Saturday, June 21, 2008
United - Making Travel More Difficult.
Yesterday, United dropped a bomb and brought back fare restrictions that most airlines got rid of decades ago for domestic travel, the minimum stay. It used to be, and for international travel still is, that the cheapest round trip ticket would require a minimum stay of a day or two or sometimes a whole weekend. However, in the fight for domestic business travel, most airlines removed these restrictions a long time ago.
United appears to be among the first to bring them back, in the hope of domestic business travel becoming more profitable for the airline. Will it work? Good question. Given the climate of record high fuel prices, it's an understandable risk as every airline seems to be racing to be the first to bring back fee x or fee y. The problem is that there are other airlines, like JetBlue and Southwest which don't seem too eager to reintroduce all the fees. If this kind of rule isn't matched by more airlines that cater to business travelers, I think we'll either see United drop the rule before it gets implemented or many businesses shift to other airlines in a relatively short time.
It should be noticed that United raised pricing, again on its lowest price tickets - an increase of between 1 and 90 dollars each way as well.
United appears to be among the first to bring them back, in the hope of domestic business travel becoming more profitable for the airline. Will it work? Good question. Given the climate of record high fuel prices, it's an understandable risk as every airline seems to be racing to be the first to bring back fee x or fee y. The problem is that there are other airlines, like JetBlue and Southwest which don't seem too eager to reintroduce all the fees. If this kind of rule isn't matched by more airlines that cater to business travelers, I think we'll either see United drop the rule before it gets implemented or many businesses shift to other airlines in a relatively short time.
It should be noticed that United raised pricing, again on its lowest price tickets - an increase of between 1 and 90 dollars each way as well.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Jet Blue's Dirty Little Secret
The airline known for free TV and Blue potato chips has a dirty little secret. For smart travelers, it's capped its most expensive flights for $250 each way. You just have to know how to look, and be a part of their frequent flyer program.
JetBlue has a pretty average to poor frequent flyer program. TrueBlue doesn't let you keep any points earned longer than 12 months after you've earned them. Unless you have their American Express card, in which case, they don't expire at all. It's a great way to limit award availability on their flights.
The benefit to the program is that earning free flights isn't too difficult. Four roundtrip coast to coast flights and a short one way flight and you've got a free round trip ticket. For someone who flies a moderate amount, awards are acheivable. But this month, they just got more achievable.
Early this March, JetBlue quietly rolled out the chance to purchase points. At least for now, the pricing is reasonable. $50 gets you 10 points, and their website doesn't seem to indicate a limit in points to purchase. This means for $500, you can buy a round trip ticket anywhere that JetBlue flies. Although this won't be cheaper than most JetBlue tickets that are currently available, it can save you quite a bit on some routes.
For example: booking a ticket from JFK to Las Vegas April 4 to April 6 would cost you as much as $648.50 round trip, or 100 JetBlue points. Which you can buy for $500. Obviously, some caveats apply. Before you spend money on points, make sure you can get the flights you want with points... and don't expect this deal to last too long. Generally, these kind of frequent flier "enhancements" are there to primarily benefit the company. When the airline notices lots of 100 point purchases, bets are that limits on point purchases will suddenly materialize.
Cranky Flier has some great info on the other JetBlue news of the week, paying extra for extra legroom.
JetBlue has a pretty average to poor frequent flyer program. TrueBlue doesn't let you keep any points earned longer than 12 months after you've earned them. Unless you have their American Express card, in which case, they don't expire at all. It's a great way to limit award availability on their flights.
The benefit to the program is that earning free flights isn't too difficult. Four roundtrip coast to coast flights and a short one way flight and you've got a free round trip ticket. For someone who flies a moderate amount, awards are acheivable. But this month, they just got more achievable.
Early this March, JetBlue quietly rolled out the chance to purchase points. At least for now, the pricing is reasonable. $50 gets you 10 points, and their website doesn't seem to indicate a limit in points to purchase. This means for $500, you can buy a round trip ticket anywhere that JetBlue flies. Although this won't be cheaper than most JetBlue tickets that are currently available, it can save you quite a bit on some routes.
For example: booking a ticket from JFK to Las Vegas April 4 to April 6 would cost you as much as $648.50 round trip, or 100 JetBlue points. Which you can buy for $500. Obviously, some caveats apply. Before you spend money on points, make sure you can get the flights you want with points... and don't expect this deal to last too long. Generally, these kind of frequent flier "enhancements" are there to primarily benefit the company. When the airline notices lots of 100 point purchases, bets are that limits on point purchases will suddenly materialize.
