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Airport news: SFO car share, LGA terminal shuffle + Oakland, O’Hare, Toronto

East Bay travelers can now use GIG Care Share for trips to SFO Airport. (Image: GIG)

In airport news, a Bay Area car-sharing service has added a presence at San Francisco International; six airlines relocated operations at New York LaGuardia; Oakland cuts the ribbon on an expanded international arrivals area; Chicago may add express trains from downtown to O’Hare; and Air Canada opens a new lounge at Toronto.

East Bay travelers have a new option for trips between San Francisco International and Oakland/Berkeley. GIG Car Share, a one-way rental service sponsored by AAA of Northern California, Nevada and Utah, has added a parking zone at the SFO Park ‘N Fly lot at 160 Produce Ave., South San Francisco, with shuttle service to and from the terminals. Those who download the app from GIG can pick up a car at the lot for trips to the East Bay, leaving the vehicle anywhere in the GIG “Home Zone,” or from Oakland/Berkeley to SFO. There’s no sign-up fee. GIG rates for a Toyota Prius C trip are $2.50 a mile or $15 an hour, including gas, insurance and parking. Click on the above GIG link for all the details. GIG already had parking at Oakland International’s Park ‘N Fly.

This past weekend was moving time for several airlines at New York LaGuardia, who relocated some or all of their operations to accommodate the ongoing massive reconstruction of the airport. By all accounts, the moves went smoothly, with new signs installed and employees on hand to direct passengers. Delta consolidated its operations in Terminals C and D, with Delta Shuttle flights to Chicago and Washington relocated from Terminal A (the Marine Air Terminal) to Terminal C.  American Airlines and its Shuttle moved from Terminal C to Terminal B (the Main Terminal), while Alaska and JetBlue moved from Terminal B to Terminal A. Spirit and Frontier, formerly in Terminal B, now use Terminal C for departures and Terminal D for arrivals.

The new terminal locations at LaGuardia. (Image: Port Authority of New York/New Jersey)

Oakland International Airport this week will celebrate a ribbon-cutting for its International Arrivals Building following the end of work on a major expansion that doubled its capacity by adding 13,000 square feet of additional space. The final phase included replacing the old baggage carousel with a pair of new ones, completing renovation work, and renovating U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities. The first phase of the project, completed last summer, gave OAK eight more Automated Passport Control kiosks, for a total of 16; four more passenger processing booths, for a total of 14; and a pair of Global Entry kiosks. The airport has added a number of international flights in the past year and a half, now offering 32 weekly departures to Europe (mostly from Norwegian).

Ever take the Blue Line trains to or from Chicago O’Hare? They have a lot of stops between the airport and downtown. But now Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago Infrastructure Trust has started taking proposals from companies that want to work with the city in creating express train service between the airport and downtown, cutting the trip time from 40 minutes to 20. The project is looking at three possible routes using existing rail lines, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The city wants the trains to run at least every 15 minutes at a fare that’s well below the cost of a taxi or Uber. City officials suggested that one possible partner might be Elon Musk’s futuristic, high-speed Hyperloop.

Air Canada’s new Signature Suite at Toronto Pearson. (Image: Air Canada)

The latest luxurious airport lounge facility for premium international travelers is the newly opened Air Canada Signature Suite at Toronto Pearson. The 6,400-square-foot facility, near Air Canada’s Terminal 1 international departure gates, is open to full-fare international business class customers (not including upgrades or reward travel). With space for 160 passengers, the suite has a sit-down restaurant with free a la carte dining, a full bar with snacks, a sitting area, and a concierge service.

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Routes: United high-density 777s, Delta, Qantas, Air China, Air Canada, Aeromexico

A United 777-200. (Image: Aero Icarus/Wikimedia Commons)

In international route developments, United will start using high-density 777s on some Europe routes; Delta aims to make things smoother for transborder flyers with a new partnership; Qantas kicks off its 787-9 service to LAX next week; Air China begins a new LAX route; Air Canada adds another Australian destination; and Aeromexico tacks on an Atlanta route.

Travel to Europe for some United Airlines passengers is going to get more crowded next year as the airline starts to deploy high-density 777-200s on a few routes out of its Newark hub. The aircraft in question are normally used on domestic routes. According to Airlineroutes.com, United will put the 777s into service between Newark and Barcelona April 23, Newark-Dublin March 10 and Newark-Madrid May 23. (Low-fare Norwegian started EWR-Barcelona flights last summer, and British Airways/Iberia sister company Level plans to begin cheap flights from Boston to Barcelona next spring.)

United has four configurations for its 777-200s, according to Seatguru.com. The three versions previously designated for international routes have 266 to 269 total seats, while the high-density aircraft have 364 (234 economy, 102 Economy Plus and 50 Polaris business class). They manage this difference thanks in part to 10-across seating in economy and Economy Plus instead of the nine-across in the other versions.

A WestJet 737 in special Walt Disney World livery. (Image: WestJet)

As if Delta didn’t have enough joint venture partnerships already (Virgin Atlantic, Air France-KLM, Aeromexico, and a new one recently approved with Korean Air), it’s now planning yet another. The carrier said it has entered into a preliminary memorandum of understanding with Canada’s WestJet to form a new joint venture for transborder service. Joint ventures also imply antitrust immunity, meaning the two carriers would be able to cooperate on pricing and scheduling.

Delta says the JV with WestJet will mean “coordinated flight schedules for new nonstop flights to new destinations, expanded codesharing, and seamless and convenient connections on the airlines’ extensive networks in the U.S. and Canada,” along with “enhanced frequent flyer benefits including reciprocal benefits for top-tier members of both airlines.”

Qantas’ first 787-9 will enter service to LAX next week. (Image: Qantas)

December 15 is the scheduled starting date for Qantas to put a brand new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner into service on its Melbourne-Los Angeles route. It’s the first route for the new Qantas aircraft, and it will replace an Airbus A380. Next March, Qantas will use a new 787-9 to begin the first non-stops between Australia and Europe, on a London-Perth routing. The Qantas 787-9s will have 42 business class seats configured 1-2-1; 28 in premium economy, with a 2-3-2 layout; and 166 in economy, configured 3-3-3 and offering 32-inch pitch.

Speaking of Australia, Air Canada just added its third route to that country, beginning service this week between Vancouver and Melbourne. The carrier uses a 787-9 for the 16-hour flight. Air Canada already flies from Vancouver to Sydney with a 777-200LR, and last summer it began Vancouver-Brisbane service with a 787.

Another new transpacific route that just started this week is Air China’s service between Los Angeles and Shenzhen, a tech-heavy city in China’s Guangdong Province. Air China will use a three-class 787-9 to fly the route three times a week (Monday, Thursday, Saturday), with a 10:50 p.m. departure from LAX. Air China also has three daily flights from LAX to Beijing.

Delta’s joint venture partner Aeromexico has started flying a new route from Delta’s Atlanta hub. The carrier kicked off daily service between ATL and Merida, using a 99-passenger Embraer 190 with business class and regular economy seating.

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Routes: Air Canada to SFO/Sacramento, AA, Aer Lingus, Norwegian, WOW, Copa + more

Air Canada Express will add new U.S. routes with regional jets. (Image: Air Canada/Skyregional)

In international route news, Air Canada and American have both announced plans to expand service between the U.S. and Canada; Aer Lingus comes to Seattle next year; low-cost carriers Norwegian and WOW will increase capacity to the U.S. in 2018; Copa boosts West Coast frequencies; Lufthansa’s Eurowings subsidiary sets more U.S. routes; and Thomas Cook Airlines comes to New York JFK.

Air Canada has unveiled plans to add new service to six U.S. cities next spring, including San Francisco and Sacramento. All the routes will be operated as Air Canada Express, with 76-seat or 50-seat regional jets. On May 1, the airline will kick off daily flights between San Francisco and Edmonton with a 76-seat aircraft, as well as daily Omaha-Toronto service, using a 50-seat plane. May 17 is the launch date for 76-seat regional jet service between Sacramento and Vancouver as well as daily roundtrips between Baltimore/Washington-Montreal and Pittsburgh-Montreal, both served by 50-passenger aircraft. All those routes will operate year-round. Air Canada will also begin seasonal service on May 17 between Providence and Toronto.

American Airlines is also increasing its transborder service to Canada. It will boost its Phoenix-Edmonton schedule from one flight a day to two effective December 15 to April 2. Next spring, American will launch new daily year-round 737 service from its Chicago O’Hare hub to Vancouver starting May 4, and seasonal daily flights from O’Hare to Calgary June 7-September 4, with an American Eagle/Envoy Air E175.  On February 15, American will increase frequencies between New York LaGuardia-Toronto from four a day to five, and on May 4 it will boost its Washington Reagan National-Toronto schedule from two flights a day a day to three. Also on May 4, the airline will lay on a third daily roundtrip between Philadelphia and Ottawa.

Ireland’s Aer Lingus, now a part of International Airlines Group along with British Airways and Iberia, will add a new U.S. West Coast gateway next year when it starts Dublin-Seattle service. The carrier plans a May 18 start for the new route, using a 265-passenger, two-class Airbus A330-200 to operate four flights a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday). Passengers flying back to Seattle will be able to pre-clear U.S. Customs at Dublin. Aer Lingus previously announced plans to start Dublin-Philadelphia service four days a week next March.

Norwegian will put larger 787-9s on U.S.-Barcelona routes next year. (Image: Norwegian)

Faced with new and growing competition from British Airways/Iberia’s Level affiliate, Norwegian plans to increase capacity between the U.S. and Barcelona next year by switching to larger aircraft – specifically, from the current 291-passenger 787-8 to the 344-seat 787-9. The changeover will take place in late March, affecting Norwegian’s two weekly flights from Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale, three flights a week to Los Angeles and Oakland, and four a week to Newark.

Another low-cost carrier – Iceland’s WOW – will also add more U.S. seats next year, increasing frequencies on its route between Newark Liberty International and Reykjavik from seven flights a week to 13, effective May 29 through September 16. That’s in addition to the airline’s new daily flights out of New York JFK starting April 28.

Panama’s Copa Airlines plans to increase its West Coast capacity this winter. The airline will boost its Panama City-San Francisco schedule from twice-daily service to 18 flights a week starting March 1, and its Panama City-Los Angeles frequencies from three a day to 25 a week effective January 2.

Lufthansa’s Eurowings unit will add U.S. routes in 2018. (Image: Eurowings)

When Lufthansa announced its recently-launched New York JFK-Berlin service (taking over for the defunct Airberlin), it said the route would be turned over next summer to Eurowings, its fast-growing, leisure-oriented subsidiary. Now it has even more transatlantic plans for Eurowings. The carrier will start a new route between JFK and Dusseldorf starting April 28, using a Brussels Airlines A340-300 to operate six flights a week. Lufthansa said Eurowings will also begin Dusseldorf-Miami service three times a week as of May 4, and Dusseldorf-Ft. Myers flights three times a week starting May 3.

Thomas Cook Airlines has launched new service between New York JFK and Manchester, operating three flights a week with an Airbus A330 and fares starting as low as $209 one-way – including a checked bag and in-flight meals. And JetBlue will kick off its fourth Caribbean route from Newark next spring, beginning daily service to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on May 3.

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Some elite flyers to get free wi-fi

Air Canada is adding free Wi-Fi as a perk for its elites. (Image: Air Canada)

Is this becoming a trend? Another big North American carrier said it will offer free in-flight Wi-Fi service as a perk for its most frequent customers.

Air Canada and Gogo announced that free Internet is being added as one of the privileges that can be selected by the airline’s Altitude Elite 75K and Super Elite 100K elite members – the top two levels of the airline’s five-tier elite structure.

The Elite 75Ks can get six-month unlimited use passes for Wi-Fi, and the Super Elite 100Ks can select a 12-month free pass. The passes are good on mainline Air Canada flights in North America as well as Air Canada Express and Air Canada Rouge.

And soon, the benefit is coming to international flights as well.

“Air Canada’s new Altitude WiFi select privilege is available for use on all Air Canada equipped flights, all over the world, regardless of systems provider. This also includes Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express operated flights,” Mark Nasr, Vice President Loyalty & eCommerce for Air Canada told TravelSkills.
He added, “Currently all of our Airbus 320 family, Embraer E175/E190, and Boeing 737MAX aircraft offer connectivity, using a mix of GoGo and Thales solutions—that’s about 160 planes. We began installations of the latest generation high-speed connectivity on our wide-body fleet this quarter; we’ll start rolling-out those planes by January at the rate of one aircraft everyone one to two weeks, until the fleet is complete. We expect to have a 10 long-haul aircraft complete before year’s end; this time next year, we expect to offer connectivity on around 248 aircraft, including 80 (or most of) the long-haul fleet.”

For now, Air Canada charges US$16 for a Gogo one-way pass if purchased online before flying. A monthly pass is US$52.

Qualifying members will be able to pick the free Wi-Fi as a Select Privilege benefit for 2018. Other selectable privileges include things like mileage bonuses, upgrade credits, airport club membership discounts and guest passes, elite status for a friend, and so on.

Air Canada is not the first North American airline to offer free Wi-Fi. Southwest Airlines offers it as a perk for top-level A-List Preferred members of its Rapid Rewards program. JetBlue has long been offering free Wi-Fi (which it calls Fly-Fi) to all passengers.

But Air Canada may be the first to offer free Gogo Wi-Fi. JetBlue developed its proprietary satellite-based Wi-Fi technology with Viasat, and Southwest’s Internet provider is Global Eagle Entertainment – although it is using Panasonic Avionics to install Wi-Fi on newly delivered aircraft, including its new 737MAX planes.

Here’s hoping that other North American carriers consider a similar move. Will they? Leave your comments below. 

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Routes: United’s longest + Delta Comfort+ American to China + more

United 787-9 Dreamliner

United will use a 787-9 Dreamliner on its new Los Angeles-Singapore non-stops. (Image: United)

In international route developments, United has inaugurated the longest U.S. non-stop service and has revived Auckland flights; Delta starts selling its Comfort+ seats on transatlantic flights and launches its first A350 flights; American begins a new China route; Air France replaces Delta on a Paris route; Air Canada adds capacity to India from the West Coast; and Pakistan’s national carrier drops a U.S. route;

New non-stop service launched last week by United between Los Angeles and Singapore takes the number one spot as the longest flight from the U.S. at 8,700 miles. That surpasses the 8,446-mile route that United started up last year from San Francisco to Singapore, and tops Qantas’ 8,576-mile Dallas/Ft. Worth Sydney route. As with its San Francisco route, United is using a 250-passenger 787-9 for the LAX-Singapore flights. The new flight departs LAX at 9:25 and takes almost 18 hours. Don’t miss: Chris’ Trip Report on SFO-SIN from last year 17 moments in 17 hours on Singapore Airlines

In other news, United just revived its seasonal service between San Francisco and Auckland, New Zealand, which is also served by Star Alliance partner Air New Zealand. United will fly the route six days a week from now through December 17, boosting the schedule to daily service through March 22. The carrier’s Auckland flights are using a 777-300ER fitted out with United’s new Polaris business cabin, featuring lie-flat seats that all have aisle access. United and Air New Zealand have created a new website at www.united.com/airnz that provides information on both carriers and destination tips about New Zealand.

Delta’s Comfort+ seating is now on sale for transatlantic flights. (Image: Delta)

Delta has just started selling its Comfort+ product – extra-legroom main cabin seating – on transatlantic flights effective for travel January 22 and beyond. That includes all its flights from North America to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Delta started selling Comfort+ seating two years ago for travel within North America, and by earlier this year had expanded it to Asia/Pacific and Latin America/Caribbean flights. (Nice for those who buy it, but less nice for those hoping to get comp upgrades.)

Meanwhile, Delta this week put its first new Airbus A350 into commercial service on its Detroit-Tokyo Narita route. The new plane features a new Delta One front cabin with lie-flat seats in private suites, as well as the airline’s new international premium economy cabin called Premium Select, which is being installed in Delta’s A350s instead of Comfort+ seating. As of this week, Delta is now using the 747 on a single route, Seoul-Detroit and that is only through December 17 when it will be replaced by a shiny new Airbus A350.

American will use a 787-8 on its new LAX-Beijing route. (Image: American)

After months of negotiations with Chinese officials to secure commercially viable slot times, American Airlines is finally due to kick off its newest route to China in a few days. November 5 is the launch date for American’s daily flights from Los Angeles to Beijing, which it will initially operate with a 787-8, switching to a 787-9 next spring. Delta had also filed for the route, but lost out when the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the rights to American in December of last year.

Air France said it will step in and replace joint venture and Skyteam partner Delta this winter on the Chicago O’Hare-Paris CDG route.  Air France will use an Airbus A330 to fly the route up to five times a week.

Air Canada has foiled plans for a schedule increase this winter on its Vancouver-Delhi route. The carrier will increase frequencies on the route from five a week to daily service effective December 9 through at least December 23. Air Canada uses a 787-9 on the route.

Over the past weekend, Pakistan International Airlines ended its service between Karachi/Lahore and New York JFK, which it had been serving with a 777-200LR via a westbound stop in Manchester, U.K. PIA had been flying to New York since 1961.

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Airport news: Portland, Vancouver, LaGuardia, Miami, Nashville + Buh-bye Airberlin

Rendering of Portland’s expanded Concourse E. (Image: Hennebery Eddy Architects)

In airport news, Portland International’s (PDX) Concourse E is getting a big expansion; Air Canada opens a new lounge at Vancouver; faster security screening comes to New York LaGuardia; Miami’s Centurion Lounge is getting bigger; Nashville takes the wraps off a billion-dollar growth plan; and some U.S. airports lose Germany service as Airberlin moves up its shutdown.

