Jaunted

Tags: iPhone Travel Apps / Boarding Passes / Mobile Boarding Passes / American Airlines / iPhone / Apple / Airline News / iPad / → All Tags

American Airlines Jumps on the iPhone App Bandwagon

Fresh from the major update of the British Airways iPhone app comes a new one from American Airlines.

Released just yesterday on iTunes, the free American app does quite a bit more than just monitor your flights and allow you to purchase more from AA; it's got Sudoku! No really, it does. But aside from Sudoku, the new app allows you to check in to your flight, monitor your place on the standby list, track your frequent flyer miles, view maps of the airport terminal and use a mobile boarding pass (on select flights). Non-flight-related features include taking and storing a picture of your car's parking spot and recording other airport parking information.

more ›

Tags: Credit Cards / Delta / United / Continental / American Airlines / Frequent Flyer Miles / → All Tags

The Best Airline Credit Cards Promos Right Now

Sure credit cards are just one of the things that got the world into a financial mess, but if you know what you’re doing they can also take you on that dream vacation. Bonuses and promotions can pay for your airfare, but don’t charge an infinite amount of umbrella drinks to your hotel room thinking you’re just paying for the next trip. Here’s our picks for some of the best airline credit card promotions going on right now:

· American:
Citibank has teamed up with American to offer three different flavors of credit card. There’s a Visa, MasterCard, and an American Express that will each provide you with 30,000 frequent flyer miles if you’re approved for the card. Cheap domestic award tickets start at just 25,000 miles, and award tickets aren’t too tricky to find on American Airlines with a little flexibility and spending. One catch—you will have to spend $750 in the first four months to get the miles.

more ›

Tags: Airline News / British Airways / Iberia / Airline Mergers / Travel News / Airlines / Airline Industry / American Airlines / → All Tags

British Airways and American Airlines are Go to Collude on Prices and Routes

Another week, another round of shakeups at British Airways. Last week it was their merger with Iberia. Before that it was their new non-union crew. Now it's the news that their 14-year quest to expand their trans-Atlantic alliance with American Airlines has finally been approved by US and EU regulators. The new American/British Airways/Iberia arrangement allows them to effectively function as a single company: setting prices, selling tickets, and scheduling routes.

Where you fall on this deal depends on where you are in the airline industry. If you're part of the oneworld alliance, you see the much-sought approval as only fair. Lufthansa/United and Air France/Delta basically have the same setup under the umbrellas of Star Alliance and SkyTeam, respectively. But if you're not part of any major alliance and/or Heathrow is part of your personal global airline empire, this is exactly the kind of decision that would ruin your weekend. Cue Richard Branson: "millions of passengers...will suffer the consequences of this monster monopoly."

more ›

Tags: In-Flight Entertainment / Airlines / Airline News / In-Flight Comfort / In-Flight WiFi / Gogo / Row 44 / Air Canada / AirTran Airways / Alaska Airlines / American Airlines / Continental / Delta / Frontier / Jetblue / Southwest Airlines / Spirit Airlines / United / US Airways / Virgin America / → All Tags

2010 US Airline In-Flight Entertainment Guide

Ten years ago, back when JetBlue launched, In-Flight Entertainment was forever changed. Gone were the days when airline passengers expected screens to drop from the fuselage and play one movie followed by a couple episodes of "Everybody Loves Raymond." Instead, the norm became $99 flights each way between SFO and JFK and on each airplane, leather seats with personal music ports and seat-back TVs showing live satellite television.

Flash forward 10 years and while no airline this side of Virgin America has really been able to come close to JetBlue's LiveTV experience, the IFE gap between Jetblue and the rest of the pack widens, thanks to advances with in-flight wifi. Airlines who've been quick to join the Gogo WiFi party are working to now make internet-connected planes just as accepted and expected by passengers as in-flight TV.

All of this means that, in 2010, the IFE game is changing once again and the race is on to see who can provide the best domestic IFE package. We have packaged up the right now of IFE into a handy guide for you to look at on the web, or take with you.

