Free Admission to Sacramento Museums and Attractions

Enjoy free admission to several Sacramento-area museums and attractions on Saturday, February 6th in celebration of the 12th annual Sacramento Museum Day. Over 25 organizations are participating, including the California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento Zoo, Fairytale Town, and Explorit Science Center. Sounds like a great day trip with friends or the family to Sac-Town. Click here for more information and to see a list of participating museums.

Image: A restored Concord Stagecoach from the Wells Fargo History Museum in Old Sacramento.

Discarded Toiletries From Airports May Be Donated

Despite established TSA rules limiting the amount of liquids that can be brought through security, each day thousands of pounds of toothpaste, shampoo and other liquid products are discarded at airport security.

According to a KOVR-13 (Sacramento) news report, a successful trial in Fresno and Bakersfield is prompting one state lawmaker to consider mandating discarded items be donated to charity, rather than simply thrown away.

Read more here. Video is located to the right of the article.

U.S Airways Adds Two Transcontinental Routes from Sacramento

Great News for travelers to and from Sacramento!
On Monday U.S Airways announced three new cross country flights beginning this summer. Of these, two are non-stop flights from Sacramento to U.S Air hubs in Philadelphia and Charlotte. This compliments existing service into hubs in Phoenix and Las Vegas, acquired from the America West merger.

“We are thrilled with the addition of these two great cities to our non-stop service here in Sacramento,” said G. Hardy Acree, director of airports for the Sacramento County Airport System. “We have a great working partnership with US Airways and we are confident that our travelers will embrace these two new flight opportunities.”

The new routes begin June 3rd, and will be operated by Airbus 320 aircraft.
Schedule:
Sacramento to Philadelphia - Departs 8:30am, arrives 4:31pm
Sacramento to Charlotte - Departs 10:30pm, arrives 6:10am

ExpressJet Inaugurates Sacramento-Bakersfield this week

Airline begins non-stop service from Sacramento to Bakersfield CA on September 9th.

Scheduled daily departute out of Sacramento is 635pm arriving Bakersfield at 7:37pm.

The route will be operated by an Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft configured with no middle seats. ExpressJet also offers premium in-flight service including upgraded entertainment with more than 100 channels of free XM® Satellite radio, complimentary recognized name-brand snacks and cushioned leather seating.

ExpressJet flies non-stop to other small to medium size markets as well: Sacramento, CA
Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Spokane, Tucson and Tulsa.

They also flight non-stop between Monterey and San Diego and Ontario.

Official Website for ExpressJet

Sacramento to Cabo San Lucas $220 Roundtrip incl taxes

HOT fare! American Airlines is offering Sacramento to Cabo, Mexico for $220 round-trip with taxes included. Valid September 1 to October 15th. Non-stop or 1 stop service via Dallas available. Visit Farecompare.com or AA.com for availability.

Frontier Airlines connects Bay Area to Puerto Vallarta

Frontier Airlines continues to expand their Mexico service from the Bay Area. In a press release this week, the airline announced flights from Sacramento and San Jose to Puerto Vallarta will commence on December 15th - just in time to plan a winter escape out of state.

To ignite some interest, the airline is offering double EarlyReturns miles and tickets as low as $119 each way. See new routes page. Tickets are available for purchase on the Frontier Airlines website now.

Sacramento - Puerto Vallarta
Departs 3:15 p.m. Arrvies 8:45 p.m.
Monday, Thursday, and Saturday

Departs 7:00 a.m. Arrives 12:30 p.m.
Sunday

San Jose CA - Puerto Vallarta
Departs 7:00 a.m. Arrives 12:30 p.m.
Tuesday and Friday

Departs 10:55 a.m. Arrvies 4:10pm
Saturday

Southwest Airlines Intra-California Sale

Though not the best fares Southwest sometimes offers, these aren't so bad either.
Book by August 23 for travel August 28 through January 11, 2008. Fares are each way.
14 Day advance purchase on these tickets, valid most days (including peak travel days Friday & Sunday!)

Oakland, CA $49 to/from
Burbank, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Ontario, CA
San Diego, CA

Sacramento, CA $49 to/from
Burbank, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Ontario, CA
San Diego, CA

San Jose, CA $49 to/from
Burbank, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Ontario, CA
San Diego, CA

San Francisco, CA$49 to/from
San Diego, CA(Service beginsAugust 26, 2007.)

Sacramento International record: 1 Million+ passengers in June

Sacramento International Airport broke an all time record of serving over 1 million passengers during the month of June. The airport, which has seen a 5% growth year-to-date, has added new airlines and destinations, thereby making Sacramento an alternative to some Bay Area airports.

Complimentary Wi-Fi in the terminals & hand lotion and sanitizer in the restrooms are some of the extras one will find at the airport. J.D Power and Associates recently ranked Sacramento Airport #2 in the nation among mid-sized airports.


Above: One of the interesting walkways at SMF

Northwest Airlines continues to cancel flights across the nation today. Friday and Saturday reports indicate up to 8% of NW scheduled flights had been canceled. (Usually an airline cancels no more than 2% of daily flights for various reasons). San Francisco and Sacramento airports are included on the list of cancellations this weekend, which are expected to continue as a result of ongoing pilot shortages. Be sure to check your flight status with the airline before heading on down to the airport. Northwest Airlines.