The next step in Portland (Ore.) International’s long-term $1.3 billion overhaul is an expansion of its Concourse E. The Port of Portland has just hired Skanska as the contractor to lengthen the concourse by 820 feet, constructing a two-story extension that will add six gates to the facility. The existing portion of PDX Terminal E will also be renovated, and its baggage system will be overhauled.  The $151 million project – which will enlarge Concourse E by 14,000 square meters — is expected to take three years. Concourse E is used by United, although long-term plans call for Southwest to move into the concourse, with United moving to the south side of the airport.

Air Canada’s new Vancouver Maple Leaf Lounge has a big periodicals library. (Image: Air Canada)

Air Canada has cut the ribbon on its newly renovated and expanded Maple Leaf Lounge at Vancouver International Airport. Open to qualifying Air Canada and Star Alliance customers, the lounge now occupies 1,250 square meters, with space for 258 persons. The two-level lounge has a business zone with desktop computers, printing and scanning services; hot and cold dining options and a chef’s station where custom dishes can be prepared; shower facilities; a TV area; a quiet zone with recliners; and free Wi-Fi. The new facility is decorated with the works of Canadian artists, and furnishings were created by Canadian designers.

Delta and the Transportation Security Administration have teamed up to bring a pair of new automated security lanes to Terminal C at New York LaGuardia. The airline said four of the new lanes will also be in operation by the end of this month at LGA’s Terminal D. The new security lanes – which are gradually coming to airports all over the country – allow several passengers to load their belongings into bins simultaneously. The bins are 25 percent larger than before, and empty bins are automatically returned to the beginning of the line by separate conveyor belts. The new design is estimated to move travelers through security checks up to 30 percent faster than before.

At Miami International, the airport’s board of commissioners has given a green light to American Express to expand its Centurion Lounge in Concourse D (near Gate D12 on the fourth floor). The project will give the lounge an additional 4,000 square feet of space. That will be taken up by a larger food buffet and beverage area, a new wine bar, more seating, a larger “tranquility area,” additional restrooms, and a pair of private telephone rooms. AmEx just opened a new Centurion Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport, and is due to cut the ribbon on another at Philadelphia International this month. It also changed its admission policy; the lounges are now open only to AmEx Platinum Card holders and Centurion members; other cardholders can no longer buy day passes for the lounges.

Nashville’s overhaul includes an outdoor plaza and a new hotel. (Image: Nashville Airport)

Officials at Nashville International have released details of a five-year, $1.2 billion plan to make over the airport. It calls for an overhauled terminal, an outdoor plaza area, and a big central entrance with lots of natural light. New construction in the plan includes a 288-room on-site hotel, a 2,000-space parking garage, an expanded Concourse D with more retail concessions, and additional short-term parking areas. The airport plans also allow for the eventual addition of a light rail link to downtown Nashville, although that is a separate city project. Officials said BNA is growing faster than any other U.S. airport of its size, with passenger numbers jumping by more than 11 percent last year.

Say good-bye to Airberlin. (Image: Airberlin)

Several U.S. airports will lose some service to Germany in the next few weeks as financially-troubled Airberlin has decided to halt its operations no later than October 28. Earlier, the carrier had hoped to keep most of its flights going until it could negotiate the orderly sale of its assets to other airlines, but it has decided that was an unrealistic goal. In August, Airberlin filed for insolvency in Germany following a decision by Etihad Airways, one of its major owners, to stop putting money into the company. Airberlin’s U.S. destinations from Berlin include Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco. From Dusseldorf, its U.S. schedule includes flights to Boston, Ft. Myers, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando and San Francisco. However, it recently stopped its SFO-Berlin, LAX-Berlin, Chicago-Berlin and Boston-Dusseldorf flights. Lufthansa has already announced plans to start flying New York JFK-Berlin on November 7 and Miami-Dusseldorf on November 8.

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Routes: Southwest, AA, Delta, Alaska, + a new 787 route

Southwest just added several new California routes. (Image: Jim Glab)

In domestic route developments, Southwest adds Cincinnati to its route map and adds service in several new California markets; American adds some regional routes and will put a wide-body on a SFO transcon; Delta adds more Comfort+ seats to regional aircraft; Alaska starts up its latest East Coast route; Spirit grows at Oakland; Frontier comes to Providence; and Air Canada pits a Dreamliner on a key SFO route.

Southwest Airlines this week added Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport to its route map with an initial schedule of eight flights a day – five to Chicago Midway and three to Baltimore/Washington. At the same time, the airline’s route map eliminated Dayton, where Southwest had been running a few flights a day to Midway.

As the airline’s summer schedule kicks in this week, Southwest also inaugurated new non-stop service in several California markets, including San Francisco-Portland, San Jose-Reno, San Diego-Boise and San Diego-Salt Lake City. New seasonal summer routes active as of this week include Oakland-Newark, San Diego-Newark, San Diego-Spokane and San Diego-Indianapolis. Elsewhere, Southwest started daily service between Denver and Charleston, S.C.; weekend flights between Denver-Pensacola; and seasonal flights between Denver and Norfolk. At Nashville, Southwest kicked off new daily flights to Minneapolis-St. Paul and seasonal service to Seattle.

After all the hubbub about airlines putting flat-bed seating into the front cabins on more domestic routes – notably Boston-San Francisco – readers of Flyertalk discovered another entry into the fully-reclining transcon competition: An American Airlines listing for A330-200 service between San Francisco and its Philadelphia hub starting in early October. Could this be just a seasonal redeployment of excess transatlantic aircraft, or a permanent thing?

American has new Eagle service at Billings and Medford. (Image: American Airlines)

Meanwhile, American just added some new regional service, including daily flights between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Billings, Montana using a 76-seat American Eagle E175; and new Eagle service from Medford, Oregon to both Phoenix and Los Angeles.

Delta continues to roll out its Comfort+ extra-legroom economy seating to more regional aircraft. Earlier this year, it finished installing the seats on its CRJ-200s, and now it has started selling Comfort+ on its E-175s and CRJ-900s. The extra-legroom seats are also now on sale for travel starting June 15 on Delta’s E-170 and CRJ-700 aircraft. “Delta remains engaged with distribution partners to allow Delta Comfort+ to be purchased through travel agents and in consumer direct shopping displays,” the airline said.

Alaska Airlines has started flying its newest transcontinental route. The carrier is offering daily seasonal non-stop service from Portland to Philadelphia, using a 737. The Portland-PHL flights will continue through August 26. It’s Alaska’s 58th destination from Portland.

Air Canada has deployed a new 787 Dreamliner between SFO and Toronto (Image: Air Canada)

There’s something new in the skies between San Francisco and Toronto : Air Canada has just put a 787-9 Dreamliner into service on one of its six daily flights in the market. It’s scheduled on the airline’s 11:55 a.m. departure from SFO and its 8:15 a.m. westbound flight from Toronto. See more about this beautiful bird here. 

Spirit Airlines introduced a number of new domestic markets. (Image: Spirit Airlines)

Spirit Airlines has kicked off new seasonal service from Oakland International to Baltimore/Washington and to Detroit, along with seasonal flights between Detroit and Seattle. New year-round markets just introduced by the low-cost carrier include San Diego-Baltimore/Washington, Seattle-BWI, New Orleans-BWI, New Orleans-Cleveland and New Orleans-Orlando. Spirit has also added Pittsburgh to its route map, launching new daily flights to Dallas/Ft. Worth, Orlando, Las Vegas, Houston Bush Intercontinental and Los Angeles, along with three flights a week to Ft. Lauderdale and daily seasonal service to Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Low-cost Frontier Airlines has announced some new routes starting in mid-August. The carrier will start flying out of Providence’s T.F. Green Airport on August 14 with daily flights to Denver and Orlando, and out of Islip, Long Island’s MacArthur Airport August 16 with daily service to Orlando.

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Routes: Delta, Aeromexico, Finnair, Qatar, Alitalia, Norwegian, United + more

Flight from HEL: Finnair rolled out VWs and surfboards at HEL to launch its new Helsinki-San Francisco flights today (Image: Finnair / Twitter)

In international route developments, Delta starts up Europe routes and teams with Aeromexico to add transborder markets; Finnair comes to San Francisco; Qatar delays the addition of a new U.S. gateway; Alitalia extends its Los Angeles schedule; Norwegian alters some U.S. schedules and boosts London frequencies; Southwest expands Mexico service this winter; United adds an Asian code-share; and Air Canada starts a new U.S. route.

Delta has started service on several seasonal routes to Europe. One new seasonal route this summer is Portland, Oregon to London Heathrow, now operating four days a week with a 767-300. Other new Delta seasonal routes to Europe include daily service from Boston to Dublin and from New York JFK to Glasgow (in addition to its JFK-Edinburgh service). Delta has also resumed seasonal daily flights from JFK to Berlin and to Lisbon. In other Europe news, Delta plans to scale back its Salt Lake City-London Heathrow route to seasonal status, discontinuing the flights from October 29 to March 23.

Meanwhile, Delta also announced plans to start selling its Comfort+ extra-legroom economy seating as a separate fare category on more international routes. The seats are now on sale for travel beginning September 20 on routes from North America to Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile; and to China and Hong Kong.

The Delta-Aeromexico joint venture will add transborder routes and frequencies. (Image: Delta)

That new joint venture between Delta and Aeromexico has announced plans to start service on five new transborder routes sometime this fall, after they get government approval. The five routes, all to be operated by Aeromexico, include Atlanta-Merida, Atlanta-Queretaro, Los Angeles-Leon, Seattle-Mexico City and Portland-Mexico City.  The joint venture will also add a second daily flight between LAX and Los Cabos, and a third between New York JFK and Cancun, both operated by Delta; and a second daily flight from Atlanta to both Leon and Guadalajara, both operated by Aeromexico. With the two airlines now operating as one in terms of scheduling and pricing, these changes could mean higher fares for travelers to Mexico – but the extra flights could also mean fewer connecting hassles at Mexico City’s congested airport.

Finally, Delta is adding more service to Southeast Asia – not on its own, but through new code-shares with transatlantic joint venture partner Air France. According to Routesonline.com, Delta’s code has gone onto Air France’s Paris CDG-Bangkok service, and will do the same October 3 on Air France’s Paris-Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam flight.

Finnair is using an A330 on its seasonal San Francisco route. (Image: Finnair)

San Francisco International’s newest transatlantic route is to Helsinki, Finland. Finnair this week introduced seasonal service from SFO to the Finnish capital, using an Airbus A330-300 to fly the route three times a week, departing SFO on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The Helsinki flights will continue through September.

We reported a while ago that Qatar Airways was planning to add another U.S. gateway in early January with the addition of service between Doha, Qatar and Las Vegas. But the carrier’s latest schedule filings now show that launch date has been pushed back to June 1, 2018. Qatar still expects to fly the route four days a week with a 777-200LR.

It looks like Alitalia will turn its seasonal Los Angeles-Rome service into a year-round operation — almost. Alitalia, a member of Delta’s Skyteam alliance, filed a new schedule showing its LAX-Rome service will not end October 29 as previously planned, but will continue after that three times a week – at least until January 15, when it goes on hiatus until March 6.

We’ve reported previously on the big plans by Norwegian Air International to begin new low-fare service in June from the northeastern U.S. to various points in Europe using its brand-new, longer-range 737MAX 8 aircraft. But Boeing has warned the carrier of delays in delivering the new planes, so Norwegian has been scrambling to adjust its fleet plans.  Instead of the new 737MAX 8s, the company now plans to substitute Norwegian Air Shuttle 737-800s for much of the summer on new service from Providence to Bergen, Norway; Belfast, Northern Ireland; and Shannon, Cork and Dublin, Ireland, as well as service from Stewart Airport in Newburgh, N.Y. to Shannon, Dublin, Edinburgh and Bergen.

Norwegian will increase 787 frequencies on U.S.-London Gatwick routes this winter. (Image: Norwegian)

Meanwhile, Norwegian is also planning to increase frequencies on several U.S. routes to London Gatwick when its winter schedule kicks in on October 29. All the affected routes use 787-9s. Norwegian will boost Oakland-London service from three flights a week to four, while Los Angeles-LGW increases from five flights a week to daily service; Orlando-LGW goes from one a week to two; Ft. Lauderdale-LGW increases from three a week to four; and Boston-Gatwick from four a week to five.

Although Delta and Aeromexico are tightening their grip on the transborder market, other competitors are stepping up their game as well. Southwest Airlines’ winter schedule, effective November 5, shows an increase of its Houston Hobby-Mexico City schedule from three flights a day to four, while its weekly flights from Denver to Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos both go to daily frequencies. On November 11, Southwest will kick off new weekly flights to Cancun from both Nashville and St. Louis. Interjet, the low-cost Mexican carrier, plans to boost its service between New York JFK and Mexico City from 18 flights a week to 25 starting June 15. And United on December 17 will introduce seasonal weekly flights (on Saturdays) between its Denver hub and Cozumel.

Speaking of United, here are a couple of new developments to Asia: United has put its code onto Star Alliance partner ANA’s daily 787 service between Tokyo Narita and Phnom Penh, Cambodia; and United’s aircraft switch on its San Francisco-Seoul flight effective October 29 from a 747-400 to a 777-200ER has changed; the carrier now plans to use a 787-9 instead of a 777. And today we shared the news about what’s missing on United’s new Los Angeles-Singapore nonstops in another post. 

Air Canada has added a new destination from Denver. The carrier recently started Air Canada Express service twice a day from Denver to Vancouver, using a 75-passenger CRJ705.The schedule will drop back to once a day September 10.

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Routes: Norwegian/BA at Oakland, Alaska/Condor, China Eastern, KLM, Air Canada, Volaris

British Airways B777

British Airways will fly nonstop between Oakland and London-Gatwick using a Boeing 777-200ER (Photo: British Airways)

In international route developments, Norwegian and British Airways begin new Oakland flights; Alaska inks a frequent flyer partnership with a European carrier; China Eastern adds a U.S. route; KLM returns to Minneapolis; Air Canada begins a new transcontinental link from Vancouver; and Volaris starts Houston service.

It will be a busy time at Oakland International next week, with two new transatlantic services coming to the Bay Area airport. March 28 is the launch date for Norwegian’s newest low-cost transatlantic route, linking Oakland with Copenhagen twice a week, using a 787-8.  And on the same date, British Airways will kick off new daily flights linking Oakland with London Gatwick – a route served since last year by Norwegian. The new BA flights out of OAK will operate four days a week, using a 777-200ER with business, premium economy and regular economy seating. BA already flies to London from San Francisco and San Jose – but to Heathrow, not Gatwick. Meanwhile, BA will also begin new service on March 27 between New Orleans and London Heathrow, offering 787-8 flights four days a week.

Speaking of Oakland, the new carrier LEVEL, which announced new nonstops to Barcelona for just $149 each way bragged on Twitter this week that it sold 52,000 tickets in a single day:

Condor is Alaska’s newest Mileage Plan partner. (Image: Condor)

Alaska Airlines has added another European carrier as a partner in its Mileage Plan frequent flyer program. The new partner is Condor, a leisure-oriented subsidiary of Thomas Cook that is based in Germany. The two carriers already had an interline agreement, but now passengers will be able to earn and spend Mileage Plan miles on Condor as well. Alaska passengers can link up with transatlantic Condor flights to Frankfurt at Seattle, San Diego, Las Vegas, Portland, Anchorage and Fairbanks; in June, Condor will add Seattle-Munich flights.

Mileage Plan members can start earning elite-qualifying miles on Condor flights now (and so can Virgin America Elevate members who have a Mileage Plan account number). Award travel redemption “will begin at a later date,” Alaska said. Condor, which uses three-class 767-300ERs on its transatlantic routes, is expanding its North America network this year to a total of 16 cities, mostly served a couple of times a week. The airline primarily serves vacationers, but offers a nice (but non-lie-flat) business class, reviewed here.

China Eastern wants to start Houston-Shanghai flights. (Image: Airbus)

China Eastern Airlines has its eye on new U.S. service linking Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport with Shanghai Pudong, according to a report in Air Transport World, an aviation industry journal. China Eastern, a member of Delta’s SkyTeam global alliance, reportedly hopes to begin the service in June or July. The only other non-stop service between Houston and China is an Air China route from Houston to Beijing.

KLM set a March 27 start for seasonal service between Minneapolis-St. Paul and its Amsterdam Schiphol hub – a route it hasn’t flown since 2001. The Dutch carrier will fly the route three days a week, continuing through October. KLM’s SkyTeam partner Delta, which has a hub at MSP, already offers service to AMS up to three times a da

On June 23, Air Canada will introduce new seasonal service linking Vancouver with Boston, continuing through September 4. The carrier will offer one daily roundtrip using a two-class A319. The Canadian carrier will also resume Montreal-Washington Dulles daily service starting June 19, using a 50-passenger CRJ-100; Air Canada already flies between Montreal and Washington Reagan National.

Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris has started up new service between Houston Bush Intercontinental and Mexico City, operating four days a week. Volaris already flies from Houston to Guadalajara.

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Routes: Swiss to SFO + Lufthansa, Aeromexico, Hainan, Delta/KLM, Air Canada

Economy class on SWISS’s new 777-300ER. (Image: SWISS)

In international route developments, Swiss will increase San Francisco service and lay on more 777-300ERs to the U.S. this summer; Lufthansa sets the date for its first new A350 service to the U.S.; Aeromexico brings a new route to San Jose; Hainan Airlines adds a pair of routes from Los Angeles; Delta code-shares on more KLM flights; Air Canada adds a new Vancouver route and reshuffles Ottawa service.

Lufthansa subsidiary Swiss International’s newly issued summer schedule calls for an increase in San Francisco-Zurich frequencies from the current three 777-300ER flights  a week to daily service beginning April 22. All the flights will use the carrier’s new 777-300ERs. Swiss already uses the new aircraft on its Los Angeles-Zurich route, and said that between June and October of this year, it will also deploy the new aircraft on six of its 12 weekly flights between Zurich and Chicago O’Hare. Take a tour of “the new SWISS flagship” here. 

