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Tags: Hotels / Airline Loyalty Programs / Frequent Flyer Miles / Virgin America / Airline News / LCCs / eleVAte / → All Tags
Virgin America Gets in Bed with Morgans Hotels for Frequent Flyer Miles
A Virgin America plane takes a well-deserved nap at The Royalton
Well, it's not new route news, but it's exciting nonetheless. Virgin America and their eleVAte frequent flyer program are finally hitting the road to include a big, cool hotel partnership, and it's a good one, just announced this morning: Morgans Group Hotels. Morgans is no Hilton—who VX already partners with—and they've got the Delano in Miami, after all.
Morgans Group, with properties in New York, Miami, San Francisco, Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Scottsdale and even London, covers many of VS's routes, and the chic, very contemporary style of the hotels would be the type of place that Virgin America's target demographic would look to sleep.
Right now, the partnership to earn 1,000 miles per stay at Morgans Hotels like The Royalton in New York or the Ames in Boston is only valid until December 31, 2010. To receive points, you'll have to book via 800.606.6090 or morganshotelgroup.com.
Related Stories:
· Virgin America Announces Partnership with Morgans Hotel Group [News Release]
· Place Your Bets For Virgin America's Next Destination [Jaunted]
· Virgin America news [Jaunted]
[Photo: Virgin America plane & Royalton Hotel bed]
Tags: Virgin America / Airline News / New Routes / Airlines / LCCs / → All Tags
Place Your Bets For Virgin America's Next Destination
Do you know what time of the year it is? It's time for airlines to announce their new summer routes! And because LCC Virgin America is still so new to the game, and also partly because we are dying to have more destinations served by their planes boasting in-flight wifi and flight attendants with their own reality show, all eyes are on them right now for possible news.
So where will Virgin America be flying to next? Since we've been 100% successful with our past guesses at their new routes—we called their Seattle, Boston and Fort Lauderdale routes first—we think it's about time to start placing our bets on the next city to get the sexy Virgin treatment.
See the candidates and their odds, after the jump!
Tags: New Routes / Allegiant Air / Hawaii Travel / LCCs / → All Tags
Smaller West Coast Towns To Get Lei'd in Hawaii, Thanks to Allegiant Air
What did we just say about the news that Continental was expanding their service from the US mainland to Hawaii? Well, it went like this: "How are the skies above Hawaii not mega-crowded with new flights coming in from all over?" And we wonder the same thing again after hearing that budget airline Allegiant, which normally sticks to vacation destinations in the continental US, like Las Vegas or Orlando, will begin flying to Hawaii on 757s bought from a European carrier.
And why is this big news? Well, Allegiant's plans for non-stops to Hawaii don't include your usual big airports like LAX; they'll instead be flying to the islands from smaller cities like Bellingham, Washington, Eugene, Oregon and Stockton and Monterey in California. These will bring a whole new traveler to Hawaii; the ones who maybe previously vacationed on the west coast, closer to home. But now with such convenient flights, Hawaii is totally an option. Will 2011 be the year that Hawaii reclaims the title of hottest vacation destination? Maybe, if Allegiant gets their bigger birds in the air by then.
Related Stories:
· Hawaii will be new destination for budget carrier Allegiant [HonoluluAdvertiser]
· United Gets Going to Ghana and More New Airline Routes [Jaunted]
· New Routes [Jaunted]
[Photo: Wavy1]
Tags: Airplane Seats / Air Asia / Air Asia X / LCCs / Kuala Lumpur Travel / First Class Travel / → All Tags
Air Asia Becomes First Low-Cost Carrier To Debut Lie-Flat Seats
We knew this day would come. As low-cost carriers embark on ever-longer flights and continue to compete with legacy carriers, they're starting to look into offering up a few perks atypical of LCCs, like say lie-flat first class seats. But Air Asia X has gone further than just thinking about it; they've just installed 12 such spots on A330s and 18 on the A340s, scheduled to fly their long-haul route between London and Kuala Lumpur beginning in June 2010. 28 premium economy seats had to be axed out to make room for these pretty babies, but it'll be well worth it once passengers realize that these lie-flat seats aren't astronomically priced like typical first class.