Alaska Airlines Fall Sale announced today. Selected city examples;
San Francisco - San Diego $39 each way ($98 roundtrip, taxes included)
Sacramento - Palm Springs $69 each way
Sacramento - Portland $49 each way
San Francisco - Los Angeles $44 each way

Book now, for travel September 5-December 18th.

Sacramento to San Juan, Puerto Rico $331rt taxes included

Another great deal from Sac-Town. Fare is available now, must travel Sept 4-Nov 15th.
Available on United or American using "flexible dates" option. Earns 7500-8500 base frequent flyer miles depending on how many connections you desire. "W" booking class.

The Phone Call You Don't Want

Northwest Airlines canceled 14% of Sundays flights, 11% of Monday & Tuesday flights nationwide; places phone calls to some unlucky customers.

A game of 'He said, she said'. Nobody is taking blame for massive Northwest Airline flight cancellations over the weekend through today, including flights to the Bay Area. Pilots blame poor management planning and staffing issues. NW bosses point fingers at bad weather and disrupted work schedules. Some warned this was inevitable, still others warn of more to come. Some customers have reported receiving phone calls from the airline hours or days in advance of the scheduled flights to offer alternatives. Others, less happily have found out when they check-in at the airport.


If you have plans to fly Northwest over the next several days, be sure Northwest has your current contact information. Also, you can register for NW's free flight update alerts via their website in case of schedule changes or cancelations.

Sacramento to Hong Kong $630 roundtrip w/taxes

Air Canada has been offering some great deals to parts of Asia since introducing Sacramento service last week. AC has a fare of $448+ taxes and fees ($630 total) to Hong Kong and Tokyo, and $660 to Shanghai and Beijing. The flights route from Sacramento through Vancouver.

Hint: Visit http://www.aircanada.com/ and choose dates after August 21st (click the 'dates flexible' option) to see what is available at these great fares. I checked this morning and most of September and October is available.

United: systemwide delays today

Breaking News: United is reporting a computer problem at their Chicago hub, relating to how they weigh and certify planes preparing for departure. This is effecting many flights in & out of the Bay Area. United reports flights should begin operating back on time within the next several hours. Be sure to check the status of your flight before arriving at the airport.

Frontier Airlines modifies their birds and frequent flyer program

Denver based Frontier Airlines says it is adding blackout dates to its award redemption tickets but concurrently increasing redemption seat availability options by 30%. For example, traveling the day before or the day after Christmas are considered blackout dates and you couldn't use miles for to redeem for such an itinerary (Christmas day itself is OK though). "EarlyReturns will be better equipped to guide you towards dates that have seats available. Adding this flexibility to the program will allow you to use your miles for more flights" says Frontier in a written email to its Early Returns members.

Also, Rocky Mountain news reports Frontier will be swapping out seats, for a thinner and lighter version, ultimately adding 4 additional seats on most planes and a reduction of seat pitch of 1-2 inches, though reportably no loss to leg space.

Frontier Airlines currently operates flights from San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento, and is one of only a few U.S based airlines still offering round trip Domestic U.S & Canada award redemption's starting at only 15,000 miles.

Air Canada commences Sacramento service

Air Canada Jazz begins service from Sacramento International on Friday, offering twice daily non-stop service into Vancouver, BC., and connections to cities around the world.

AC is part of the Star Alliance network, United Mileage Plus members receive credit for flying many Air Canada flights. Alternatively, Aeroplan members can earn double miles for flying this route by registering here first.

Air Canada will be operating 50-seater regional jets, with 7:40am and 4:30pm departures from Sacramento.

Northwest & Southwest Slash fares to/from Colombus Ohio

Likely in response to SkyBus' low price model, NW & SW airlines have slashed prices to amazingly new lows. NW is offering fares to/from Oakland, San Jose & Sacramento to Colombus for $98+ tax roundtrip...and SW offering DING fares for $30 each way. You must download DING from the Southwest website in order to see these fares. Most flights are for August and September.

Southwest Airlines emergency landing goes bad

SFGate is reporting a Southwest Airlines flight from Sacramento made an emergency landing into Oakland airport due to a possible technical problem. Upon landing however, the nose gear collapsed on impact. Full story.

New Routes and Added Service.

San Jose Airport NONSTOP to:
Los Angeles Delta (Express Jet) July 1st
Chicago (midway) Southwest May 13th

San Francisco Airport NONSTOP to:

Chicago (Midway) Southwest August 2007
San Diego Southwest August 2007
Las Vegas Southwest August 2007
Salt Lake City Jet Blue July 27th
Columbus, Ohio SkyBus June 12th

Oakland Airport NONSTOP to:

Kona, Hawai'i ATA June 14th
Lihue, Hawai'i ATA June 15th
Honolulu, Hawai'i ATA June 15th
Denver Southwest June 17th

Sacramento Airport NONSTOP to:

Vancouver, BC Air Canada June 15th