Lufthansa recently took delivery of its second A350 from Airbus and it’s headed to Boston. (Image: Lufthansa)

Lufthansa has taken delivery of its second brand-new Airbus A350-900, and it has set March 14 as the date when that aircraft will start flying between Munich and Boston. (The first one recently started flying from Munich to Delhi, India, and the third will go onto the Munich-Mumbai route starting in late April.) Innovations on the Lufthansa A350 include an in-flight entertainment system that lets passengers create their own programming playlists from an app before leaving home, and LED technology that makes it possible to provide two dozen different lighting schemes in the cabin.

The latest international carrier to announce new service to San Jose is Aeromexico. The Mexican airline set a July 1 start for new service between SJC and its Guadalajara hub, operating six 737 flights a week (not on Tuesdays). The flight will depart San Jose at 10:15 a.m.

Hainan Airlines is adding two 787 routes from Los Angeles. (Image: Simon Auger/Flickr)

China’s Hainan Airlines has started taking reservations for new service from Los Angeles to two destinations in western China. On March 15, it will begin service between LAX and Chengdu, followed on March 21 by new flights from LAX to Chonqing. Both routes will operate twice a week, and both will use 787-8s.

Delta continues to expand its roster of code-share flights with joint venture partner KLM. Beginning March 26, according to Routesonline.com, Delta’s code will go onto KLM’s flights between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Amsterdam. Also getting Delta codes will be KLM flights beyond Amsterdam to Milan Malpensa; Graz, Austria; Gdansk, Poland; Freetown, Sierra Leone and Monrovia, Liberia; Split, Croatia; and the Italian destinations of Catania, Sicily, and Cagliari, Sardinia.

Air Canada’s Jazz unit has started new daily non-stops between Vancouver and Dallas/Ft. Worth, using two-class CRJ-705s. On the east coast, meanwhile, Air Canada said it has ended its three daily flights between Ottawa and New York LaGuardia, but will add three flights a day between Ottawa and Newark beginning March 26. (Meanwhile, Delta is poised to pick up the slack from LGA, starting twice-daily service to Ottawa as of April 2.) In other news, Air Canada will use a 787-9 on one (AC737/738) of its six daily San Francisco-Toronto flights for the summer season, beginning June 1.

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Mineta San Jose airport adding even more flights in 2017

United Airlines 737-800

United Airlines Boeing 737-800s will soon fly nonstop to New York and Chicago from San Jose (Image: Chad Slattery / United)

With major U.S. airlines adding more flights at Mineta San Jose International this winter and spring, and with international flight options taking off, the airport has been making substantial improvements to handle increased passenger traffic.

New domestic flights starting in the first half of the New Year include:

  • A pair of new nonstops for United Airlines, both starting March 9. United will begin twice-daily flights to its big hub at Chicago O’Hare, and one daily roundtrip to its East Coast hub at Newark Liberty International. United will use 737-800s on both routes.
  • Staking a bigger claim in California, Alaska Airlines will inaugurate new transcontinental service on the SJC-Newark route on March 12, operating one daily roundtrip, followed by new intrastate service three times a day from San Jose to Hollywood-Burbank beginning March 16. These are the fourth and fifth new Alaska Airlines routes at SJC since late 2015, giving the carrier a total of 16 destinations.
  • On May 1, Air Canada is due to add a third daily frequency between San Jose-Vancouver.
  • American Airlines’ seasonal service between San Jose and Charlotte is set to resume May 5.
  • Delta will boost its presence at San Jose beginning May 25, when it expands its schedule to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson from two flights a day to three.
  • And Southwest will kick off daily San Jose-Reno service June 4.

You can find more details about new San Jose routes here.

First stop: SJC's new business class lounge

SJC’s popular business class lounge awarded “Priority Pass Lounge of the Year for North America.” (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Even without these new flights, SJC has been experiencing healthy growth in passenger numbers. Through the first 10 months of 2016, the domestic passenger count topped the 4 million mark, an increase of more than 7 percent year-over-year. And thanks to new flights across both the Atlantic and Pacific, international traffic at SJC jumped more than 68 percent during that period.

New and improved passenger amenities at Mineta San Jose make life easier for travelers. The three-year-old Club at SJC in Terminal A, a lounge open to all travelers on a paid basis and also a part of the Priority Pass network of airport lounges, was recently named the Priority Pass Airport Lounge of the Year for North America.

International travelers at SJC are finding their lives a little easier thanks to recent improvements that help them to speed through passenger processing. Precheck logo TMMany domestic travelers rely on TSA’s PreCheck program to move through security screening more quickly, but now some international travelers at San Jose can also take advantage of that benefit: Lufthansa – which began San Jose-Frankfurt flights last summer – recently became the first European airline to begin participation in PreCheck.

International travelers at SJC can now download Customs and Border Protection’s free Mobile Passport Control app on their phones or tablets and use it to submit their passport data and Customs declaration form to CBP. A coded electronic receipt shown to the CBP officer lets them move quickly through the arrivals process. And the airport also offers CBP’s Global Entry kiosks for international arrivals who belong to that trusted traveler program, allowing them to bypass lines. Also available at SJC are Automated Passport Control kiosks where arriving travelers can submit their entry information.

Mobile Passport Control

No need to fill out paper customs and immigration forms when you have the new Mobile Passport Control app

And more enhancements are on the way. This spring, the airport is expected to finish a renovation of its International Arrivals Building that will add 5,600 square feet along with a second baggage carousel and an enclosed waiting area.

A look at what the new International Arrivals lobby (Image: SJC)

A image of the future International Arrivals lobby (Image: SJC)

On a lighter note, Mineta San Jose has garnered attention and acclaim for its recent deployment of three interactive customer service robots – an appropriate innovation for an airport that serves as the gateway to Silicon Valley. Even more interactive robots – smaller ones – are featured in the airport’s new play area for children in Terminal B.

You can find more details about new San Jose routes here.

This post is sponsored by Mineta San Jose International Airport  

San Jose Airport banner

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Air Canada’s new transpacific partnerships

Air Canada uses a 777-300ER on its Vancouver-Hong Kong route. (Image: Air Canada)

Air Canada uses a 777-300ER on its Vancouver-Hong Kong route. (Image: Air Canada)

Air Canada has created new code-sharing and frequent flyer partnerships with Cathay Pacific and Virgin Australia.

The link with Cathay Pacific is in effect for travel beginning January 19, with tickets going on sale starting January 12. Passengers will be able to book a single ticket for connecting travel and check bags through to their final destination.

Passengers on Air Canada’s carrier’s flights to Hong Kong from Toronto and Vancouver will be able to connect onto code-share flights operated by Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon to Manila, Cebu, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai. Travelers on Cathay’s transpacific service to Vancouver and Toronto will find Cathay’s code on connecting Air Canada service to major cities in Canada.

Members of Air Canada’s Aeroplan and Cathay’s Asia Miles programs will be able to earn and redeem miles on the code-share flights of both airlines, Air Canada said. The two airlines are not global alliance partners; Air Canada belongs to United’s Star Alliance, while Cathay is part of American’s Oneworld.

Cathay will put a new Airbus A350 onto its Hong Kong-Vancouver route this spring. (Image: Airbus)

Cathay will put a new Airbus A350 onto its Hong Kong-Vancouver route this spring. (Image: Airbus)

Cathay Pacific also announced plans to increase frequencies on its Vancouver-Hong Kong route from 14 a week to 17 effective March 28, when it will begin flying an additional three flights a week with a new Airbus A350. The existing double-daily service uses 777-300ERs.

Meanwhile, Air Canada has created a similar agreement with Virgin Australia that should take effect early in 2017 following regulatory approvals.

That agreement will allow passengers on Air Canada’s flights to Sydney and Brisbane to connect with Air Canada code-shared Virgin Australia flights to Adelaide, Canberra, Cairns, Melbourne and Perth in Australia as well as Christchurch and Auckland in New Zealand; and on Virgin service from Sydney to Brisbane and to the Gold Coast; and from Brisbane to Wellington, New Zealand. Travelers on Virgin Australia flights to Los Angeles will see that airline’s code on connecting service via Air Canada to Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal.

Aeroplan members and Virgin’s Velocity members will each be able to earn program credits for flights on the code-share services operated by the other airline. Air Canada said additional loyalty program reciprocal benefits will be announced later.

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Roundup: San Jose’s flourishing flight options

British Airways added San Jose-London service last spring with a new 787-9. (Image: British Airways)

British Airways added San Jose-London service last spring with a new 787-9. (Image: British Airways)

Mineta San Jose International Airport is entering a real boom period, with both domestic and international airlines adding new routes right and left. With a growing regional population and a perfect location as the gateway to one of the world’s biggest technology hubs, Mineta San Jose is well positioned for continued growth into the 21st century.

That technology hub, of course, is Silicon Valley. Some of the world’s leading tech giants have offices no more than a dozen miles from SJC, including companies like Apple, Google, Symantec, Intel, Cisco, Adobe Systems, Netflix, SanDisk and many more. Not only is a trip to Mineta San Jose a fraction of the distance to San Francisco International Airport for these companies, but SJC’s smaller size makes the airport experience less hectic for passengers (through the first nine months of 2016, SJC boarded fewer than 4 million passengers, vs. almost 20 million at SFO).

With all those business travelers close by, and with its fast-growing, high-income population (San Jose is the 10th largest city in the sponsored-sliderU.S., and its metropolitan area has a median household income of $100,385), it’s not surprising that airlines are eager to accommodate that market.

Lufthansa uses an A340-300 on its new San Jose-Frankfurt route. (Image: BriYYZ/Wikimedia Commons)

Lufthansa uses an A340-300 on its new San Jose-Frankfurt route. (Image: BriYYZ/Wikimedia Commons)

In recent months, Mineta San Jose has attracted new routes from several international airlines, among them:

  • Lufthansa this past summer began flying non-stop to Frankfurt five times a week, using a 298-passenger, three-class A340-300. Through its Frankfurt hub, the German carrier offers connections to 100 cities in Europe and beyond.
  • British Airways last spring kicked off the first non-stop service from SJC to London Heathrow, using a brand-new, 216-passenger, four-class Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. It’s BA’s fourth destination in California, along with Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego.
  • In September, Air China launched a new transpacific route from SJC to Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport, making San Jose the airline’s 10th North American gateway. The Chinese carrier uses a two-class, 237-seat Airbus A330-200 to fly the new route three days a week. SJC Aviation Director Kim Becker said the new route is expected to bring $65 million a year in economic investment to the San Jose area.
  • It’s not as far away, but another new international destination for SJC that started this year is Vancouver. Air Canada last spring kicked off twice-daily service between the two cities, using Bombardier CRJ-705s. Airport officials noted that Vancouver is sometimes called Silicon Valley North, since more than 200 Silicon Valley companies have offices there.

While the Lufthansa and British Airways flights represented SJC’s most recent transatlantic non-stops, it already offered transpacific service to Tokyo with All Nippon Airways (ANA) and to Beijing with Hainan Airlines.

Alaska, Southwest, United and JetBlue are all growing at SJC. (Image: Jim Glab)

Alaska, Southwest, United and JetBlue are all growing at SJC. (Image: Jim Glab)

New domestic routes are also proliferating.  San Jose got another new transcontinental flight last month, when Southwest Airlines began a daily roundtrip to Baltimore/Washington International. At the same time, Southwest also started new twice-daily SJC-Salt Lake City service. And American Airlines this past summer added daily seasonal service between SJC and its Charlotte hub.

In March of next year, both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines are set to begin new daily non-stops from SJC to Newark Liberty International, and United will start twice-daily flights from SJC to its big Chicago O’Hare hub as well. In mid-May, Delta will add a third daily SJC-Atlanta flight.

Intra-California traffic is also booming, attracting new service in the California corridor. Last summer, Alaska Airlines started flying three times a day from SJC to both San Diego and Orange County’s John Wayne Airport. And on January 4, JetBlue will kick off SJC-Long Beach service, offering four daily roundtrips, followed by three daily Alaska Airlines flights to Burbank beginning in mid-March.

You can find more details about new San Jose routes here.

This post is sponsored by Mineta San Jose International Airport  

San Jose Airport banner

Disclosure: Thank you for reading TravelSkills! We will periodically send out messages like this one from commercial partners about topics relevant to frequent travel.  Our sponsors’ support, and yours, help us keep TravelSkills a free publication. 


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Routes: Air Canada, Virgin Atlantic, Hainan, United, AA, Delta, Volaris

Air Canada will use regional jets like the Embraer 190 on new U.S. routes. (Image: Air Canada)

Air Canada will use regional jets like the Embraer 190 on new U.S. routes. (Image: Air Canada)

In international route news, Air Canada will add some new transborder routes next year; Virgin Atlantic will drop a key U.S.-London service; China’s Hainan Airlines applies for rights to two U.S. cities; United suspends two Europe routes this winter and one next summer; American goes all-787 on a London route; Volaris adds two U.S.-Mexico routes and Delta drops one.

Air Canada said it plans to add or expand half a dozen U.S. routes next spring, using regional jets on all of them. On May 1, the airline will begin new daily service from Toronto to San Antonio and Memphis, and its Vancouver to Phoenix service will be expanded from seasonal to year-round. On the same date, Air Canada will start seasonal Toronto-Savannah, Ga., flights for the summer, operating six times a week through October 15. On May 18, Air Canada will begin twice-daily flights between Vancouver and Denver, and on May 26 it will add daily flights between Montreal and Dallas/Ft. Worth.

Virgin Atlantic’s summer Chicago-London Heathrow flights, which last year operated from mid-May through mid-October, will not resume in 2017, according to Routesonline.com. Virgin said suspension of the Chicago flights will allow it to add a third daily Los Angeles-London flight, as previously announced.

Don’t miss! Transcon fares plunge to around $200 round trip

Hainan wants to add 787 flights from Chengdu to LAX and New York. (Photo: San Jose Airport)

Hainan wants to add 787 flights from Chengdu to LAX and New York. (Photo: San Jose Airport)

What’s the big attraction of Chengdu, in central China’s Sichuan province? For one thing, it has a population exceeding 10 million. China’s Hainan Airlines has asked the U.S. Transportation Department for rights to fly to Chengdu twice a week from Los Angeles in the first quarter of 2017, and three times a week from New York in the second quarter, using 787s on both routes. It already has the approval of China’s government. Chengdu is already served by United from San Francisco, by China Eastern from LAX via Nanjing and Sichuan Airlines from LACX via Hangzhou.

United Airlines plans a temporary suspension of two routes to Germany this winter, according to Routesonline.com. United will drop its four weekly Newark-Hamburg 767 flights from January 9 through May 4, and its five weekly Houston-Munich 767 roundtrips from January 10 through April 3. And next summer, United has reportedly decided not to offer previously planned seasonal daily 757 flights between Newark and Oslo, which had been scheduled to operate from May 5 to September 5.

The main cabin on an America Airlines 787. (Image: American)

The main cabin on an America Airlines 787. (Image: American)

American Airlines, which currently uses 767s and 777s on its Chicago O’Hare-London Heathrow route, reportedly plans to change over to all 787-8 Dreamliners for those flights beginning March 5. The airline’s three daily ORD-LHR flights will be supplemented with a fourth daily 787 roundtrip for the summer starting April 4. AA also will replace its daily 767-300ER flight from O’Hare to Dublin with a 787-8 from July 5 through October 4.

Delta’s daily Los Angeles-Guadalajara 737-800 flight is due to be discontinued February 1. But Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris continues to expand transborder service. This month, it started daily A320 roundtrips from Monterrey to Denver, and in March it is due to launch twice-weekly service from Guadalajara to Milwaukee.

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Airport news: LAX Terminal 1.5 | Raleigh-Durham | Chicago | Minneapolis | Montreal

LAX's Terminal 1.5 will link T1 and T2. (Image: Los Angeles World Airports)

LAX’s Terminal 1.5 will link T1 and T2. (Image: Los Angeles World Airports)

In airport news this week, Los Angeles moves forward with a couple of new construction projects; Delta overhauls its Sky Club at Raleigh-Durham; Chicago introduces a new tool for passengers to determine taxi waiting times; Minneapolis-St. Paul adds some new gates and restaurants; and Air Canada cuts the ribbon on a Maple Leaf lounge at Montreal.

Pending final approval from the city council, the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners has given a tentative OK to environmental and design plans for what it is calling the Terminal 1.5 project – construction of a six-level, 417,500 square foot building connecting Terminals 1 (Southwest) and Terminal 2 (International).   It won’t have any boarding gates, but will provide a new baggage claim area on the lower level, a ticketing lobby on the upper level, security screening on the concourse level and office space on the top two levels. Pre-security walkways on the first two levels will connect Terminals 1 and 2. The facility is expected to open in the summer of 2019. Meanwhile, airport officials are releasing a request for qualifications for design and construction of LAX’s planned Consolidated Rent-A-Car Center, which will be near Interstate 405 in Manchester Square. It will be linked to terminals by an automated people-mover system.

On December 6, Delta officials will cut the ribbon on the airline’s renovated Sky Club at Raleigh-Durham Airport, located on the second level of Terminal 2 across from Gate C3. The club has new contemporary furnishings; power outlets and charging stations near every seat; faster Wi-Fi; an expanded business center; a bar with free beverages including local craft beers, premium wines and cocktails as well as Starbucks coffee and self-serve espresso machines.

