestion or an idea of a view that would be useful? Leave a comment and I’ll see what I can do.
In the mean time, give the tool a whirl and let me know what you think. And check out some of the other tools while you’re on the site. You might be surprised at how useful they can be.
