View From The Wing

United Puts New Premium Plane On New York – DC Shuttle 10 Times a Day

by Gary Leff on January 17, 2020

Jan 17 2020

Starting March 29 United will run 13 daily flights between the two cities. Ten of those flights will be using the airline’s new premium-heavy regional jet they’ve dubbed the ‘CRJ-550’ and 3 flights will be on larger Embraer 175s.

United can offer more flights – frequency is attractive to business travelers – offering fewer seats per flight on average. And they’re offering a product on 10 of the flights where they’re putting just 50 seats on the plane that’s designed for 40% more than that. Plenty of space per passenger is attractive, too.

Boston Is Now A Bigger Hub For American Airlines Than New York JFK

by Gary Leff on January 17, 2020

Jan 17 2020

American Airlines has 9 hubs: Dallas Fort-Worth, Chicago O’Hare, Charlotte, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, New York JFK, and Washington National. Given recent service changes perhaps they should drop New York JFK and add Boston.

The Best Rewards Cards for Road Warriors

by Gary Leff on January 17, 2020

Jan 17 2020

I’ve flown over 100,000 miles a year for as long as I can remember. I’ve scaled things back a bit since becoming a new dad, but in 2016 I spent nearly half of my nights on the road. My biggest credit card expenses are airfare, hotel stays, and dining out. That’s fairly typical for a road warrior, and fortunately I don’t have to use a company credit card giving someone else the rewards.

Fare Alert: $255 Roundtrip to Europe (!) on oneworld Airlines Finnair and Iberia

by Gary Leff on January 17, 2020

Jan 17 2020

Currently flights are available from New York, Chicago, Boston and San Francisco to Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Madrid starting at just $255 roundtrip. These are available on American Airlines joint venture partners Iberia and Finnair as well as codeshare travel on American.

United Airlines Getting Rid Of Bag Sizers At The Gate

by Gary Leff on January 17, 2020

Jan 17 2020

United Airlines will remove bag sizers from boarding gates by January 23. They say they will be more aggressive at check-in and that sizers will remain at security checkpoints, but that at the gate agents are supposed to ‘use their judgment’.