LoLo Kitchen has opened in MSP's Terminal 1. (Image: SSP America)

LoLo American Kitchen has opened in MSP’s Terminal 1. (Image: SSP America)

Noting that passenger counts at its Terminal 2 (Humphrey Terminal) have increased by 5.4 percent this year, Minneapolis-St. Paul International said it has opened four new aircraft gates at that terminal, which is used by Southwest, Sun Country, Icelandair and Condor. Besides the new gates (H11-H14), the project also included a new nursing mothers’ room and an indoor pet/service animal relief area. In Terminal 1, meanwhile, two new food and beverage options have opened. Concourse E is home to LoLo American Kitchen and Craft Bar, with seasonal local cuisine and craft beers; and Concourse D is the site of Republic, a “gastropub” offering local beers and small plate cuisine – along with live music performances during peak travel periods.

The Chicago Department of Aviation announced a new texting tool that passengers can use to get live updates on taxi waiting line times at the city’s two airports. Users simply text the word “taxi” to 312-883-8404 for O’Hare Airport waiting times, or 312-883-7969 for Midway Airport. The city also offers “e-hailing” for taxis through apps available at www.Chicabs.org, and the Aviation Department provides taxi wait times, traffic updates, weather and special travel alerts through its website at www.flychicago.com.

The food service area in Air Canada's Montreal Maple Leaf Lounge. (Image: Air Canada)

The food service area in Air Canada’s Montreal Maple Leaf Lounge. (Image: Air Canada)

Following a year-long overhaul, Air Canada’s International Maple Leaf Lounge at Montreal Trudeau has reopened. Located between Gates 52 and 53, the 11,000-square foot facility has room for 259 passengers. It has floor to ceiling windows, a full service bar with free drinks, a live food station, specialty coffees, free Wi-Fi, showers, a work area and more. It’s open to eligible Air Canada and Star Alliance customers.

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Routes: Easier to fly Korean + Norwegian, Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Fiji, more

The Delta-KAL codeshare lets you buy a ticket from Delta, but fly KAL (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

More flights, more availability for award flights on Korean Air (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

In international route news, Korean Air plans to boost West Coast frequencies next year, Norwegian’s Las Vegas routes will be cut back to a seasonal basis;  Aer Lingus adds a new U.S. gateway; Air Canada adds a pair of summer Europe routes from Vancouver; Fiji Airways will boost San Francisco service; two German airlines add new U.S. routes next summer; and ANA will start direct service to Mexico City.

Korean Air’s 2017 schedule plans include more flights to the West Coast, according to Routesonline.com. On March 26, Korean’s San Francisco-Seoul Incheon schedule is tentatively set to increase from seven flights a week to 12, then grow to 13 in June and 14 in September. The carrier will utilize a mix of B747-8 and B777s on the route. KAL likely added more capacity since Singapore Air moved its daily SFO-Seoul nonstop to LA to make way for its nonstop SFO-SIN service. From June through August, the airline will increase Los Angeles-Seoul Incheon frequencies from 14 to 19 flights a week. And Korean’s Seattle schedule shows daily flights during May, September and October, up from five a week for the same months this year. (FYI, Korean Air is a partner in Chase Ultimate Rewards- many readers love to unload their points to fly KAL in first or business class because space is frequently available. Get a new card, earn the bonus, and redeem away!)

Don’t miss: Trip Report – First class on Korean Air Boeing 747-8 from SFO

Here’s how TravelSkills reader JS flew KAL in first class by transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards to Korean Air SkyPass. He told us: “As you probably know it’s incredibly easy to find first class space on Korean since so few people in the U.S. either have those miles or know about the transfer process from Chase.  In addition, even though Delta and Korean are both members of SkyTeam, Delta members cannot redeem their miles for first class on other SkyTeam carriers.”

Norwegian Air Shuttle has been growing at Las Vegas, but it has now decided that its four routes to Europe will operate seasonally instead of year-round. Why? Because it discovered this year that sometimes Las Vegas is just too hot in the summer for its planes to take off, so they’ve had to sit on the ground until temperatures dropped. The cutoff temperature for the airline’s 291-seat Dreamliners is 104 degrees, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, so for 2017 the airline will suspend its service to London, Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen from late March until November. The publication said the airline is studying the possibility of rescheduling summer departure times to early morning or late in the day for 2018.

 

Aer Lingus is adding a Miami route next year. (Image: Aer Lingus)

Aer Lingus is adding a Miami route next year. (Image: Aer Lingus)

Ireland’s Aer Lingus will add Miami as its newest U.S. gateway next year. The airline set a September 1 start for the new service, operating three times a week between Miami and Dublin with a 266-seat A330-200. Aer Lingus also said it will boost its Los Angeles schedule from the current four flights a week to daily departures from May 26 through the end of August; increase Chicago O’Hare service from 12 flights a week to twice-daily departures beginning May 26; and add a fourth weekly flight from Orlando effective March 14.

Air Canada will give travelers new options to Europe from Vancouver next summer. The carrier said it will start daily flights from Vancouver to Frankfurt on June 1, using a 787-8 with business class, premium economy and regular economy seating; and three flights a week from Vancouver to London Gatwick with an Air Canada Rouge 767-300ER with premium and regular economy seating.

Fiji Airways is boosting capacity to San Francisco in 2017 (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Fiji Airways is boosting capacity to San Francisco in 2017. (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Fiji Airways must be doing well with its San Francisco-Nadi, Fiji route, because it plans to increase capacity next summer. Instead of operating two flights a week for eight weeks, it will keep them going from June 1 through late October, and will add a third weekly frequency from June 19 to August 8 – and it will upgrade the aircraft it uses from an A330-200 to a -300.

New travel options to Germany next year include service from Seattle to Cologne and from Pittsburgh to Frankfurt. The Seattle route be flown by Lufthansa Group subsidiary Eurowings, with three A330-200 flights a week operating seasonally from July 11 through October. And the Pittsburgh-Frankfurt route will be flown by Condor Airlines, with two 767 flights a week from June 23 through September.

Chris McGinnis inspecting ANA's maintenance hangar at Haneda Airport on the day before the 787 was grounded. (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Chris McGinnis inspecting a Boeing 787 at Tokyo Haneda (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Want to get from Mexico to Japan without flying through the U.S. or Canada? Japan’s All Nippon Airways announced plans to begin the first non-stop service between the countries, with daily flights from Tokyo Narita to Mexico City beginning February 15. It will be ANA’s longest non-stop flight, and will use a 787-8 Dreamliner with business class and economy seating.

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Airport news: San Francisco, Atlanta, Newark, Philadelphia

San Francisco's Terminal 1 overhaul is leading to some closures. (Image: San Francisco International Airport)

San Francisco’s Terminal 1 overhaul is leading to some closures. (Image: San Francisco International Airport)

In the latest airport developments, San Francisco warns travelers about some upcoming closures; Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson starts work on a major project; an international carrier opens a lounge at Newark Liberty International; and American will adjust its presence at its Philadelphia hub.

At San Francisco International, officials are advising travelers that due to ongoing renovation work in Terminal 1, some facilities and areas there will be closed in the days ahead, possibly resulting in some inconvenience or congestion. On Monday (October 24), the connecting walkway linking Terminal 1 and International Boarding Area A will be closed, so passengers will have to use AirTrain to transfer between those points. Also, the Southwest Airlines ticket counters will move to a new location closer to Delta and Frontier. On the arrivals level, October 21 is the starting date for closure of the traffic lane closest to Terminal 1 from Doors 1 through 10; and on the departures level, closure of the lane closest to Terminal 1 from Doors 1 through 5 starts October 28. Click here to see details and suggested tips for affected passengers. The airport has created a cool video simulation of the reconstruction process for T1. Worth a look but turn down the volume to avoid the Game of Thrones-like soundtrack 😉

Atlanta, ATL canopy

A dramatic new canopy and a new tunnel are part of Atlanta Airports $20 billion in improvements (Photo: ATL)

Preparatory work has begun at Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson for the installation of those massive overhead glass canopies above the pickup and drop-off areas outside the domestic terminal. It’s one of the most visible parts of the airport’s ongoing $6 billion expansion and renovation project. The initial stage of the canopy project – construction of the foundations — has led to some lane closures in the area around the terminal. The closures started earlier this month for shuttle and commercial vehicle pick-ups and drop-offs in the outer lanes of Terminal North, and similar closures will begin October 30 at Terminal South.  Airport officials are advising travelers to build in extra time if they’re going into those areas.

Air Canada opened a Maple Leaf Lounge at Newark. (Image: Air Canada)

Air Canada opened a Maple Leaf Lounge at Newark. (Image: Air Canada)

At Newark Liberty International, Air Canada has opened a new Maple Leaf Lounge for premium passengers near its departure gates in Terminal A, beyond the security checkpoint. The facility offers free Wi-Fi, refreshments, and work areas that include free printing. Air Canada operates up to 23 flights a day from Newark (including United code-shares), serving Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. The airline said it will open a new Maple Leaf Lounge in Montreal next month, and an expanded facility in Vancouver next summer.

American Airlines inherited a hub at Philadelphia International from its merger with US Airways, and it is planning some changes to its operations there in the months ahead. On January 1, American will consolidate its arrival and departure banks – scheduled to maximize connections – from eight a day to six. This will mean rescheduling of flight times in many cases, so if you’re a regular PHL traveler, check AA’s schedules.  The airline also reportedly plans to reduce the number of flights it operates at Philadelphia, although in some cases it will switch from smaller to larger aircraft to minimize the impact on passenger capacity.

Don’t miss out on these popular TravelSkills posts:

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Routes: SFO, Seattle, Oakland-Rome, JFK, Boston, Montreal, Detroit

China Eastern is using an A330 for its new San Francisco flights. (Image: Airbus)

China Eastern is using an A330 for its new San Francisco flights. (Image: Airbus)

In international route developments, Norwegian hints at Oakland-Rome nonstop; China Eastern adds San Francisco service; China’s Xiamen Airlines comes to Seattle; Delta will add new Europe routes from the East Coast next spring; Air Canada plans a very long haul from Montreal; and Aeromexico will begin a Detroit route.

Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines, a member of Delta’s SkyTeam global alliance, this week kicked off new service to San Francisco from Kunming – the capital of Yunnan Province in southwest China – via a stop in Qingdao, a port city in Shandong Province. China Eastern will use an Airbus A330 and will operate the flight three times a week, with SFO departures on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

A Xiamen Airlines 787 now flies to Seattle from Xiamen (Image: Boeing)

A Xiamen Airlines 787 now flies to Seattle from Xiamen and Shenzen (Image: Boeing)

Another new China route also opened up this week: Xiamen Airlines started service to Seattle from its hometown of Xiamen, operating via a stop in Shenzen. It’s the airline’s first U.S. route (although it also flies to Vancouver) and the first non-stop service between Shenzen and the U.S. The carrier’s future plans include service from Xiamen to Los Angeles and Fuzhou-New York, officials said. Xiamen has inked a partnership pact with Alaska Airlines for easy connections at SEA. It’s also a member of the Delta-led SkyTeam Alliance. The carrier will use a 787 Dreamliner on the route, which operates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Rome Colusseum

A new nonstop between the Bay Area and Rome? Hope so! (Photo: Pixabay)

It was really big news when Norwegian Air announced new Oakland-Barcelona and Oakland-Copenhagen nonstops starting next spring. When TravelSkills attended the announcement event at Oakland’s Jack London Square, we snagged a few minutes with Norwegian Air execs. They told us that since they’ve received such a positive reception in the Bay Area, the carrier will soon announce nonstops between Oakland and Paris…. AND that the carrier is looking to add Oakland-Rome and Oakland-Madrid, too! Stay tuned for more details.

Delta will add some new service to Europe next spring. On May 25, Delta will begin daily flights from Boston to Dublin as well as daily service from New York JFK to Lisbon. At the same time, Delta will resume daily flights between JFK and Berlin. The Dublin and Lisbon routes will use 164-seat 757-200s, while the Berlin service will be operated with a 225-seat 767-300, Delta said. Meanwhile, Delta also announced an expansion of its six-month-old code-sharing partnership with India’s Jet Airways. In addition to the existing connections at Amsterdam to Delhi and Mumbai, starting October 30 Delta flyers will also be able to connect via Paris Charles de Gaulle to Jet Airways flights to Mumbai and beyond to 20 other Indian destinations. Delta joint venture partner Air France KLM is also a party to the code-sharing deal with Jet.

Air Canada will put a 787 onto its new Montreal-Shanghai route. (Image: Air Canada)

Air Canada will put a 787 onto its new Montreal-Shanghai route. (Image: Air Canada)

A new route between North America and China will begin on February 16, when Air Canada is due to begin flying once a day from Montreal to Shanghai with a 787-8. It will be Air Canada’s first use of a 787 out of Montreal. Onward connections at Shanghai will be available from Star Alliance partners Air China and Shenzen Airlines, Air Canada said. The carrier plans to begin another ultra-long-haul starting July 1, with three non-stop flights a week between Toronto and Mumbai, using a 787-9. Air Canada hasn’t served that route since 1991. Also on tap for the Canadian carrier: Daily Vancouver-Taipei 787 flights beginning June 8, and three 767-300ER flights per week between Vancouver and Nagoya, Japan, starting June 1.

Aeromexico will add a new U.S. route starting January 10, when it begins flying between Detroit and Monterrey, Mexico. The carrier will use an Embraer 190 for the daily service.

Don’t miss out on these popular TravelSkills posts! Kicking support animals off planes | Shocked passenger refuses to pay $3 for water | Marriott-Starwood: Higher prices, better rewards | The 10,000 points question! | Eye-catching maps explain state of the world | Test your planespotting skills! )

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Routes: Finnair to SFO, Delta, Virgin Australia, Austrian, AA, SAS + more

Finnair will use an A330 on its San Francisco route. (Image: Finnair)

Finnair will use an A330 on its San Francisco route. (Image: Finnair)

In international route news, Finnair will add San Francisco service next year; Delta expands sales of Comfort+ seats and Caribbean code-sharing, Virgin Australia will revive Melbourne service, Austrian Airlines is coming to Los Angeles, American suspends some Europe flights, SAS comes to Miami Aer Lingus adds a pair of gateways, United code-shares to India, and a Mexican carrier adds three U.S. routes.

Finland’s national carrier is coming to San Francisco next year. Finnair said it will operate seasonal SFO-Helsinki flights three times a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays) from June 1 through September 30, using an A330. The new service will be a part of the transatlantic joint venture that includes Oneworld partners American, British Airways and Iberia as well as Finnair. “Thanks to Helsinki’s geographical location, Finnair’s new northern route to San Francisco will offer competitive travel times for customers from Scandinavia, the Baltics, Russia as well as from many European cities,” a spokesperson said. Finnair currently flies to New York, Chicago and Miami. At first glance, SFO-HEL roundtrip economy fares appear to be in the steep $1,900 range, but we’ll be on the lookout for lower introductory promo fares.

Delta said it has expanded the sale of its extra-legroom Comfort+ economy seating to a number of international routes, including: from the U.S. and Canada to Latin America and the Caribbean (except Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Chile); between North America and Asia-Pacific destinations (except China and Hong Kong); and on flights within the Asia-Pacific region (except China and Hong Kong). Last fall, Delta created a new fare category for Comfort+ and started selling it for travel within the U.S. and Canada. Meanwhile, Delta has expanded its agreement with Caribbean-based Seaborne Airlines to allow single-ticketing for connections through San Juan to St. Croix, Anguilla and Beef Island in the British Virgin Islands; and between St. Thomas and St. Croix.

The new business class on a Virgin Australia 777-300. (Image: Virgin Australia)

The new business class on a Virgin Australia 777-300. (Image: Virgin Australia)

Virgin Australia has set a launch date of April 4, 2017 for a revival of service between Los Angeles and Melbourne. On the same date, it will trim LAX-Brisbane schedules from seven flights a week to six. The carrier also flies from LAX to Sydney. Its transpacific operations are part of a joint venture with Delta. Virgin said it will fly the LAX-Melbourne route five times a week (no westbound departures on Wednesdays or Mondays), using a 777-300ER.

Los Angeles will get another new international route beginning April 10, 2017, when Austrian Airlines plans to launch up to six flights a week between LAX and Vienna, using a 777.  The 12 and a half hour seasonal flight will depart Los Angeles daily except Sundays at 3:05 p.m. Austrian, a part of the Lufthansa Group, also flies to New York JFK, Newark, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Miami.

American Airlines plans to cut back its international schedule out of Philadelphia. After ending its Philadelphia-Brussels service last month, American now says its seasonal PHL-Zurich service, which ends September 30, will not be revived next year; and its year-round PHL-Frankfurt flights will now operate seasonally, with no service from October 30 through April 5. AA also plans to drop its twice-weekly Philadelphia-Halifax flights in January.  Elsewhere, American will suspend Chicago O’Hare-Paris CDG flights from December 5 through December 13, and from January 10 to March 25; and its New York JFK-Manchester flights from January 9 through March 29.

DONT MISS! The 100,000 points question!

On September 28, SAS is introducing new non-stop service from Miami International to Copenhagen and Oslo. The carrier will offer flights to Copenhagen on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays; and to Oslo on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Aer Lingus is adding two U.S. routes this month. (Image: Aer Lingus)

Aer Lingus is adding two U.S. routes this month. (Image: Aer Lingus)

Aer Lingus this month introduced new daily year-round service between Dublin and Newark Liberty International, using an Airbus A330. And on September 28, the Irish carrier is slated to inaugurate a new route linking Hartford, Connecticut with Dublin, operating four days a week (Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday) with a 757.

United flyers will get a new option for travel from the West Coast to India next month. United is putting its code onto Star Alliance partner Air Canada’s new Vancouver-Delhi seasonal service, which will operate from October 20 through April 6.

Mexican low-cost carrier Interjet will expand its transborder network this fall with a trio of new U.S. routes. On October 20, it will inaugurate twice-daily service between Mexico City and Los Angeles, followed on November 10 by a daily Las Vegas-Mexico City roundtrip and on November 17 by two daily Mexico City-Chicago O’Hare flights. The airline will use Airbus A320s for all the flights.

