Southwest Big Love + Hidden Delta rules + Remarkable Atlanta deal + SFO Centurion chef

Air France’s swank new first class suite arrives in the US. See below for details (Photo: Air France)

Southwest sets next round of Love expansion. Southwest Airlines last week revealed details of a big schedule expansion at Dallas Love Field, with plans to add non-stop service to 10 cities starting April 8. New destinations to be served from DAL include Charleston (S.C.), Columbus, Indianapolis, Memphis, Milwaukee, Panama City Beach, Portland (Ore.), Sacramento, San Jose and Seattle/Tacoma. (Charleston service will start April 11 and will operate only on Saturdays; Panama City Beach flights will begin with once-a-week service, increasing to daily May 8, but will be seasonal.) Also on April 8, Southwest will boost frequencies on routes from DAL to Ft. Lauderdale, Oakland and Santa Ana/Orange County. The airline will also add other new service at Santa Ana/Orange County June 28, including non-stops Chicago Midway, Seattle and Austin.

Southwest woos Atlanta flyers. Pulling out its biggest marketing guns to date, Southwest Airlines this week launched a new promotion in the Atlanta market only, offering Rapid Rewards members a pass good for free companion travel through the end of the year. To get it, members must register online at www.southwest.com/atlanta and complete at least three roundtrips out of Atlanta from now through May 17.  The only other way to get coveted companion pass status on Southwest is to amass 110,000 Rapid Rewards points. This is quite a remarkable deal, especially if you are the type of traveler who likes to mix business with pleasure and bring along the spouse or significant other from time too time. T&Cs state that you must be an Atlanta resident living in one of these zip codes to get the deal.  Delta loyalists….will you bite? 

Talk about being in the right place at the right time! A rare Etihad sighting along with Air Force One at SFO. (Photo credit: Touch n Go Aviation Photography)

Etihad jet at SFO? We did a double-take when we saw the image of this Etihad jet at SFO floating by on Twitter this week. We thought maybe our post Etihad vs Jetihad had forced positive change 🙂 In the end, we learned from an airport spokesperson that Etihad substituted one of its own aircraft for the normal Jet Airways 777 on the route due to “operational issues.” It’s nice to see that beautiful bird at SFO…and even nicer to see it on the same day that President Obama was in town— see his 747 in the background? What a shot!

Delta said to tighten award rules. First, Delta angered SkyMiles members by taking down the awards chart from its website. And now — according to the Crankyflier blog– the airline has taken another step backwards with its loyalty program by quietly introducing new advance-purchase rules for low-level domestic award travel. Cranky says that SkyMiles now requires members to book those award trips at least three weeks in advance, but it didn’t bother to announce the change. And SkyMilers now have to go through the award booking process online before they can find the true mileage cost of a trip. (So…about that offer from Southwest mentioned above…)

Predicting spring-summer airfares

Air France brings new luxury to JFK flights. The first U.S. flights to introduce Air France’s new La Premiere first class suites are AF 010/011 between New York JFK and Paris CDG. The 32-square-foot suites have a seat that transforms into a bed that’s six and a half feet long and 30 inches wide, along with a 24-inch table and an ottoman that can serve as a guest seat. And four (count em!) windows– see top.

SFO Centurion Lounge loses chef. Michelin-starred chef Christopher Kostow (from Meadowoods in Napa) only lasted three months in a gig where he oversaw the kitchen at American Express’s popular new Centurion Lounge at SFO’s Terminal 3. According to EaterSF, which broke this news, “Kostow declined to comment on the reason for the severed ties, but some industry types assume that the differing desires of a Michelin-starred chef and an airport food service provider have something to do with it.” Too bad because the spread Kostow prepared for the opening night was deeelicious, and TravelSkills was there with a full report!

The DOT’s official announcement regarding the United ticketing scam

Smart traveler or fraudster? The TravelSkills post (Should United pay for its mistakes) this week about the folks who snapped up supercheap fares by misrepresenting themselves received a TON of great comments. Check em out here. In a related story….remember the Skiplagged site, where a college kid exposed the longstanding practice of “hidden city ticketing” – a similar practice of the traveler misrepresenting where he or she is actually flying in order to get a cheaper fare? Both United and Orbitz filed a lawsuit against the kid, and this week, Orbitz reached a settlement, but United’s case is still active. Full story from USA Today

Alaska adding preferred seats. The next carrier to add a paid preferred seating option will be Alaska Airlines, which will reportedly start selling extra-legroom bulkhead and exit row seats sometime later this year. The airline is said to be eyeing preferred seating fees ranging from $15 to $50 depending on the length of the flight. Buyers will also get a free drink and priority boarding.

JetBlue will take Apple Pay. JetBlue Airways said its flight attendants will soon start accepting Apple Pay for in-flight purchases of food and beverage items, extra-legroom seats and other amenities. The new Apple Pay technology is offered with Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6s models. The carrier plans to give iPad minis and NFC-enabled cases to flight attendants so they can handle the Apple Pay transactions. The devices will also have a new iOS app that provides flight data and other information, and will let flight attendants “easily identify TrueBlue and Mosaic loyalty members by name,” JetBlue said.

Best new credit card bonuses for frequent flyers

Icelandair offers “aurora” flights. For passengers who don’t get to see the real aurora borealis, Icelandair is trying to offer the next best thing. It has painted the exterior of one of its 757s in a Northern Lights simulation, and even brought the same feeling to the cabin interior with a special mood lighting display. The plane is on a varied international schedule. Watch this gorgeous plane take shape in this excellent VIDEO

In Case You Missed It…

>American sets schedules for first 787 Dreamliners.

>Chris tries out (and photographs) JetBlue’s new Mint Class.

>InterContinental’s loyalty plan adds Kimpton hotels, new signup bonus.

Have you been following our super popular Planespotting 101 series? Check out our first two installments here: 

Planespotting 101: Boeing 737 vs Airbus A320

Planespotting 101: MD-80/90 & Boeing 717

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