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Breaking News: JetAmerica Delays Launch Date Until August 14th

July 2, 2009 at 4:49 PM | 1 Comment

Yesterday we got all sorts of worried that JetAmerica would not be taking off on July 13 as initially announced because we couldn't plug in any new flight dates until August. But a call to the reservations/marketing inquiries hotline let us know that the upstart airline's website was just having a bit of "server error" and that our reservation was still good.

Still, we remained skeptical and with good reason. Just as we were wondering why JetAmerica hadn't fixed its "server error," an email came in to us from a Jaunted reader booked on the inaugural flight out of Newark to Toledo. Jet America has now delayed their launch date by 30 days.

First, we thank you for your support in purchasing a ticket on Sun America d/b/a JetAmerica ("JetAmerica"). Unfortunately, however, you are receiving this notice to inform you that due to landing slot issues in Newark, that we are going to have to delay our first flights 30 days until August 14th.

We've posted the full letter after the jump but Jet America is willing to issue a full refund to all passengers within seven to 14 days. Additionally, passengers booked on this flight will receive "special incentives to rebook on future flights" when they call the reservations center after August 1. Those incentives include waiving the $20 reservations convenience fee and the $20 fee for the first checked piece of baggage and any seat assignment fees.

But what about all the fun things we had planned for Toledo on July 14th????

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Breaking News: JetAmerica Server Snafu or Pushing July Launch?

July 1, 2009 at 6:58 PM | 2 Comments

UPDATE: Jet America has been delayed until August 14th.

We were really banking on JetAmerica taking off on July 13 but perhaps the fact that the airline never even put out a real photo of its jet fleet, we should have known that their inaugural flight date was not sent in stone, or is it?

A tipster emailed us to say that it looks like JetAmerica cancelled all of their July flights. Sure enough, when we went to search for a flight on July 15 we were shown the next available date was August 14. Then when we tried again, the next available date was suddenly August 16. What is happening here?

Since we actually have a reservation on Jet America in July, we dialed their odd 727 area code reservations number hoping for answers. While we were on hold for over 10 minutes we were repeatedly prompted to email Michelle for "marketing inquiries", odd for a reservation number, right? Oh, and at the 11 minute mark we got our answers.

JetAmerica: There is a problem with our server, it is only booking flights for August and September, IT says all should be fixed by end of day tomorrow.

Jaunted: So flights in July are still wheels up?

JetAmerica: As far as I know, yeah.

So is this just a server malfunction or is JetAmerica pushing their launch until August? Send us your tips if you got 'em.

LAX Direct To Havana From $689; Cuba Libres Not Included

July 1, 2009 at 10:32 AM | 0 Comments

Light a cigar in celebration, since yesterday marked the first day of direct flights to Havana, Cuba from LAX. Obama relaxed travel restrictions to Cuba back in April, allowing people to visit their relatives in Cuba and resume educational and journalistic travel to the Communist nation, but it takes some time to put the direct flights into place to get them there.

According to USA Today's Today In the Sky, the weekly flights are chartered by Cuba Travel Services of Long Beach, and flown on a Continental Airlines 737-800, which can accomodate 150 passengers, Perhaps Continental should consider putting their retro-liveried planes on this route just for kicks.

If your papers are in order, you can book one of the roundtrips starting at $689 and settle in for the five-hour flight landing in Havana at 7:25pm EST, perfect timing for dinner with the family you haven't seen in forever or just for kicking back with a few cuba libres.

Related Stories:
· Continental begins flights between LAX, Havana Today [Today In the Sky]
· Obama eases Cuba travel restrictions [CNN]
· Cuba Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Samuel Negredo]

Flybe Launches New Route, Except It Appears To Be Totally Useless

June 30, 2009 at 1:58 PM | 1 Comment

There’s nothing like a time when we’re all trying to watch our carbon footprints and up our train travel to launch a completely unnecessary flight route. But that’s exactly what Flybe has done this week. Yesterday, it launched its London to Leeds route with "red carpet celebrations" and a special appearance by a soap star (Matthew Bose from Emmerdale – no, we don’t know either, but we’re guessing he’s the fox in the middle of the photo here).

The only thing that we’re wondering is – why the hell have they done this? London to Leeds takes about two hours 20 minutes tops on the train. According to Flybe, the flight takes an hour and 10 minutes (actually it takes about 30 minutes, because we had the misfortune to be diverted to Leeds on a connecting flight to Manchester last year, and we’d barely cracked open the gin before we were landing). And it flies from Gatwick (30 minutes from central London, and that's if you take the expensive fast train) and into Leeds Bradford, 10 miles out of town.