Don’t miss out on these popular TravelSkills posts! Shocked passenger refuses to pay $3 for water | More Delta SkyMiles for Asian trips | Tips from a Hawaiian Vacation | JetBlue-Delta slugfest means lower fares | Test your planespotting skills! )

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Routes: AA, Air India, Cathay, WOW, Air Canada, Royal Air Maroc + more

Business class seats on an American 777-300ER. (Image: American)

Business class seats on an American 777-300ER. (Image: American)

The latest international route developments include American’s launch of a new transpacific route, along with its plans to add some flights to Europe and cancel others; Air India boosting San Francisco frequencies; Royal Air Maroc adding a new U.S. gateway; a new SFO route from a U.K. carrier; increased service between Boston and Hong Kong; a European carrier adding Miami service; and new U.S. routes from Air Canada and Aeromexico.

American Airlines last week kicked off its new non-stop daily service between Los Angeles International and Hong Kong, a 15-hour trip with an unfortunate LAX departure time of 1:55 a.m. American also code-shares with Oneworld partner Cathay Pacific’s three daily LAX-Hong Kong flights. American is using a three-class 777-300ER on the route; it also flies to Hong Kong from its Dallas/Ft. Worth hub.

Across the Atlantic, American plans to add a trio of new routes next spring, and to cancel some others. May 5 is the starting date for new daily AA service from Chicago O’Hare to Barcelona, using a 787-8; from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Amsterdam, with a 767-300ER; and DFW to Rome, using a 777-200ER.  The airline will discontinue its New York JFK-Birmingham 757 service effective January 6, and will not operate the seasonal summer service it had previously offered from Chicago to Dusseldorf, Philadelphia to Brussels, and Philadelphia to Zurich. Meanwhile, American will also change aircraft this winter on two routes out of DFW, replacing 777-200ERs with 787-9s on flights to Paris starting January 9 and to Seoul as of February 16.

Air India's first flight from New Delhi arrived at SFO before dawn. (Image: Peter Biaggi)

Air India uses a 777-200 on its San Francisco route. (Image: Peter Biaggi/SFO)

Air India started flying between San Francisco and Delhi last December, with three flights a week. But now it plans a big change in that route, one that will let it increase frequencies to six a week. The schedule increase takes effect November 21. Air India will still use a 777-200LR, but will change the flight from a transatlantic one to a transpacific routing. Although the transpacific distance between the cities is longer than the current routing, the flight time from Delhi to SFO is expected to be reduced by three hours due to strong tailwinds on the eastbound sector.

Moroccan carrier Royal Air Maroc has added its third North American gateway, launching new service last week between Casablanca and Washington Dulles. The airline also flies to New York JFK and Montreal. Royal Air Maroc is using a 787 Dreamliner on the Dulles route, which departs Washington three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Virgin Atlantic will be getting a little competition on the new San Francisco-Manchester route that it announced last spring. Virgin will fly the route three times a week starting next summer, using an A330. Now Thomas Cook Airlines, a leisure-oriented U.K. carrier, says it will also fly between SFO and Manchester, operating two flights a week starting in May 2017. The carrier already flies to six other U.S. cities from Manchester.

Cathay Pacific, which started flying from Hong Kong to Boston last year with four flights a week, announced plans to expand that schedule to daily non-stops beginning on March 27. The carrier uses a 777-300ER on the route, with first class, business class, premium economy and regular economy seating.

WOW Air will use an A330 on its new Miami-Reykjavik route. (Image: WOW Air)

WOW Air will use an A330 on its new Miami-Reykjavik route. (Image: WOW Air)

WOW, the Icelandic ultra-low-cost airline, plans to add Miami as its next U.S. gateway. The carrier will use an Airbus A330 to begin service April 5 between Miami and Reykjavik, offering one-way fares to Iceland starting at $99 and connecting fares to European capitals starting at $149 – plus add-ons, of course.

In North America, Air Canada said it will begin new service on February 5 linking Vancouver with Dallas/Ft. Worth, operating a daily 75-seat CRJ-705 flight under the Air Canada Express brand. And on November 17, Aeromexico will start flying four days a week between Mexico City and Austin, using a 76-seat Embraer 170.

Don’t miss out on these popular TravelSkills posts! Shocked passenger refuses to pay $3 for water | More Delta SkyMiles for Asian trips | Tips from a Hawaiian Vacation | JetBlue-Delta slugfest means lower fares | Test your planespotting skills! )

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International routes update: Delta, Air China, United, Hainan, Turkish, Southwest, American + more

Air China will use an A330-200 between San Jose and Shanghai. (Image: Mehdi Nazarinia/Wikimedia Commons)

Air China will use an A330-200 between San Jose and Shanghai. (Image: Mehdi Nazarinia/Wikimedia Commons)

In international routes news, Air China comes to San Jose; Delta is dropping routes to Tokyo and Moscow; Las Vegas gets a Beijing flight; Southwest and American plan new service to Mexico from LAX; LaCompagnie suspends London flights; Copa doubles up on San Francisco service; Air Canada trims San Diego-Vancouver capacity; Turkish trims flights to US and EVA adds more seats from Seattle to Taipei. Also, stay tuned to TravelSkills for some really good route news for Oakland coming out this Thursday.

Mineta San Jose International Airport added another international route last week when Air China kicked off new service from SJC to Shanghai – the airline’s only route to Shanghai from North America. Air China is using a two-class, 237-seat Airbus A330-200 on the route, departing San Jose on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Departure time from SJC is 1:30 p.m. for the 12.5-hour flight, with arrival in Shanghai at 4:40 p.m. the next day.

Delta, which recently won new rights to operate daytime flights to Tokyo’s close-in Haneda Airport from Los Angeles and Minneapolis-St. Paul, said it plans to discontinue its daily New York JFK-Tokyo Narita service on October 2. On October 3, Delta will axe its daily Narita-Osaka flight, and on October 29 it will end its daily Narita-Bangkok service. The airline will still fly to Narita from Seattle, Portland, Detroit and Atlanta. Meanwhile, Delta this week suspended its New York-Moscow non-stop service for the season, with plans to resume the flights in May 2017.

Las Vegas will also get new service to China by year’s end. Hainan Airlines has applied for government approval to fly three times a week between Las Vegas and Beijing, with a starting date of December 2. Hainan has been growing its U.S. presence in recent months, and currently flies from San Jose to Beijing, Los Angeles to Changsha, and Seattle to Beijing and Shanghai.

(We’re back from summer vacation! In case you missed our other recent round-up posts, here they are: Domestic Routes Roundup | Tips from a Hawaiian Vacation | August’s most important travel news)

Southwest will add three routes from LAX to Mexico. (Image: Jim Glab)

Southwest will add three routes from LAX to Mexico. (Image: Jim Glab)

Both American Airlines and Southwest Airlines apparently see room for growth in the Los Angeles-Mexico market. American is planning to start new daily 737-800 flights on December 15 from LAX to both Cancun and Puerto Vallarta. And Southwest on December 4 will launch twice-daily service from LAX to both Cancun and San Jose del Cabo, as well as one flight a day between LAX and Puerto Vallarta. Meanwhile, Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris plans to begin new service December 1 between Denver and Monterrey, Mexico, operating two A320 flights a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays).

United is switching up equipment on key routes between SFO and Europe for the winter season starting October 30. On SFO-London it will run two 777-200ERs instead of the current 777 and 787 Dreamliner. On SFO-Paris, the current 767-300ER will be replaced with a 787.

Panama’s Copa Airlines, a member of United’s Star Alliance, plans to increase service between Panama City and United’s San Francisco hub. Effective November 1, Copa will increase its schedule on the route from one to two 737-800 flights a day. (Regrettably both departures from SFO are red-eyes, arriving Panama City in the morning.)

All-business-class La Compagnie blames Brexit for dropping Newark-London flights. (Image: La Compagnie)

All-business-class La Compagnie blames Brexit for dropping Newark-London flights. (Image: La Compagnie)

La Compagnie, a niche carrier that offers transatlantic all-business-class flights with 74-seat 757s, said that it will drop its route linking Newark with London’s Luton Airport effective September 25. In October, the carrier will add a second daily flight to its Newark-Paris CDG route. In explaining its decision to drop Newark-London service, La Compagnie said that the recent decision by British voters to take the U.K. out of the European Union – aka Brexit – “has created an unprecedented level of legal and economic uncertainty for airlines that service Great Britain.” 

Taiwan’s EVA Air will boost capacity this fall on its route to Taipei from Seattle. The carrier plans to add a second flight three days a week, for a total of 10 a week, beginning November 19. EVA will use a 777-300ER for the extra flights.

Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines is cutting back on weekly frequencies, but not to SFO, pictured here (Chris McGinnis)

Turkish Airlines is reducing frequencies to several US cities in the wake of the downturn in demand due to recent events as well as the slower winter season ahead. Airline Routes is reporting service cutbacks (but no elimination of service) between Istanbul and Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami.

Air Canada currently operates an Air Canada Rouge A319 on its daily San Diego-Vancouver route.  But the carrier plans to temporarily suspend the route effective October 17, and when it resumes service December 14, it will downsize to a CRJ-705 operated by Air Canada Express. Elsewhere in Canada, Westjet plans to convert its seasonal Calgary-New York JFK service into a year-round route, operating six flights a week when its winter schedule begins October 30.

(We’re back from summer vacation! In case you missed our other recent round-up posts, here they are: Domestic Routes Roundup | Tips from a Hawaiian Vacation | August’s most important travel news)

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Routes: LAX, Denver, Paris, Minneapolis, NYC, Atlanta, Boston, Houston

XL Airways A330

More flights between California and Paris this week on XL Airways (Photo: SFO)

International route news this week includes a new French carrier coming to Los Angeles (and back to SF), a new Denver route for Air Canada, Delta transatlantic flights from the Twin Cities and New York JFK, Air France non-stops to Paris Orly, a Lufthansa subsidiary’s introduction of Boston service, and United’s decision to put a Dreamliner on a key South American route.

The French carrier XL Airways has started service to Los Angeles International, operating three flights a week to Paris out of Terminal 2 with an A330. The airline offers two-class service, including regular coach and Premium Galaxy class. The leisure-oriented carrier provides all passengers with one free checked bag, a hot meal and a snack – with upgraded cuisine and wines in the front cabin. XL also flies to Paris from New York, San Francisco and Miami. Also this week, XL’s seasonal SFO-Paris flights resumed. 

 Air Canada, a partner in United’s Star Alliance, this week kicked off the only non-stop service between Denver and Montreal. The daily flight leaves Denver at 6:25 p.m., using a 73-seat Embraer regional jet with business and regular economy seating. The aircraft is Wi-Fi equipped and offers free digital seatback entertainment and a power port at every seat.

Brussels

Delta plans to revive Atlanta-Brussels flights in 2017. (Image: City of Brussels)

Delta has launched a new seasonal transatlantic route and plans to add two more routes to Europe in 2017. The airline last week began daily summer non-stop service from Minneapolis-St. Paul to Rome, using a 226-seat 767 that departs at 5:25 p.m. from MSP. It will continue through Labor Day.

Delta also announced that it plans to resume non-stop flights between its Atlanta hub and Brussels next year; the seasonal service will begin March 27 and continue through the summer, Delta said, using a 767-300. Delta also offers year-round service to Brussels from New York JFK. And on May 25, 2017, Delta will start up new daily seasonal service from New York JFK to Glasgow, Scotland, using a 164-seat 757-200ER. A few weeks ago, Delta launched JFK-Edinburgh flights.

Also at New York JFK, Air France this week started flying to Paris – not to Paris Charles de Gaulle, where it offers multiple daily flights with SkyTeam partner Delta, but to Paris Orly. Its only competition on the New York-Paris Orly route is from British Airways subsidiary Openskies, which flies to the French airport from both JFK and Newark. Air France is flying the route with a 777-200 that has business class, premium economy and regular economy seating. The carrier noted that it recently opened a new premium lounge in Hall 3 at Orly, available to La Premier and business class passengers, as well as Flying Blue elite members.

Eurowings, the low-cost subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group, has started new U.S. service to Boston from Germany’s Cologne-Bonn Airport. The carrier flies the route three times a week with an A330-200 that has business class, regular economy and extra-legroom economy seating.

According to Routesonline.com, United Airlines plans an equipment change on its Houston-Santiago, Chile route effective June 30, replacing the current 767-300ER with a 787-8 Dreamliner.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: United’s newest, longest flight + Tipping Uber drivers + Qantas 747 Trip Report + Confusion over PreCheck policies + No-fee earlier flights

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Transborder changes at SFO, Chicago, LAX, Houston, Minneapolis and SLC

United is ending Edmonton service from San Francisco and Chicago.

United is ending Edmonton service from San Francisco and Chicago. (Image: Travel Alberta)

Canada is losing some U.S. service but gaining capacity in other markets, and Southwest has its eye on three new Mexico routes from Los Angeles.

Low oil prices are taking a toll on energy industry-related traffic into western Canada. United plans to suspend service after June 30 from both San Francisco and Chicago O’Hare to Edmonton, Alberta; it operates daily E175 flights in both markets. In October, however, United plans to increase Edmonton-Denver service from one flight a day to two. Meanwhile, also on June 30, United will end flights from Houston to Montreal and from Chicago O’Hare to London, Ontario.

And Delta has set a July 31 termination date for its twice-daily service to Regina, Saskatchewan from its Minneapolis-St. Paul hub, ending the last service by a U.S. carrier to the provincial capital. But on June 9, Delta will lay on a second daily roundtrip between Seattle and Edmonton. Air Canada, meanwhile, has just launched a major new U.S. route between Salt Lake City and Toronto.

Across the southern border, Southwest Airlines said it plans to apply for government approvals that should open up new vacation destinations for Rapid Rewards members. The airline wants to begin flying from Los Angeles International to the Mexican resort destinations of Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and San Jose del Cabo. Southwest said it expects to win the necessary approvals by late June, and to begin flying the new routes in November.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: United’s newest, longest flight + Tipping Uber drivers + Qantas 747 Trip Report + Confusion over PreCheck policies + No-fee earlier flights

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Routes: San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, LAX, Salt Lake City, Denver + more…

There are lots of developments in international services this week. United started a new China route; Air Canada kicks off a San Jose route; European carriers begin new transatlantic service from LAX, Oakland, Salt Lake City and Denver; a Chinese carrier sets the date for new Seattle flights; Chicago gets a new transpacific option; and a South American carrier comes to Washington D.C.

United Airlines on Sunday started its newest transpacific route, linking its San Francisco hub with Xi’an, a city of 8 million in central China; it’s the only non-stop service between the U.S. and Xi’an. United will fly the seasonal route three times a week – through October 27 – using a 787 Dreamliner. Westbound flights depart SFO on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 1:25 p.m. The westbound flight takes a little over 13 hours.

Low-cost European carrier Norwegian is set to begin its previously announced Oakland-London Gatwick service on May 12. The carrier will use a 787-8 with economy and premium seating, offering non-stop service three times a week. Norwegian’s initial fares on the route started at $299. On May 10, Norwegian increases Los Angeles-London Gatwick service from three flights a week to four.

On May 9, Air Canada kicks off new non-stop service out of Mineta San Jose International Airport to Vancouver. The Canadian carrier will offer two daily roundtrips using CRJ705 regional jets with 10 seats in business class and 65 in coach. Speaking of Vancouver, Air Canada recently announced it will begin a new ultra-long-haul route there on October 20 with non-stop service to Delhi, India operating four days a week with a 787-9 Dreamliner.

This is the Captain Kirk seat-- one of the two best seats in Aer Lingus biz class (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

This is the Captain Kirk seat– one of the two best seats in Aer Lingus biz class (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Aer Lingus last week kicked off Los Angeles-Dublin flights — the first of three new U.S. routes it will be adding this summer. The year-round service from LAX operates four times a week, using an Airbus A330-200. Later this year, the Irish carrier plans to begin new daily flights from Newark starting September 1, and new service from Hartford in late September.

Instead of resuming seasonal service this year between Amsterdam and Dallas/Ft. Worth, KLM opted instead to go with Salt Lake City, where it started flying last week. Its transatlantic joint venture partner Delta also serves the SLC-Amsterdam route. KLM started off with twice-weekly flights Thursdays and Saturdays, and will add a Monday departure on July 4. It’s using an A330-200 on the route. KLM also plans to add seasonal Miami-Amsterdam service in late October.

May 11 is the launch date for new Lufthansa service between Denver and its Munich hub; the German carrier already flies from Denver to Frankfurt. The new Munich service will operate five days a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday), using an Airbus A330—300 with four classes of service, including premium economy, for the 10-1/2 hour flight. The eastbound flight leaves Denver at 4:05 p.m. Easy connections to the new route are available through Lufthansa’s Star Alliance partner United, which has a hub at DEN.

 China’s Xiamen Airlines, a member of Delta’s SkyTeam global alliance, has started taking bookings for its new Seattle-Xiamen route, which will begin September 26. The new service will operate three days a week via an intermediate stop in Shenzen, using a 787-8.

Taiwan’s EVA Air plans to launch new service on November 2 from Taipei to Chicago O’Hare, flying the route four times a week with a 777. EVA also will increase its Taipei-New York JFK schedule effective October 3 from the current 10 flights a week to twice-daily service.

