Free Lonely Planet City Guides for iPhone Users

To assist those stuck in Europe due to the Iceland volcano, Lonely Planet is giving away 13 city editions of its iPhone European guides. A message from Lonely Planet Travel Editor posted on the LP blog said: "Travelers stuck in unfamiliar places need access to practical information as well as suggestions on what to do whilst stranded...that's why we're giving away iPhone city guides to major affected destinations." The free download is available (to everyone...) until April 22nd. Click here to see the list of cities available.

Happening Now: Volcanic Ash Shuts Down N. Europe Air Traffic

NY Times: The shutdown, among the most sweeping ever ordered in peacetime, forced the cancellation of thousands of flights and left airplanes stranded on the tarmac at some of the world's busiest airports as the rolling cloud - made of of minute particles of silicate that can severely damage airplane engines- spread over Britain and toward continental Europe. Read more from the New York Times.

Win a Vacation for 2 to Munich from Lufthansa Airlines

Scroll on over to Lufthansa Airlines to play the Munich Airport Scavenger Hunt Game. Find all the goodies before departure time, and you'll earn an entry for a vacation to Munich. Vacation package includes a pair of round-trip economy class tickets to Munich, Germany and 5-night accommodations. Click here to play. 

Amazon Sweepstakes: Mini Vacation for Two to London

Enter the Amazon.com, "'The Promise' of London Il Divo For You" Sweepstakes for a chance to win round trip tickets to London, and a pair of tickets to attend the Il Divo concert in London. The trip takes place Spring 2009.  Included in the grand prize are two nights hotel accommodations and $500 (British Pounds) spending money. Enter by November 11th. 

San Francisco - Kiev, Ukraine $485 round-trip w/taxes

Early Spring fares from S.F into Western Europe run about this price range, so this deal to fly further East into Europe looks pretty good. And after all...it's Kiev. =)

Flight is operated by Alitalia Airlines from New York, along with Delta Airlines from SFO to New York.

Fare available for January & February only.

Think...cold! Visit http://www.farecompare.com

for more pricing info. New fare should be uploaded early this evening.

Wikipedia on Kiev, Ukraine

Oakland - Munich or Frankfurt, Germany $392 roundtrip w/taxes

HOT DEAL! OAK-Munich or Frankfurt $392 RT w/taxes on United Airlines.
Connecting service through Denver, Chicago or Washington-Dulles. Fare available through most of March 2008. Frankfurt is a good city to connect to visit other areas of Europe, by air or rail. Fare Basis: SLXSNY1E. Visit travelocity.com

Airlines to replace "No Smoking" with "No Mobile"

With the introduction of mobile phones services onboard some European-based airlines next year, the outdated "no smoking" signs above each seat will soon be replaced with "no mobile."

The illuminated "no smoking" signs have now become outdated since almost universal bans on lighting up on scheduled passenger planes were introduced in the late 1990s.

The "no mobile" sign will show a mobile phone crossed out and will be illuminated during takeoff until the plane has reached a certain altitude in order to ensure there is no interference with mobile networks on the ground.

HOT! San Francisco to Zurich Switzerland $399/rt tax included!!

HOT FARE: 310pm
San Francisco - Zurich, Switzerland on American Airlines $399rt, taxes included.
Off-peak travel only; October-February. February 15-23rd worked for me.
http://www.aa.com/

Car explosion at Glasgow Airport today just a day after authorities in London prevented a potential deadly attack on their city. Homeland Security reporting U.S. Airports will be increasing security measures, but that the overall terror alert level remains unchanged. Continuing coverage from Reuters.

Your First Class Seat Awaits

First on & first off the plane, complimentary fine foods and alcohol, massage, warm terry cloth socks, down-filled duvets and more are waiting for you (really); come aboard.

The quiet, the relaxation, the temptation...ugh, the price. Business and First Class for international flights can set you back well over $5000-$10,000. But, there are other options. First, consider this sampling of luxuries that await you when flying business or first class on some of these top international airlines:

Forget standing in long lines at the airport. Qatar airlines will have your personal escorted to the plane by way of a ride in a 7 series BMW. Once aboard and relaxed they offer a 10 course meal, "that typically includes caviar, lobster, prawns, Arabic mezzas, fine chocolates, cheese platters, freshly brewed cappuccinos, and the finest wines from the old and new world."

Singapore Airlines rolled out the SkySuite on some of its flights (ya can't just call it a seat), which fully reclines to any angle - right down to a flat bed. Also offered is turn down service, fresh bed linens and a down filled duvet.

Malaysia Airlines features 15" LCD monitors in first class, including video, TV and music on demand and tempting cuisines from around the globe. Malaysia Airlines also offers advanced onboard lighting systems, which replicates outside lighting providing a more natural feel to your journey.

