Tag: Star Alliance

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Inside the Oasis Lounge at New York-JFK's Terminal 4

Where: JFK International Airport [map], New York , NY, United States
February 6, 2012 at 10:24 AM | by | Comments (2)

So you're flying Business Class on the Singapore Airlines A380? Or maybe you're heading out in business class on any of the other airlines that call JFK Terminal 4 home, among them Aer Lingus. After checking in for your flight but before heading through security, you'll be directed to chill in the Oasis Lounge on the mezzanine above the main hubbub of the terminal.

On your walk over to the lounge, you'll see the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse (don't get too jealous; it's going to be replaced by an even better Clubhouse soon) and you'll pass near the four prayer rooms of JFK. That's about the end of the excitement, however, as the Oasis Lounge is pretty standard lounge fare with the exception of free booze and stellar views of the tarmac.

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Two Minutes of Time-Lapse from a Hall at Houston Airport

Where: JFK International Airport [map], New York, NY, United States
January 30, 2012 at 10:30 AM | by | Comments (0)

While we freely admit that when it comes to airport time-lapse videos, ones of airplanes zipping around that tarmac are definitely our favorite. Recently, however, YouTube user Ross Johnson, aka Tumbles94—whose tilt-shift videos from Frankfurt Airport featured before—turned his camera inside an airport to capture the bustle of a busy terminal.

Travelers toting carry-ons and last-minute purchases in plastic bags littler the scene. Ross had some nerve sitting in the middle of a busy hall at Houston-George Bush International's Terminal E for 30 minutes, capturing all this.

We love it for what it reveals about the average traveler on (mostly) Continental Airlines flights from IAH: the vast majority are solo travelers, with duos here and there. Many men wear "dad jeans," but few ever stop and look lost. Cameos from the golf cart!

Enjoy. (And thanks again to Ross Johnson for spending his layovers taking these vids!)

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United Airlines' Frequent Flyer Sale Knocks Off 25% to Europe or Africa

January 9, 2012 at 9:50 AM | by | Comments (0)

We know there’s plenty of people saving—or even hoarding—those frequent flyer miles in hopes of the next great redemption or value. Now just might be the best time to cash some in, as United Airlines is running a decent sale on redeeming MileagePlus miles for an award ticket.

The airline is offering up to a 25% discount on "free" flights—plus taxes and fees of course—to most destinations in Europe as well as Central and Southern Africa. The biggest savings are available on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, as you’ll only get a 20% discount during other days of the week. There’s probably all kinds of permutations and calculations involved with your dream ticket, but a basic 60,000 mile coach ticket to Europe from the United States can now be had for as little as 45,000 miles round-trip.

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Inside the US Airways Club at Washington DC's Reagan National Airport

November 29, 2011 at 4:00 PM | by | Comments (2)

Have you ever entered a fancier doctor's office and been directed to "take a seat," and then looked around and thought, "hey, this isn't all that bad?" Of course you have; an experience like this is common enough, but what isn't so common is finding that exact same feel in an airline lounge.

Every so often we fly through Washington DC's Reagan National Airport and, this last time, we actually had enough of a layover to warrant spending some time drinking the complimentary coffee and soaking up the tarmac views from the US Airways Club in Concourse C.

Getting there: The lounge is after security, but up an elevator before you head down the concourse to the gates. A simple silver plaque lets you know this, and upstairs you'll hit the regular reception desk. It's here however that you may encounter problems if you're a Star Alliance Gold member, but not with US Airways. The receptionist at first wouldn't allow us entry, because we weren't traveling on an international ticket.

WRONG. Star Alliance Gold members (*of airlines other than Continental, United and US Airways) are allowed up there, so long as they're traveling on a Star Alliance flight in any class that day. Explaining the right to enter a lounge is not only embarrassing but it also immediately sours our impression of the place.

