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Tags: Airfare Sales / JetBlue / Vegas Travel / LGB / LAS / Twitter / → All Tags

JetBlue's Sample Sale Will Fly You To Vegas for $24

While JetBlue finally began service out of LAX at the start of the summer, it still pays to fly out of Long Beach. Travelzoo alerted us to a one-day only JetBlue "sample sale" from Long Beach to Vegas for $24 outbound and $29 for the return. The sale is good for Tuesday and Wednesday flights from October 6 to December 16 but you must book by tonight at 11:59pm MDT. Also included in the sale? One way tickets out of Vegas to New York or Boston for $99 a piece.

Speaking of Las Vegas and JetBlue, recently ousted star of "Jersey Boys" at The Palazzo, Erich Bergen, was Twittering from the JFK JetBlue terminal this morning. Now that's he's out of a job, he just may move into the terminal because it has Borders, Jamba Juice, Lacoste and free WiFi. And so much more. But sorry, no stage yet.

Related Stories:
· Sample Sale [JetBlue]
· JetBlue coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: VegasMichael/VegasChatter]

Tags: Airline News / US Airways / Airport Lounges / LAS / → All Tags

US Airways Closes Las Vegas Club, Gives 600 Employees The Boot

Despite all the US Airways flights which, from our perch in the upper deck at Citi Field during this weekend's Mets games, we saw landing at LaGuardia, the carrier has had a rough time of it during this economic slow-down. As a result, US Airways announced yesterday that they will be closing their Las Vegas-McCarran airport Club as well as the city ticket office in Tempe, AZ, where the airline is based.

These changes, among others like moving to contractors for ramp service at nine of their airports, mean that approximately 600 US Airways ground employees will loose their jobs. This is in addition to US' scheme of asking 400 flight attendants to opt for voluntary furloughs.

While we understand their decision to close their only street-side ticket office in Tempe because, well, who has one of those anymore (ok a few international airlines), we feel pretty rotten for those who will gladly pay extra for access to the lounge's free WiFi, work stations and refreshments, especially since Las Vegas is a mecca for business conventions and their need-to-stay-connected attendees. Back to the corral gate seating with you, and be nice to the person sitting next to you; they could be laid-off US Airways employee who now has to pay full-price to fly.

Related Stories:
· US Airways To Close Club and Cut Jobs [NYT]
· US Airways To Lay Off 600 Airport Workers [Today In The Sky]
· US Airways Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Eric Harmatz]

Tags: New Routes / Las Vegas / London / British Airways / Airline News / LAS / LGW / Virgin Atlantic / → All Tags

British Airways Ups the Ante With New Las Vegas Route

Las Vegas may have a fake Venice, New York and Egypt, but perhaps they should start thinking about installing a replica Trafalgar Square now that British Airways has announced plans for a new non-stop route from London.

Due to go direct from the land of fish and chips to the city of all-you-can-eat buffets starting this fall, the once-daily roundtrips from London-Gatwick to McCarran will join Virgin Atlantic in shipping over the Brits and their pounds sterling to drop in casinos. According to info obtained by the Las Vegas Sun, England is already "the No. 3 provider of foreign tourists to Las Vegas behind Canada and Mexico."

This whole business with the added flights is also about to give "Triple 777s" a new meaning, as BA's arrival on VA's route means that their planes will be going head-to-head for a jackpot win on Vegas supremacy. As if the BA thorn in Richard Branson's side wasn't in deep enough already. And just like everyone else on their way to the "Sin City," all British Airways wants to do is score.

Related Stories:
· British Airways to Start Daily Service to Las Vegas [LV Sun]
· Las Vegas Travel [VegasChatter]
· British Airways Coverage [Jaunted]

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

Tags: Travel News Briefs / Virgin America / LAS / Airports / Gate Changes / → All Tags

Virgin America Makes Vegas Gate Easier to Drunkenly Stumble Towards

With so much travel news raining down on us, we don't always have time to give every story its own forecast. Here's more of the day's news, in brief.

· Gate Change!: For frequent visitors in and out of Sin City on Virgin America, your travels will be much easier.

From Facebook:

Virgin America will begin flying into and out of our new gate, B20, in Concourse B at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS). This move means you will no longer have to ride the tram to get to your gate. Winner!

