United has a schizophrenic, love-hate relationship with Washington-Dulles airport. United and United Express have operated a majority of flights at the airport but United Express partner Atlantic Coast Airlines is going its own way, forming a low cost carrier. So speculation has been rampant about what the airline would do — replace Atlantic Coast or bail on the hub? Dulles has been United’s primary transatlantic gateway, and operations have been focused on late afternoon departures to Europe as well as substantial flights to the West Coast, especially the Los Angeles and San Francisco hubs. United’s Europe flights, though, are unlikely to succeed without regional feed. When the airline first went into bankruptcy there was speculation that the Dulles operation would be shut down entirely. That hypothesis was a far cry from the earlier attempt by…
Cheap Insurance for Emergencies
David Rowell also reviews a neat $5 gadget to give an extra hour of talk time to a cell phone with a dead battery.
Charter One Gift Cards
I’ve been relatively uninterested in a new mileage earning phenomenon discussed in the media, on Flyertalk, and in David Rowell’s newsletter. But perhaps I’m neglecting an important opportunity. Read David’s full and detailed account on getting virtually free points by buying and depositing gift cards.
JetBlue’s LaGuardia folly?
JetBlue wants to start service at New York’s LaGuardia airport. Their operations are currently focused at New York’s JFK airport.Assuming that the flights JetBlue would operate would be relatively short hauls (of, say, less than 800 miles) — long haul traffic is concentrated at Kennedy — and assuming that the routes compete against mainline carriers (a safe assumption, as the move is billed as a shot against American and Delta) rather than regional carriers, this strikes me as a bad move.As I’ve observed on these pages before, JetBlue’s great advantage in customer preference is on long haul routes where their leather seats and satellite television drive customer preferences (fares being equal). On shorter routes these advantages mean less. (JetBlue has competed successfully on short haul routes, primarily when their major competition is flying turboprops.) The…
At least the government *used to be* good at writing checks
The TSA has successfully settled only a few dozen (out of more than 15,000) claims for damaged baggage or items missing from baggage. The airlines want the job of adjudicating these claims back, and are willing to pay most of the compensation costs.
Alliance Rumor
Aeroflot is trying to close a deal to join Skyteam, the airline alliance that includes Delta, Air France, Alitalia, Aeromexico, and Korean Air — and that may soon include KLM, Northwest, and Continental.
Mexicana and American Airlines enter codesharing agreement
Mexicana, which is leaving the Star Alliance as of March 31, has entered into a codesharing alliance with American Airlines.There is a real hole in United’s route network to Central and South America, and I do understand that the exit of Mexicana from its United and Star Alliance relationships was initiated by Mexicana. Mexicana was receiving far less passenger feed from United – some say 50% less – than they were pre-United bankruptcy.American’s own network, combined with their partnership with Grupo TACA, makes American far stronger than United in this area.It will be interesting to see whether Mexicana’s relationship with American remains a standalone or whether it foretells entry into the oneworld alliance. Similarly, it will be interesting to see whether American’s passenger feed to Mexicana cannibalizes the passenger feed to TACA and what that…
Air New Zealand Adds Capacity to the US-Transpacific Market
Air New Zealand plans to add service from Auckland to San Francisco. That’s good news for transpacific service – and good news for frequent flyers looking for options to redeem their miles, as this adds another method of getting to both New Zealand and Australia.Remember that newly introduced flights are prime picking for frequent flyer seats.
Updated Amtrak Discounts
Most of the old Amtrak discounts that I posted have expired. So here’s a bit of an update. When booking your train, you can enter a discount or promotion code. The following promotion codes are currently valid:V822: 20% off unreserved trains in the Northeast Corridor through 12/16/04. V745: will get you 20% off Northeast Corridor unreserved trains. This is also good on Acela Express and Metroliner trains all day Saturday and on Sunday except between 1pm and 6pm. Valid through 6/22/04 except for April 8th – 12th and May 28th – June 1st. V823 and V132: offer 15% off qualifying Amtrak fares to New York City between June 1 and September 12, 2004. This discount is valid for all unreserved trains and all day Saturday and Sunday on Metroliners and all day Saturday and before…
Could the US learn something from Korea?
Although the Korean approach may be a bit too extreme. One of the most vexing problems for frequent flyers is that the programs they belong to change the rules and redemption requirements seemingly at will. Customers save miles for awards and suddenly their miles are worth less, with higher mileage required for the flight they’ve been saving up for. It can seem like mileage programs are like Lucy from the Peanuts comic strip, pulling the football away at the last moment. Admirably, Korean carriers Korean Air and Asiana are seeking to make changes to their frequent flyer programs with a year’s notice and still they are facing legal hurdles from the Korean government. Korean Air and Asiana Airlines have been warned not to change their mileage policies. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) on Monday issued…