A LATAM 767-300 with the carrier's new livery. (Image: LATAM)

A LATAM 767-300 with the carrier’s new livery. (Image: LATAM)

South America’s LATAM Airlines last week started its newest U.S. route, linking Washington Dulles with Lima, Peru – the only non-stop service between the two capital cities. LATAM will initially offer three flights a week, using a 767-300 with business class and regular economy seating.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: United’s newest, longest flight + Tipping Uber drivers + Qantas 747 Trip Report + Confusion over PreCheck policies + No-fee earlier flights

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Routes: San Francisco, JFK, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto

 

United 787-9 Dreamliner

United will use a 787-9 Dreamliner on its new San Francisco-Tel Aviv non-stops. (Image: United)

In international route developments, United kicks off new service from San Francisco to Israel; Qatar Airways doubles up its New York-Doha schedule; SAS and Norwegian both add new service out of Boston; Iberia comes to LAX; Chicago O’Hare gets new service to Iceland, China and Mexico; American and TAM both drop South American routes; and Air Canada revives a Salt Lake City route.

March 30 is the starting date for United’s new non-stop flights from San Francisco to Tel Aviv. United will use a 787-9 Dreamliner to fly the route three times a week, with SFO departures at 8 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The eastbound flight is estimated to take 14 hours and 10 minutes, with the return taking 15 hours 5 minutes. The carrier also flies to Tel Aviv from its Newark hub.

 Qatar Airways, which started service earlier this month to Doha from Boston, is due to add a second daily frequency between New York JFK and Doha starting April 1. The airline will use a new Airbus A350-900-XWB for the extra flight, which departs JFK at 6 a.m. The other flight still uses a 777.

The view from my room at the Radisson Blu Royal hotel in Copenhagen (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

The view from my room at the Radisson Blu Royal hotel in Copenhagen (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Boston is getting new service to a pair of European destinations. March 29 is the launch date for SAS to start flying from Boston to Copenhagen every day. The Scandinavian carrier is using a non-standard aircraft on the route – a 737-700 Boeing Business Jet operated by PrivatAir, with 20 business and 66 economy seats. The other new Boston route that started this week is Norwegian’s Boston-London Gatwick service. The low-cost airline is using a 787 to fly the route four days a week. Norwegian also announced plans to start weekly service from Las Vegas to Oslo starting in November.

Iberia, a member of American’s Oneworld alliance, begins seasonal service March 30 from Los Angeles to Madrid. Using A330s and A340s, Iberia will start off with three flights a week, increasing to five a week May 17, then six a week beginning June 6 and daily frequencies from July 3 to August 28 before it starts to scale back the schedule again.

Icelandair Aurora

Icelandair’s stunning Hekla Aurora 757 livery (Photo: Icelandair)

At Chicago O’Hare, Icelandair has kicked off year-round service to Reykjavik, using a 767 to fly the route four days a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays), with an early-morning arrival in Iceland that permits easy connections to 20 destinations in Europe. Also at O’Hare, China Eastern Airlines has launched new non-stops to Shanghai Pudong, where it offers scores of connections to other Chinese cities. China Eastern is using a 777-300ER for the daily flights. And Mexican carrier Volaris announced plans to start service from Chicago O’Hare to Monterrey, Mexico on June 17, flying the route twice a week with an A320.

South America is losing a couple of routes to the U.S. On April 4, American Airlines plans to suspend its three-month-old New York JFK-Caracas flights “until market conditions improve.”  And on June 3, Brazilian carrier TAM is due to discontinue its three to four flights a week from Orlando to Brasilia.

Air Canada plans to return to Salt Lake City International on May 27, offering daily service to its Toronto hub with a 97-seat, two-class Embraer 190.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about:  Should I tip my Uber driver? + Boeing 747 nearing its end? + Bargain hunters travel guide for 2016 + World’s best airline lounge? + Fares to Europe tumble 

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Briefs: Best United clubs, Alaska PreCheck, Delta videos, Air Canada Wi-Fi

United's big bright new Club at London Heathrow Terminal 2. CLICK ON PHOTO FOR SLIDESHOW

United’s big bright Club at London Heathrow Terminal 2. (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

In airline news this week, United’s customers rate the airline’s best airport lounges; Alaska Mileage Plan members can buy into PreCheck with miles; Delta is bringing new content from Bloomberg into its Delta Studio streaming in-flight entertainment; and Air Canada plans a big expansion of in-flight Wi-Fi.

Which United Clubs do the airline’s passengers like best? According to the Chicago Business Journal, data collected from passengers’ post-flight surveys indicate that they considered the best domestic United Clubs at the airline’s hubs to be at Houston Bush Intercontinental and Denver International. The United Club at Washington Dulles was rated “most improved,” and the best international clubs were at London Heathrow and Mexico City’s Benito Juarez Airport. What’s your favorite United Club? 

Delta is teaming up with Bloomberg to bring new 30-minute videos on business-related topics to the airline’s Delta Studio in-flight entertainment selections. The programming will include three different series of 30-minute videos licensed to Delta: With All Due Respect, about the business of politics; Studio 1.0, about women executives in the tech industry; and Good Fortunes, covering the business of philanthropy. Delta Studio content can be viewed for free on seatback screens or streamed to passengers’ devices.

Breaking: Will Delta buy Virgin America? JetBlue?

PreCheck at Honolulu International (Photo: Hawaiian Airlines / Flickr)

PreCheck at Honolulu International (Photo: Hawaiian Airlines / Flickr)

Through the end of April, Alaska Airlines is letting members of its Mileage Plan program redeem 10,000 miles to pay for the TSA PreCheck program’s application fee. The $85 fee covers a five-year membership in the program, which gives participants access to expedited security screening procedures. To take advantage of the offer, e-mail y0ur name and Mileage Plan number to TSAredemption@alaskaair.com by April 30. The airline will deduct the miles from your account and e-mail you an authorization code to use when applying for PreCheck.

Air Canada, which already offers in-flight Wi-Fi on all its North American single-aisle aircraft, said this week it plans to expand the amenity to its international flights. The company said it has signed a deal with Gogo to install that provider’s new 2Ku satellite-based Wi-Fi service on its international wide-bodies starting this fall. The airline’s 777s will be the first to add the new Wi-Fi.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about:  Should I tip my Uber driver? + Boeing 747 nearing its end? + Bargain hunters travel guide for 2016 + World’s best airline lounge? + Fares to Europe tumble 

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Routes: Europe for $88? + United Dreamliner to London + Lisbon, Belgrade

SAS will use an A340 on its new LAX-Stockholm route. (Image: SAS)

SAS will use an A340 on its new LAX-Stockholm route. (Image: SAS)

In international route news, SAS is offering a super-low fare on its new Los Angeles-Stockholm route that starts next month; United’s SFO-London route will get a 787-9 in April; Portugal’s TAP adds a pair of new U.S. gateways and a U.S. partnership; Air Canada drops a U.S. route; Norwegian postpones a U.S. route to Ireland; and Air Serbia sets new transatlantic service

To stimulate interest in its new Los Angeles-Stockholm service, which begins on a daily basis March 14, SAS is offering a $99 one-way fare, a spokesperson tells TravelSkills. The booking deadline is March 6, and it’s for travel from March 14-25. When we looked at SAS’s booking site on Wednesday, we found prices even lower ($87.90, including taxes and fees) for select dates in that period – but the special fare was available for eastbound service only. Roundtrip flights from Stockholm to LAX were running around $1,305. SAS will use an Airbus A340 on the route.

According to the website Airlineroute.net, which tracks airlines’ schedule filings, United is planning to put a 787-9 Dreamliner on one of its two daily San Francisco-London flights (UA900/901) starting April 5, continuing at least through May 24. It replaces a 747-400; the other flight uses a 777. We wonder if this has anything to do with British Airways new 787-9 flight between San Jose and London starting in May. Hmm.

TAP Portugal, which currently flies from Lisbon to Miami and Newark, plans to add two more U.S. gateways this year, beginning daily Lisbon-Boston flights June 11, followed by new Lisbon-New York JFK daily service July 1. The carrier will use Airbus A330s on the routes. TAP will use JetBlue’s Terminal 5 at JFK and Terminal C at Boston. TAP has a new partnership with JetBlue that will feed traffic from other U.S. cities to the transatlantic flights. TAP is partly owned by David Neeleman, the founder of JetBlue.

Air Canada plans to eliminate service between New York JFK and Toronto Pearson effective April 3. The carrier, which currently operates twice-daily Air Canada Express flights in the market, continues to fly from Toronto to LaGuardia and Newark airports. (If I were flying between Toronto and NYC, I’d be on Porter Airlines, which flies from close in Toronto City airport to La Guardia.)

 Norwegian Air International is putting off its previously announced plan to begin flying between Boston and Cork, Ireland in May. The company cited “continued delays” by the U.S. Transportation Department in granting approval for the service, for which Norwegian was planning to use a 737-800. The airline still hopes to get the new route off the ground sometime this summer.

Air Serbia, a successor to the former Yugoslavian carrier JAT, is moving ahead with plans to kick off transatlantic service in June, although it has yet to receive U.S. approval, according to the trade journal Air Transport World. The airline plans to fly between Belgrade and New York JFK five times a week, using a two-class A330-200 leased from India’s Jet Airways. Both airlines are partly owned by Etihad Airways.

 

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about:  Should I tip my Uber driver? + Boeing 747 nearing its end? + Bargain hunters travel guide for 2016 + World’s best airline lounge? + Fares to Europe tumble 

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Twisting seats + loyalty programs review + in-flight beers + Hertz sale + more

Here are some newsy nuggets from other sources that we missed on TravelSkills this week:

Newly designed airline seat twists as you move. (Image: Factorydesign)

Newly designed airline seat twists as you move. (Image: Factorydesign)

New design concept: An airline seatback that twists along with your body.

The New York Times reviews changes in airline, hotel loyalty programs.

Who’s got the best in-flight brews? Airline beers are rated.

Air Canada offers a World Travel Pass through January 18 only.

Portland International Airport will open a movie theater in the spring.

New York City plans to convert old public pay phones into 1G Wi-Fi stations.

Hilton’s DoubleTree brand introduces optional amenity packages.

United sees opportunity for more growth in China routes.

Odd tactics passengers have tried to get around paying a checked bag fee.

Hertz winter sale offers discounts of up to 30 percent for Gold Rewards members.

The rate of new hotel openings in the U.S. is expected to accelerate in the next two years.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about:  United packages Economy Plus with amenities + Ride-sharing firm goes out of business + Bucket list for air travelers + Useless travel gadgets + ‘Uber of the Skies’ dies 

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Catch up: Status match at Hyatt, Hilton, Best Western + Fare sale + Air India + Air China @SJC

Air India 777-200LR. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Air India 777-200LR arrives at SFO this week. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Today (Sunday) is the busiest travel day of Thanksgiving weekend, and although there is a nasty storm blowing through the center of the country, it’s not poised to hit any major airline hubs, so hopefully we’ll have a good end to the holiday weekend. But good luck if you are flying to Minneapolis on Monday.

Air India arrives at San Francisco International the crack of dawn on Dec 2 this week with three weekly nonstops to Delhi. Best part about the new service: the 16-hour flight shaves 2-3 hours off the one-stop flight time on other carriers. Worst part about the new service: Air India’s B777-200LR deployed on the route does not offer a lie-flat business class seat– instead it’s angled lie-flat, which could be a deal killer for a flight that long. Current economy class airfare is just over $1,000 and business class is around $4,000-$5,000 for January roundtrips.

Scroll down for news about hotel elite status match opportunities!

TravelSkills’ 10 most popular posts over the last week (descending order):

1 Huge deals: Big airfare sale – Asia, Hawaii, India, Africa– sales end tomorrow! And stay tuned for possibly more Hawaii deals when Virgin America kicks off new SFO-Maui nonstops on Dec 3.

2 Stop the madness! Another week, another new hotel fee

3 Totally worth it: Paying more pays off during holiday peak

4 Because you asked for it: Air Canada plans big transborder expansionWeekend Edition

5 Big bird! World’s largest passenger plane unveiled

6 Lounging around: Lovely new lounges; Seattle, Orlando, Hong Kong

7 You gotta see this: First look: Newest United Club & concourse [photos]

8 Shiny! Brand new hotels: NYC, Denver, Chicago, Minneapolis & more

9 SF-Paris in an hour or so: What’s faster: Hypersonic or supersonic?

10 First look: Westin at Denver International Airport (photos)

Status Match Mania!

The kerfuffle caused by the Marriott-Starwood merger has competing hotel chains licking their chops, hoping to snag the biz of disaffected SPG members– or others. They are doing it via some unusual status matching options you should know about. First, Hyatt will match your status, but you have to do it via Twitter. Here’s Hyatt’s come on, which requires you to DM @HyattConcierge via Twitter, and then email your elite credentials to goldpassport@hyatt.com. (UPDATE from Hyatt: “If you are SPG Platinum, we are offering Diamond status with Hyatt. If you are any other tier with SPG, Hilton, IHG, or Marriott, we will offer a Platinum match.”) Hilton jumped in the game, too, and to get matched status, you have to email them with your current credentials from a competing program. Send it to HHonorMyStatus@hilton.com by January 11 2016 for upgraded status through March 2017. Best Western has long offered to match status with its Status Match, No Catch promotion. Here’s an interesting twist in the status matching game: MSC Cruises will match your hotel program status in its loyalty program, which offers bennies such as priority boarding/disembarkation, welcome cocktails, late check out, a free spa session and dinner for two at one of the ship’s specialty restaurants.

A few newsy nuggets from other sources that we missed on TravelSkills this week:

Report: Air China to fly Shanghai to San Jose starting March 2016

Study identifies the country’s worst traffic bottlenecks.

Airline group: Worldwide passenger numbers will double in 20 years.

American Airlines incorporating airport information into mobile app.

JetBlue begins free Amazon streaming on Fly-Fi equipped planes.

Marriott extends Rewards plan to 100 Protea hotels in Africa.

Air India strikes gold with new SFO-Delhi route

Taxis vs Uber at ATL (NPR)

San Jose gets first legal rideshare service & it’s not Uber

Why are chip card transactions so darn slow? 

Fairmont San Francisco sold for $450 million- 100%+ more than 2012 sale

Delta’s unusual (and unusually expensive) new gift card

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: 5 ways to save using Uber/Lyft  + New overseas plan from Verizon + Trans-Pac fare war?

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Air Canada plans big transborder expansion

Air Canada Express' larger regional jets, like this Embraet 190, have both economy and business class seating. (Image: Air Canada)

Air Canada Express’ larger regional jets, like this Embraet 190, have both economy and business class seating. (Image: Air Canada)

In one of its biggest route announcements in years, Air Canada said it will add a dozen transborder routes to the U.S. in spring of 2016. Some routes will be new, while others will be resumptions of routes that the carrier abandoned over the past several years.

The routes will offer a variety of services — some from mainline jets, some from Air Canada Express regional jets and some from it’s Rouge subsidiary. The airline’s larger Express regional jets have business class and economy cabins.

A spokesman said the new services will make it easier for more Americans to connect to Air Canada’s long-haul international services, and will also feed more Canadian traffic into the hubs of Star Alliance partner United Airlines at Denver, Houston, San Francisco and Washington Dulles.

From Vancouver, Air Canada Express will launch twice-daily flights to San Jose, California on May 9 and daily Rouge flights to San Diego as of June 2; Air Canada will begin daily Chicago O’Hare mainline flights beginning June 4.

Express will start daily San Francisco-Calgary service on June 18, while Rouge this year will continue winter service between Phoenix and Calgary with three flights a week through the summer.

Related: Trip Report- Air Canada business class SFO-Toronto

New routes from Toronto include daily mainline service to Portland, Oregon as of May 26 and to Salt Lake City starting May 27; twice-daily Express service to Washington Dulles beginning May 2; and twice-weekly (Saturday and Sunday) Express flights to Jacksonville, Florida.

On May 24, the airline begins Express flights twice a day between Montreal and Philadelphia; on June 6 it adds a daily Express flight from Montreal to Houston; and on June 4 it starts daily mainline flights between Montreal and Denver.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: 5 ways to save using Uber/Lyft  + New overseas plan from Verizon + Trans-Pac fare war?

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Routes: AA to Tokyo + WOW to west coast + Air Canada, Lufthansa, Alaska

American will use a 787 on its new LAX-Tokyo Haneda route. (Image: American)

American will use a 787 on its new LAX-Tokyo Haneda route. (Image: American)

International route news this week includes American revealing its plans for new Los Angeles-Tokyo flights, an Icelandic budget airline expanding to San Francisco and Los Angeles, Air Canada adding new long-haul destinations, Emirates casting its eye at an available U.S. gateway and Alaska starting service to Costa Rica.

American Airlines has set February 11 as the launch date for new daily, year-round non-stops between Los Angeles International and Tokyo’s close-in Haneda Airport; it will take bookings beginning November 8. American said it will use a 787-8 with business class, Main Cabin Extra and regular economy seating, and equipped with satellite Wi-Fi. American got the route authority after Delta agreed to give up its Seattle-Tokyo Haneda service (although it still flies Seattle-Tokyo Narita, and American and partner Japan Airlines both fly from LAX to Tokyo Narita). It will be the second new transpacific route for American in three months; AA starts its new LAX-Sydney non-stops on December 17.

Looking for a cheap way to get from the West Coast to Europe — or Iceland? Reykjavik-based discount carrier WOW Air said it plans to begin flying to both San Francisco and Los Angeles next summer, although it didn’t give an exact starting date. The carrier said it will fly to LAX four times a week and to San Francisco five times a week, using a one-class, 340-passenger A330-300. WOW already operates from Boston and Washington to Iceland’s Keflavik Airport (and will add Toronto and Montreal flights in May 2016), with connections to various European cities. No word on fares yet, but the carrier’s website (www.wowair.us) currently shows basic one-way connecting prices as low as $149 from Boston or Washington to London Gatwick — plus ancillary fees, of course.

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Air Canada is adding long-haul international services left and right. This week, it started flying non-stop from Toronto to Delhi, India four times a week, along with new non-stops three times a week from Toronto to Dubai. On both routes, Air Canada is using 787-9s with business, premium economy and economy class seating. The Canadian carrier also plans to resume Toronto-Seoul Incheon service on June 17, 2016, using a 787-8; it last flew the seasonal route in 2013.  

