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United Will Hit The Runway In 2011 With Cynthia Rowley-Designed Uniforms

November 6, 2009 at 5:44 PM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

It's amazing what you can learn on Twitter on a Friday afternoon, namely that United Airlines is all in a tizzy today over the announcement that a new look is coming for their flight attendants: uniforms by fashion designer Cynthia Rowley. Already, the Chicago Tribune is on the case, discovering that the redesign is the "first time in recent history that United has tapped a well-known designer for the job."

We're not so surprised however; Cynthia Rowley is a Chicago native, and United is not only based in Chicago, but calls the Willis (née Sears) Tower home. The new uniforms won't come until Rowley completes her trip to visit United employees in Chicago, LA, New York and London to ask them for their opinions. And although Rowley is known for her ready-to-wear designs for women, the United designs will cover all bases, literally: "The uniforms will be designed for flight attendants, pilots, customer service representatives and maintenance employees."

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United Will Personally Valet Your Luggage For $349

October 23, 2009 at 4:40 PM | by Omri | 0 Comments

We're beginning to suspect that United has a full time brainstormer working on ways to monetize people's luggage issues. Hot on the heels of their $249 "free" baggage offer, the airline is offering door-to-door overnight shipping of anything passengers want sent ahead. The only caveat is that the service costs $149 per flight for trips less than 1,000 miles and $179 for flights that go over that.

The Wall Street Journal, discussing the new scheme, refers to United as a "pioneer" in imposing baggage fees. We sometimes muse similarly, though instead of "pioneer" we use what our therapist calls "anger words." Here's what the WSJ exactly said:

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FAA Launches Campaign Of Penalties And Fines Against US Airlines

October 19, 2009 at 2:18 PM | by Omri | 0 Comments

The Federal Aviation Administration has reached back to the beginning of 2008, contemplated the record, and decided to fine United and US Airways over $9 million dollars for safety lapses. The government agency is letting it be known that these penalties are just the beginning and that the entire industry is now on notice. Larger fines and penalties against American Airlines and Southwest Airlines are probably pending:

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Tweet Of The Week: Props To The Pilots

October 13, 2009 at 5:58 PM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

We love Tuesdays. Why, you ask? Because the day brings many travel tips and quips as "Travel Tuesday" on Twitter, and we're going to share our favorite with you. Got an avid travel twitterer we should follow? Let us know.

Did you catch the Today Show this morning, with the brief interview from "Miracle on the Hudson" pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger? Beyond hearing that his new book ("Highest Duty") is out today, we learned of his exactly what he was thinking as he and co-pilot Jeff Skiles manuevered the safe landing on the Hudson River after the bird strike knocked out both engines. Above all, he was calm and the idea of dying never entered his mind. He described the bird strike as massive, with the Canadian geese like a scene from a Hitchcock movie. It made us feel for pilots who not only have to deal with the occasional bird strike, but also for those who constantly fly into inclement weather.

Twitterer @amywiddowson gives due props to her own pilot who, this morning on United flight 6395 between Calgary and San Francisco, expertly flew through insanely bad weather. She says:

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United Finally Debuts Some Airplanes With In-Flight WiFi

October 12, 2009 at 3:28 PM | by kjb | 0 Comments

They are a little tardy to the party, but when it comes to in-flight WiFi, better late than never. Last week United Airlines began WiFi service on flights between New York and California. If you’re a United regular out of O’Hare you might just have to rely on the WiFi within the terminal for now.

The plane that they’ve equipped is a Boeing 757, and they are hoping to have 13 of them ready to go for in-flight fun by the middle of November. That means you’ll be able to email back-and-forth with your ride home for Thanksgiving to say that you’ve been circling the airport for the last 30 minutes due to runway congestion. If your flight isn’t delayed, you can always get a head start on your online holiday shopping.

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The Airline Holiday Travel Grinch Strikes Again

October 12, 2009 at 9:11 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

We thought this would happen, and we’re not too thrilled about it: The holiday surcharge that was introduced last month on some airlines has slowly crept into new dates as well. At first it was just Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day; however, now it seems like every major holiday except for Flag Day is associated with a $10 each way fee.

According to fare tracking website FareCompare, some airlines have now added additional dates in which these holiday fees apply. November 30; December 19, 26, and 27; March 14, 20, 21, and 28; April 11; and May 28 all now may increase your airfare cost by about $20 round trip when the surcharges are tacked on.

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Burn Your United Miles On More Than Just Free Flights

October 9, 2009 at 8:40 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

United Airlines is all about being in the news lately. Earlier in the week they got our attention with their unlimited baggage fee—too bad we’re still not totally sure if it’s worth it. If you are a diehard United fan then you’ve probably accumulated your share of frequent flyer miles with the airline, and with availability getting more and more limited everyday, you probably need a way to burn some. If that award ticket to Tahiti just isn’t happening, you might want to consider using them for a car or hotel.