Click Here to see a printable chart of IFE onboard the airlines

more ›

Tags: iPhone 4 / Apple / Gogo / In-Flight WiFi / American Airlines / Technology / Travel Gadgets / FaceTime / → All Tags

iPhone 4's FaceTime Video Calling Works on Airplanes with WiFi

And now for your daily dose of "oh, that's pretty cool": the Apple iPhone 4's new "FaceTime" video calling feature even works from an airplane at 35,000 feet. The Unofficial Apple Weblog received such a call from a reader and was able to record it, and it shows them successfully FaceTiming with the man, who's onboard an American Airlines flight somewhere high above Arkansas.

Like Engadget is saying, this little video is like the iPhone 4 FaceTime commercial "Apple forgot to make." Totally—forget those sign language and "you're going to be a daddy" FaceTime spots; this is the way to our heart.

more ›

Tags: New Routes / Airlines / Airline News / Allegiant Air / American Airlines / Delta / Air Canada / easyJet / → All Tags

Allegiant, Air Canada, and easyJet Have Already Planned New Routes for Fall

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.

· Allegiant Air:
Things at Allegiant Air have been somewhat quiet over the last few months after they announced future plans to Hawaii, but now they’re back to business and looking to increase their presence across the nifty fifty. The airline announced service from Colorado Springs to both Phoenix-Mesa and Long Beach. The new flights will run just twice a week—on Wednesdays and Saturdays starting September 15—with one-way fares starting at just $30. As is the case with most low cost carriers, watch out for those extra fees before getting all caught up with the cheapo fares.

· Air Canada:
We think it’s a little too soon to start planning for next year’s Mardi Gras, but Air Canada thinks otherwise. They’re looking to expand the options from their base in Toronto with new service to New Orleans. The flights will start at the end of October and take place daily. Air Canada will utilize their Jazz branch to operate the flights with CRJ 705 planes. At first we were concerned about a long regional jet flight, but the airline promises seatback audio-visual entertainment, so we can suck it up.

more ›

Tags: New Routes / Airlines / Airline News / American Airlines / WestJet / Continental / Delta / Hawaiian Airlines / Finnair / → All Tags

New Routes on the Way from WestJet, Continental, Finnair and More

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.

· WestJet:
Canada is pretty darn chilly in the winter, but thankfully WestJet is around to whisk passengers to warmer climates. The low cost carrier just released its winter schedule, and they are headed to three new seasonal destinations. There will be flights to Jamaica from Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, and Montreal. For fans of Castro there will be flights from Montreal and Calgary to Varadero, Cuba. Finally, citizens of Toronto will find it easy to visit Palm Springs with their own new route.

· Delta, American Airlines, & Hawaiian Airlines:
Earlier this week, the US Department of Transportation gave out a few presents to three airlines. Delta, American Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines were all given permission to fly to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. Plenty of airlines already fly to Narita Airport, but Haneda is way closer to downtown Tokyo and should be more convenient for those heading to the city for either business or pleasure. Delta will have flights from Los Angeles and Detroit, American from New York, and Hawaiian will be doing its thing from Honolulu.

more ›

Tags: New Routes / Airlines / Airline News / Hawaiian Airlines / Alaska Airlines / American Airlines / Aeromexico / Frontier / → All Tags

New Routes Bring Aloha and College Football to Even More Cities

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.

· Alaska Airlines:
As the economy begins to improve, airlines seem to be working overtime to get vacation-starved passengers to warm and sunny destinations. Alaska Airlines has announced several new routes to the Aloha State, and their latest route will send passengers from San Jose to Kauai. The new route won’t begin until early next year, but come next March it will be possible to fly nonstop from the fancy new airport to Kauai, Kona, and Maui. Sorry Honolulu, but it seems that there’s no reason to get stuck with a stopover anymore.

· Frontier Airlines:
Fresh off their rebranding and merger-thing, the airline that loves furry animals is mixing things up to and from its hub in Milwaukee. Frontier Airlines has announced new flights from its hub to Hartford and San Antonio this fall. Connecticut flights will begin September 27, and flights to Texas begin November 19. These routes aren’t too exciting by themselves, but if you love Frontier the new connection opportunities should help you get where you need to be.

more ›

Tags: New Routes / Airlines / Airline News / TACA Airlines / Qatar Airways / American Airlines / Aeromexico / Delta / → All Tags

New Airline Routes from TACA, Qatar, American and More

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.

