American is replacing their West Coast – Hawaii Boeing 757s with a subfleet of Airbus A321s that have greater fuel efficiency. This is supposed to happen in September — even before Virgin America was scheduled to introduce Airbus Hawaii flights for the first time. This may be a challenge. And it’ll be unpopular among elite frequent flyers.
Having flown Emirates first class onboard their Airbus A380, I can say it’s truly one of the best first class products in the world. The suite isn’t as spacious as Singapore’s or Etihad’s. But the service is good, the food is good, and despite the bling (there’s a *lot* going on, and a lot of *stuff* they give you) there’s substance to it too.
Most of all, they have the single greatest amenity ever introduced into an aircraft: two giant shower spas, with heated floors. Taking a shower in the sky prior to arrival can’t be beat!
Next year Cathay Pacific will finally have inflight internet, with the introduction of its fleet of Airbus A350 aircraft. They’ve refreshed the premium cabin coffee service, and are looking at offering pre-order meals as well.
Hotel booking site Kaligo has a one week only minimum mileage-earn of 2000 miles (and a guarantee of 5000 miles on a $500 booking). And they’ve introduced a new referral that nets you 1000 miles on your first booking. The two offers are stackable, so this can be pretty lucrative.
A collection of interesting links you’ll want to see, many you’ll want to click.
Emirates dedicates an entire level of their Airbus A380 ‘A’ terminal at the Dubai airport for their First Class lounge. It expands across the entire concourse. And there’s just no one there, except for employees. Just how surreal an experience is it to spend time in a lounge that you cannot see the end of off in the horizon?
A collection of interesting links you’ll want to see, many you’ll want to click.
A new Los Angeles – Dublin non-stop route opens up next month. And award availability is very, very good. In fact, it’s the best way to use United (or other Star Alliance) miles to get from the West Coast to Europe non-stop in business class right now!
American Express has begun operating their own network of “Centurion lounges,” which are a step above what travelers have become accustomed to from US airline-operated lounges. I consider the American Express Centurion lounge in Dallas one of my favorite airport spots. It’s one of the two lounges I visit most often. There’s a Centurion lounge already in Las Vegas and at New York LaGuardia as well and also San Francisco. American Express Centurion Lounge San Francisco There’s an additional known lounge in the pipeline for Miami, and a more modest lounge coming to Seattle. The Miami lounge is about to open in the North Terminal, convenient for American Airlines passengers. According to the Miami Herald it opens early June. As for the food, [Celebrity Chef Michelle] Bernstein’s buttermilk-brined fried chicken and Greek-style local watermelon salad…
Korean Air’s ‘nut rage’ Vice President has been released from prison. Her conviction for aviation security law violations, in forcing the airline’s plane to turn back to JFK after a flight attendant served her nuts in a bag, was overturned. And her sentence for assaulting a flight attendant was suspended.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