It's still LCC Air Asia X after all, so don't expect five-star dining and VIP treatment and champagne. They don't even seat-back TVs, preferring instead to explore portable entertainment device options which haven't yet been decided upon. And if you've got a lie-flat seat for that whole flight, who wants to watch TV anyway? Go on and sleep!
Tags: Spirit Airlines / Airlines / Airline News / Low Cost Carriers / LCCs / → All Tags
Spirit Airlines Talks About Their Gas, But This Time It's Not Some Attempt At Humor
We’re not totally sure what’s going on with Spirit Airlines lately, but we like what we’re seeing. The airline recently offered a chance to score a free flight by helping out the victims of the earthquake in Haiti, and now they are sharing some airline insider secrets with the traveling public. Instead of playing a guessing game when booking airline reservations, customers can now understand some of the costs that go into pricing an airline ticket.
The airline is trying to ensure transparency by talking about their fuel costs. They’re actually letting us know how much it costs to fill up the tank in the airplane, and how the information translates into the total cost of an airline ticket. Spirit Airlines is also proud of their efficient fleet of Airbus 319 aircraft, especially compared to the fuel efficiency per passenger of the MD80 series—that’s what Allegiant Air uses for its discount flights.
Tags: easyJet / Airlines / Airline News / LCCs / Airline Marketing / Religious Travel / → All Tags
easyJet Is Thinking About Giving The Pope A Lift To The UK
The Pope is heading to the United Kingdom for the first time since the 1980s, and one airline is particularly excited. Hoping to save the government some cash, easyJet is offering its services to shuttle Pope Benedict XVI from Rome to the UK. We think this is a good idea. After all, everyone is looking to save a little dough nowadays—especially since a traditional papal visit might cost as much as £20 million.
The low cost carrier is offering to fly the Pope for free, so he won’t even have to go online to try to score some of the lowest fares available. According to easyJet, if he does choose to take up the fly-for-free offer, he’ll be enjoying a generous luggage allowance, online check-in, and friendly staff throughout his journey. They’re so confident in their services that they feel that that once he has tried easyJet, his holiness will never look back.
Tags: Valentine's Day Travel / Travel Deals / Valentine's Day / Turkey Travel / LCCs / Pegasus Airlines / → All Tags
Our Love for Low-Cost Carriers Continues with Pegasus Air
Have you ever heard of Pegasus Airlines? We can't remember if we have, but apparently they've been flying for 19 years in Turkey, and have some pretty great rates for travel around Europe, especially with their current Valentine's Day promotion.
Let's say you'll be in London for good old Valentine's, but you've got a little extra vacation time. Why not skip Paris but still honor the memory of the romantic Orient Express by hopping a flight to Istanbul? If you book on Pegasus before February 13, and fly between February 11 and 15, then the second passenger travels for 50% off.
Or just forget it and wait until March, when the airline begins service between Paris-Orly and Istanbul, with tickets starting from 49.99 EUR one-way. Yes, Pegasus considers itself a low-cost carrier, so you in-flight meals will cost money, but you can at least pre-order them. Perhaps it's time we finally dipped our toes in the Bosphorus...
Related Stories:
· Pegasus Airlines [Official Site]
· LCC news [Jaunted]
[Photo: Pegasus Airlines]
Tags: New Airlines / Feel Air / Stockholm Travel / Oslo Travel / Bangkok Travel / Airline News / LCCs / Airlines / → All Tags
What Is Going On With FEEL Air and Their Promise of $300 Flights to Scandinavia?
Shouldn't we all be preparing to fly from New York to Oslo or Stockholm on the cheap by now? After all, that's what start-up Scandinavian low-cost airline FEEL Air promised back in October when they first announced their creation.
The first flights, touted as costing less than $300 round-trip per person, taxes included, were predicted for the first quarter of 2010. If FEEL Air is still on schedule, they'd be selling those cheap-o tickets now, right? Well, they aren't. And all news of them has died down to nothing but a few sporadic Swedish murmurs, which now predict that FEEL Air has pushed back its launch to summer because of a delay in receiving its Norwegian AOC (Air Operator's Certificate).