Cranky Flier has some great info on the other JetBlue news of the week, paying extra for extra legroom.
Labels: frequent flier miles, jet blue, travel, trueblue
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Flying to NYC? Get Ready to Pay More.
The announcement finally came down today from the FAA. Get ready to pay more to fly to New York? This isn't the start of re-regulation of pricing and airlines by the federal government, but instead the beginning of traffic caps at the New York airports in an effort to reduce delays at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports. The three airports most responsible for traffic delays across the country.
Last summer, almost 100 planes an hour were scheduled to take off from JFK airport. Starting March 15, the FAA will only slot 82 or so every hour many news agencies are reporting today. Exactly what will this mean for the average traveler? It's still a little unclear, but it seems to point to only being late 40% of the time instead of 50% of the time and paying more for the privilege.
In my relatively uneducated opinion, this points to affecting JetBlue and Delta the most, as these two carriers represent the largest share of traffic from the airport and will probably be asked to make the most concessions among all the airlines affected. Least affected will probably be international routings, as these flights are more profitable, and JFK is considered more of an international hub of the three airports in the NY Metro area.
Personally, I think this flight cap (which is only scheduled to last through 2009) is probably a good idea, but executed poorly. Instead of capping just flight departures, the FAA ought to also create seat minimums for flights leaving during peak travel times, particularly 4pm-9pm when the domestic departures are sharing the bulk of its traffic with the overseas rush. If the FAA insisted on a 100 seat minimum for flights in this time, the number of seats going in and out of JFK may actually increase, keeping prices relatively stable as well. (This would affect mostly American and Delta who fly lots and lots of regional jets in and out of JFK.) Unfortunately, this probably won't be a priority for either the government or the affected airlines.
So the end result, fewer flights, slightly fewer delays, and higher prices.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Best of the Blogs
This has been a busy week for travel. A lot of good stuff worth reading online too!
First of all, the good news on the business end of travel. Lufthansa, just bought 19% of JetBlue this week. No immediate changes on either side as a result of this transaction, but I think it really only means good things for both airlines in the future - and possibly the nudge United needs to more aggressively pursue a buyer. The Cranky Flier is all over this and has some interesting analysis as well.
Then there's the bad news.
Windjammer Barefoot Cruises? Apparently no longer sailing, but still taking your money. Cruisemates
More bad news.
MaxJet? Days might be very numbered. Upgrade: Travel Better
Oh yeah, and if you didn't know? Bus rides in the US? Still no fun. Lane Winfield shares his sad story of being held hostage by an angry driver.
Finally, the New York Times lets a lot of people complain about flying.
The week in review. A little good news, a little bad news. A lot of whining.
Labels: buses, flying, jet blue, links, lufthansa, maxjet, travel
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Keeping you Happy - Delta v. JetBlue
Let's face it, flying to your destination is often the least fun part of the trip. Sometime endless waits in the terminal, very little to eat on board the plane... creature comforts can be few and far between. Although this kind of thing might be expected in budget adventure travel, I've found few places where the waiting, boredom and lack of amenities to be more annoying than flying somewhere. So far this year, I've flown 13 segments in the air, 6 with Delta, 6 with JetBlue and one with Southwest. Having the most experience with Delta and JetBlue, let's take a look at the Creature Comforts offered, and which has the better product.
In Terminal - Edge: Delta
The best way to compare terminal amenities is to do this at their Hubs. JetBlue has Terminal 5/6 at JFK, which is under renovation and is too crowded and although the food is alright and there is good selection, its often hard to find a place to sit. Having free Wi-Fi is a plus though, and its easy to access up to date information on your flight through your cell phone as their mobile friendly website is easy to access.
On the other hand, Delta has lots of different food options in their hubs in Atlanta and New York. JFK's Terminal 2/3 options are actually head and shoulders above JetBlue's. A Bobby Flay restaurant? Balducci's Deli? That's pretty amazing. Also, the sheer number of eateries available to you in Atlanta without leaving your terminal is a big plus. But what takes the cake for Delta is the Crown Room. Granted, the Crown Room costs money to wait in - about $25. But you get a comfortable place to sit, a couple TVs to watch, and the most important part - an open bar. Nothing makes four hours at JFK pass faster than a glass of wine or five. The average glass of wine in a JFK bar costs $13+tip. Two drinks at the Crown Room and you're already ahead of the game.