Once you add on check-in time, wouldn’t it have been way better just to take the train? We’re confused. Obviously it’s nice to see one airline that’s doing well enough to launch a new route, but this route is just baffling. And the eco aspect means it’s just not cool.

Related Stories:
· Flybe Coverage [Jaunted]
· New Leeds-Bradford service to London starts [Telegraph & Argus]
· Flybe [Official Site]

Porter, The Little Airline That Could, Adds Boston Route

June 30, 2009 at 9:02 AM | 0 Comments

This is the story of a little airline that could; Porter Airlines has expanded service against all odds. Their original route, from Toronto City Airport to Newark, has sprouted into a full few destinations from Toronto including Montreal, Quebec City, Halifax and more. They even made the jump across the border last fall with the addition of service to Chicago-Midway.

This month brings some new meat for Porter fans to chew: they'll begin flights to Boston-Logan from Toronto three times daily on September 14.

Long a favorite airline of Monocle magazine, Porter seems to favor slow and steady expansion. We've been dying to try them out, but we're going to need a better reason to head to Toronto than "just cause" if we're paying $99+ each way without taxes and fees ($306 total).

Related Stories:
· Porter Airlines Announces Service To Boston [Porter Airlines]
· Porter Airlines Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Eric Begin]

The Hawk Has Landed: Southwest Claims Its LaGuardia Gate

June 29, 2009 at 3:33 PM | 0 Comments

Please commence with your offerings to the LCC gods as finally, finally Southwest Airlines has claimed a stake in the crowded New York City airspace. Both arriving and leaving New York-LaGuardia for the first time this last Sunday, SWA made a literal splash as the airport's firetrucks welcomed the inaugural flight with traditional arcs of water.

Meanwhile in the terminal, Southwest doled out breakfast to hungry passengers, entertained with a lounge singer, and indulged in everybody's favorite form of service with a smile: gift bags.

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US Airways Says Aloha All The Way From Charlotte

June 22, 2009 at 12:47 PM | 0 Comments

Despite the slowdown in the travel industry and flight capacity cuts, US Airways is moving forward with a new route to Honolulu. Beginning on December 17—ideal timing for Christmas vacations—the airline will be sending a Boeing 767 all the way to Hawaii from Charlotte. This will be the airline’s longest nonstop flight from its North Carolina hub, with the 10-hour flight easily beating out trips to Europe.

Tickets are available now, and if you really want to get on the very first trip, it looks like it will set you back about $964. We’d look for a better deal, since there probably won’t be too much fanfare to celebrate this inaugural voyage. At least it leaves at 9:45am, so you’ll be able to kick-off your tropical trip when you arrive at 2:59 pm Hawaii time.

Our biggest concern with this new plan is that it’s a really lengthy flight on an airline not known for their in-flight amenities. Remember that they just recently reversed their position on charging for drinks. And a quick reference check of our handy dandy in-flight entertainment guide reveals that we’ll be struggling with an overhead movie and 10 channels of rad music—if we’re lucky.

At least once the plane lands in the Aloha State, all will be well with the world—until you fly home.

Related Stories:
· US Airways To Offer A Nonstop Flight To Hawaii [Charlotte Observer]
· Sip Pre-Flight Mai Tais Upstairs In Delta's Newish 747 To Hawaii [Jaunted]
· Airline News coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: John Creasey]

Cali Countdown: Jetblue Begins LAX Flights Next Week

June 11, 2009 at 10:34 AM | 1 Comment

For anyone (un)lucky enough to live in the flight path of LAX, the skies are about to get just a tad more crowded as Jetblue like, so totally prepares to launch their long-overdue direct service to LA from New York-JFK and Boston-Logan.

It's all going down less than a week from now, as next Wednesday sees the first blues touching down on the tarmac and giving dominators of the JFK-LAX route, American and Delta, a run for their money (literally).

If Hollywood is calling your name and you'd rather not rent a car in Long Beach or Burbank, Jetblue has their twice-daily LAX route priced nicely at $184 each way for select dates. Adios Long Beach Airport; one can only justify landing at you with a visit to the Queen Mary so many times.

Related Stories:
· Jetblue's LAX Service Is All About the Benjamins [Jaunted]
· Jetblue Sick Of the Drama in the L-B-C [Jaunted]
· Jetblue To Launch Long-Awaited LAX Service [Jaunted]
· Jetblue Coverage [Jaunted]

Jet America Doesn't Skimp on Extra Fees, Expansion Plans

May 29, 2009 at 9:37 AM | 3 Comments

It's barely been 48 hours since new Midwest LCC Jet America announced their intentions to fly between Toledo, Newark, Minneapolis, South Bend, Lansing and Melbourne, and already the $9 fares for its first few weeks are being snatched up.

