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United and Continental Continue Their Path Towards Happy Marriage

Last week, shareholders gave the good-to-go signal for United and Continental to officially shack up. At this point it’s full speed ahead, as the two airlines work to merge their pilots, flight attendants, planes, and branding into one big happy family. However, we’d still expect quite a little bit of time before you recognize the two as just one. There’s still quite a few unknown details, like how the combined airline will handle differences in levels of cabin service and frequent flyer programs, but here’s some stuff we do know.

We already know about their kind of lame logo, and the fact that they’ll be using the United name to, uh, unite the two airlines together. Right now, Continental’s current hub in Cleveland will probably be safe, but it might only be busy for the next two years. The new airline needs to maintain 90% of its current flights for the next couple of years, but after that it sounds like they’re free to send their planes and staff elsewhere if need be. So make sure to enjoy your time in "The Mistake by the M'Lake" if you pass through.

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Airline Mergers / Livery / Continental / United / Airline News / → All Tags

Is United's New Merger Look Pretty or Pretty Lame?

The closer we get to seeing United and Continental, the weirder it feels. On their way to ousting Delta as the world's largest airline, the UA/CO combo is rebranding and they've just announced their new airplane livery (see it above).

We can't decide if we like it or not. The font of "United" is obviously a modern update, and they've switched to capitalize all letters, but the Continental tail just look off. Also, it's very white.

Now we're turning it over to you. What do you think of the new look?

[Image: unitedcontinentalmerger.com]

Airplane News / Continental / Continental Airlines / Boeing 787 Dreamliner / 787 / Boeing / Airline News / Airplanes / → All Tags

Continental Airlines Reveals Their Tricked-Out 787 Dreamliner Interior

If you have the necessary credentials to sneak into this year’s National Business Travel Association International Convention and Expo in Houston, you might just get a sneak peak at Continental’s plans for their Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The soon-to-be world’s largest airline revealed bits and pieces of what the insides of the new bird will look like.

One of the things Continental is bragging about is lower cabin altitude. The plane will change cabin pressure to simulate 6,000 feet to help passengers feel more comfy throughout their flight. Additionally, there’s to be way more natural light thanks to larger windows, and plenty of room for carry-ons in the overhead storage bins; in fact, Continental claims there'll be room for everyone's bag. We'll believe it when we see it.

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Continental / Airport News / Airline News / IAH / Mobile Boarding Passes / Boarding Passes / → All Tags

Continental Begins to Fulfill Our Self-Boarding Fantasies

A Continental turnstile ad in the NYC subway

While American Airlines looks toward a more convenient, tech-friendly future with the introduction of their iPhone app and mobile boarding passes, another US airline is going a step further to trial self-boarding.

USAToday just announced that Continental has begun using turnstiles at selected boarding gates at Houston International Airport. What this mean is that, instead of waiting in a long line for one or two gate agents to scan your boarding pass and wave you into the jetbridge to board the plane, you can join one of a few lines that lead to a turnstile where you scan your boarding pass on your own and process to the plane.

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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.

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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

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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.

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In-Flight Drinks / Cocktails / Drinking Travel / Continental / In-Flight Cocktail of the Month / → All Tags

In-Flight Cocktail of the Month: Vodka Red Bull on Continental Airlines

Another month is here, and that means it’s time to reveal our pick for the in-flight cocktail of the month. In the past we’ve shared some more adventurous and unique options, but this month we’re going for a traditional recipe from Continental Airlines—Red Bull and Skyy Vodka.

Continental doesn’t have the fun factor of the Virgin Brands, so we think that this cocktail fits their style perfectly. The airline is all business, and this drink concoction has been around long enough to lose its trendy reputation. The energy drink Red Bull will be sold onboard for just $3, but when you pair it up with Skyy Vodka, you’re looking at a $9 cocktail. Not the best deal, but beverage options up in the air rarely are.

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Airport News / Airline News / Porter Airlines / Toronto Travel / YTZ / Air Canada Jazz / Continental / → All Tags

Air Canada and Continental Muscle In on Porter Airlines' Toronto Party

We had a feeling that little Porter Airlines was going to have to battle it out with the big boys sooner rather than later. It looks like that time is now, as Air Canada Jazz and Continental Airlines have been given initial approval to do their thing in and out of Billy Bishop Toronto City Center Airport.

The airport authority hired some consultants to figure everything out, and they think 44 spots should go to Porter, 30 of them to Air Canada, and just 16 slots to Continental. Porter hasn’t had any competition at the airport yet, but Air Canada was obviously a little jealous of their success. There’s going to be a full review by judges and other important legal people this July, and hopefully we’ll officially find out who gets what.

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New Dreamliner Destinations, Missions to Mexico, and More New Route News

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.

· Air Berlin:
Düsseldorf International Airport is looking to make a name for itself when it comes to foreign travel, and Air Berlin is certainly helping them reach that goal. The airline plans 77 nonstop destinations from the airport this summer. Some of the new routes for the warmer months include San Francisco, Skiathos, and Tel Aviv. Other new routes began a few months ago—like Naples—and continue to go strong. Now might be a good time to visit Germany, and to hit up some European side trips thanks to Air Berlin.

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Airline Mergers / United / Continental / Airline News / Airlines / → All Tags

United and Continental Still Have Plenty of Work Before They Fly Together

Everything has been pretty quiet lately when it comes to the proposed shacking up of Continental and United. We’ve almost gotten over their thrown together mockup of a new livery, and now we want to know if this thing is actually going to happen after all.

So far so good with merging the pilots of the two airlines. Contract and labor talks are going well, and some even think that things could be finalized by the end of the year. That’s pretty good, since that is when the two airlines are supposed to make the deal final. And once the contract stuff is finished, that’s when the real fun will begin. They’ll have to reorder seniority between all the pilots to figure out who gets the most vacation days and best routes to fly.

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New Routes / Airlines / Airline News / Jetstar / Delta / Continental / Hawaiian Airlines / → All Tags

Jetstar Plans Another Long-Haul Route, Continental Flies to Tuxtla Gutierrez 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.

· Jetstar:
For fans of long-haul service that combines low fares with limited niceties, Jetstar has the flight you’ve been looking for. The airline has announced plans for an Auckland to Singapore flight—starting next March—as well as a Melbourne to Singapore flight that will launch this December. Promotional fares on the Melbourne route start at around $99 AUD each way, so this is a pretty awesome deal. The flights will be about ten hours long aboard Airbus A330-200 aircraft, so let’s hope that they bring enough iPads for everyone!

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