Now that Delta has angrily announced its exit from the Atlanta-Dubai route effective February 11, blaming the big Mideast airlines for laying on excessive capacity to the U.S., Emirates has its eye on the route. The Dubai-based airline also dismissed Delta’s claim that it couldn’t successfully compete in the market, estimating that Delta earned more than $10 million a year on the Atlanta-Dubai route. Delta immediately denounced Emirates’ assertion, saying it has been losing money on the route for the past two years. 

Alaska Airlines has added Costa Rica to its route network. The carrier this week started flying from Los Angeles to both San Jose and Liberia, Costa Rica, offering four flights a week on each route with 737-800s.

According to Airlineroute.net, which tracks carriers’ schedule filings, Lufthansa will not resume seasonal Chicago-Dusseldorf flights on March 27 as previously planned. However, on the same date the German carrier will switch from an A330-300 to a much larger A340-600 on its Newark-Dusseldorf route, increasing capacity by about 50 percent.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Global Entry gets more global + New York’s lowest ranked hotels +Best/worst hotel programs for awards + More flat seats

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Lufthansa adds San Jose-Frankfurt + United to Europe + More Delta, AA to London

United will begin Newark-Athens flights next spring. (Image: Jim Glab)

United will begin Newark-Athens flights next spring. (Image: Jim Glab)

In international route news, United will add new Europe services in 2016; SAS eyes another new U.S. gateway; and Delta and American make new inroads at London Heathrow. And we are getting late breaking news that Lufthansa will add nonstops between Mineta San Jose and Frankfurt. 

Today Lufthansa announced that it will launch 5x per week nonstops between the Bay Area’s Mineta San Jose International Airport and Frankfurt starting April 29, 2016 using an Airbus A340-300. The aircraft will offer business class, premium economy and regular economy seats (no first class). If Lufthansa can make the April 29 date, it can claim that it’s SJC’s first European carrier this year since British Airways 787 nonstops SJC-LHR begin a week later.

Details on Lufthansa's new 12-hour nonstop SJC-FRA

Details on Lufthansa’s new 12-hour nonstop SJC-FRA

United said it will begin seasonal service next spring on three new routes to Europe, all starting on May 25. The airline will operate daily 767-300 non-stop service from its Newark hub to Athens, continuing through October 5; daily 767-400 non-stops from Washington Dulles to Barcelona, operating through September 6; and daily 757-200 service from Dulles to Lisbon, ending September 6.

Meanwhile, United will also begin new code-sharing with partner Air Canada. Starting November 1, United’s code will go onto Air Canada flights from Toronto to Delhi and Dubai; and effective already, Air Canada’s code has gone onto United flights from Newark to Delhi and Mumbai, and from Washington Dulles to Dubai.

AirlineRoute.net also reports that SAS plans to begin service on March 29 next year from Boston to Copenhagen, operating daily flights with a two-class Privatair 737-700. This is in addition to plans SAS announced earlier to add new U.S. service in 2016 between Los Angeles-Stockholm, Miami-Copenhagen and Miami-Oslo.

Delta hasn’t yet said yet if it will mean any schedule changes, but it announced that it has acquired six slots at capacity-restricted London Heathrow that it had been leasing from joint venture partners Air France and KLM. “By taking ownership of the slots, Delta will enhance its ability to provide long-term continuity and stability on the route network operated from London Heathrow with joint venture partner Virgin Atlantic Airways,” Delta said.

Also at Heathrow, American Airlines plans to add add a fourth daily flight between London and New York JFK next spring. The new flight, starting March 27, will use a two-class 777-200ER, according to airlineroute.net.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: New Two brand new United Clubs + Jennifer Aniston needs a shower + Best Megahub? + Big Hilton/SkyMiles bonus 

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New Alaska Air partner + Big American/BA bonus + Air Canada stopover

Alaska Airlines is adding an international mileage and code-share partner. (Image: Jim Glab)

Alaska Airlines is adding an international mileage and code-share partner. (Image: Jim Glab)

Alaska Airlines is adding a mileage/codeshare partner; American and British Airways offer bonus points/miles; and Air Canada wants you to stop over in Toronto on them.

  • Starting November 1 (subject to government approval), Alaska and Icelandair will kick off a new wide-ranging partnership . The benefits to passengers: “seamless reservations and ticketing, one-stop check-in, baggage checked to its final destination, coordinated flight schedules, the ability to earn miles and/or points on the reciprocal airline and consistent passenger service standards,” Alaska said. Elite members in each carrier’s loyalty program will also get reciprocal airport lounge benefits. Alaska Mileage Plan members can earn elite-qualifying miles on Icelandair flights starting October 1 — and they’ll get double miles through December 15. Icelandair flies from 16 cities in North America (including Alaska’s Seattle hub) to 20 destinations in Europe via connections at its Reykjavik hub. Have you flown Icelandair? How was it? 
  • To mark its fifth anniversary, the transatlantic joint venture partnership of American Airlines and British Airways/Iberia/Finnair is offering customers big mileage bonuses from now through January 31. Persons who register for the offer with promotion code NAF15 can earn 25,000 bonus miles per transatlantic roundtrip when they buy first or business class tickets (up to a maximum of 125,000 bonus miles); 7,000 bonus miles for roundtrips in premium economy or some full economy fares (up to a maximum of 35,000); or 2,000 bonus miles for travel on other economy fares (maximum: 10,000 bonus miles).  Here’s where you’ll find all the details and a link to online registration.
Spectacular view from the lovely Colette Restaurant at the Thompson Toronto hotel (Chris McGinnis)

Spectacular view from the lovely Colette Restaurant at the Thompson Toronto hotel (Chris McGinnis)

  • To induce Americans to try out its international service, Air Canada is waiving the stopover fee for those who fly from the U.S. to Europe or Asia all on Air Canada via a connection at its Toronto Pearson hub. Customers can take advantage of the free Toronto stopover on their outbound or return trips, and can stay in the city for up to one week, paying nothing more than the usual roundtrip fare. It’s valid for flights on Air Canada, Air Canada Express or Air Canada Rouge. For details, go to www.aircanada.com/travelsmarter.

Related: Trip Report- Air Canada 767 Business class SFO-Toronto

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: TSA PreCheck: No more free rides + Plight of the tall traveler + Photos: New United first class seat + Save money on calls from other countries + 6 secrets for snagging low fares

100,000

bonusBEST for Big Sign-up Bonus. British Airways Visa Signature® Card 0ffers a nice 50,000 Avios sign up bonus after you spend $2,000 in the first three months. But get this: You’ll earn an additional 25,000 bonus Avios when you spend $10,000 on purchases for a total of 75,000 bonus Avios. Even better: You earn another 25,000 bonus Avios when you spend a total of $20,000 on purchases within your first year for a total of 100,000 bonus Avios. In addition to the sign up bonus, you earn three Avios for every dollar spent on BA, and a free companion ticket (any class) when you spend at least $30,000 in a year. Plus there are no foreign transaction fees, and the card has a chip making it easier to use in Europe and beyond. Annual fee is $95.  More.

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Routes: Mexico City + Toronto + Bangkok + Accra + Belfast + Dubai + Latin America

Air Canada will put a new 787-9 onto its Los Angeles-Toronto route. (Image: Air Canada)

Air Canada will put a new 787-9 onto its Los Angeles-Toronto route. (Image: Air Canada)

In international route news, new options to Mexico City are coming; west coast travelers can soon fly the newest version of the 787 to Toronto; an Asian carrier will end U.S. flights; South African Airways adds a  new stop from Washington;  United plans year-round service on a European spoke from its Newark hub; Delta trims its Dubai schedule; and United expands Latin American options.

Business travelers heading to Mexico City will have several new options in the months ahead. September 3 is the target date for American Airlines to start flying to MEX from Los Angeles twice a day, replacing Alaska Airlines’ single flight in the market. Alaska will code-share on the AA flights. JetBlue will add a pair of routes to MEX on October 1, with daily flights from both Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale. And Southwest is due to kick off daily Houston Hobby-Mexico City service October 15.

Air Canada just started to take delivery of new 787-9s — the larger version of the Boeing Dreamliner — and it will put one into service this winter between Toronto and Los Angeles. The daily 787-9 service to LAX is scheduled to begin January 28, replacing a 767-300ER.

Thai Airways is set to end its U.S. service October 25, when it discontinues its four 777  flights a week between Bangkok and Los Angeles via a stop in Seoul.

South African Airways this week started service between Washington Dulles and Accra, Ghana, adding the African city as an intermediate stop on its IAD-Johannesburg route. The IAD-Accra flights operate four times a week; the other three days, the SAA service still stops in Dakar, Senegal. The airline uses a two-class A340-600 on the route.

Got business in Northern Ireland? United’s seasonal service from its Newark hub to Belfast is going to operate year-round instead of seasonally. Earlier this year, United suspended service on the route during the winter months, but in 2016 it will operate three flights a week during the slow period (January 6-March 11).

Delta will cut back its Atlanta-Dubai schedule on October 1, reducing the 777-200LR service from daily to five times a week. The airline’s Tuesday and Sunday departures from ATL will be dropped.

United will expand its Latin American code-sharing partnership with the Avianca Group on August 8, putting the UA code on TACA Peru flights from Lima to Cuzco, Arequipa and Piura, Peru; and on Aviateca flights from Guatemala City to Flores, Guatemala. Meanwhile, Avianca in Brazil has joined United’s Star Alliance, adding 15 new destinations in Brazil to the group’s global network.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Avoiding long customs & immigration lines  + Fingerprint as boarding pass? + Hotel rate shocker  + More!


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10 most popular: Trip Report + La Guardia + $25 off + Delta upgrade + TravelSkills Vacation

TravelSkills will be in vacation mode during August (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

The boys of summer at Ocean Beach in San Francisco (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Quick note: TravelSkills will be in vacation mode during August, with only periodic posts. We’ll be back at full steam in September so stay tuned! And enjoy your summer. –Chris

TravelSkills’ 10 most popular posts over the last week (descending order)… plus a few newsy nuggets we missed.

1. Flying cozy: Trip Report: Air Canada B767 lie-flat business class

2. Coming soon: First look at the new $4 billion LaGuardia (photos)

3. What a deal! How to get $25 off your next car rental

4. There’s a difference: Direct or nonstop flight? You tell me!

Weekend Edition5. New routes for American, Alaska, JetBlue, Frontier

6. Don’t be afraid to ask: How to avoid worn out hotel rooms

7. Are you up for it? Delta’s ultimate upgrade: private jets

8. Employers take the heat: Binge drinking, sleeping around on business trips

9. A plane makeover: Delta unveils revamped Airbus

10. Big surprise: Is Kimpton abandoning San Francisco?

(Photo: Jason Tester Guerilla / Flickr)

(Photo: Jason Tester Guerilla / Flickr)

Guess what? No UberX or Lyft at LAX in August after all. Grrr.

A few newsy nuggets from other sources that we missed on TravelSkills this week:

>At LaGuardia: Nice new terminal, but same old delays

>Uber is OK at Oakland International!

>Plan emerges for Uber/Lyft at ATL, but it’s going to be a while

>IHG eyeing Fairmont after Starwood rumors die

>Delta and China Eastern hook up, Delta gets Shanghai

>Atlanta on-airport hotel to break ground in early 2016

>British Airways adopts smaller bag size that other airlines dismissed

>Toronto gets underwater tunnel to airport

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Trip Report: Air Canada B767 lie-flat business class SFO-Toronto

Air Canada

Flight attendants say seat 8A on Air Canada’s B767 is the best seat on the plane. Why? Read on! (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Nearly every frequent traveler knows about those fancy flat bed seats flying between California and New York.

But did you know that you can also fly flat between San Francisco and Toronto-Pearson (YYZ) on Air Canada? (LAX-YYZ, too)

Last March, the Canadian carrier deployed a single daily B767 round trip on SFO-YYZ. It departs SFO at 11:35 a.m. and arrives in Toronto at about 7:30 p.m. The widebody departs Toronto at 8:00 a.m. and arrives SFO at 10:25 a.m.

While it would be nice to take advantage of those roomy lie-flat seats on an overnight flight, Air Canada has its 767 timed for connections at its Toronto hub. The flight from SFO arrives in Toronto just in time to meet several evening departures for Europe and Asia, which means business travelers can connect to another lie-flat flight for the transoceanic portion of their trips.

Fares: Since Air Canada and United have a code share (and monopoly) on this route, you can buy your ticket from either airline– but you’ll pay a premium for the lie-flat 767. Business class round trip fares for mid September run $3,200 on the B767, and $2,800 on its four other daily flights on A320s or A321s. Economy class round trips for mid-September are now about $885. (Virgin America and United both bailed on this route in 2011 and 2012, respectively.)

Regrettably, there is no wi-fi on this 767, but it does have it on some of its A320s on the route, including my return flight to SFO.

Air Canada invited me to check out the service last week on a two-day jaunt to Toronto. The airline covered the cost of my flight, and I paid hotel, meals and transfers. (Stay tuned for another Trip Report about my ride on Toronto’s new airport-to-city center train!)

Let’s jump onboard!

Air Canada

Air Canada B767-300ER(Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Air Canada’s flights depart from the “A” side of SFO’s international terminal, which seemed odd since it is a Star Alliance and code sharing partner with United, which is on the “G” side.

Air Canada

Air Canada Boeing 767-300 business class cabin (Chris McGinnis)

The Boeing 767-300 ER has 24 business class seats in rows 1-8. Seats are configured 1-1-1. Seats along the left side window have their own aisle, which offers more privacy, while seats on the right share an aisle. If you are traveling alone, try to get the A side. Those traveling with someone else should sit across the aisle from each other on the F-K side to facilitate conversation.

Air Canada

Business class on Air Canada B767 (Chris McGinnis)

Seats are large, well-cushioned and very private. Headphones were (unusually) hardwired into the seats and could not be removed or replaced with personal headphones. High walls between seats make conversation with seat mates difficult. And due to the herringbone configuration, it’s tough to get a good view out the window.

Air Canada

Old school overhead bins on Air Canada’s B767 (Chris McGinnis)

The 767 is an older plane with smaller overhead bin space. These bins could barely accommodate a standard rollaboard carryon turned sideways. Since Air Canada plans to replace these old birds with new 787s, its unlikely that overhead bins will be replaced before they are retired. Nonetheless, there was no problem fitting all passenger carryons in the space provided.

Air Canada

The A side of business class offers the most privacy (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

These A seats along the right side window in business class are best for solo travelers.

Air Canada

Seat 8A is the best seat on Air Canada’s B767 (Chris McGinnis)

So here we are at seat 8A again. Why do flight attendants say this is the best seat on the plane? First, it’s very private, in it’s own cubby hole at the back of the section with a closet separating it from economy class. What’s even better is that it is the first seat in the cabin to get flight attendant service– just two flight attendants service the entire cabin, and those seated on the right side may miss out on the entree of choice.

Air Canada

Lie-flat comfort- sadly not enough time on this 4-5 hour flight to truly enjoy it (Chris McGinnis)

Air Canada

Air Canada’s business class seats are 21 inches wide (Chris McGinnis)

Business class seats are nice and wide and long enough to accommodate my 6′ frame comfortably. Downside is that all that space for your body takes up valuable storage space for your stuff, which means lots of getting up and down to get into the backpack or briefcase. Nonetheless, my biggest regret is that I was not able to spend the night in this nice cozy blue cocoon!

Air Canada

Seat in full recline (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Air Canada

A three course meal with mains to choose from on SFO-YYZ lunchtime flight  (Chris McGinnis)

Air Canada

(Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Warm  nuts to start.

Air Canada

Starter salad (Chris McGinnis)

Air Canada

Chicken breast with tagine sauce (Chris McGinnis)

Air Canada

A choice of two whites and two reds (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Air Canada

Beef tenderloin (Chris McGinnis)

Air Canada

Pan seared Atlantic salmon (Chris McGinnis)

Air Canada

Light gelato and fruit for dessert (Chris McGinnis)

Overall, the inflight dining experience was excellent, with pleasing portions and very good flavor. However, the presentation is a bit bland compared to what we’ve seen recently in premium cabins on JetBlue (see Trip Report) or Virgin America (See Trip Report) transcons. My suggestion would be for flight attendants to primp the dishes a bit before serving, and maybe add a sprig of parsley or other garnish. Otherwise, the food comes out looking factory-made even though it does not taste that way.

Air Canada

Economy class on Air Canada B767 (Chris McGinnis)

Economy class seats are configured 2-3-2 and appeared to be very comfortable. Plus each seat has a big screen, USB port and power outlet.

Air Canada

Economy class on Air Canada B767 (Chris McGinnis)

Air Canada

Economy class on Air Canada B767 (Chris McGinnis)

View from the roof of the Thomspon Hotel Toronto (Chris McGinnis)

View from the roof of the Thomspon Hotel Toronto (Chris McGinnis)

After landing at YYZ, I stayed at the hip Thompson Hotel Toronto for two nights, then flew back to SFO on an Air Canada A320. Here’s a mini-review of the Thompson hotel. 

–Chris McGinnis

Check out all recent TravelSkills Trip Reports!

Disclosure: Air Canada covered the cost of Chris’s roundtrip airfare to Toronto

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Avoiding long customs & immigration lines  + Fingerprint as boarding pass? + Hotel rate shocker  + More!


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American heads south + BA upgrades Austin + Sydney skeds + Delta to Paris + New Delhi nonstop

British Airways will start flying a 787-9 to Austin next winter. (Image: British Airways)

British Airways will start flying a 787-9 to Austin next winter. (Image: British Airways)

In international route news, American is adding several Latin America and Caribbean services; British Airways sets 787-9 schedules; a Mexican carrier begins New York flights; Qantas will trim LAX runs; Delta extends a Paris route; United cuts back to Panama; and Air Canada eyes India.

