Kinglobjaw's Blog

Archive for the ‘Airline News’ Category

After about one year of membership, I’ve decided to cancel my SkyGuide Executive Privilege Club. Why? Because, getting these $50 refunds for airline lounge day passes has really become a nuissance. I just rather sit in the terminal next time and enjoy my Dell Mini. Honestly? I will kind of miss that lousy Delta SkyClub at Chicago O’Hare’s Terminal 2.

Still, purchasing a $50 day pass and then having to mail receipts is easy enough! So why am I cancelling? Well, aside from having to wait 8-10 weeks for a reimbursement check, I now have to keep calling various customer service numbers which may or may not transfer me to the correct department. Plus, next year’s membership fee is $199. I’m done…

In the past, I would recommend this membership option for accessing additional lounges, but now I say- just skip it. Stick only to your Club membership or get another one. Besides, with my US Airways Club option now offering United and Continental lounges, I’m literally covered in a lot of places!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Upon deplaning US1 on Monday, I found out about Dividend Miles’ new award structure on US Airways operated flights. Needless to say, I wasn’t too happy about the change, but I am understanding and still grateful as the value is still better than other airline’s award structure! That said, I am now eagerly waiting for a chart that will include Star Alliance partner flights. I’ll be soon booking a First and/or Business class award to Thailand and am wondering if I should ticket before January 6, 2010 or after. Probably, the former…

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Well sort of. Pod-cast is the proper term. If you’re into this frequent flyer madness- then you’ve probably already heard of UPGRD. They record a new episode every week discussing airline travel, frequent flyer/stay programs and airline news among other things.

This past Thursday I spent an enjoyable evening discussing US Airways and Dividend Miles along with Mike, Fozz, Hunter and Ben.

Aside from US Airways, we also spoke about Delta’s over-fly incident, personal choices on which airline to fly out of Boston Logan, and a nasty incident that involved me, a flight attendant, Iceland and a London to Charlotte US Airways flight.

Tempting, isn’t it? Listen here. Or external player, if you prefer.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

I remember the moment distinctly- I was at the gym. It’s that email ding on the iTouch, that makes me pause for a moment and check my email. Usually, it’s the regular, ie newsletters or updates or sales or spam. This one was different. It’s subject? – “Worldwide access- over 250 clubs“. Very catchy!

Basically, US Airways has improved their already decent Club product by getting rid of pricier membership tiers and offering a single, “all-inclusive” membership. A simple US Airways Club membership will now include:

• Unlimited access to Continental Airlines President’s Clubs with any Star Alliance flight (does not have to be CO)
• Unlimited access to all Star Alliance lounges when on a Star Alliance member flight
• Unlimited access to United Red Carpet Clubs (you must however be flying on United which is what the old rule stated and frankly, I think it’s horrible they kept this requirement since I avoid UA like the plague, among other things :] )
• FREE alcohol! Unlimited beer and house wines. You still have to pay for the premium drinks, but US Airways Clubs are now ahead of United and American lounges. I know this benefit doesn’t do me any good until October 17, 2010, but the benefit is there!

On the other hand membership prices are changing and rising up slightly. Let’s take a look at the new cost structure.

Chairman’s- OLD: $315; NEW: $325

Platinum/Gold/Silver- OLD: $315; NEW: $375

Non-elite member: OLD:  $450; NEW: $450 (correct if this comparison is incorrect).

While the new membership fees are higher, they are still cheaper than United’s membership option. What is neat is there is no application/activation fee. Also, the fact they now offer free alcohol and access to all partner lounges is definitely worth the $10 or $60 increase.

I just wish that they would drop the requirement for the same-day United flights, since I could really use the United RCC at O’Hare’s T2, but I’m always flying out on good ‘ol US Airways.

Just so you know, benefits kick-in on October 30, 2009 and the new Club cards with United’s, Continental’s and Star Alliance’s logo will be sent out in December 2009.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Double connections are getting harder to work with in terms of price, when it comes to US Airways domestic! This is not a complaint, nor a legit one, even if I tried, but it seems that when I force a double connect, US really bumps up the price. I mean really! I can’t do Chicago to San Diego via Vegas and Phoenix. I can’t do Seattle to Miami via Phoenix and Philadelphia. I can’t even do Boston to Ft. Myers via DC and Charlotte! It does change when I put in San Juan or international destinations- I can suddenly do up to 4 per direction keeping the same price!

Another exception is a flying from a “West” city to an “East” city. For example, a flight from Portland, Oregon (an America West only city) to Miami, FL (a US Airways only city). I have to route via both Phoenix and an eastern hub.

With the decent fares from Chicago to Ft. Myers, I’m looking at doing a leg from Ft. Myers out west-  maybe Denver or Salt Lake City? Definitely a ski destination so I can get 2,500 bonus miles and 5% off the fare to further maximise.

I’m planning to visit another friend in San Diego in November or December. I wonder how I can work a simple Chicago to San Diego trip to my advantage, or should I say to my DM account’s advantage. Hehe…

One final tidbit. I just realized the 757 I’m flying from Philly to Phoenix later this month actually an Envoy configuration! Must clear the upgrade on this one!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

I was busy the entire day today and I got the press release via text in church and it has been bugging me all day to see the new US Airways Envoy Suite. I’m a big fan of US Airways, but in all honesty , the Envoy Suite looks world class. If not told what airline was introducing the new business class and if shown to me in another color (Singapore’s brown/khaki would look good on this seat), I would expect an Asian or European carrier like ANA or Swiss to launch this seat. US Airways even made a snazzy flash tour to feature & promote the new product. Very classy approach.

