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'Season of Strikes' About to Hit American and European Airlines

September 8, 2010 at 4:38 PM | by Omri | 0 Comments

Following up on the weekend strikes in London and Paris, the phrase that the Associated Press is going with this mornning is "season of strikes in Europe." Put bluntly: there's not enough money to go around, and workers aren't going to go to their jobs unless they get more of it. It's not just Greece, although of course it's Greece too. Spain and the Czech Republic are hosed as well, and when you add them to the UK, France, and Italy you start to run out of countries that aren't going broke.

Now this is normally where we'd tell you that bad times overseas equal good travel opportunities from here. The problem is that you actually have to be able to get to those places, and a wave of airline strikes is about to start making that dicey. Virgin Atlantic just narrowly averted a strike, but they're pretty much the only ones. British Airways workers apparently have decided to walk out again, because that's who they are and that's what they do. Meanwhile roughly the entire country of India is facing labor-driven transportation disruptions.

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Virgin America is Latest Airline to Suffer a Flight Attendant Freakout

September 7, 2010 at 8:31 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

We’re all about following the in-flight rules and regulations, as we don’t want to be accused of being “that guy” who is slow to turn off a cell phone, stow an oversized bag, or make a run to the lavatory just minutes before landing. Now however, we may want to make sure we get things shut down and put away even sooner, as one flight attendant aboard a Virgin America flight was quick to turn a slight delay into a major issue.

Late last week, a flight attendant called the police on a passenger who was a little too slow to finish up an email and shut down that laptop. While up in the air the flight attendant warned the passenger that he was in charge and that the passenger had to listen to him. Apparently things required a call to some of New York’s finest, because on arrival at JFK, there were two officers waiting to chat up the passenger, along with the TSA. You can read the passenger’s full side of the story over at TechCrunch.

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Plenty of New Routes from Frontier, Wizz Air, and Everyone in Between

September 3, 2010 at 9:51 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

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.

· Frontier:
We’re not sure if the warm cookies will be able to make it all the way there, but Frontier Airlines is launching new service to Liberia, Costa Rica this winter. Flights will start on February 13, and the final destination provides decent access to the resorts on the country’s western coast. The flights will come and go once a week from Denver. With plenty of options to other cities from Denver, this is a solid option to visit one of the world’s newest surf and sun hotspots.

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In-Flight Cocktail of the Month: Virgin America's Mile High-Tini

September 3, 2010 at 8:48 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

We were excited to hear about Virgin America’s plans to add some new options to their RED in-flight entertainment system—including the awesome ability to keep an open bar tab—so that’s why they’re getting our nomination for the in-flight cocktail of the month.

September marks the end of the summer, so we didn’t want anything too fruity and fun. We decided on the somewhat sophisticated Mile High-Tini. It’s a mix of illy issimo iced cappuccino and a little bit of vodka. It was suggested by a crew-member of the airline, so we’ll assume it underwent several successful taste tests before hitting the menu.

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It's Taco Time! Virgin America Brings a Fare Sale and Taco Trucks to the West Coast Today

Where: Mexico
August 31, 2010 at 10:00 AM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

It's been a solid two months since Virgin America announced they'd be heading south for the winter—to Cancun and Cabo San Lucas from LAX and SFO—but until now we didn't know when exactly. Today, the low-cost airline announces that non-stop flights between San Francisco (SFO) and San Jose del Cabo International Airport (SJD) begin December 16, 2010; between Los Angeles (LAX) and Cancun (CUN) on January 19, 2011; and finally, between SFO and CUN on January 20, 2011. Looks like VX-loving LA folk will be stuck in Cali over Christmas, but SFO can at least head to Los Cabos.

To celebrate that they've finally got some dates for their first south-of-the-border routes, Virgin America is having a 3-day fare sale on their site HERE. Fares for the new Mexico routes start at $129 each way, but the sale includes coast-to-coast options for $109 each way and some smaller west coast hops from $39 each way. But wait...there's more!

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New Routes Will Take You Everywhere from Des Moines to Reykjavik

August 13, 2010 at 9:31 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

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.

