June 18, 2013 New Spend Requirement Comes to United.
Starting in 2014 the qualification requirements for elite status on United Airlines will include a minimum spend of ten cents a mile. This is in line with Delta’s spend requirement released several months ago.
There are a couple of ways around the requirement.
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Tags: United Airlines
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June 17, 2013 Apparently This Happened on 6/16′s UA 931 London-San Francisco Flight.
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June 12, 2013 Kuwait Airways Set for Privatization…Again.
Persian Gulf airlines are currently in a period of transition. The various governments in the region have over the past several years been looking to transition out of the state owned airline business. For the profitable airlines this isn’t a problem; however, for the marginal airlines this has been a huge problem. State governments despite the desire to end funding of these unprofitable airlines, have a strong interest in seeing the airline remain in business. There are two solutions to this problem. First, the state can get the airline profitable and then sell it, or they can retain an ownership stake in the airline and continue to pump money in. The Kuwaiti government according to the latest amendment to their privatization law is going to continue to pump money in to Kuwaiti Airways further disrupting the privatization plan.
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Tags: Golden share, Governments, Kuwait Airways, Privatization
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June 12, 2013 New Airbus A350 Set For First Flight.
Sources within Airbus are reporting that their newest plane, the A350 is ready for its first flight. After having successfully completed engine tests yesterday, sources say that the first flight should take place this Friday. Subject to weather the flight should take place around 1000 Friday morning.
The A350 is Airbus’ answer to Boeing’s 787 and 777. Airbus expects to start delivery of the A350 next year.
Happy Travels!
ColPuck
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June 11, 2013 Philippine Air’s Newest Torture Chamber…Err I Mean A330.
Philippine Air loaded the seat map for their new A330 configuration. The all economy configuration seats 414 passengers in a 3-3-3 configuration and slated to be used on Hajji flights. Wait what 3-3-3?!?!?!. Ok that doesn’t sound as bad as it actually is. Most carriers have their A330′s in 8-abreast seating in a 2-4-2 configuration, which this average blogger finds reasonably comfortable. Now, until recently the 777 has 9-abreast seating in a 3-3-3 configuration. Of course cabin width on a 777 is 19ft 3in (5.86m) and the A330 has cabin width of 17ft 3in (5.28m). Using some rough maths this means that each seat on Philippine Air’s new A330 is about 8% narrower than the 777 coach seat. On an hour long flight that’s not going to make much of a difference, on a flight to Saudi Arabia I imagine this will make a huge difference.
Either way count me out.
Happy Travels!
Colpuck
h/t Airline Route Blog
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Tags: A330, Philippine Air
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June 11, 2013 How Airlines Defraud Passengers.
Airlines commit fraud on a continual basis, each day every day. Chances are if you have booked a ticket on an airline you have been a victim of fraud and you don’t even know it. Here’s how they do it and why they get away with it.
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Tags: Denied Boarding, DOT, Fraud, IDB, VDB
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June 7, 2013 Hong Kong Trip Report.
I originally started planning this trip last July when I booked the “4-mile” deal with United and after they canceled the tickets I said shoot I am going anyways. Michelle and I began truly planning the trip in October when we booked the tickets. So after the jump you have a full trip report from the planning stages to the last flight home.
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Tags: 747-8i, Cathay Pacific, Conrad Hong Kong, Conrad Macau, Lufthansa, US Airways
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June 4, 2013 Airtran Boots 100 or so Teenagers From their Flight For Being Well…Teenagers.
Teenagers aren’t know for being the most respectful individuals especially towards authority. That’s why I am not surprised to read that some teenagers had been kicked off a flight for refusing to sit down and turn off their phones. What did surprise me when I was reading the USA Today Blog Post was that one hundred students plus chaperones had been kicked off had been kicked off of one flight. If I remember High School traveling in a group was an ordeal but the entire group was acting up. There are always a few teenagers who flaunt the rules and authority, but I can’t imagine one hundred students acting up at one.
With out knowing more, there seems like there is more to this story. Why did they kick off all of the students? Why didn’t the chaperones have control of the students? What was the response to everyone’s favorite question “Do you want to fly today?”
I think there is more to the story.
Happy Travels
Colpuck
Tags: AirTran, Security, Southwest Airlines
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June 4, 2013 Security and the TSA PreCheck System.
Last year I wrote about how a person could conceivably take their boarding pass and edit it in such a way as to permit the passenger to use the PreCheck TSA line. The TSA has been telling us for years that all of the added security at U.S. airports is necessary. With the PreCheck system it suddenly became ok for frequent travelers and other people who submitted their information to the government to go through less stringent security. Through the use of online barcode readers, barcode makers, and something like MS Paint, it became possible for any determined person to edit themselves a new boarding pass that would allow them to go through the less stringent PreCheck security lane. As I pointed out this is an obvious security flaw. I suggested encoding the data on the boarding pass, but the powers that be had another idea in mind.
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