Legroom - Edge: JetBlue
Delta coach - Domestic 31-32", International 31-32" pitch. (Pitch refers to leg room between seats on a flight.)
JetBlue - 32-33" pitch on their smaller jets, 34-36" pitch on their A320's. A way roomier ride all the way around.
In Flight Entertainment - Edge: JetBlue
Jet Blue offers free TV on every flight. On some international routes, the Live TV does not work so the premium movies are offered for free instead. Jet Blue offers 36 channels. In many of their planes, 100 channels of XM radio is also available - although that is not yet fleet wide standard. Headphones for the system were free, the airline does now charge, however.
Delta has a seat back IFE on some 757 and 737 planes. It offers 16 channels of Live TV for domestic flights, some premium HBO content and also games to play. The games are a neat way to kill time, but my experience was that some of the monitors just weren't working at all, and that not all channels on the Live TV were operational, limiting me to about 12 options. Delta's seat back IFE also offers MP3 listening and the selection is quite diverse. If this was available on a much wider range of planes that Delta uses, this would actually be a better system. The flight tracking channel is also superior to JetBlue's as well. Unfortunately, on other longer haul products, movies are still shown on in flight monitors, that barely work. Audio jacks are often inoperational as well. And on many flights, the only in-flight entertainment is the kid behind you kicking your seat.
In Flight Service - Toss Up
Jet Blue offers unlimited snacks, but never a meal. Delta offers meals internationally still, but otherwise offers snack packs. The signature JetBlue snack is Terra Blue potato chips. These are kind of nasty. The signature Delta snack is the Biscoff cookie, which I have a love affair with. Both airlines have had excellent service from the flight crew, so I have no real fault here.
Winner: JetBlue (but just barely)
If I'm flying domestic, and I'm flying a long distance, I'm sticking with JetBlue, even it's a little more. The better TV product, the more space to put my legs in wins out over a better terminal experience. However, Delta wins on network. There are very few places that Delta can't get me to, while JetBlue has very little service to the midwest from the northeast, the route I'm most likely to fly.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Sunday Internet Roundup
So here's what I've noticed online lately.
You will need a passport to leave the US soon. And its sooner than you may have thought. The USA Today reported that you'll need a passport to leave the country by any method other than a cruise ship starting as early as January 31. Cruise ships to the Bahamas, Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean are exempt until sometime this summer - they haven't announced that date yet.
Whether its in Germany or on Amtrak, train rides can be a lot more challenging than you've ever thought. Brave New Traveler has some good tips on surviving a long trip on a slow train.
JetBlue is going wireless on its flights. Yahoo IM and Yahoo mail as well as your Blackberry mail will all work aboard one specific JetBlue plane starting on Monday, this news coming courtesy of The Cranky Flier.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Thursday is a getaway day!
Sorry about lack of updates for the last couple days. Been getting ready for a weekend trip to Columbus, Ohio. We're flying Jet Blue and this will be my second experience on the airline within a month. I have to say that my first experience was really quite positive. Good TV, pleasant seatmates, nice assortment of snacks. The only downside is a 6 hour flight with just potato chips and cookies to eat can be a bit long. Especially when House Hunters is a rerun. But still, I was very impressed with the service and me and a friend got a great deal to fly to Ohio for a weekend.
I went to college there and am looking forward to it. As for the flight, not so sure. Flying a smaller jet than their Airbus, and Turbulence Forecast has alerted me to possibility of up to moderate turbulence. Moderate turbulence never feels moderate to me. But with a five dollar beer, I'm sure I'll be just fine. Catch you on the flipside!
Sorry about lack of updates for the last couple days. Been getting ready for a weekend trip to Columbus, Ohio. We're flying Jet Blue and this will be my second experience on the airline within a month. I have to say that my first experience was really quite positive. Good TV, pleasant seatmates, nice assortment of snacks. The only downside is a 6 hour flight with just potato chips and cookies to eat can be a bit long. Especially when House Hunters is a rerun. But still, I was very impressed with the service and me and a friend got a great deal to fly to Ohio for a weekend.
I went to college there and am looking forward to it. As for the flight, not so sure. Flying a smaller jet than their Airbus, and Turbulence Forecast has alerted me to possibility of up to moderate turbulence. Moderate turbulence never feels moderate to me. But with a five dollar beer, I'm sure I'll be just fine. Catch you on the flipside!
Labels: airports, fear of flying, jet blue, turbulence
