Look, if you're an airport and you want to have the superjumbo Airbus A380 flying in and out, you can't just be like "hey, airlines, bring that big thang on over." Nope. Instead certain preparations must be made to accommodate an airliner of the A380's size and heft. To effectively manage each plane's 500+ passenger load, more jetways are needed, plus support vehicles to reach the upper deck. In some cases, airport runway indicator lights may need to be moved and the tarmac reinforced.

In other words, A380s can't just fly anywhere and, although the massive planes have been in the air since Singapore Airlines took delivery of the very first in 2007, not all that many airports around the world are treated to them. At least some of those are the United States...

US airports where you'll find A380s: ]]> JetSetCD 2012-01-11T09:28:00-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/6/9/6509/57417

We already knew that they have new signs and new advertisements, and this week brings even more news in the United-Continental merger. Things continue to chug along until the day when the airline will operate is one big happy family—that’s supposed to be like the middle of next year—but until then, there’s going to plenty of small steps to help them get there.

One thing that has arrived at plenty of airports—as in like 80 or so—is new software for the Continental and United airport kiosks. Plenty of airports will now let you check into your flight from either airport counter, but just don’t call United to flip out about your Continental flight being delayed. The telephone systems and other reservation technology are far from being integrated. ]]> kjb 2011-06-09T08:56:20-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/1/12/141413/507
Some old school US Airways planes

Who doesn't love a good travel rant? Well we're here to make you day with a sweet little rant from Jaunted writer Omri, who had the pleasure of checking a bag and having it lost in transit. It sucks, sure, but then it became a nightmare. Now let's get to the ranting...

Welcome to Part I of our two-part series on the borderline comedic but mindblowingly frustrating experience we're having with US Airways. Last Sunday they were supposed to get us from Washington DC to Los Angeles on a couple of morning flights, with everything being wrapped up by about 10am. Fast forward to 7:30pm Sunday night and we've gone through four flights at three airports on two airlines, all over 14 hours...and the airline lost our luggage. The emphasis is on lost because—had they merely delayed our luggage—we wouldn't need two different posts to peel back the many layers of airline incompetence on display.

But we do need two posts, because this has been such a learning experience and—if we here at Jaunted are about anything—we're all about learning. So today we'll go over what happened and the things we learned about the airports we "visited." And on Friday we'll dive into our in-depth investigation of their baggage recovery policy, complete with stonewalling by US Airway's press people. Preview: outsourcing baggage recovery services to India is fun for everyone, except anyone who loses baggage.]]> Omri 2011-01-12T15:31:07-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/12/27/105123/83

We thought Midwest (not to mention UK) air traffic two weeks ago was a total mess, and that things couldn't get much worse. Turns out we called that putt a little too early. If you're reading this right now, you're not suffering power outages like the 60,000 people in Massachusetts or the 16,000 people in New York or the 2,300 people in Rhode Island or the 40,000 people in Canada. So congratulations on that we suppose.

You're also not reading this from a New York airport, since those have been shut since last night. JFK, EWR, and LGA aren't projected to reopen until 4pm EST today, at which point they will have been offline for about about 24 hours each. That shouldn't be a problem, since it's not like a lot of people live in that region or like this was a weekend where lots of people were vacationing.

Ditto for the wave of airport cancellations that hit all three DC airports, plus Boston, Charlotte, Philadelphia, etc etc. Amtrak between New York and Boston is also shut down, so if you were desperately hoping to get to Logan and take the train into New York—which you probably couldn't do anyway—that won't work either.]]> Omri 2010-12-27T11:11:11-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/11/11/151348/84

Every so often, we go through serious destination crushes, and we bet you do too. When it was summer in New York City, we were all about looking up airfares to Iceland, but now that it's cold and getting dreary, the exotic entrances. Which means that we've got our eye on Istanbul, and umm yea we're totally going to spend the weekend wasting hours on Wikipedia pages and Netflix documentaries about the city's history and landmarks. Or we could just book a flight and be done with it. That could also happen.

Luckily for travelers who also need a serious escape, Turkish Airlines just launched a sweet fare sale to coincide with the beginning of direct flights between Washington DC, Los Angeles and Istanbul. If you book before December 31 and travel before March 31, 2011, then flights on the DC route are $751 including taxes & fees and $999 on the LA route, same deal.

It's almost as good as that mindblowing Lufthansa sale that ended last week, but with the Turkish Airlines flights, you don't have to switch planes in Germany. These are direct, baby!

Here are all the details on the flights, and we'll (maybe) see you at the Blue Mosque.

[Photo: Bulent-LtBaSpotter]]]> JetSetCD 2010-11-12T14:27:17-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/10/1/165154/225

In an effort to avoid a repeat of the insane disaster from our last AYCJ 2010 trip, which involved what ought to have been a straightforward IAD to JFK to LAX itinerary, we booked a direct flight between IAD and LGB last Thursday. Sure Long Beach is a lot farther from Jaunted's Los Angeles HQ than is LAX, and sure the drive is that much more annoying.

But as we pulled into the gate into the quaint aviation-related outpost that is LGB, the CNN feed on JetBlue's wonderful Direct TV announced that there were five-hour delays at JFK because of the torrential downpour. Suddenly the extra drive seemed kind of charming. Veritably scenic, in fact.]]> Omri 2010-10-01T16:51:54-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/9/21/84134/7027

We’re not here to give you a lecture on what’s best for your health, as we realize after a stressful flight the only way to make things better might be with a cigarette. Smoking is a big no-no at most airports across the US, but there are still some where smoke in the terminal doesn’t require a police investigation. Here are five airport smoking lounges where you can still light up:

· Denver International Airport:
Colorado seems like a pretty healthy place, but they still have a spot for cigarette smoking at the airport. Don't hesitate to bum a smoke off a fellow passenger at The Aviator's Club on the west side of Jeppesen Terminal. If that’s not convenient for your layover, there’s the Mesa Verde smoking lounge within the A gates on the mezzanine level of the airport. The B gates have a smoking lounge as well, and the Smokin’ Bear—awesome—is located in the center of the C gates. Just keep track of time if you decide to try out more than one lounge, as your flight is not going to wait.

· Tampa International Airport:
Airports in Florida have the best smoking areas in the United States, as they usually have outside options so you can get some kind of fresh air at the same time as you ruin your lungs. We’ll pick Tampa International Airport as the best, since it boasts observation decks that double as smoking lounges on the airside of A, C, E and F. There are plenty of benches and ashtrays to make you more comfortable, as well as plenty of taxiing airplanes to check out. Although we're non-smokers, we kind of want to check this one out on or next trip to the Sunshine State.]]> kjb 2010-09-21T09:26:55-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/