· Diaper Fetish Senator Pulls a "Cathay Pacific Lady": Remember that lady who went crazy over missing her flight in Hong Kong only to have it broadcast on YouTube with "helpful" subtitles? Can someone please do that to Senator David Vitter? Also of note: pointing at your senatorial pin does not hold an entire plan for you. [Gawker]

· American Airlines Makes Emergency JFK Landing: Another close one near JFK. An engine failed on an AA plane "sending shards of metal into housing below" in Queens. The plan was able to safely land at JFK. [AFP]

· More Depressing Airline News: As seemingly every airline will be deep in the red in 2009, airlines are moving to make major capacity cuts. However, it's not quite clear if fares will drop. Airlines would rather ground a few birds and stop routes rather than drop ticket prices. [Peter Greenberg]

Tags: Snow Days / Airports / LAS / Winter Travel / Travel News / → All Tags

Winter Storm Shutters Las Vegas Airport

After New Orleans got dusted with snow, another place we always associate with sweating our faces off has been hit by winter weather. Las Vegas saw more than three inches of snow Wednesday, the most in nearly three decades, grounding flights at McCarran International--the world's sixth busiest airport--because LAS doesn't have snow removal or deicing gear on hand.

While the airport isn't closed per se, here's the latest from its official website:

Snowfall and poor visibility have greatly reduced the airlines’ ability to conduct normal flight operations. All passengers or those planning to pick up travelers at McCarran should contact their airline for updates.

As passengers rebooked flights Wednesday night, many decided to cab back to the Strip to spend another night in Vegas, the Review-Journal reports. Given how horrific cab queues normally are at LAS, we're glad we didn't have to be a part of the mess--even if McCarran officials insist things are running as smoothly as possible.

Related Stories:
· Record Snowfall Halts Flights at McCarran [Review-Journal]
· Snow Day in New Orleans [Jaunted]

[Photo: bryangeek]

Tags: Airports / T5 at JFK / T2 at RDU / ORD / SEA / LAS / IAD / → All Tags

Why Are Passengers Footing The Bill For All These Shiny, New Terminals?

Chicago O'Hare, Washington Dulles and Seattle-Tacoma are all paving new runways. The airport in Detroit just opened a new terminal, as did JetBlue, of course, with its long-awaited T5 at JFK (pictured). Since airlines seem to perpetually do the exact opposite of what’s good for them, we have to wonder whether pouring money into cushier digs on the ground really improves the process of flying for those who matter: Us.

Since congestion seems to be easing on its own, what with the increasing popularity of the delusional "staycation," it seems a bit frivolous for struggling airlines to continually unveil glistening, futuristic new terminals every few months. Passengers end up paying for these sweeping structures filled with interlocking corrugated iron and panoramic views of the tarmac. Whereas landing fees were less than $5 per ticket a few years ago, now they’re up to about $8. At the airport in St. Louis, with one of the most underused terminals anywhere, passengers end up paying an extra $13.

Executives at Southwest Airlines, which slowed its terminal expansions in the late 1990s, are particularly critical of the trend. Bob Montgomery, Southwest's VP of Properties, argued that the third terminal planned for McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas will basically screw over struggling consumers with unnecessary fees. The projects are "spending other people's money," added the company’s CEO, Gary Kelly. You tell ‘em, Gary.

Related Stories:
· US Airports Grow Apace, but the Timing Seems Off [IHT]
· New Terminals Travel: A Sneak Peak at T2 at RDU [Jaunted]
· New Detroit Terminal React-O-Matic [Jaunted]

[Photo: interpolactic]

Tags: Virgin America / Airlines / LAS / JFK / → All Tags

Virgin America Announces Vegas-NYC

Just a few days after Virgin America told regulators that it wants a bigger piece of the domestic market, the airline announced it'll start flights between JFK and McCarran International on September 4. Previously, you had to connect in either LA or San Francisco to fly from New York to Vegas on VA.

It's not a new city, but any expansion to Virgin's route network is much-needed. That said, the carrier will only have one flight a day between the cities. (It leaves JFK at 9:05 am and LAS at 2:15 pm.) It's not the frequency we'd like to see, but the price is right: Fares start at $159 one-way before taxes.

Related Stories:
· Big Airlines: Virgin America Wants Your Slots [Jaunted]
· Virgin America coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Family Airlines / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / Videos / LAS / → All Tags

LCC Watch: Family Airlines Promising Low Fares, Bad YouTube Videos

Here's some free advice for anyone starting an airline. If you're going to make YouTube videos, try not to read your script off a cue card. Sadly, we're too late to help out Family Airlines.

The upstart hopes to offer laughably low fares--LAS to LAX for $19--out of its Las Vegas hub by packing passengers into 747s. But that's hardly the best aircraft for short-haul routes in an age of pricey fuel. And let's not mention the fact that McCarran International already hosts a half dozen well-established low cost carriers.

Amazingly, Family Air doesn't seem too worried about escalating fuel prices because as CEO Barry Michaels says

I'm a believer that everything you see or touch should be paid for by advertisers.