What’s nice is that the herringbone layout of a 1-2-1 configuration a la Air Canada or Air New Zealand faces away from the aisle for more privacy and comfort. Everyone gets aisle access which is superior to what United or American Airlines can offer in business class, or even Lufthansa in business and 747 First Class!

A couple of thoughts do remain, however:

• Why must it take so long to re-configure the A333? Summer 2012 seems far away from today.
• What will be the new Envoy seat count on the A333? Will they remove some coach seats or will the Envoy cabin be very tiny, but exclusive.
• I rarely rely on IFE since I can always find something to do, but the 12.1 inch screens seems a bit small. 15 inch or higher would be more appropriate.
• For a short while, US Airways will offer 5 different Envoy configurations- 767, new Envoy Suite on A332, old Envoy A333, old Envoy A332 and old Envoy 757. The latter three being very similar.

How do you feel about the new Envoy Suite? Sound off below. Some FlyerTalkers are already complaining that too many couples will be seated alone. Still, I doubt they’ll be getting a separation after a 12 or 13 hour flight in such comfort!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Charlotte to Rio de Janeiro. It was supposed to start on 12/2. I know it by heart; I was going to fly that inaugural flight all the way down to Rio de Janeiro. Initial information I received mentions Brazil denying US Airways acess to serve Brazil for the first two weeks of December 2009.

That would make sense since I scanned availability and everything is zeroed out in both direction and both classes of servcie until 12/15.

The 15th of December shows an unsually early 8:30PM departure from Charlotte. The 16th (interestingly enough, two weeks after the Rio service should have commenced) shows a scheduled departure time. The first northbound flight would operate from Rio back to Charlotte on the 16th of December.

Since I still have plans to fly the inaugural southbound flight, I am eagerly waiting to confirm with Scott Kirby, the new inaugural flight date and the reason behind the change.

I will update as soon as I have more information.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Just got a letter from US Airways MasterCard informing me that my card has been upgraded to Dividend Miles Select benefits. This is really nothing more than a snazzy way to tell me that I have two new benefits associated with my card. Benefits that make this great card a truly awesome and one of a kind airline miles card. Very similar to what Continental does with one of their credit cards by waiving bag fees for card holders. No bag fees waived here, which I don’t really care about since I already hold Preferred status, thus all my bags fly free.  Here’s what I can look forward to:

• A 5,000 mileage discount on all award tickets booked. This would indicate that a Domestic Saver coach award round-trip would cost 20,000 miles instead of 25,000
• Award processing fee waiver which equals to $ savings

I don’t feel like going over the full rules and restrictions, but I’ve attached a detailed scan of the brochure. It’s large and clear enough so you can read through all the rules here (2.2MB size).

Here’s a smaller version of the front and the back of the brochure,

Unfortunately, there isn’t a promo code one can mention when calling US Airways, so it’ll take some time for an agent to locate information for the new benefits. Involving a supervisor would be the best procedure, for now at least. A supervisor was able to assist and pull up information quickly, while a basic agent told me he never heard of this before, which is understandable given the benefits haven’t even started.

My Mom also carries this card, but hasn’t received this letter yet. I’m wondering if I should call Barclays bank to find out whether she is also a DM Select card holder.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

US Airways Chairman’s, Platinum, Gold and Silver members now earn a preferred mileage bonus on all Lufthansa flights.

A 5,806 miles one way L.A. to Frankfurt nonstop will earn a different bonus for each tier:

• Chairman’s (100% bonus) – an additional 5,806 miles per direction
• Platinum (75% bonus)- an additional 4,355 miles per direction
• Gold (50% bonus)- an additional 2,903 miles per direction
• Silver (25% bonus)- an additional 1,452 miles per direction

Keep in mind, these bonus miles don’t count towards Preferred status requalification. They are only redeemable miles for future award redemptions.

I always thought Lufthansa flights should be part of the Preferred bonus. Aside from United, Lufthansa is the second closest partner US Airways has! For a while, the bonus was also offered on all ANA, but I have no clue as to how ANA was picked by US Airways. That said, ANA no longer participates in the preferred bonus. Neither does Hawaiian Airlines.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Charlotte, NC to Honolulu nonstop on US Airways is supposed to start in November 2009. The extra 767 for this route will come from one of the three now officially downgraded to seasonal European routes (Brussels, Milan, Zurich). Apparently, this will be a seasonal route that will operate until Summer 2010 and resume in fall 2010 again. It will most likely affect Delta’s nonstop 747 service from Atlanta, GA to Honolulu, HI.

Charlotte, NC to Honolulu, HI. 4,678 miles.

I will definitely take this flight into consideration when I go to Kauai next year. I’m assuming the meal service will be lunch or dinner followed by pre-arrival snack westbound, while the east bound will most likely offer dinner, followed by breakfast prior to landing. That’s in First Class, of course. In coach, I’m going to guess that meal service will be complementary to compete with Delta.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark