Hello TICKET Readers: Welcome back from a
long, hot summer. September is one of the slowest
months of the year for air travel, so if you are out
there, enjoy the calm! If not, enjoy the (mostly)
fine weather at home...unless of course you live in
the path of a hurricane. Try to forget about what's
happening on Wall Street.
In this issue, we've got:
Novelty: Buying an upgrade inflight
Analysis: Oil prices tumble but fees and fuel
charges are here to stay
Double Miles: AirTran and Delta both double up
on September miles
Second Look: Will Delta really get inflight
wi-fi this year?
Painful News: Delta’s new three-tier award chart
broken down for you
Destinations: Delta beefs up skeds to Caribbean
and Latin America
Porn: Marriott skirmishes with “Christian” right
over in-room adult
entertainment channels
AIRLINE NEWS
BUY AN UPGRADE IN FLIGHT? Yes, you can. Have you ever been stuck back in coach and peered up at an
empty seat up in first class and thought, “Dang, I’d
have paid a few bucks extra to sit up there?” With
AirTran’s new “Upgrades in Flight” program, you can.
AirTran spokesperson Tad Hutcheson tells THE TICKET,
“Once the flight has reached cruising altitude at
10,000 feet and there’s an available seat in
business class, we’ll make an announcement that it’s
available [for $49 to $99 based on flight length].
If someone is interested in upgrading, they will
ring their call button, the flight attendant will
come by and swipe their credit card for the upgrade
fee and then help move them up front.” The program
is just in the beta stage, so don’t count on it
across all flights yet….
“CHEAP” OIL.
The cost of a barrel of crude keeps dropping,
crashing through the $100 barrier yesterday and
closing in on $90 as we go to press. Don’t forget
that when the price of oil was spiking back in July,
the U.S. Air Transport Association said, “Every $1
increase in the price of a barrel of oil adds $465
million in annual fuel expenses for the airline
industry.” Following that logic, with oil tumbling
around $50 from a high of $147 to the current $92,
U.S. carriers have SAVED about $25 billion in annual
fuel expenses over the past couple months. While we
don’t think that this means airlines are going to
renege on the menu of new fees they have foisted on
us in recent months (United had the gall to increase
its baggage fees again this week—and blame the
increase on fuel costs), it could mean that some of
the second round capacity cuts under consideration
for the winter months may not come to pass.
Perspective: This time last year a barrel of oil ran
about $75 per barrel. The widget below should show the current market price per barrel.
DELTA AWARD TICKET FEES.
The crash in oil prices also makes us wonder when
Delta is going to delete those irritating $50-$75
fees (billed as “fuel surcharges") for the honor of
redeeming our hard earned SkyMiles for what used to
be “free” trips. So far, Delta’s mum on this.
IFFY WI-FI.
When American and JetBlue rolled out test flights
with Wi-Fi access this summer,
Delta chimed in that it too would soon have
access, and even claimed that it would be testing it
by the end of this year, and that its entire
domestic mainline fleet would be wired by next
summer. With about three months to go until the end
of the year, Delta still has not announced any firm
dates for tests or rollouts. Here’s what Delta tells
THE TICKET: “We
plan to have our first aircraft in service with
Wi-Fi by the end of 2008 with broader installation
on more than 330 mainline aircraft by summer 2009.
Initial installation and testing will begin this
fall on the MD-88/MD-90 fleet, which will become the
first Delta aircraft to feature Wi-Fi.” Gogo
Inflight, the company providing the Wi-Fi systems
has a page on its website showing airlines and
routes where inflight wi-fi is currently available.
The page shows only American’s flights between NY,
Miami, LA and SF. Links to Delta and Virgin America
say “Coming soon.”
CUSTOMER SUES DELTA AND WINS. There’s an interesting story in the first few pages of FORTUNE
magazine’s Sept 15 issue about Mitchell Burns, a
securities litigator who sued Delta for the $838 and
won. It seems Delta canceled his Las Vegas-New York
flight for what it claims were “weather related”
reasons. Funny thing: other carriers were having no
problems flying from Vegas to Kennedy that night.
Burns sued Delta for the $838 he had to pay JetBlue
to fly him home that night.
Here’s the full story.
AIRTRAN’S BAG OF TRICKS.
We hear from insiders that AirTran is working out a
deal with SkyMall to offer passengers select catalog
items in-flight. Flight attendants will load a large
suitcase full of these items onboard, and then
display them from their service carts in-flight.
Items most likely to be included: gifts for kids,
phone/PDA chargers, travel-related gadgets…. Stay
tuned for an announcement next month.
COCKTAILS ON DELTA.
Just when you need a drink more than ever, Delta has
raised in-flight beverage prices twice in the last
couple months. First was an increase from $5 to $6
earlier this year. And just last month, the price
jumped to $7 for beer, wine or cocktails.
AIRTRAN HEADSETS. TICKET reader L Heldt noticed that AirTran was no longer handing out
free headsets at check-in for use with the carrier’s
free XM radio service. We queried AirTran about this
and discovered that passengers can still request
free headsets from flight attendants. AirTran
noticed that most people preferred to use their own
headsets when listening to XM.
EVEN AIRTRAN GETS THE BLUES.
While AirTran has reported a string of big ridership
increases, the poor economy is taking its toll
there, too. In August, it announced that it would
furlough 169 pilots. While it’s not making capacity
cuts as deep as other airlines this fall, it will
cease all flights to Savannah on Oct 27. In
addition, AirTran has joined most major airlines
imposing a $25 fee for the second checked bag.
Atlanta flyers are lucky that both Delta and AirTran
do NOT charge for the first checked bag. Delta’s fee
for a second bag is $50.
DELTA DOMINANCE.
According to recent numbers from the
Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Delta and
partner ASA have 68% of the ATL market. AirTran has
22%. Next is American with 2%. Continental’s got 1%
and “other” airlines have 7% total.
TRY THE WHIRLY-BIRD.
Delta is pulling out all the stops in its attempt to
get us to try the service from partner US Helicopter
between Kennedy and Manhattan. While most ATL-based
travelers use La Guardia or Newark (where ‘copter
service is not available), it might be worth it to
fly in to JFK, at least for the novelty, and give it
a go. From now though the end of October, fares are
only $45 each way if you are traveling on pricier B,
M or H coded coach fares.
Details here.
THE
TASTE OF THE TICKET.
Restaurant Eugene has long been one of your TICKET
editor Chris McGinnis's favorite restaurants in Atlanta.
He's now eager to check out it's newest sibling located
next door on Peachtree Road in south Buckhead.
Want to hear more? Then check out the latest dispatch
from our fearless taste-tester in
THE TASTE OF THE TICKET!
DID YOU KNOW....that
THE TASTE OF THE TICKET is one of the most popular
elements of THE TICKET newsletter-- thousands of readers
check it out every month!
FREQUENT FLIER NEWS
NEW AWARD STRUCTURE FOR SKYMILES.
Delta has switched to a new three-tier award
structure, adding a new “middle” tier to redemption
choices. Here’s what it will mean for you:
>LOW END:
you can still try to redeem 25,000 miles for a free
domestic roundtrip in coach (45,000 in first), but
seats will be few and far between, and when you do
find them, they’ll be on inconvenient or multi-stop
itineraries. Yuck.
>MID-TIER:
Pony up 40,000 miles and you’ll improve your chances
of finding a domestic coach seat on more popular
flights. (It’ll run you 80,000 for first).
>HIGH END:
You can get the last seat available on any domestic
flight for 60,000 miles in coach, or 100,000 miles
in first.
>INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CLASS:
Freakishly high rates…the three tiers for flights to
Europe: 100,000, 200,000 and an outlandish 350,000.
Asia’s even worse: 120,000, 240,000 and 370,000. If
you are looking for a quick way to dump your miles,
there you have it.
>Delta’s also snuck in some
flat out increases
in the cheapest redemption levels: Coach to Hawaii
is now 40,000 miles, up from 35,000. Flights to the
Caribbean will now cost you 35,000 miles, up from
30,000; Europe in coach is now 60,000 miles, up from
50,000. Plus, there are those previously mentioned
pesky “fuel surcharges” of $25 to $50 for SkyMiles
redemptions starting this month.
REDEEM SKYMILES AT LEAST 21 DAYS IN ADVANCE.
Or pay up. Delta has ramped up the fees for those
redeeming SkyMiles for trips inside a three-week
window (only Platinum medallions are exempted)
….here’s the new deal:
more than 21 days in advance of your flight, no
fee
8-20 days: $75
4-7 days: $100
3 days or less: $150
AIRTRAN A-PLUS CHANGES: Just in time for the fall business travel season, AirTran has made
changes for elite members of its frequent flyer
program. While we were hoping that AirTran would
extend its one-year expiration on unused miles (two
years for A-Plus Visa Card holders) here what Elites
get instead:
>Upgrades to business class at the gate starting 40
minutes prior to departure, regardless of fare class
purchased and based on availability. Your travel
companion may be upgraded if the flight is booked on
the same reservation.
>Priority standby status.
>An exclusive phone number for calls and questions
regarding their program, reservations or
redemptions. (Find it when you log in with your
account number at
www.aplusrewards.com.
>Reciprocal privileges as Summit members on Frontier
Airlines. (Including free inflight TV and bevs and
no change fees.
DOUBLE POINTS AT AIRTRAN AND DELTA. Atlanta-area members of AirTran’s A-Plus program can now earn four
points for each round trip in coach. Good through
Sept 30 for trips originating in ATL only. You must
register to earn the points. Never one to let a good
AirTran promo go by without matching it, Delta’s now
offering double SkyMiles—but only in markets where
it competes with AirTran.
Delta registration |
AirTran Registration
DELTA’S DOUBLE BOOKING BONUS.
Book your next Delta trip online and pay with AMEX
and you’ll earn 1000 bonus miles.
Registration is required.
Don’t
Forget! BOOK ALL YOUR ONLINE TRAVEL VIA
LINKS FROM THE TICKET!
DELTA TRIMS IN TALLAHASSEE.
In October, Delta is cutting intra-Florida RJ
flights connecting Tallahassee to: Ft Lauderdale,
Orlando, Miami and Tampa.
DELTA’S ATL MARTA STATION CHECK IN COUNTER.
From TICKET Reader F Martin: “I was shocked several
months ago to get off MARTA and find that convenient
Delta counter closed. (I had always ordered a
wheelchair from there.) I had to drag my carryon bag
with great difficulty a VERY LONG
way before I could find any Delta help. As a result
I had to switch to AirTran which does still have a
counter near the MARTA airport station...Is there
any way we could get Delta to open up this counter
again? Would deeply appreciate your help. So
grateful for your newsletter.” Sorry Mrs. Martin…
Bad news from Delta: “Delta replaced the MARTA
check-in counter with dedicated kiosks as part of
our overall lobby redesign in Atlanta . . .
Customers can still check in via kiosk at the MARTA
station and then drop bags at our baggage drop
stations in the main terminal with no waiting.”
CLEARING FOR
ATL CLEAR? The long awaited CLEAR lanes
(expedited security lines for those willing to pay
$120 per year) slated for ATL could open as soon as
the end of this month....but nobody is ready to
commit to a date yet.
www.flyclear.com
DELTA SHRINKS FOOTPRINT AT CINCY.
Well, of course we all knew this was coming…all you
have to do is look at a map to know that it does not
make sense for Delta to maintain a big hub in
Cincinnati when potential merger partner Northwest
has all those fancy terminals up I-75 in Detroit.
Sure enough, Delta has announced that it’s giving up
on CVG’s Concourse C and will consolidate all
operations into concourses A and B. For now, Delta
says that the changes will not immediately result in
any schedule changes. Stay tuned…
AA DUMPS LGA FLIGHTS.
American Airlines is abandoning its five daily
nonstop flights between Atlanta and La Guardia next
month. That’s too bad as its gates right there at
the T Concourse made a flight to NYC feel like the
good old days when you could walk to your flight on
both ends of NY trips.
MORE
DELTA TO BRAZIL. Starting in December,
you can fly Delta from ATL to three new cities in
Brazil: Manaus, Fortaleza and Recife (in addition to
current flights to Rio and Sao Paolo.) Not a bad
idea if you are looking to unload some SkyMiles for
a sunny trip this winter….
Manaus is the capital of Amazonas, Brazil’s largest
state and home to the region’s main port. Recife,
the capital of the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, is
a gateway to famous tropical beaches. Fortaleza, the
capital of the state of Ceará, lies on the shore of
the Atlantic Ocean, in the northeast of Brazil,
offering 16 miles of urban beaches.
MORE DELTA FLIGHTS TO WARM PLACES.
Delta is beefing up its winter skeds to the
Caribbean. Starting Dec. 20, 2008 Delta will add
additional nonstops from ATL to: Aruba (second daily
flight); George Town, Cayman Islands (second
Saturday flight); Montego Bay, Jamaica (third daily
flight); Providenciales; Turks and Caicos (second
Saturday flight); Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
(second daily flight); and St. Maarten (second
Saturday flight). New nonstops from ATL depart in
December for Tegucigalpa, Honduras and Santiago de
los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. Delta also will
add four weekly flights between Atlanta and St.
Thomas on December 18.
HOTEL NEWS
HARDER
PORN AT MARRIOTT. Marriott has been quietly
fighting off attempts from Christian right
organizations such as Focus on the Family to
remove or restrict profitable pay-per-view adult
entertainment options from its in-room TVs. One of
their suggestions: Make users call the front desk to
order up the porn channels. Marriott apparently held
its ground and will still offer a full menu to
guests. However, Marriott did agree to add a few
more hurdles during the request process—it “will
implement two pop-up warnings on the TV screen that
state that the following material is adult-oriented
and only those who are at least 18 years old can
view it. Viewers must then press activators to
continue,” according to the Colorado Springs
Gazette.
INTERESTING REDEMPTION TWIST FOR STARWOOD. Starwood Preferred Guest members can now use their points to “buy”
airline tickets on most major domestic and
international airlines. However the flights are not
cheap—fares up to $150 cost 10,000 Starpoints and go
up from there. You’d do a lot better using your
points for hotel stays, but hey, it’s an option.
Don’t
Forget! BOOK ALL YOUR ONLINE TRAVEL VIA
LINKS FROM THE TICKET!
GOT A COMMENT, TIP OR ADVICE YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE?
Email us and it could end up in a future issue
of THE TICKET! Send yours to
ticketatl@travelskills.com. Thanks!
A FRIENDLY
REMINDER:
Luv ya! Mean it! Return the love by booking your
travel via links in THE TICKET! We need readers to book all trips on links
embedded in the newsletter or
portal. Remember, doing so helps us help you. Thanks in advance! (Just click
on the ads to the right, or the links below!)
See
you again next month or sooner with a NEWSBITE if or
when hot news breaks.
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