Virgin Atlantic prides itself on having the longest fully flat (79.5") bed in its upper class suites, an upper body massage and mini-manicure.

Emirates Airlines 500 channels of on demand entertainment await their customers, along with Internet access on board for laptop enabled laptops and currently a promotion for 2 complimentary nights at the Ritz-Carlton, Dubai for first class travelers. First class cabin reportably comes with the highest ratio of crew-to-passengers of any airline in the world.

Wake up. Dream is over. These amenities (and really, this is a short list of them) do make hops over the Oceans a lot easier. An alternative to paying cash for these great seats is to redeem frequent flyer miles. For example, United frequent flyer members can redeem points toward business class travel on its partner Singapore Airlines. Another way are operational upgrades (rare), where an airline may be oversold in economy class and "bumps" folks (typically high paying or elite passengers) to business or first class.

Adding a Low Cost Carrier to your Itenerary

As the world becomes smaller, and more people become interconnected, small regional airlines have rapidly formed over the past few years to get people into remote areas outside main tourist hubs. From this, Low Cost Carriers also began to glow, offering cheap, no frills transportation to cities and villages around the globe.

LCC are cheap, sometimes offering seats as low as a penny + tax each way. But everything else than your body in a seat may cost ya. Some airlines charge for checked luggage, many for food or drinks. Change fees can be steep and restrictive, and flights often packed. But if you play by the rules, LCC offer an inexpensive option for connecting to cities outside major international hubs.

It seems every day there is a new Low Cost Carrier (LCC) opening up shop - last I checked I've counted over 80 on the Internet alone. Rather than listing all these out, i've provided a links to search engines in Europe and Asia offering LCC options. In Australia, I recommend JetStar, and in South America, where the LCC airlines are a bit slower in forming, there are fewer options. One Brazilian carrier, WebJet is provided for reference. Be sure to shop around.

Europe Search engine for city pairs in Europe
Asia Listing by each country in Asia (I recommend Air Asia)
Australia JetStar
Brazil Webjet
Canada WestJet

Wikipedia has a good listing of several other LCC airlines

SFO-Dublin,Ireland $497 taxes included

Checked fares this morning and saw U.S Airways is offering round-trip flights from San Francisco to Dublin (DUB) Ireland for a base fare around $390 - $497 with all taxes & fees. Travel at this fare must commence on or after October 1st. A few flights on American and Delta pull up fares slightly higher - but still decent prices as well. Fare Basis TFA0NG

October might be a great month to visit; just coming out of peak summer travel, but before the harsh winter. One valid trip at this price I checked on was October 24-29th, with a stop in Philadelphia.

Fare found on Farecompare and Orbitz and U.S Air

ALSO A GOOD DEAL...
San Francisco to San Diego $39 each way + tax on Alaska airlines through the summer (weekend travel permitted at this fare, though limited dates left)

Oakland (Or SFO) to San Diego $39 each way + tax on Southwest Airlines
(Southwest starts flying from San Francisco on August 26th)

Leaving Foreign Currency fees at home during your next vacation

Foreign Currency Transaction fees charged when using your credit card overseas can range from a mere nuisance to a big-fat expense. For example, most Visa cards charge 2-3% on top of any purchase, making a $300.00 purchase cost you $3 bucks more. Nothing more than a cup of coffee (even a Latte) you say? Consider how this cost might pinch the pocketbook over a 2 week vacation in Paris. Flyerguide is one of many sites that have broken down the costs of using plastic overseas, whether it be your debit card, ATM or credit card. Some cards charge NO fees. With this information, consumers can be better decide which cards to take with them on their next overseas adventure.

September 11, 2006 NEWSLETTER

Good day and good night to all. Here is the latest INflightOUT newsletter. Note the new address i'm sending it from; to reduce the spam-o-grams into my personal account where these newsletters were previously dispatched from. As always, muchas gracias amigos for the positive feedback and offerings related to this newsletter. It's a pleasure to make it for ya. Feel free to forward to friends. -Mike

150 easy American Airlines miles for watching a 2 minute video clip on Bose Noise-Cancelling headphones.

Mileage News
Next month United begins charging $50/$75 fees for travelers redeeming United miles within 14 and 7 days of departure date. This may be to encourage last minute travelers to buy the more expensive (last minute) fares rather than using miles. Fee not applicable to 1K's and up. Similar fees are charged by other airlines as well. United continues however to allow free changes to award tickets - should your travel needs require it. A huge plus for the United mileage plus program.

American Airlines Short Hops allow for a 10,000 mile reduction when redeeming miles for flights of 750 miles or less. Valid through February 2007.
Example, SFO-LOS ANGELES or SANTA ANA or NEW YORK-BOSTON, CHICAGO OR MONTREAL, Canada ( normally requires 25,000 miles to redeem, but under this promotion is only 15,000 miles. Similar to the United promo running through 2006.