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Inside the United Business Class Lounge at Tokyo-Narita Airport

Where: Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
October 28, 2011 at 4:27 PM | by | Comments (0)

Everybody's talking Tokyo, and with good reason. The country is psyched to begin restarting tourism, autumn over there is magical, and the ANA 787 Dreamliner just completed her maiden revenue flight out of the city. So when you do take that dive and head to Japan, you'll likely spend some time in Narita International Airport. If you're flying United and holding a Business Class, ticket or Star Alliance status, then you'll want to know about the United Business Lounge.

We recently spent some time here after bumping ourselves up to Biz, and gave the sizeable lounge a good once-over:

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Air India's Epic Tarmac Delay Almost Triggers Full-Blown Riot

October 17, 2011 at 9:03 AM | by | Comment (1)

Air India can't seem to do anything right. The company tried for years to join Star Alliance—we covered some of their bumbling efforts last May—only to recently give up and suspend integration efforts. Star Alliance's minimum membership requirements, which other airlines seem to be able to meet just fine, turned out to be just too difficult for the Air India people to figure out. On its face, that's not a particularly encouraging signal of competence.

Now comes news out of London that the airline was responsible for a truly epic nine hour tarmac delay, which came at the end—not at the beginning, but at the end—of a long-haul flight from Mumbai.

200 passengers plus one Boeing 777 minus any food unsurprisingly equaled grumpiness. If you're saying to yourself, "I can't believe cops weren't called to put down a riot," you'll be interested to know that cops were indeed called to put down what almost became a riot.

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Air India Racing Against Time to Join Star Alliance

May 11, 2011 at 2:32 PM | by | Comments (0)

Air India has been given a hard deadline of July 31st to finally meet the entry requirements for Star Alliance, something the Mumbai-based airline has been trying to do since they got an invitation to join Star in 2007. The airline needs to standardize its operations and computers with the rest of the alliance, so that happy alliancey things like code sharing, seat upgrading, and reward traveling can start happening.

Integration has proven to be something of a problem, and Air India has already requested and received three deadline extensions. We're guessing that a fourth extension won't be forthcoming, given Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht's subtle hint that "we will not extend this deadline anymore."

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Inside Tokyo-Haneda's New International Terminal, Part 3: The ANA Star Alliance Lounge

Where: Tokyo-Haneda International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
October 25, 2010 at 5:18 PM | by | Comments (0)

It just so happens that Tokyo's Haneda Airport—a smaller, far more convenient airport than Narita that previously focused on domestic flights—opened their funky new International Terminal the same week we're in Tokyo. Thanks to ANA getting us security clearance, we'll be bringing you a 5-part series for complete inside looks at everything from the Monorail to the ultra-exclusive airside lounges.

Today, Part 3: Inside the slick ANA/Star Alliance Business and First Class lounges.

There's only ten gates at Tokyo-Haneda's new international terminal, but for the lucky passengers catching flights out of them, something like an airport wonderland awaits. We are not kidding. The new terminal makes us want to live in an airport, but more specifically, inside ANA's First and Business Class lounges.

Up an escalator sits the promised land, and after entering, business class passengers go left while first class goes right; each side offers comforts and amenities respective to the luxury level of the ticket. Flyers with status on other Star Alliance carriers are also welcome; in Asia, that means Singapore Airlines, Asiana, Air China, Thai and Shanghai Airlines. In the US, it includes United, US Airways and Continental.

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Inside Tokyo-Haneda's New International Terminal, Part 2: The Huge Hello Kitty Store

Where: Tokyo-Haneda International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
October 22, 2010 at 3:01 PM | by | Comments (0)

It just so happens that Tokyo's Haneda Airport—a smaller, far more convenient airport than Narita that previously focused on domestic flights—opened their funky new International Terminal the same week we're in Tokyo. Thanks to ANA getting us security clearance, we'll be bringing you a 5-part series for complete inside looks at everything from the Monorail to the ultra-exclusive airside lounges.