· TACA Airlines:
You probably haven’t flown TACA Airlines often, or even heard of them, but it’s good to know that the airline is an option for your travels to Medellin, Colombia and Guayaquil, Ecuador. Both flights will head out of New York, and the flights to Colombia will make a quick connection in Costa Rica and the Ecuador flights will stop in El Salvador on the way. July 17 is when the Medellin route kicks off, and both flights will be heading back and forth by August 1.

· Qatar Airways:
We would really love to try out Qatar Airways—especially when their 787s are available and weighed down with awesome in-flight entertainment. They’re looking to expand things even before their new planes arrive, as the airline is starting new flights to Bangkok via Kuala Lumpur. These flights start October 11, but November will bring flights to Hanoi and Nice. Finally, Bucharest, Budapest, and Brussels will all be available from Doha beginning in January.

more ›

Tags: Flight Attendants / ORD / American Airlines / Patti DeLuna / → All Tags

Flight Attendants Are Hard Core: Patti DeLuna Helps Land Plane For Sick Pilot

We always knew flight attendants were not just reality show fodder and props in Johnny Jet's Facebook photos. Now we have even more proof that these folks are hard core, thanks to NoCal's Patti DeLuna who on Monday helped land an American Airlines 767 at Chicago O'Hare after, according to reports, the co-pilot was temporarily crippled by a "vicious stomach flu".

Patti DeLuna, who according to what we think is her Facebook page digs martial arts, dancing, and rock and roll, also flies planes. She earned her pilot's license in 1970, thought she didn't keep it up to date, according to DeLuna:

I was the best available (back-up pilot) they had on the plane. I spent a lot of time in the cockpit looking at the flight deck panel and asking questions.

Oh, and don't think DeLuna just kept the co-pilot chair warm during the landing. The captain assigned DeLuna a variety of tasks during the landing, and remember, this plane was heading into ORD, one of the worlds' busiest airports, not exactly a flight simulator landing strip.

With pilots texting and flying, and co-pilots eating bad burritos* before their flights, thankfully we have kick ass flight attendants to make sure things go according to Hoyle.

*we have no idea if the co-pilot ate a bad burrito, it is just a euphemism we use for stomach ailments

Tags: Airline News / American Airlines / Airline Fees / Travel News / → All Tags

American Introduces 'Your Choice' Plans for Priority Boarding at an Extra Fee

Would you pay $19 extra to board before everyone else on your next American Airlines flight? The airline is hoping that's a "yes," because they've just announced a new "Your Choice" service which, for $9-$19 depending on your flight, allows you to board before other Economy passengers, in addition to a couple other small perks for your extra money.

The plan is officially called the "Boarding and Flexibility Package," and aside from the ability to board in Group 1 of general boarding, you also get a $75 Flight Change Discount (taking $75 off the cost of any rebooking fees)and free stand-by on any earlier flights that day.

more ›

Tags: New Routes / Airlines / Airline News / American Airlines / Delta / Continental / Spirit Airlines / Emirates / → All Tags

New International Routes Ahoy for Everyone from Continental to Spirit

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.

· Continental:
We’re can't guarantee this one with that all that merger paperwork that needs to be signed, but Continental has announced plans to fly from Houston to Auckland. That’s pretty far, so they will utilize the wonder that is the range of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The only bad news is that this new route isn’t happening until November 16, 2011. We’ve got quite a bit of time to wait, and things can change, but this is pretty awesome nonetheless.

· American Airlines:
They were supposed to launch their new route to China earlier in the year, but there were some issues that kept their planes grounded. However, the problems are solved, and the airline is now eager to whisk passengers from Chicago direct to Beijing. The new flights leave the Windy City between 8:30 and 9:30pm depending on the day of the week and arrive the next day between 11:00 and 11:50pm. The airline is even offering up a bonus of 15,000 frequent flyer miles for testing out the new route.

more ›