Double Southwest Airlines RapidReward credits for college students up to age 23 (not us old folk still in college) who sign up for RR program. Forward this deal to a young'un you might know. =)

$50 off now Orbitz.com Hotel bookings + another bonus later. Good coupon!
Book a hotel or hotel + flight package for 3+ nights by October 8, 2006 and receive $50 off instantly when you use SAVENOW promotion code. Good for travel by December 31, 2006.

Airbus' 380 SuperJumbo went on it's first test flight - with passengers last week. The Jumbo jet now expected to be released in 2007 will permit cabin seating up to 555 people!
No U.S-based airline has signed on to purchase one of these giants yet, but San Francisco International is one of only a few U.S airports equipped to handle this hunk'a machinery should foreign airlines choose a San Francisco routing.

HOT Fare Deals as of Monday Night
SAN FRANCISCO to
Los Angeles $49 each way FRONTIER AIRLINES
London $503 round trip (taxes included!) DELTA AIRLINES November, December - about $100 more for February, March 2007
Pittsburgh PA $185 round trip (taxes included) AMERICAN AIRLINES Through March

OAKLAND to
Santa Ana/Orange County $98 round trip (taxes included) ALASKA AIRLINES through mid October
Burbank, LAX, San Diego $49 fun fares each way SOUTHWEST AIRLINES (may need to book by midnight tonight)
(example: fly to LOS ANGELES for New Years celebrations)

INTERISLAND Hawai'i flights as low as $29 each way on Hawaiian, Aloha and Go Airlines through 2006. An amazingly inexpensive fare. Tickets to be purchased by 9-12-06.

Pretty decent Hawai'i air+hotel packages from NorthwestAirlines Vacations from $335/person (double occ) for a few weeks in October and November.

Historically speaking, the months of October and November generate some rock-bottom fare deals throughout Western Europe (ie: <$450). Be patient, but also keep checking websites like farecompare.com for limited-time fare drops.

Travel Tip: When traveling outside of the U.S, it's a good idea to make a photocopies of your passport and leave with a trusted friend and bring a copy with you - seperate from your actual passport. This reduces the potential for a vacation-gone bad. Some have suggested scanning your passport and emailing a copy of yourself so you have an electronic copy available as well.


"What to do when bumped from a flight" (When your flight is cancelled) NY Times article


"A traveler must have the back of an ass to bear all,
a tongue like the tail of a dog to flatter all,
the mouth of a hog to eat what is set before him,
the ear of a merchant to hear all and say nothing."
Thomas Nashe

May 26, 2006 NEWSLETTER

Welcome to Issue #4 of the INflightOUT newsletter. May 26, 2006.
(feel free to forward to friends)

United, American and Frontier Airlines are all offering some version of "double miles" for future flights this year. You must register for the promo on the airlines' respective website! Hurry. UA/AA cut off for registration is May 31.

Southwest Airlines considering a new policy of assigned seating; fyi They considered this in 2004 as well, but obviously never implemented it. Here's the latest... Click here for Washington Post story

*WHY WE TRAVEL* (editor favorite)A beautiful collection of images from across the globe. These images have appeared in the New York Times, but this link is the cummulative slide show. The captions compliment the pictures well. Click Here for the Slide show

Alaska Airlines now offering Red Bull on all flights. It claims to be the 1st airline in the world to offer Red Bull. $5 charge in economy, free up front.

JetBlue flyers who also own the AmericanExpress JetBlue card receive a free complimentary coctail when flashing the card onboard any JB flight. Valid through June.

FREE AIRPORT WIRELESS SERVICE. Free service at Sacramento International, John Wayne/Orange County, Long Beach. Many airports charge $6-10 for this service. Click here to find out other FREE airport locations around the country.

NEW BAY AREA SERVICEIceland Airlines - Resumes non-stop service San Francisco to Reykjavik, Iceland 4 times a week, with good connections if you want to continue to mainland Europe. Iceland had an extensive GLBT marketing campaign recently promoting extensive outdoor activities and entertainment. Fares historically have been very competitive - allowing a few days in Iceland, then continue elsewhere in Europe for < $600. For now, nothing like that on their website. Keep your eyes open for it though.

Northwest Airlines - NEW daily non-stop service to Indianapolis starts June 1. 1000 bonus miles on this route. Airtran - also starts SFO-Indianapolis June 8.

Hawaiian Airlines - to offer "as low as" $43 each way tickets for inter-island travel starting October 1st. Likely competing with Mesa airlines who recently started island service. Book early for these fares! Source: Pualani Ohana Newsletter.

AmericaWest - their website is gone! Finally switches over to US Air. Travelers flying US Air "west" (ie: America West) can request United Airlines credit. Although not official on their website, there have been many reports successfully doing this. (US Air is part of Star Alliance - but America West was not)