Today, Part 2: Inside the huge Hello Kitty store.

You've seen the area of Tokyo-Haneda Airport's new international terminal that most appeals to visitors and flyers—:Edo Marketplace as we said yesterday—but today, we're having some Friday fun by focusing on a far more targeted area of the airport: the Hello Kitty store.

The paradise of pink and everything kawaii includes products of a shockingly wide range; anyone for Helly Kitty dried cuttlefish or maybe cell phone bling bling? This is where it's at, and plus the shop is pre-security, so expect it to be consistently packed.

Now, let's take a walk though the store...

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Inside Tokyo-Haneda's New International Terminal, Part 1: The Main Hall and Edo Marketplace

Where: Tokyo-Haneda International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
October 21, 2010 at 10:30 AM | by | Comments (0)

It just so happens that Tokyo's Haneda Airport—a smaller, far more convenient airport than Narita that previously focused on domestic flights—opened their funky new International Terminal the same week we're in Tokyo. Thanks to ANA getting us security clearance, we'll be bringing you a 5-part series for complete inside looks at everything from the Monorail to the ultra-exclusive airside lounges.

Today, Part 1: Inside the Main Hall and Edo Marketplace.

From the moment we stepped off the Tokyo Monorail at the International Terminal station (which also just debuted), it was apparent that Japan should have just declared today a national holiday. Yes, everyone was taking pictures with everything, but it also seemed like half of Tokyo had turned out just to frolic in the public areas, causing the new restaurants to be booked up before it even hit noon and the stores to sell out of anything bearing the day's date (example: cookie tins!).

The main event was a big ribbon-cutting with CEOs of Star Alliance's big players in Asia, and the head of the Alliance, Jaan Albrecht, hinted that any of their member airlines that hadn't yet announced Haneda routes were seriously considering it. Can we get a New York-Haneda direct, pretty please? Once the business was concluded however, we quickly moved on to discover the first planetarium in an airport, the money-eating slot car track and the humongous observation deck, all completely open to the public as they are before security.

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Shanghai Airlines Dropping Star Alliance, Moving To SkyTeam

August 10, 2010 at 4:40 PM | by | Comments (0)

This was kind of predictable. Having been taken over by SkyTeam carrier China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines will leave Star Alliance later this year and take up residence under that alliance's umbrella. So if you want to use your Star Alliance points to book a Shanghai Airlines flight, you've got until Halloween. Probably a little before that, if you want to be on the safe side.

Shanghai's departure won't really hurt Star Alliance as much as it will help SkyTeam. Star will still be be the largest of the three alliances, with 27 carriers that outright blanket the entire globe (minus, in fairness, Australia). It will still have the world's largest airline in United/Continental. In North America it will still have US Airways and in Europe it will still have Lufthansa. In Asia it will still have China Air, the continent's fifth largest airline and one that continues to grow aggressively. So Shanghai's defection isn't exactly going to be a devastating blow.

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How to Travel Around the World By Airplane

February 22, 2010 at 9:35 AM | by | Comments (2)

If the usual travel destinations have gotten a little boring, it might be time to consider something a little more adventurous. Traveling around the world is slightly intimidating, but doing it by airplane isn’t too tricky. There are plenty of options for flying around the globe, and there’s three main ways to get you to and from your home with time for pit stops on most continents. The best part is things are somewhat flexible, so feel free to skip over countries you’ve seen before or ones you’d rather avoid. Here’s a rundown of where to go to get things done.

· Star Alliance
Star Alliance is ready, willing, and able to take you to your dream destinations, and they can do it with help from lots of airlines including United Airlines, ANA, and Singapore Airlines. Tickets are priced depending on total mileage planned for your trip, and you can choose from 29,000, 34,000, or 39,000 miles. For those that enjoy the pain and suffering of a seat in the back of the plane, there’s a special economy option available with a 26,000 mileage allowance—in case you only have a week to finish exploring.

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