News and notes from around the interweb: $99 fares to Iceland and cheap connecting fares to Europe will now start earlier out of Baltimore. Third time’s the lucky charm? After rejecting a second proposal two weeks ago, Aer Lingus may be set to accept a takeover bid by British Airways and Iberia parent IAG. FlyHermes.com ceases operations. This is the Malta-based airline, not the luxury brand. Someone is bringing a Boeing 747 to Burning Man. Since this environmental excuse doesn’t work, I think it’s a definite sign, if we needed another, of a shark that has been jumped. US-issued MasterCards can be used in Cuba starting March 1. What happens when an aircraft stalls. Relevant to the Indonesia AirAsia crash investigation. (HT: Alan H.) BBC’s new six-part documentary just debuted. (HT: Reid F.) You can…
Consolidation in Online Booking Sites: What Selling Orbitz and Travelocity Will Mean to You
Expedia, which was already operating Travelocity with its own search technology, is now acquiring its Sabre-owned smaller rival. Since Travelocity had long since given up investing in its search and booking platform, and I found it virtually unusable as a standalone (though I still tried to use it, as it would offer be 2 Ultimate Rewards points for bookings made through the Chase shopping portal), the consolidation doesn’t mean much for competitive pricing in the industry. About the only thing it changes is having one fewer marketing site that offered its own set of coupons and incentives like shopping portal payouts. That matters, but only at the margin. More significant perhaps is that Orbitz, once started by a consortium of airlines as a competitor to online booking sites but which eventually spun off to become…
Here’s American’s First Boeing 787 — They’ve Now Owned Every Single Boeing Jet
American took delivery of its first Boeing 787 on Thursday, and flew it to Dallas on Friday. They have 42 firm orders for the 787-8 and 787-9 and options on an additional 58 planes. We’ll see the aircraft flying between domestic hubs for a few weeks when the aircraft first goes into revenue service during the second quarter, before they begin flying it internationally. Here’s the American’s 787 landing at Boeing’s Paine Field after a test flight. With the introduction of the 787, American is claimed to have operated every Boeing-designed jet aircraft. Boeing 707 (-123, -123B, -323B and -323C models) Boeing 717 (designed by McDonnell Douglas as the MD-95, inherited from TWA but not officially operated) Boeing 720 Boeing 727 (both models) Boeing 737 (-200, -300 and -800 models) Boeing 747 (-100 and SP…
What Date Will US Airways Miles Get Combined Into American AAdvantage
American, in announcing details of what their combined program with US Airways will look like confirmed that the actual combination of Dividend Miles and AAdvantage will happen during the second quarter of 2015. Here are more details on the program and who wins and who loses. But when will this actually happen? It matters because American elites want to know when their status will get them upgrade priority (and not just day of travel eligibility) for upgrades, and vice versa. It matters for folks wanting to use US Airways Dividend miles to book awards under their relatively more generous routing rules or with their unique partners. This post is speculation, though I hope it’s educated speculation. The combination should happen earlier in the second quarter rather than later: In announcing second quarter, this was a…
Here’s How You Can Protect Your Frequent Flyer Accounts from Hackers
Starwood got hacked. This came shortly after American, United, and Hilton got hacked. Points are advertised for sale cheap online. Data security is big business, consulting firms have identified a huge mark business opportunity in working with loyalty programs. There’s no way to be perfectly secure, and programs don’t often admit what’s really going on — plenty of blame shifting, talk about the need for strong passwords and changing passwords (blame the customer), talk about third parties getting hacked (blame the partners). Truth is that some amount of hacking risk is a cost of doing business, you don’t want to be ‘too secure’ or you’ll be too difficult to do business with. Customers who have to constantly change passwords that they can’t remember are customers who will be frustrated and won’t engage with the program…
Passenger Shaming: The Worst Behavior in the Skies Reported On This Week
It’s not just the man who used an airline’s mistaken downgrade as an excuse for groping and sexually insulting a flight attendant. Here are two stories out of Canada this week: Couple Attempts to Hide Acts on Plane via Coat Over Laps Despite Also Being Topless. The New York Daily News leads, ‘Her pants were down around her ankles’: Canadian couple used coat over laps to hide mid-flight sex acts, attendant says.. ..He found the couple in their seats with a coat covering their laps. Lander’s pants were down, her breasts were out of her bra and her hand was near Chase’s crotch, the flights attendant said. ..It’s not clear if the two knew each other before the frisky incident. ..Dunn demanded Lander get dressed and asked her to put her breasts back inside of…
The Sordid Tale That Led to SkyMall’s Bankruptcy Filing, and What Happens Next
The AP’s Scott Mayerowitz goes for the easy opener on news of Skymall’s bankruptcy. Apparently, airline passengers aren’t buying enough garden gnomes, superhero pajamas and heated cat shelters. Sales dropped nearly in half year over year and by three quarters over the past four years. The company believes people flipped through the magazine less and less and personal electronic devices became more common. In addition, gogo inflight internet even allows some free browsing of online shopping sites. The magazine paid the airlines to carry it, in an amount which increased in recent years as fuel costs rose (since paper is heavy). They charged other companies for ads in that magazine, and took a commission on sales, because they in turn provided access to airline passengers which are an upscale demographic and captive (and presumably bored)…
United’s Big New Investment in Inflight Meals — Including Lobster!
Yesterday I noted that American is ramping up its investment in onboard cookies. Implicit is an acceptance that soft product matters, even if the most important things are, in order: Safety Schedule Seat Premium cabins need some minimum standard meal, and minimum standard of attentive service. Onboard entertainment is believed to matter, which is why airlines continue to either install heavy expensive equipment or hand out tablets. Most frequent flyers I talk to say that it continues to matter, though I don’t understand it myself, I’d rather take control of my own entertainment and download shows in advance to my personal devices. I’d take onboard internet over entertainment, even when the internet won’t stream video, every day. On long flights, seat power matters. On my piece on cookies, I noted that United is bringing back…
Are Credit Card Companies About to Start Awarding Fewer Miles for Signups and Spend?
Skift reported yesterday on the renewal of the Delta-American Express co-brand arrangement that’s worth $2 billion a year to Delta. The renewal is for 6 years. The last renewal was in 2008. American Express has also renewed their Starwood relationship. While Skift suggests the renewal “amounts to a 15 percent improvement in terms for Delta” that’s actually 15% better in the first year of the deal, and a 20% imrpovement for Delta thereafter. Despite paying more, Amex Platinum and Centurion cards still receive hobbled access to Delta clubs and Black card members have seen a hobbling of their Delta status. The Skift piece argues that the Delta renewal will set a standard that could be followed by other co-brand deals.
The World’s Busiest Airport Isn’t Atlanta, Double Flight Points Through March, and an Air Marshall Wins at the Supreme Court
News and notes from around the interweb: Double Virgin America points through March 31. Registration required. Some commenters are reporting being told that Chase points transfers to Korean will return on January 25. I reached out again to Chase and got simply, “We anticipate the functionality returning soon.” Supreme Court rules air marshall didn’t violate federal law when leaking TSA plans. The new Vietnam Airlines blog, focused on that nation’s carrier and others in Southeast Asia, has new details on the Vietnam Airlines 787 including new lie flat business class seats and a seat map mockup. Now that Delta offers one-way awards I may wind up trying something like this.. Double American AAdvantage miles between the US/Canada and Asia on American and their joint venture partner JAL (though not on American’s China routes). There’s also…
