United Slashes More Flights From San Jose

Considered yet another setback for South Bay flyers, United Airlines will drop flights from San Jose to Chicago-O'Hare airport effective November 2nd. This comes after the airline recently ended flights between San Jose and Washington-Dulles. Transcontinental flyers using United from the South Bay will now need to connect in either Los Angeles or Denver, both cities which have seen recent reduction in United flights already.

Security Breach At San Jose Airport

Breaking News - 9:30AM. A security breach at San Jose Mineta occurred this morning. According to officials, a bullet was found near a passengers seat onboard a United Airlines flight. This has triggered a re-screen of passengers.

Demolition of San Jose's Terminal C begins

Demolition of the north end of Terminal C at Mineta San José International Airport began last night in order to clear the site for the start of construction of the airport's new Terminal B.

Over the next month, construction crews will work nights from about 10:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. to take down the structural frame of the building,remove debris, and prepare the site for new construction.

The work is part of the airport's comprehensive $1.3 billion program to replace and renovate all the terminal facilities, roadways, and parking over the next two and a half years. When Terminal B is placed in service in mid-2010, the remainder of Terminal C will be removed so that the final section of the new terminal roadway can be completed.

More information about the airport improvements can be found here.

Oakland - Buffalo NY - $81+tax each way Southwest Airlines. Fare available Tue/W/F/Sat
San Jose - Raleigh/Durham NC - $86+tax each way Southwest Airlines. Fare avail most days
Sacramento - San Diego - $46+tax each way Southwest Airlines. Fare avail most days.
Above are all DING! fares from Southwest December 2-December 15th.

HOT FARE! San Jose to Los Angeles $80/roundtrip, taxes included! American Airlines
Travel Tuesday & Wednesdays in October and first 2 weeks of November.
Visit http://www.farecompare.com/

American Airlines: Fly 2 trips, 3rd one is free

American has joined other airlines the past couple weeks by offering some pretty decent promotions this fall. On Wednesday American airlines announced if you fly 2 non-stop round-trips in certain markets, you get a 3rd one free.

Qualifying markets include:

San Francisco - Dallas, Chicago

Oakland - Dallas

San Jose - Dallas, Chicago, Austin

You must book your trip between September 13, 2007 and November 15, 2007.Travel between September 13, 2007 and November 15, 2007.

To participate in this offer, simply register before you travel. Register online at www.aa.com/offers using promotion code AA25X. Read all T&C

Southwest, JetBlue and United are other airlines that have recently offered similar promotions, or bonus miles for flying routes in/out of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Horizon Airlines to debut San Jose to Palm Springs route

Horizon Airlines announced the inauguration of San Jose-Palm Springs Jet service beginning November 4th. Two daily departures of the 70-seater CRJ-700 Jet will operate seasonally, and compliment other flights Horizon & Alaska Airlines offer from other Bay Area airports.
Horizon's special brand of inflight service includes snacks, Starbucks coffee, Wine and microbrews at no extra charge.

Schedule: November 4-April 6th 2008
10:50 am departure
1:25pm departure

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.)

Oakland/San Jose to Miami/Ft Lauderdale/West Palm Beach - $202/rt including taxes. Valid travel September 5-November 14th. American Airlines

San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose - Coastal Mexico (Puerto Vallarta, Cabo, Ixtapa/Zihuantanejo/Cancun) $300 taxes included
Valid on Delta Airlines & Mexicana depending on airports you fly to/from
Through December 18th. Farecompare

Megabus pulls into the Bay Area this week

MegaBus is expanding their coach service to the San Francisco Bay Area. Beginning Wednesday, Bay Area buses begin rolling non-stop from the Bay Area to Los Angeles city center with travel time less than 7 hours.

So where is the flight tie-in since this is a travel blog?

OK There is no direct connection! But, with the first 4 seats on each coach costing a mere $1 each (there are 56 seats total on each bus), a fairly quick ride south dropping you off near downtown L.A and 3 X daily service - including a "red eye" bus ride (leave 1130pm arrive L.A 6am), it's certainly worth considering over a flight to LAX.

What about Greyhound? (oh yea...Greyhound)

They're still around, and with a well established infrastructure of schedules and routes, it would seem Megabus is driving against some stiff competition. Megabus asserts however that their low price, tiered pricing structure (tickets never cost more than $36 each way) and non-stop service make them a superior product.

What I see absent from their press release is how coach service will meet a need for travelers. In the U.S at least, shady stories are ever present as it relates to Greyhound, not the least bit because of where the bus stations are located. A marketing campaign to drive people onto the buses because of a superior product such as service, onboard movies/entertainment or buy-on-board food is needed. The company should also remove itself from the present image of a dark, seedy Greyhound Bus Station by emphasizing where bus drop off points are located (ie: Cal-Train Station in the exciting SOMA, or near Dodger Stadium in L.A).

Still, Megabus is an option people have as an alternative to air travel, at least to Los Angeles for now. While I doubt business travelers are lining up to purchase, small groups of friends may find some fun riding the bus down to L.A for the weekend. Megabus

Source: Megabus Press Release

Monterey - Miami, FL $143 + tax roundtrip on United Airlines
Valid for travel through May 08, Saturday night stay required.
Fare Basis: LE14NNX

Some other decent deals available from Oakland/San Francisco/San Jose to Ft.Lauderdale/West Palm Beach starting at about $25 more with varying restrictions. Travelocity

Redeem 15,000 American Airlines miles for short hop awards
American announced today the return of their Short-Hop Economy MileSAAverSM Awards which allows folks to redeem 15,000 AA miles (instead of the regular 25,000 miles) for flights up to 750 miles. In the Bay Area that means SFO or San Jose-Los Angeles or Orange County and San Jose to San Diego. Valid for travel September 1 - February 28, 2008.

Temporary Relocation of San Jose Airport's Terminal C July 10-12th 7am-4pm, effecting gates C12- C16. During the restricted hours on these days, Alaska Airlines aircraft and gate operations will be relocated to gates C5A and C5B.Frontier Airlines aircraft and gate operations will be relocated to gate C11.

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.

250-foot long Zeppelin to the Bay Area in 2008

Longer than the AirBus 380, and flying lower than commercial aircraft...a German-made Zeppelin NT airship may soon be flying the Bay Area skies next year. Airship Ventures announced yesterday that it will offer passenger flights around the Bay Area, including Napa pending a few hurdles including FAA clearance. Wiki article on the Zeppelin.


AP Photo

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.

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.