But will Jet America last longer than those first few weeks anyways? It is, after all, another airline from the folks behind the former Skybus LCC, who couldn't make it work in Columbus and folded in April 2008 after less than one year in business. Nonetheless, Jet America has enough extra fees for them to float on for at least a little while, assuming people want to travel between Toledo and Lansing with surfboards and five cats.

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Jet America Will Be Ready to Jet on July 13 with $9 Fares

May 27, 2009 at 9:20 AM | 3 Comments

Jet America has opened up its reservations for flights starting on July 13. And as promised, the flights will be super cheap.

Fares will start around $9 each way out of Toledo (for only nine seats) but much like Ryanair, Jet America will make most of its money on fees. According to the St. Petersburg Times:

Jet America will charge an additional $20 for a round-trip with an assigned seat, $20 to buy a ticket by phone and $10 to book on the Web site (www.jetamerica.com).

We plugged in a trip from Newark to Toledo for the opening date and indeed found a fare of $9 each way. (The return flight that first came up was a 6am flight but there were other ones available.)

We actually found that Jet America charges a $5 "convenience fee" if you book on JetAmerica.com (not $10) which means that $9 fare each-way is really $14. But the website was incredibly slow loading pages this morning and we couldn't see what their checked luggage fees are but we expect them to be similar to other airlines.

Nevertheless, Jet America is on track to deliver passengers on July 13 in a Boeing 737-800 jet from Toledo to Newark, N.J., Melbourne, Fla., Lansing, Mich., and South Bend, Ind. An official announcement is coming from them in an hour. Also, don't confuse Jet America with Jet America, the private jet share program.

Related Stories:
· JetAmerica is the New Air Azul is the New Skybus? [Jaunted]
· Jet America set to begin service in July [St. Petersburg Times]
· Discount airline plans flights from Newark Liberty International Airpor [NJ Star-Ledger]

US Airways Is Hoping For a Summer of European Love

May 26, 2009 at 3:32 PM | 0 Comments

It's too bad that for the next few months at least, US Airways will continue to be known as "the one that went into the Hudson River," or "the one that charges for pillows and blankets" when they've got so many other bits of good news to share.

In a time when other airlines are cutting routes, US Airways is spending 2009 expanding their trans-Atlantic service to some seriously intriguing destinations. Are you a Birmingham fan anxious to catch some footballer action in person? US Airways' direct to the UK city from Philadelphia began two weeks ago. Anyone for some lutefisk in Oslo, Norway? This route just took off at the end of last week.

Hopefully this spells the end of the staycation, as US Airways plans 23 transatlantic destinations for summer and a Tel Aviv direct within the next five weeks. La Chaim!

Related Stories:
· US Airways calls Philly-Oslo nonstop 'second phase' of trans-Atlantic expansion [Today in the Sky]
· US Airways [Official Site]
· US Airways Begs You to Go To Europe This Summer [Jaunted]

[Map: US Airways; Plane photo: mount_otz]

British Airways Likes Piña Coladas and New Tropical Routes For Fall

May 21, 2009 at 9:16 AM | 0 Comments

Is Montego Bay, Jamaica destined to be the tropical international hotspot for winter 2009? Just today, Jetblue has launched their service there with a balloon-filled extravaganza departing from JFK's Terminal 5. Coincidentally, British Airways has also chosen this day to announce that they'll be crowding the Jamaican skies beginning in October when they begin direct , twice-weekly service from London-Gatwick to Montego Bay.

Apparently Britons are craving some western hemisphere vacationing, since BA just broke the news about their London to Las Vegas flights and now we have Jamaica; but wait, there's more!

Rounding out the trio of new British Airways routes for fall is an unexpected one to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Tickets for the Jamaica and DR routes go on sale tomorrow, but they'll have some competition from Virgin Atlantic to Montego Bay; Branson' carrier has been flying this route since 2006 and keeps tickets around £600 ($933) per person, round-trip in fall. Do we smell the sweet scent of an upcoming airfare war?

Related Stories:
· @British_Airways [Twitter]
· BA To Launch Two New Caribbean Routes [FlyerTalk]
· British Airways Coverage [Jaunted]

[BA photo: griffs0000; Triple 7s via AskGamblers]