After a challenging year for some of the founding members of the Oneworld alliance, 2012 will surely be brighter. In 2011, the alliance saw American Airlines file for bankruptcy and Qantas' chief grounding the entire network to challenge labor disputes, plus Iberia closing out the year with rounds of employee strikes.

There were some shining stars, however, with the finalization of International Airline Group (the conglomerate that combines British Airways and Iberia), Cathay Pacific offering overhauled cabins and in-flight amenities, and Japan Airlines emerging from bankruptcy stronger and more stable.

As we get going with 2012, we can't help but notice the huge changes happening amongst these airline buddies. Oneworld is the world's smallest of the major airline alliances, yet consistently hits the high marks in passenger ratings. With the addition of 3 new carriers, Oneworld will gain a fighting chance to excel in years to come. Here's what's happening meanwhile:]]> jetflyboy 2012-01-05T16:19:56-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/6/27/91059/7946

Forget strangers who nap on your shoulder, clip their toenails in the aisle or talk to you straight through the flight; the universal worst seatmate a flyer could (not) hope for is a crying baby in their ear. Don't get us wrong as we love babies, just not when we've paid good money to get to where we're going in one piece and in peace.

As you can imagine, the frustrations are magnified when noisy babies are brought into the higher priced Business and First Class cabins. Oftentimes travelers choose to pay the premium cost for the premium benefit of sitting in a quieter cabin, in more spacious seats, and maybe getting sleep to adjust to time zones or prepare for a stressful day. And then a baby cries and what's the point anymore?]]> JetSetCD 2011-06-27T10:30:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/3/24/04318/9690

Pay attention, because you may never hear us admit this again: in-flight magazines aren't all that bad. Actually, some are quite good! We've been known to actually take them home and read the articles or—gasp—rip out pages and magnet them to our fridge for future reference. If you're a closet fan of in-flight magazines like we are, then this is your time, friend; more and more airlines are moving their print rags to be in more than just your seat-back pocket, but in your iPad too (and iPad 2).

Here's the airlines and their iTunes-downloadable iPad magazines:

United/Continental Hemispheres: This is the newest player on the scene, as the merger airline only launched their iPad version earlier this month. March is the first issue, featuring the Mexican Riviera and Peru's culinary scene. Happily it makes great use of iPad's interactive features, allowing for 360-degree image views, videos and direct links to buy advertised products (of course advertised creatively). Hemisphere is free to download direct from iTunes HERE.]]> JetSetCD 2011-03-24T10:01:46-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/6/28/9141/46112
A different sort of iPad kiosk being tested

Are you one of the almost 3 million people who have purchased Apple's new iPad? We already know that Australia's low-cost airline Jetstar is, since they'll be the first airline to bring the gadgets onboard as in-flight entertainment next month. But now Malaysia Airlines is also getting in on the game by becoming the first carrier to use iPads as kiosks for selling tickets.

If you're in Kuala Lumpur say, and you'd like to buy yourself a Malaysia Airlines ticket and you'd prefer to drop by their offices to do so, you'll now find the new "iPad MHkiosks" there, which ask you to select your itinerary and pay with a credit card. You'll then immediately receive confirmation via SMS and email. The kiosk eliminate any need to print tickets and you steer clear of having to pay an admin fee, such as you would pay using one of their agents. ]]> JetSetCD 2010-06-28T09:31:41-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/4/29/10226/6134

Mountain men, rejoice! Freshly announced from Boeing is a new, taller 737 cabin design which will free up more headroom and actually allow passengers of average heights to stand up in their seats and stretch. Gone are the days of contorting yourself while waiting to grab your carry-ons and disembark.

To reconfigure the cabin of the workhorse 737, Boeing looked at the spaciousness of the upcoming 787 Dreamliners (set to roll out in Seattle within a week) and the pivoting overhead bins of 777s of 15 years ago. The result, the "737 Sky Interior," features these tucked-away bins to relieve the claustrophobia of the past while borrowing a Virgin America's touch of mood lighting to highlight the lofty aisle.

So where will the more statuesque folk feel more comfortable flying in the future? Boeing has already sold a bunch of these 737s, which also include fuel-conserving engine upgrades, to big and small airline names alike: Continental Airlines, FlyDubai, GOL of Brazil, Lion Air Indonesia, Malaysia Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle and TUIfly. Just don't go wearing your 10-gallon hat on board quite yet; sadly these big babies won't be hitting the tarmac until next year.

Related Stories:
· Spiffed up 737 will let passengers stand tall at their seats [Seattle Times]
· Boeing Unveils Performance, Comfort Changes to Next-Generation 737s [Bername]
· Boeing Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Seattle Times]]]> JetSetCD 2009-04-29T11:26:46-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/3/31/95135/7028

Since we mentioned that Malaysia Airlines has great customer service, we've let them drift off our radar a bit in favor of upstart Malaysian LCC Air Asia, with its promises to spirit us across the whole world for nearly nothing.

And that's a pity, because if we'd been paying more attention to long-term good performer Malaysia Airlines, we might have picked up a really special deal recently: An error was made when uploading prices to the computer system, and the cost of a business class flight from Bangkok to Johannesburg was listed as 11,580 Thai Baht instead of 111,580.

That missing "1" made about US$3,500 difference to the price, and those in the know snapped up bargain-priced business class deals for under $400. Malaysia Airlines has now corrected the error but will honor the tickets bought at the cheaper rate. We just wish it had been us.

Related Stories:
· Pricing Error for Malaysia Airlines [eTravel]
· Malaysia Airlines Heart All Passengers [Jaunted]

[Photo: JanneM]]]> amandak 2008-04-01T10:25:45-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/7/31/95938/9358

We normally just complain about airline service but it was just announced that Malaysia Airlines has won a major award for having the World's Best Cabin Staff. This was the result of a major UK-based survey that questioned over 3 million passengers of 90 different nationalities: that's a lot of questions.

Now putting up with grumpy passengers can't be an easy job, so hats off to the ever-smiling attendants on Malaysia Airlines, who apparently did especially well with "soft service" (that means they're friendly, enthusiastic and attentive). We've had our own Malaysia Airlines experiences and can't complain about anything, except that transitting in Kuala Lumpur airport is really, really boring: maybe it's the contrast between KL Airport boredom and the flight attendants' lovely soft service that makes people vote for them.

Related Stories:
· Malaysia Airlines Crew Voted World's Best [Malaysia Star]
· Malaysia Airlines coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: superciliousness] ]]> amandak 2007-07-31T10:38:25-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/