United’s Mileage Plus members can now use their hard earned miles to book a rental car or a hotel stay. They’ve launched a new booking engine for each service, so you can easily find out how much damage that “free” hotel stay will do to your account. If you’re looking to relax in New York City next weekend you can crash at the Hilton New York on Saturday night for 48,250 miles. Unfortunately, you could get yourself to Hawaii with that many miles, so we say it’s totally not worth it. However, it’s an option, and we do appreciate a choice.

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Japan Exports Hello Kitty, Cars, And Now Fuel-Efficient Planes

Where: Japan
October 8, 2009 at 12:23 PM | by amandak | 0 Comments

We know that Japan is great at making robots and creating Hello Kitty hype, but now this technologically-advanced, sushi-loving nation is ready to make airplanes too.

Government-backed company Mitsubishi Regional Jet (known to the cool people simply as MRJ), which also has financial support from Toyota, started off last year when Japanese carrier (and anti-pee squad) ANA ordered 25 jets for delivery from 2014. But MRJ just got a much bigger boost, with a large order being placed by US carrier Trans States (which usually flies as United Express). They want 50 jets and an option for 50 more.

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United's New $249 Checked Baggage Fee Equals Instant Loyalty

October 6, 2009 at 2:04 PM | by Omri | 0 Comments

United Airlines is launching a new program that allows passengers to buy their way into Premier Baggage, essentially offering customers the opportunity to pay the airline's exorbitant baggage fees in one lump sum. Instead of United's unreasonable per flight fees, customers now have the option of paying $249 for a year-long fee waiver on their first and second checked bags, plus the bags of up to 8 companions traveling on their confirmation code.

We honestly can't make sense of this move. Anyone who flies United regularly enough to make this worthwhile already gets Premier from their miles. For this to make sense, you'd have to fly more than 15 times a year and check a bag every time. Unless you're just hop-scotching from LA to Vegas—in which case why are you flying United and why are you checking a bag—that easily gets you to 25,000 miles.

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This Year's Holiday Season To Be Hampered By Airline Grinch Fees

September 28, 2009 at 8:38 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

You may have already noticed that the Christmas decorations have arrived at your local discount store, but like it or not, the major airlines also have a little decorating already planned for the holiday season. Last week, several domestic airlines decided to tack on an additional surcharge for travel during the peak travel season around Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. American Airlines started this fee earlier in the week, and by the time we were ready for the weekend, United, Delta, and US Airways had joined the party.

According to the fare tracking website FareCompare, this new miscellaneous $10 fee applies for November 29, January 2, and January 3. So far it appears that Santa and his reindeer are safe, as nothing has been announced for travel immediately around Christmas. However, we’ll let you know if you’ll need to leave an extra cookie for him just in case.

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United's New 'Fly Like A VIP' Elite Status Offer Triggers Criticism, Confusion

September 24, 2009 at 1:24 PM | by Omri | 0 Comments

There's a bit of a dustup going on at travel blog The Cranky Flier, where a post on United's new "buy Elite Status for a day" program is drawing strong comments from all sides. The debate revolves around whether it's fair—and, more importantly, whether it's smart—for the airline to allow regular passengers to purchase Elite perks like Economy Plus seats, early boarding, Red Carpet Club Access, and so on.

The arguments are clear. On on hand, it's fair as airlines need to diversify their revenue streams otherwise they'll go out of business and we'll all lose. If people are willing to pay then let them pay. On the other hand, letting passengers purchase Elite status now means devaluing the miles that loyal customers banked earlier, since the assumption back then was that status equaled exclusive perks. If nothing else, the gamble risks encouraging United fliers to rack up miles and status elsewhere, secure in the knowledge that they can purchase Elite status on a per-flight basis.

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There's Still Time To Pay Last Respects To United's 737

September 24, 2009 at 8:58 AM | by kjb | 2 Comments

We’re all about praising new startup airlines with their fancy new menus, in-flight WiFi, and other nouveau niceties. But we do still have a place in our hearts for the classics, and that’s why we are a little sad to see United Airlines’ last Boeing 737 fly off into the sunset. The Airbus A320 is the new kid in town, but we’ll definitely miss the good old days of listening to Channel 9 and having to rely solely on the safety card in the seatback pocket for in-flight entertainment.

The last flight of their Boeing 737-300 will be on October 28, and fittingly, it will be flight number 737. The old bird will take off from Washington Dulles, make stops at ORD, DEN, and LAX, before finishing its career at SFO. San Francisco is where the airline will start stripping the plane of all the good bits and pieces before sending it out to pasture in Victorville, California. It’s been a long 41 years for the plane, and despite the forced retirement, United wants to send it off with a little fanfare.

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