Mexicana Adds San Francisco to Puerto Vallarta Route

Beginning December 3, 2008, Mexicana Airlines will begin flights between San Francisco and the beautiful coastal city of Puerto Vallarta. The airline will operate flights 4 times a week on an Airbus-320 aircraft. Introductory fares are available from $315 round-trip, including taxes and fees at www.mexicana.com.

In addition to Mexicana, both Alaska and United (Ted) currently serve this route.

How Changes In The Airline Industry May Affect You

By Mike Grasso

The past few months have been turbulent ones for the airline industry. Put simply, the airlines are shrinking. We already lost Aloha, ATA, and SkyBus - among others. Remaining airlines are finding ways to "trim the fat" and find reasonable ways to limit costs/increase revenue while being hammered with record high oil prices. These changes will affect most passengers in some form.

Reuters has reported that more than 50 towns and small across the United States will reportedly loose airline service alltogether by 2009. Existing service to major cities, including right here in the Bay Area will be trimmed where necessary. Having a plane 80% full was the industry gold standard, now the bar has been raised. The airlines can no longer sustain flying planes 20% empty with the current cost of crude oil at all time highs. This means you can plan on flying fuller plans in the future. On average, that empty middle seat will now be filled with a warm body.

A method the airlines will use to ensure fuller flights is to limit the number of daily flights to particular cities. For example, City A to City B may have previously operated 6 daily flights, that may be cut down to 5. It may seem insignificant, but if the demand is the same, you can bet those 5 flights will operate near capacity, not to mention cost you more.

Fewer flights mean that during irregular operations, such as weather or mechanical cancellations, finding another flight to standby on will become more difficult. On the other hand, fewer flights may help already congested airports, such as Chicago's O'Hare, and get flights off the ground sooner.

You can also expect that your airline ticket price includes a seat and few other amenities.
American Airlines for example announced plans to charge $15 to check in your first bag. They also announced a $5 fee to book award travel on their website. U.S Air and United are now charging $150+ to make changes on non-refundable tickets. The cost of alcohol and food on some airlines is also climbing. Expect other fees in the future, and adjustments to existing ones.

Finally, frequent flyer miles. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know I am an advocate for using your miles. The airlines will continue to find methods to devalue your frequent flyer account, or resort to options limiting the number of new miles you can accrue, such as a recent policy change by United & U.S Air eliminating the 500 mile minimum rule on short-haul flights.

Although it may not sound it, I am an ally of the airlines. They are under extreme pressure to change a business model that is simply not working in this high-price-of-fuel environment. They are making adjustments the best they can, and ultimately some of these decisions will impact all of us during future travels.

United Grounds Flights Today For Safety Checks

United Airlines sent out a press release this morning saying they are pulling all 52 of its Boeing 777 aircraft, mainly used for International flights. About half a dozen international flights destined for SFO were cancelled as of 9am today.

In their statement, United says passengers traveling April 2 may experience flight delays or cancellations for fire-system maintenance checks. United said the checks resulted from a review of maintenance records and discovery that the functional test that checks the firing system on one of the five bottles in the cargo fire suppression system on Boeing 777 was not performed. Not all the aircraft can be checked today, and the company warned of additional flight delays or cancellations over the next 24-36 hours.

In their statement United says it "is currently working to provide additional aircraft where available and is accommodating customers on other flights and other airlines. Customers can check which aircraft they are scheduled to fly on at united.com."

Southwest begins San Francisco to Phoenix operations this week

Bay Area travelers now have another option when flying to Phoenix, Arizona. Southwest Airlines begins flying non-stop SFO-Phoenix March 8th. This marks the fifth destination Southwest flies, non-stop from SFO airport. The airline will be joining United (TED) and U.S Airways who have previously dominated this market.

United to charge for 2nd checked bag

As of February 4, 2008, United has a new checked baggage policy. Non-elite Mileage Plus® members and non-members traveling on non-refundable Economy tickets within the United States, Canada and U.S. territories, may check one bag for free and a second for a $25 fee. The new policy applies to tickets purchased beginning February 4, 2008 for travel on or after May 5, 2008.

For status holders, the number of bags you are allowed to check at no charge will continue to be in accordance with your Mileage Plus status and/or class of service flown.

United has also simplified many of the other fees charged to check items that require special handling because they are large, overweight or fragile. For further details on these policies visit united.com/baggage.

United isn't alone in making new changes to their checked bags policy. Click here to see recent inFLIGHTout posts.

A race to the finish line: Which U.S airline will offer internet first?

First came Southwest, followed by American, now Virgin America is in the race...the race to see who offers Internet first onboard their U.S flights. But, we've been here before. Sift through your archived Business Week and Technology mags, and you will locate mounds of chatter about how planes are "ready" for Internet service. Many airlines have taken an interest, some have even tested the product since receiving FCC approval back in 2001. But, now in 2007, still no carrier has actually launched the service. That may soon change.

Now a company called AirCell, partnering with Virgin America (and other airlines), has asserted that Wi-Fi will spring to life sometime in 2008. In a press release, AirCell said passengers can "check e-mail, surf the Web, tap into an office network and stay current on the latest news, using either Virgin America’s Red™ in flight entertainment system or their own Wi-Fi enabled laptops, Smartphones, PDAs, BlackBerrys and portable gaming systems - while in flight."

United, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, Alaska and American are all somewhere between considering and testing stages for Internet service on their planes. Hopefully with Virgin America advancing to the head of the pack, this will encourage the other carriers to speed up their techie folks and make the Internet an industry standard in the coming years.

A few good fare finds this morning:
San Francisco to Los Angeles $78/roundtrip + tax on Virgin America
San Francisco to Cleveland, OH $144/roundtrip +tax on United Airlines
Both fares available 7 days a week including weekends.
virgin america sale and farecompare

United: Double Miles for San Francisco Flyers

Hot off the Press!
United Airlines is offering double mileage plus miles for flights in/out of San Francisco to select California cities (and Las Vegas). Register here, read the t&c, then buy tickets between now and October 5th, travel through November 14th.

This promotion is a clear response to Southwest Airlines double Rapid Reward credits for flying in/out of SFO for nearly same time period (see a few posts down)

United Airlines Discounted Award Travel is back

United Airlines is again offering their discounted award travel promotion. By redeeming 15,000 mileage plus miles, you can travel to any non-stop destination of 700 miles or less. Normally 25,000 miles are required for any domestic travel.

For example:
You can fly San Francisco to Palm Springs, San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Las Vegas, Orange County, Salt Lake City, Redding or Sacramento by redeeming just 15,000 miles.

The offer of course is not limited to just the Bay Area. For a complete list of valid to/from cities click here.

The fine print: This offer is valid for the Fall only - September 1 - December 14th. Previously the airline permitted travel over the Christmas Holiday. Still, this is a great deal, especially for smaller markets that United Express serves and the typical airline ticket would set you back $300 or $400. Here is the link for the promotion.

San Francisco to Newark, NJ $185/rt taxes included. Valid for travel Tues/Wed/Saturday August 14th to November 14th. Non-stop service. United Airlines

Free bonus miles points/miles with United, American, Amtrak & Air Canada
Thanks, View from the Wing Blog

Fill out a short survey and/or sign up to receive emails and earn the bonuses below.
250 free United Airlines miles
250 free American Airlines miles
250 free Amtrak points
1000 free Air Canada miles

These promotions are great because most airlines require some activity (air or partner) within a certain amount of time, otherwise they delete your frequent flyer account. Most airlines recognize these registrations as a qualifying partner activity therefore keeping your account active.

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

Three global airline alliances include 82% of the world's top 60 carriers

Oneworld 21.6% (ie: American Airlines)
Star Alliance 27% (ie: United Airlines)
SkyTeam 22.5% (ie: Northwest Airlines)
Unaligned 28.9% (ie: JetBlue)


All three airline alliances are seeking to sign carriers out of such emerging markets as China and India.

For the consumer, the added benefit may be more opportunities to earn and spend frequent flyer miles with airlines in each alliance without having to belong to each airline's frequent flyer program.
Contributing source: Business Travel News

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

San Francisco to St Louis, MO $88+ tax roundtrip on United Airlines

Prices at $128 taxes included. Valid through May 2008, 7 days a week.

Available to book now.

United Airlines announced plans to install the first 180º, lie-flat business class seat to be offered by any U.S. airline. Seat amenities will include configurations allowing for a 180-degree recline to a full 6-foot, 4-inch bed, an ottoman, 15.4" personal TV monitor (3 times larger than the previous ones), ergonomically designed tray table that comfortably accommodates a laptop and other items and an iPod adapter that enables customers to play their own music and videos on the seat's entertainment unit while recharging the iPod. Planes will soon begin configuration to the new Business Class product, expected to be changed on all fleet by 2009.
See more on United's new International business class product here.

Airfare War Continues: Bargains for Bay Area travelers

Round 2 of the fare war comes 24 hours after United Airlines temporarily dropped fares in markets the new airline Virgin America will be flying starting August 8th.

Late Friday evening JetBlue and Southwest matched or beat Virgin America's introductory fare offerings for routes from the Bay Area (OAK/SFO) to Los Angeles and New York. For example: Southwest is offering $99 each way OAK-NY LaGuardia. Fares are available for non-peak travel days, usually Tue/Wed/Sat for travel beginning on or after August 8th.

United punches away at Virgin America's intro fares

ROUND 1 630pm
After nearly 16 hours of swift ticket sales by San Francisco startup airline Virgin America, United Airlines is punching back hard, beating away at Virgin's introductory fares.

United has loading the following amazing fares;
SFO-Los Angeles $65rt taxes included (that's $22 each way + tax!)
SFO-New York $160rt taxes included
SFO-Washington $150rt taxes included
These fares are confirmed and available for travel August 9th through November 11th and are subject to availability. Looks like the New York flights require 1 stop (Chicago, Washington, etc) for that fare. "L" class inventory. Use Farecompare.com to find these fares. Get'em while they last.

A few decent fares from the Bay Area this morning:
San Francisco - San Diego $39 each way on United for travel starting August 16th
San Francisco - Salt Lake City $59 each way on JetBlue for travel starting July 27th
Oakland- Long Beach $44 each way on JetBlue for travel starting August 9th

Search tools: Travelocity & Farecompare utilizing "flexible dates" tool

Good Fare.
San Francisco to Minneapolis, MN $128rt+ tax (About $168) on United Airlines
Valid for most of the remaining 2007 year.