Tags: Jaunted Flight Reviews / Ryanair / Europe Travel / Brussels Travel / CRL / LCCs / Belgium Field Trip / Edinburgh Field Trip / London Field Trip / → All Tags
We Just Got Off a Ryanair Flight, and This is What We Thought Of It
On Friday, we told you that you'd never believe what we did the day before, and to tell you the truth, we still can't believe it ourselves. Who flies from Brussels-Charleroi in Belgium up to Edinburgh, Scotland for less than 20 Euro for two people? It would be impossible if we weren't talking about notoriously low-cost European carrier Ryanair here.
They're the airline we love to hate, what with their hidden fees and an insane CEO, but although it seems like a mess to the outsider, all's quiet on the western front.
See what we mean, after the jump.
Tags: LCCs / Airlines / Ryanair / Jaunted Flight Reviews / Europe Travel / Belgium Field Trip / London Field Trip / Edinburgh Field Trip / → All Tags
You Won't Believe What We Did Yesterday
Boarding our plane at Brussels-Charleroi Airport
Tangoing with the enemy?! Yes, it's true—yesterday, after a few years away (since 2006!) from them in which time much has changed—we flew on Ryanair.
Our flight was only two hours long, but that's the mean flight time for this European low cost airline, which is so low cost that they're notorious for two things: selling flights for 1 Euro and brainstorming all sorts of hidden fees. Since we scored this one-way flight for two people for exactly 14 Euro total and then bragged all about it, we were fully expecting to get what we paid for—the worst flight of our life. Instead, we experienced one of the most eye-opening flights of our life, in both good and bad ways.
We're kind of still fully processing our thoughts on the flight, so be prepared for next week when we unleash fully on what went down and what makes us both fearful of and optimistic for the future of air travel. But we will leave you with this: we actually did the flight with no extra fees levied!
Related Stories:
· It Can Be Done! We Booked a Ryanair Flight for Under $25 [Jaunted]
· Ryanair news [Jaunted]
[Photo: Jaunted]
Tags: New Routes / Iceland Travel / Iceland Express / LCCs / Airline News / → All Tags
Can Iceland Express Save Iceland's Economy?
If you thought that 2009 was the year to grab a cheap package to Iceland in order to take advantage of the country's floundering economy and inexpensive prices because of the pesky bank failure, then just wait until 2010 really gets a move on. Flights to the cold island nation are about to get cheaper, more plentiful and even hipper thanks to LCC airline Iceland Express flooding the country with tourists when they add all sorts of new routes in June.
Currently, Iceland Express flies from Reykjavik to two of London's airports and five other European cities; all routes which truly helped shovel tourists and their money into the country during 2009. Come 2010 though, the LCC will expand like gangbusters! In addition to throwing in another Iceland city (Akureyri) on flights to London and even Copenhagen, the airline is starting direct Reykjavik flights to Newark, Winnipeg, Barcelona, Basel, Frankfurt, Krakow, Luxembourg, Milan, Oslo, Paris and more.
What this means for Iceland's economy, after the jump
Tags: New Routes / Iceland Travel / Iceland Express / LCCs / EWR / Airline News / → All Tags
Iceland Express Begins Selling Flights From Newark For $275
There's a new low cost airline coming into our court, and it's one of our most anticipated travel events for 2010. Can you guess? It's just too good, so we'll tell you: Iceland Express will begin flying direct from Newark International Airport to Reykjavik in the beginning of June, and there's no doubt about it.
This is great news for New Yorkers anxious to have a quick (but far) trip to places other than the Caribbean, the west coast or London. Heck, a flight to Reykjavik is only five hours; we can easily spend that long on the internet at a Starbucks.
So, since this is a low cost airline, they're advertising one-way flights beginning at $275, and indeed we found a plethora of June dates still at this lowest rate, but it looked like return flights are a little pricier at $290. Keep in mind that airlines love to have specials...so we'll be keeping our eyes on Iceland Express for you during the next few months.
Related Stories:
· Iceland Express [Official Site]
· The Hottest New Airline Routes for 2010, Plus 36 from EasyJet [Jaunted]
· Iceland Express coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Ati977]