  • American has announced some new, mostly low-frequency services to Latin America and the Caribbean. Exceptions to the low frequencies include Los Angeles-Mexico City, which begins September 3 with twice-daily 737 flights; and Dallas/Ft. Worth-Quito, Ecuador, with five weekly roundtrips beginning December 18. Also on December 18, AA will start twice-weekly LAX-Montego Bay, Jamaica service, and on December 19 it will add once-a-week flights from Charlotte to Curacao and to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic as well as DFW-Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
  • British Airways will start flying new 787-9s this fall, and it has targeted its London Heathrow-Austin route for an equipment upgrade from a 777-200ER to a 787-9 as of February 1, 2016. Other BA 787-9 routes include LHR-Delhi, starting October 15; LHR-Abu Dhabi/Muscat as of October 16, and LHR-Kuala Lumpur effective December 5. Unlike most of the new 787-9s that are coming into service on several airlines, British Airways’ version will offer a first class cabin in addition to business, premium economy and economy.

Don’t miss! Like first class meals? Try serving one

  • Mexican carrier Volaris has added new service out of New York’s JFK International, operating three flights a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays) to Guadalajara.
  • With American’s new Los Angeles-Sydney service due to begin December 17, joint venture partner Qantas will trim its LAX-Sydney schedule the next day, reducing frequencies from 14 a week to 12, and then cutting them again from 12 to 10 starting January 23. Meanwhile, Qantas has set the schedule for its new San Francisco-Sydney flights. They’ll start December 18 with five 747-400 flights a week, increasing to six a week February 2; SFO departure time is 11:25 p.m. SEE UPDATE BELOW
  • Delta said that effective October 25, its Boston-Paris Charles de Gaulle route will no longer be seasonal but will operate year-round, flown with a 757-200 as part of its joint venture operation with Air France.
  • United is scaling back its Denver-Panama City, Panama service. The daily service will end September 7, resuming as seasonal service December 18, but with just two flights a week.
  • On November 1, Air Canada will kick off a new very-long-haul route, from Toronto to Delhi, India. The Canadian carrier will fly the route four times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday) with a new 787-9, fitted with business class, premium economy and regular economy seating. It will increase frequencies to daily at the end of October 2016.

UPDATE from Qantas regarding SFO service:

  • December – Qantas will have 8 services operating on December 18, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29 and 30
  • January – Qantas will have 5 flights per week operating on Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri and Sun
  • Late January/February onwards – Qantas will have 6 flight per week operating on Mon, Tues, Wed, Thu, Fri and Sun

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Avoiding long customs & immigration lines  + UberX, Lyft at LAX + The big Delta upsell+ ATMs are out + More!


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New routes: JetBlue + United + Delta + SAS + Air Canada + Southwest

JetBlue will add several Florida routes this fall. (Image: Jim Glab)

JetBlue will add several Florida routes this fall. (Image: Jim Glab)

As stated in our recent post Airfare war in the wings, airlines are adding capacity all over the place- which could lead to a bloodbath when demand slackens in the fall. 

For example, JetBlue is adding Florida flights to both the north and south; United plans a pair of new Denver routes; Delta and SAS expand transatlantic capacity; Air Canada adds a Texas destination; American drops a couple of Los Angeles routes; and Southwest plans to add another Florida destination from Washington D.C..

  • JetBlue said it will launch new daily service between Baltimore/Washington and Orlando on November 12, followed by twice-daily service between Philadelphia and Ft. Lauderdale starting November 19. The carrier will also add Mexico City to its route map on October 1 with daily flights from both Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando. And JetBlue is targeting the first quarter of 2016 for new daily service from Ft. Lauderdale to Quito, Ecuador.
  • Effective September 13, United will add a pair of new North Carolina routes out of its Denver International hub, operating twice-daily service to both Charlotte and Raleigh with Embraer E175 aircraft.
  • Delta on May 22 resumes seasonal daily flights between New York JFK and Prague, Czech Republic, using a 225-seat 767-300. The airline revived seasonal service between JFK and Athens at the end of March, but says it will increase frequencies on that route from seven a week to 12 starting June 2, citing high demand.  Delta has also applied for government authority to begin a new route from Orlando to Sao Paulo, Brazil, beginning December 19 with four flights a week.
  • Instead of reducing service on its Newark-Oslo and Newark-Stockholm routes when its winter schedule kicks in at the end of October, SAS this year will continue to operate daily flights on both of them.
  • Air Canada has added Austin, Texas to its network, launching daily Air Canada Express service to Toronto with a 75-seat CRJ.

Related: Airfare war in the wings

  • According to route-tracking website airlineroute.net, American Airlines plans to discontinue service from Los Angeles to both Monterey, Calif. and Santa Fe, New Mexico after September 15.
  • Southwest Airlines has set a November 1 start for new daily service from Washington Reagan National to Orlando, its third Florida destination from DCA. On the same date, the airline plans to add a second daily roundtrip from Austin to Ft. Lauderdale.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Largest hotel you’ll likely never visit + Delta accused + Starwood Hotels’ new tech touches + Virgin Atlantic’s new LAX lounge + Southwest adds Oakland-Atlanta service


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Another carry-on crackdown coming?

Busted by United's baggage police at SFO (Chris McGinnis)

Busted by United’s baggage police at SFO (Chris McGinnis)

U.S. airlines don’t always follow the lead of their foreign counterparts, but if they decide to adopt a newly announced policy from Air Canada, it could spell trouble for passengers who rely on overstuffed carry-ons to avoid checked baggage fees.

The Canadian carrier said on its website this week that it plans to start using what amounts to carry-on bag police, putting employees at airport check-in areas and security checkpoints to eyeball passengers’ bags and make sure they don’t exceed the proper size dimensions.

Carry-ons on Air Canada will need an "approved" tag to make it on board. (Image: Air Canada)

Carry-ons on Air Canada will need an “approved” tag to make it on board. (Image: Air Canada)

And they’ll tag appropriate bags with a red “approved” tag. “This will make it easier and safer to stow your personal items on board, may help reduce wait times at security, and will help avoid flight delays caused by larger bags being checked at the gate,” Air Canada said. If not, the bag will have to be checked.

If you make it to the security checkpoint with an oversized carry-on and get caught there, “We’ll give you a special card that will get you quickly back to a check-in agent, and then on to your departure gate,” the airline noted.

The new policy will start on May 25 at Toronto Pearson and gradually be rolled out to other airports during June.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Delta accused + Starwood Hotels’ new tech touches + Virgin Atlantic’s new LAX lounge + Southwest adds Oakland-Atlanta service


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New transcon biz class + United mistake + Seattle + Cruise for miles + Marriott expiring

Lie-flat comfort on Air Canada's new Business Class Transcon flights (Photo Air Canada)

Lie-flat comfort on Air Canada’s new Business Class Transcon flights (Photo Air Canada)

DOT excuses United on fare errors. A couple of weeks ago we reported on the controversy that erupted after United Airlines refused to honor some ridiculously low transatlantic air fares that many people booked through its website — if they switched their country of origin to Denmark. Although we disagreed with them, many observers felt that United should be held accountable for its mistake and should let those lucky travelers keep their bargain purchases. But now the U.S. Department of Transportation has weighed in, ruling that United didn’t have to honor the fares because to find them, consumers had to “manipulate the search process” by switching home countries to take advantage of a currency conversion glitch.

New Air Canada transcon biz class. March 1 is the launch date for a new Air Canada product it calls Business Class-Transcontinental, to be offered on widebody flights from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Toronto, as well as on intra-Canada service linking Calgary-Toronto, Vancouver-Toronto and Vancouver-Montreal. The airline said it will bring the comforts of its international business cabin to the transcon routes, including seats that recline fully flat, large pillows and duvets, noise-canceling headsets, priority check-in and boarding, Maple Leaf Lounge access and more. It will be on 787s, 777s, 767s and A330s.

United's new digs in the "T-gates" Concourse- no train ride required (Photo: Atlanta Airport)

United’s new digs in the “T-gates” Concourse- no train ride required (Photo: Atlanta Airport)

United at ATL. A United spokesperson confirmed to TravelSkills that a new United Club is indeed underway at Atlanta’s T-gates concourse adjacent to the main terminal, although she could not comment on the exact location. It’s expected to open “this fall.” Additionally, nearly Weekend Editionall United operations have moved to the much more convenient T-gates from Concourse D.  From ATL, United offers nonstops to Newark, Washington Dulles, Chicago, Denver, Houston and San Francisco. This TravelSkills post of United’s newest club at SFO should give you an idea of what the ATL and other planned renovations will look like.

Delta grows at Seattle. Delta’s next round of expansion at Seattle will come on December 19, when it plans to add new daily service to Kona on Hawaii’s Big Island — a route already served by Alaska Airlines. On the same date, Delta will add a second daily flight from SEA to Palm Springs and will begin daily seasonal service from SEA to Tucson, up from the current weekly flight. Starting in May 2015, meanwhile, Delta said it will extend its seasonal SEA-Fairbanks and SEA-Juneau service to year-round daily flights.

hdr_alaska_qq

Cruise with MileagePlus miles. Got a ton of United miles burning a hole in your pocket? The airline said last week that MileagePlus members can now book cruise vacations through its loyalty program and pay with miles. The ships of some two dozen cruise lines are available, United said, with itineraries worldwide. Sample prices: We saw a seven-night western Caribbean sailing on Princess cruises at 70,471 miles for an ocean-view cabin or 129,294 miles for a suite (mileage prices are per person based on two in a cabin). A new web page has been created at https://cruises.mileageplus.com/ where members can search all the cruises available. Not enough program credit? You can also combine miles and money to buy cruises, United said.

HOTELS

1,000 Easy (?) Hilton Points. Last week you read about how to earn 1,000 Hilton HHonors points for simply changing your password, but the promo was put on hold due to a technical glitch. Well, it seems the glitch is still hampering the bonus, but a spokesperson assures TravelSkills that it will indeed come back. So stay tuned.

Marriott gets tough on expiring points. According to the View from the Wing blog, Marriott is telling Marriott Rewards members that effective in February 2016, it will start enforcing a clause in its program rules that says all of a member’s points will expire without any qualifying activity in the program within 24 months.

Popularity contest: Here are the most read TravelSkills posts this past week, in descending order of popularity. Did you read them all?

  1. Why you should change the cards you carry
  2. Bloodbath for airlines a boon for travelers
  3. West Coast – New York LaGuardia flights on horizon?
  4. How to enjoy dining alone
  5. Does Virgin America need lie-flat seats to compete?

And our most popular post of all time? See it here.

Did you miss yesterday’s issue of our Weekend Edition? No probs! Here ya go: 

Southwest growth spurt + Better food? + Wi-fi on Delta + Hilton double + Whatever!

+++

>>Take a peek at what you may have missed on TravelSkills.com this week! <<
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Delta hubs suffer + Shuttle moves at LGA + Oakland BART connection + Double Hilton points

The long awaited BART link to Oakland airport expected to open this month (Photo: BART)

The long awaited BART link to Oakland airport expected to open this month (Photo: BART)

AIRLINES

Demand keeps driving fares upward. When the price of oil goes up, air fares go up. So when oil prices fall as much as they have in recent months, air fares go down, right? Not in a period of strong demand for air travel. Jet fuel prices are down 22 percent this year, but an ongoing series of small increases has kept air fares above 2013 levels. According to the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ latest report (for the second quarter of 2014), the average U.S. air fare rose 2.5 percent year-over-year to $396. Delta is a big beneficiary of the higher fares; Its Cincinnati hub once again had the highest average domestic fare at $523, and its Atlanta hub recorded the biggest average fare increase of any major airport — up 11.3 percent to $435. Have you noticed? Please leave your comments below– what’s the most painfully high fare you’ve paid this year? 

Delta Shuttle moves at LGA. A reminder to frequent flyers in the Northeast Corridor: Sunday (November 2) is moving day for Delta’s New York-Boston Shuttle flights at LaGuardia. The hourly LGA-BOS flights will move from LGA’s remote Marine Air Terminal to Delta’s recently-renovated Terminal C. The airline has also switched the flights to two-class 717 aircraft with 12 First Class, 15 Economy Comfort and 83 economy seats. Delta’s Chicago and Washington Reagan National Shuttle flights continue to use LGA’s Marine Air Terminal with Delta Connection/Shuttle America E-175s.

Southwest quickly absorbing last remnants of AirTran. This just in from Southwest: “As of today, all flights previously flown by AirTran between seven international destinations and nine domestic gateway cities are now flown exclusively by Southwest. Additionally, Southwest is proud to announce that we have finalized the integration of Southwest.com and AirTran.com. Effective today, Customers attempting to access AirTran.com will be routed to an informational page on Southwest.com where they can book travel, view integration-related FAQs, and find loyalty program information.”

Air Canada changes loyalty plan. Air Canada is the latest major carrier tighten up the rules of its frequent flyer program. For 2015, the minimum flight requirement to reach Altitude status levels is increasing and the minimum 500-mile earning per flight will end. On March 15, the number of eUpgrade credits to upgrade to business class will rise, but members will also be able to use those credits to upgrade to Premium Economy.

Some say that business class on American's B777-300ER is the best in the US. What do you think? (Photo: American Airlines)

Some say that business class on American’s B777-300ER is the best among US carriers. What do you think? (Photo: American Airlines)

Route news: AA, JetBlue, Alaska. Faced with new competition from Delta between Los Angeles and London Heathrow, American said it will add a second daily non-stop on the route in March, using another of its popular 777-300ERs (giving it a total of four a day in combination with joint venture partner British Airways) … JetBlue keeps growing at Ft. Lauderdale. In its latest expansion last week, it added flights to Cartagena, Jacksonville, Las Vegas and Pittsburgh … On March 5, Alaska Airlines will begin service three times a week between San Diego and Kona on Hawaii’s Big Island.

AIRPORTS

Oakland prepares for BART launch. An extension of Bay Area Rapid Transit rail service to Oakland International Airport is expected to start passenger service sometime this month, and testing of the trains is already under way. The 3.2-mile extension will link Oakland’s Coliseum Station to the airport, and will replace the buses currently used for that purpose, with trains running every four to five minutes. Here’s a video of the pre-launch testing of the new OAK trains. In typical municipal fashion, BART is not willing to offer up a hard date for opening…but says it might be up and running before the holidays. (See photo above.)

DOT probes ‘interference’ in new Georgia airport. The Transportation Department is looking into a complaint that Delta may have interfered in efforts to develop a second Atlanta-area airport. The complaint was filed by county commissioners in Paulding County, who said they want to see commercial low-cost air service at Silver Comet Field, about 40 miles northwest of Atlanta. Atlanta is the only one of the 10 largest U.S. metro areas that doesn’t have a secondary airport. UPDATE: DOT is not investigating Delta per se, according to FORBES. 

Customs kiosks come to Denver. Denver International is the latest U.S. airport to install Automated Passport Control (APC) kiosks for U.S. citizens returning from international trips. The 16 new BorderXPress APCs — which passengers can use to provide passport and customs declaration information and to verify identities — are expected to speed up processing, especially during the busy 4-7 p.m. period. The APCs are now in 17 U.S. airports.

POPULAR this week: How often do planes get washed? Surprising answer

TRENDS

Do your eyes glaze over when you hear or read about yet another report, panel discussion or product launch focusing on millennial travelers? This young demographic cohort is getting so much attention that other important segments of the population might be getting overlooked. In this post for the Switchfly blog, Chris examines the full spectrum of US generations and exposes their traits when it comes to travel. First of all, he labels them. (Age ranges are estimations.)

  • GenZ or iGen (under 15)
  • Millennial or Gen Y (14-34)
  • GenX (35-49)
  • Boomer (50-69)
  • Silent (70-84)
  • Greatest (85+)

CARS

Uber wins a legal round in Las Vegas. A Nevada judge last week turned down the state attorney general’s request for a temporary restraining order to block ride-sharing service Uber from launching service in Las Vegas. The operation is being opposed by the Nevada Taxicab Authority and the state transportation authority. It’s just the beginning of the legal battle; a hearing on a requested preliminary injunction is set for November 14. But in the meantime, Uber is operating in Las Vegas. Viva!

HOTELS

The Grand Premier Suite at the new Moskva hotel in Moscow

The Grand Premier Suite at the new Four Seasons Hotel Moscow (Photo: Four Seasons)

Four Seasons debuts in Moscow. The old Hotel Moskva, located close to Red Square on central Moscow’s Manezhnaya Square, was reborn last week as the Four Seasons Hotel Moscow. The historic facade was preserved, but the interior was remade, including the hotel’s 180 rooms and suites. It has a 24-hour business center, a fleet of Wi-Fi-equipped BMWs, and a signature Italian restaurant; a spa will open early next year.

Double points at Hilton. Last week, Hilton unveiled a new promotion for HHonors members who sign up online: They can earn double points from now through January 31, beginning with their second stay.

Have you voted in our hotel wi-fi speed poll yet? Read our post about Marriott’s big move this week… Check out the results below after you vote!

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In Case You Missed It…

Look closely and you'll see the "space ship" part of this aircraft in the middle-- it detaches from the larger aircraft to shoot into space. That's the part that crashed. (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Look closely and you’ll see the “space ship” part of this aircraft in the middle– it detaches from the larger aircraft to shoot into space. That’s the part that crashed on Friday. (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

>Our disturbingly up-close-and-personal photos & video of Virgin Galactic’s spaceship that crashed on Friday.

>Marriott is expanding free basic Wi-Fi for Rewards members who book direct.

>American Airlines revealed plans for merging frequent flyer programs with US Airways.

>JetBlue’s new Mint service drives down JFK-SFO premium fares.

>>Take a peek at what you may have missed on TravelSkills.com this week! <<

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