· Delta:
Move over Iceland Express, as there’s a new route that will whisk passengers to and from Reykjavik from the New York City area. Their fares might not be as cheap, but Delta is starting service between JFK airport and Reykjavik starting on June 1, 2011. We realize it’s a little early to start celebrating this new option, but it’s the first US carrier to serve this route so it’s kind of a big deal. Hopefully this will create a little bit of a price ware with Icelandair, and allow travelers to visit the Blue Lagoon for a lot less than it cost in 2010.

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It's About Time! You Can Now Earn Flyer Miles Across All Virgin Airlines

August 11, 2010 at 2:51 PM | by JetSetCD | 1 Comment

It's the moment we've all been waiting for! Okay, so we haven't been waiting for it with bated breath, but we have been wondering when it would finally come about...

If you're a member of Virgin America's eleVAte frequent flyer miles program (membership is free), then you'll be able to earn points for your account from your travels on other Virgin-branded airlines. That's right, eleVAte isn't just for Virgin America any longer; flights on Virgin Atlantic, V Australia and Virgin Blue will count towards free flights as well.

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Virgin America Announces Flights to Dallas Beginning in December

Where: Dallas-Fort Worth International [map], Dallas, TX, United States
August 10, 2010 at 10:02 AM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

Now that Virgin America has forty more Airbus planes on order, the new route news is coming hot and fast. Although Chicago still remains that thing in a dream that's just within reach but just out of it, other cities will happily welcome Virgin's red tails in the time being.

Today, at a business travel conference in Houston, Sir Richard Branson dropped the bomb that Virgin America's next destination will be Dallas, Texas. This is the airline's twelfth destination, and they'll start flying to the Lonestar State sooner rather than later, possibly even earlier than their already-announced Cancun and Cabo San Lucas routes. Twice-daily flights from LAX to DFW begin December 1, 2010 and SFO to LAX begins December 6, 2010.

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New Route News from British Airways, Lufthansa and More

July 23, 2010 at 9:33 AM | by kjb | 0 Comments

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.

· British Airways:
We’ve always wanted to go to Sweden to see where Volvos and all that Ikea furniture comes from, and now it’s a little bit easier thanks to British Airways. The airline has announced plans to serve Gothenburg, and they put the tickets up for sale earlier this week. Things will get underway on November 28, and the flights will operate twice per day. Of course the flights will come and go from London-Heathrow’s Terminal 5, so be sure to stick to carryon luggage only.

· Tiger Airways:
If Taipei is on your travel bucket list, Tiger Airways is hoping to help you get there and to save you some cash doing so. The airline plans to start flying Singapore-Taipei on January 11, and it'll be the airline’s sixth destination to the greater China area. The new route will set you back about $60 each way through March, but will probably climb a little bit after that. The airline is also increasing their flight frequency to Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen. All the flights will head out from Singapore.

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More News from Virgin America: Open Bar Tabs and Enhanced Google Maps

July 22, 2010 at 12:31 PM | by JetSetCD | 0 Comments

First they come up with a "Hangover Clause" and now an open tab...

Even more news from Virgin America today, and this time it's less to do with their planes and more to do with what's inside of them. Virgin has upgraded their RED seat-back TV system to include more than just TV, music, games, passenger chat and food ordering; the RED TV now includes a whole shopping experience, enhanced Google Maps and—omg, omg—the ability to keep an open bar tab.

We've already written about the SkyMall-powered touchscreen shopping news before—check out all those details and the $38,000 diamond-encrusted iPhone here and a video here—so let's now focus on the drinkin' and the mappin'.

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Virgin America Orders Up Like a Gazillion More Planes

July 22, 2010 at 10:42 AM | by JetSetCD | 5 Comments

Just when Emirates shocks with orders for 32 new, giant A380s, making their total superjumbo order 90-strong, along comes the announcement from Virgin America that they've placed orders for forty new Airbus A320s, with the option for an additional twenty beyond that by 2018.

Okay, so nothing can really beat Emirates' splurge, but the Virgin America announcement is noteworthy in that it will triple the airline's fleet, and the new aircraft—to be delivered beginning in 2013—will feature the newish "sharklets," a larger and redesigned version of the American flag-painted winglets you'll currently find on the tips of the plane wings. Aside from reminding us of the awesome "Shark Week" on the Discovery Channel, sharklets mean fuel savings and increased eco-efficiency for VX's already pretty green-conscious fleet.

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2010 US Airline In-Flight Entertainment Guide

July 20, 2010 at 10:29 AM | by JetSetCD | 5 Comments

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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