Jaunted - Tag: iberia

Miami: Know Your American Airlines Lounges at Miami International Airport

MsRebecca — 2011-11-10T10:26:32-05:00

In our frequent travels through Miami International Airport, we've only been to the American Airlines Admirals Club on a handful of occasions. But what we have learned is that all Admirals Clubs are not created equal.

When you have a choice between three lounges—as you do at MIA if you're flying American—you may just opt for the one closest to your gate. But, not so fast! There are pros and cons to these lounges: size, crowd, amenities, etc.

To help you navigate the sprawling land of AA at MIA, here's a little breakdown of what you'll find at each AA clubhouse:

Now is the Time to Spontaneously Book Some Trips

JetSetCD — 2011-01-10T17:22:32-05:00

Something's going on. There have been far too many cheap cheap airfares lately from the USA to Europe for travel through May on Iberia and it's starting to make us think twice. Here's a perfect example: the $250 Milan flights and $290 Paris flights, which—yes, we booked—but still haven't really gone away. Is Iberia crazy or just awesome?

To be fair, we're flying American Airlines direct flights with their deals via the Iberia website, but you won't find the ridiculously low rates on American's site, nosireebob. Still, it is the low season in Europe and airfares are supposed to get cheap this time of the year, but then these popped up: $689 to South Africa and $478 to Istanbul. What does Iberia know that we don't?

We suppose we'll find out when we fly our $250 Europe roundtrip later this month. Until then, score yourself some equally impressive deals by searching Iberia.com directly, and keeping your dates flexible.

[Photo: Andres Rueda]

Cheap Round-trip Flight Alert! Paris for $290 and Milan for $250, Total

JetSetCD — 2010-12-21T08:43:28-05:00

Ever since we scored that $680 direct roundtrip to Tokyo, we've been wholeheartedly in favor of jumping on those ridiculously low airfare deals, when they chance to appear. Now is that time; brace yourselves. Yesterday evening, we saw AirfareWatchdog announce flights to Paris, Milan and Brussels all under $300 total, round-trip from New York. These prices are still available, as we've checked just this morning.

The only catch is that travel for these sale fares is only between January and March, 2011 and you'll be booking on the Iberia site and most likely traveling on their Oneworld partner, American Airlines.

Many dates for a $292 trip to Paris are still open; examples we found are January 20-26, February 17-21 (go for the weekend!) and March 8-14. We scored the Milan flights ourselves, seeing as how they were $250 and we're dreaming of an Italian ski weekend in January.

Five More Awesome, Retro-Painted Airplanes

JetSetCD — 2010-10-18T09:05:05-05:00

Hmm...why does that airplane look different from all the others?

If you're lucky, sometime during your travels you'll be saying or thinking that very thing, because you've happened to spot a jet done up in retro livery. Every so often, an airline celebrates a special occasion like an anniversary by giving one of their planes a throwback paintjob. We've already shown you 5 awesome retro plane paintjobs, but we think they're pretty great, so here's five more:

US Airways' Airbus A319 in PSA colors (above) does indeed have a smile painted on, and doesn't it look like the cheeriest little plane ever? The retro livery was applied in 2006 to honor the memory of the old Pacific Southwest Airlines, one of the airlines absorbed into US Airways in the past. There are two other US Airways planes flying around in retro liveries of other US Airways constituent airlines as well: Piedmont and Allegheny. [Flickr/JeffreyPutman]

British Airways, American and Iberia Pile on the New Routes

kjb — 2010-10-08T09:30:00-05:00

Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.

· American Airlines:
Teaming up with its buddies in the oneworld alliance this week, American Airlines announced a couple new options for escaping from the United States in search of fun overseas. The first is JFK to Budapest, and this new option will begin to fly next April along with the help of some Boeing 767s. The other is from Chicago to Helsinki which will also start next spring. Prices haven’t been announced for these new routes yet, but don’t expect any crazy deals anytime soon.

· British Airways:
Not to be outdone by American Airlines, British Airways also got into the new route announcement fun this week. The carrier will start new nonstop service between San Diego and London-Heathrow beginning next April. The airline already offers nonstop service between London and Los Angeles, so now Brits on holiday are free to fly into LA and fly out of San Diego after visiting Disneyland, Legoland, and SeaWorld.

British Airways Prepares for American with New Rewards and Upgraded Lounges

Omri — 2010-10-04T14:44:35-05:00

We always get suspicious when airlines start talking about giving customers "more control" and "more choice," since that usually means downgrading reward tiers and charging for things that used to come for free. Getting to choose whether to have food on a long flight or pay for checked baggage has never left us feeling particularly empowered. Nowadays pretty much any airline policy change is enough to get us nervous, and that's particularly true whenever they start to tinker with loyalty programs and elite status.

So naturally we've been anticipating with dread the details of how the American Airlines/British Airways/Iberia merger will affect their frequent flyer programs. So far so good, with the announcement coming out over the weekend that BA is increasing the miles that you get for Discount Economy tickets, from 25% to 100%. BA miles are also now good for AA upgrades, and vice versa. And the airline is even promising to upgrade some of their Executive Lounges.

British Airways and Iberia Want to Make It a Threesome

kjb — 2010-09-07T10:36:34-05:00

British Airways is hungry, and the airline can only be satisfied by gobbling up other airlines. The old news from BA is that they're already working to join forces with Iberia, with the hope of getting things official by the end of this year. However, the newest addition is that the not-yet-combined airline is already looking at around 12 other airlines to acquire.

They might be interested in everything from Indian to Hong Kong carriers, but some of them are harder to consider buying than others, due to issues with the foreign ownership rules present in some countries. Those that aren’t subject to such regulations might be getting phone calls as soon as this week, so they better be willing to fly the Union Jack.

Everything is still speculative at this point, but the new British Airways-Iberia combination could be looking at American Airlines, LAN, Cathay Pacific, and even Qantas. With these new possible mergers and the pending deal between United and Continental, Delta better enjoy their title of the world’s largest airline while it lasts.

[Photo: BriYYZ]