Normally, I find golden paint tacky, but I really like what LOT did with this bird.

LOT's special livery on this 737-400 celebrates the introduction of democracy in Poland

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Along with Maldives, Britsh Airways will launch Sharm El Sheikh and Punta Cana. It’s a shame they aren’t running the flights from Heathrow, but British Airways’ holiday flights now tend to operate from Gatwick.

I was wondering which full service European airline will take the “plunge” (pun intended) and fly to the Maldives first. I remember reading about LOT planning flights from Warsaw and Virgin Atlantic wanting to start flights from London- Heathrow. Guess they were too slow as Sri Lankan airlines launched the flights first. Personally, I was betting on Lufthansa from Frankfurt or Swiss from Zurich.

Normally, I don’t blog about other airline’s routes aside from Star Alliance, but the Maldives are a destination that’s close to my heart and to which I plant to return to. Plus, I could redeem some of my AA miles on the new flight and try out Club World cabin on British Airways.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Apparently, Twitter is the newest addition to United’s marketing plan. They have a “friendly being” who could or could not be UnitedPR on FlyerTalk twitting away at other people. He or she is alerting subscribers of United’s most recent fare sales and bonus mile offers. He or she is also offering advice, talking aviation and sharing behind the scenes tid bits. Given my general disdain for United Airlines and my curiosity if such “friendly being” will reply to absolutely anyone, I’ve decided to twit @unitedairlines:

@unitedairlines joins @usairways on Twitter! Does it mean United is dropping StarNet blocking and becoming the good guy like US Airways?

Talk about asking a loaded question! For those of you that don’t know what StarNet is, it’s the a program that makes your United miles basically worthplace should you choose to redeem on Star Alliance partners.  United uses StarNet to block the majority of available award seats on Star Alliance member carriers like Lufthansa, Air New Zealand or Singapore Airlines. This is the opposite of what US Airways does, which matches all award availability that the other Star Alliance members release. I guess I don’t have to tell you who the good guy is…

Let’s see what they [UnitedAirlines] say!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

I’ve decided to start promoting LOT Polish Airlines on my blog and this should soon extend to the Kinglobjaw.com website. Like US Airways, LOT has a very rich history spanning decades. While I haven’t flown LOT for quite a while, I disagree with people claiming Poland doesn’t really need a flag carrier. Low cost airlines and regionals come and go, but a flag carrier is forever!

I’m sure my efforts will not turn people into ticketing madness or proclaim loyalty; I’m simply trying to make everyone aware of where LOT flies and “what’s up” with LOT. I hope you find the information interesting and useful.

Visit http://www.twitter.com/LOTpolish to get updates on LOT Polish Airlines, the airlines’ routes, specials and developing information.

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Sure, it is related to the fact that I’m Polish and I want to see my country suceed with new international air routes, but I also see it as a sound business decision for the Star Alliance member carrier.

I know for a fact that US Airways is interested in starting nonstop service to Moscow, Russia (DME specifically), and I’m sure the route will do well, but WAW is an established Eastern European Star Alliance hub. LOT offers daily service to major Eastern European cities- an area which is a “gap” within the alliance. Since the B757 doesn’t have the range to fly this route at full capacity, a 767 would be sufficient.

Other routes I’d like to see:

• Salt Lake City (SLC) served from an East Coast hub
• Washington Reagan (DCA) perimeter exemptions for US to fly DCA-LAX/SFO/SAN
• Tokyo, Japan (NRT)
• Viennia, Austria (VIE)
• Naples, Florida
• POS, Port Of Spain, Trinind & Tobago from CLT
• PHX- San Juan, Puerto Rico
• CLT-PVR (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico)

Some are wishful thinking, I know. I’m actually riding a train as I type this, so I am sort of bored, bur I wanted to sharing some raw and just put it out there. Comments appreciated. If you have a route you deem interesting, yet still realistic, share that as well!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

"Grounded" LOT B767

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

Here’s the part I’ve been meaning to talk about. My Mom’s friend is about 50 years old, so she’s not that old, but has this silly infantile notion that schedules never change. Let’s take flight LO3852 from WRO-WAW departing at 9AM. In the past, the flight would leave at 9:10AM, or so she claims. She can’t seem to understand that some flights get pulled or have schedule changes. She goes “No, No, there is no flight at 9:00AM, it leaves at 9:10AM!”. I am a perfectionist, so yes 10 minutes does make a difference, but in this case there is no flight at 9:10AM anymore. It now leaves at 9:00AM. Period.

Same, odd situation on the return. We were talking about LO4 which leaves ORD at 9:55PM and flies nonstop to WAW. ImmediatelyI heard her say, “9:50PM”. I let it slide, and later on when she was reading back the flights, she said “leaving Chicago at 9:50PM”. Back and forth we go. In the end I forced it in her hed. LO4 now leaves at 9:55PM. Good, the King is done here- put the flight on hold and will ticket tommorow over the phone or maybe on Orbitz.

I understand this post is more like a rant, but I’m curious to see if other people’s parents or older family/friends do that sort of thing? Maybe it’s a generational thing!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

In Warsaw, Poland (WAW), LOT Polish Airlines launches Warsaw- Beijing, China (PEK) service on the 767. The service will operate on a weekly basis, and as soon as LOT takes delivery of their 787, it will be one of the first routes to see this aircraft. Good thing LOT has some codeshare agreements in Asia, and the flight is timed to ‘grab’ inbound connections from USA. EWR-WAW-PEK anyone?

March 29-30, 2008 is also the weekend a bulk of new LHR flights commence with a lot of first ever services provided by first-time-ever-at-LHR airlines. United’s Denver- LHR, Continental’s Newark- LHR and Houston- LHR, Delta’s JFK- LHR, Atlanta- LHR as well as Northwest’s Minneapolis- LHR are all new. American Airlines also brings Raleigh/Durham (RDU) and Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) nonstops to LHR as of March 30, 2008. Blue1 goes Helsinki (HEL)- LHR as of March 30, 2008. And while this may be an odd one, Air France will fly from LHR to Los Angeles (LAX) beginning on March 31, 2008. I honestly don’t think that will work out. Bon Voyage however!

Today, London Heathrow opened it’s fifth and newest terminal. Check it out here. Like it’s partners and rivals from the USA, British Airways also starts out new service on March 30, 2008, and may I add all from London Heathrow:

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark

I think this is excellent news. Not only will it increase healthy competition on the Philadelphia-London market, but it will also make for convenient and timely connections to Star Alliance partners out of Heathrow.

For a passenger like myself, flying to Poland on US Airways currently invloves two seperate tickets and an overnight in London on the return, should I connect through London. Now, the new PHL-LHR flight times are set up perfectly for connections in both directions. On the way out, I get in at 11:05 A.M. No need to change airports, and I will make a connection to a LOT or Lufthansa flight going to Poland. On the way back, the flight to Philly leaves 12:50 P.M. Before, even if I took the earliest flight from Poland leaving at 6.A.M., I would still not make it in time to be able to change airports and connect to a US Airways flight from Gatwick. Now, I have 3 things working to my benefit: a) The Philly flight leaves almost 2 hours later than the US Airways Gatwick flights, b) I don’t have to change airports in London and c) By March of 2008 all Star Alliance carriers will co-locate at Terminal 1, meaning I don’t have to change terminal facilities. For those travelling to Europe, this is very exciting news!

Have a nice clicK life,

-Mark