So it's gonna be like Skybus, only with old, gas-guzzling planes flown by sketchy pilots? Sounds like a winner!

Related Stories:
· Family Airlines [Official Site]
· All in the Family [Plane Buzz]
· Low Cost Carriers coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: ChargeCarte / Airport Services / Airports / LAS / → All Tags

From the Makers of SmartCarte, the ChargeCarte

Seasoned travelers and frequent flyers are familiar with the SmarteCarte brand which offers, for a fee, a metal cart for you to tug your luggage around the airport. (The cart itself sadly doesn't come with that extra "e".) Honestly, we'd rather haul our luggage manually than pay a fee for a cart that is typically free in places like European airports and supermarkets.

Nevertheless, SmarteCarte has designed another way to get money out of beleaguered travelers with their ChargeCarte.

We spotted this machine in the Las Vegas airport the other week. The way it works is that you plug your cellphone (any brand), iPod or MP3 player into the machine and it will rapidly charge it for 30 minutes for $3 while you wait out the delays at the gate. The machine also locks your cellphone/MP3 player into its slot so it can't be stolen. [Ed. Note: Strike that. You have to watch your own phone as there are no locks. Sorry for getting your hopes up.]

Begrudgingly we kinda like this idea simply because we have traveled so many times without our phone chargers. Now if only they had a slot for digital cameras, too; we'd never have to stress about trying to find an obscure camera battery on the streets of Amsterdam again.

Related Stories:
· ChargeCarte [Official Site]
· Airports coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Airport WiFi / Airport-WiFi-Map / Airport WiFi Guide / PHX / PDX / LAS / → All Tags

Best US Airports for WiFi

Contribute your airport wireless report by leaving it in comments, uploading your airport photo to Jaunted Flickr Photo Pool, or via email, and we will add it to our U.S. Airport Wireless map.

In this summer-turned-fall of airport delays, one thing can help turn a trip from maddening hassle to sufferable necessity: Airport WiFi. If you're going to get stuck in a terminal far from home and far from where you're going, at least you can get online and get some work done (or update your Facebook page). At least, that's our dream.

Some airports claim free WiFi, but it is super tempermental and only exists in one terminal (JFK we are looking at you), some airports hang "We Have WiFi" banners throughout the terminals but in reality they offer a couple hours of access for $9.99, and worst of all, if you are hoping to gain coveted access to a sparse power outlet, they make you sit your ass on the, cold, hard, unforgiving airport floor while you access the web.

Lots of airports still don't even offer WiFi to travelers passing through, and we can't figure out why. In our view, it's another utility that should be provided for free, just like bathrooms and A/C. And more importantly, we find that an airport with reliable, free WiFi gets us planning our trip around such signal-strong airports.

But there's hope. Some large US airports are leading the way, while the real innovation is going on at the country's small airfields. Maybe it's due to less red tape, or maybe they just want to get noticed, but regional and less-used airports usually have the best WiFi.

After the jump we name the Best US airports for WiFi.

more ›

Tags: WiFi / Free WiFi / Airport WiFi / LAS / → All Tags

WiFi Wednesday: Free Web Access At LAS Helps You Avoid Gambling

McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas offers fast, reliable, free, four bar WiFi.

Kudos, LAS. The last thing we wanted to do was end up saddled next to one of those never winning Wheel of Fortune slot machines while waiting for our red eye back east.

Everyone knows you have to get to the Vegas airport über early just in case you get backed up in one of those never ending, only-in-Vegas, security lines. So what happens when you plow through the non existent security line in no time flat? You are left with a good hour or so to kill. Thankfully, McCarran has your wireless back.

Related Stories:
· Free WiFi on the Road [Jaunted]

Tags: Las Vegas / LAS / Airports / → All Tags

Leave Vegas on a High

...an Oxygen high that is.

When you're leaving Las Vegas through the McCarren Airport, there's a way for you to leave on a good note. At The 02 Bar, you can pick and choose all sorts of oxygens to inhale. Travel blogger Go Nomad spied on the place last August, watching others as he smoked a cigarette:

With the $15, "Businessman's Special" you even get to keep the nose hose used to suck down flavored O2. The oxygen is sent through tubes of scented water, good for what ails you. Pick and choose relaxation, euphoria, hangover or becoming newly broke with no rent money.

From my spot just across the bar in the smokers lounge I watched various customers breathe deep for relief. It didn't look like many businessmen were stopping by but many sad young male gamblers sure were. It may have had something to do with the exotic looking bartender that worked the O2.

That and the fact that those young male gamblers lost their life savings so any sort of high would have been good, even a contact high.