How to earn airline miles riding Ford GoBikes

October 30, 2017

Bikers in the Bay Area can earn Alaska Mileage Plan miles. (Image: Ford GoBike)

Whether you are visiting the Bay Area, or live there, you can now earn airline miles while pedaling around.

How? Well, Ford GoBike, the new Bay Area bike-sharing program, has teamed up with Alaska Airlines. Mileage Plan members earn 10 miles for each ride anywhere in the Bay Area. It’s not a huge bonus, but hey, you are getting outside, getting healthy and seeing the city in a new way, right? Plus, if you are a heavy user, it can add up, right?

Those who use the Ford GoBike program can pick up a bicycle at any station and return it to any other station. The program’s app, available at Apple’s App Store or Google Play, provides real-time bike availability information for any station.

Participants can simply link the app to their Mileage Plan account to start earning the miles. Alaska is a founding partner in the Ford GoBike program.

Image: Ford GoBike

In addition to its 240 bike-sharing stations in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville, Ford GoBike recently made its debut in San Jose with 34 bike stations. Another nine will be installed in San Jose soon, and 21 more have been proposed pending community review.

Ford GoBike offers different membership and usage options, including $3 for a single trip, $9.95 for a day pass, and $149 for an annual membership.

When completed in 2018, the 7,000-bike, 546-station Ford GoBike network will be the second-largest bike share system in North America after Mexico City’s Ecobici program.

Have you given a bike sharing program anywhere in the world a try yet? Where? How was it? Please leave your comments below.

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Alaska Airlines adds 6 more California nonstops

March 15, 2017

Alaska will deploy three-class E175s on new San Diego routes. (Image: Alaska Airlines)

Just a week after announcing 13 new nonstop routes from the Bay Area starting in late summer and fall of this year, Alaska Airlines is aiming to strengthen its grip on the California market even more by launching service on six new routes from San Diego.

The expansion calls for daily service from SAN to Omaha and to Austin starting August 27; to Albuquerque beginning October 18; to Minneapolis-St. Paul as of November 18; and to Kansas City and St. Louis beginning December 15.

All routes will be flown once a day with the popular 76-seat, three-class E175s (12 seats in first class, 12 seats in premium class and 52 seats in the main cabin). Once a day is not really enough to entice business travelers who love multiple options when plans change, but at least it’s a new nonstop option. In many of these markets, Southwest also operates one or two nonstops per day.

Alaska has been gradually building up its presence at California’s second largest city. Some of that growth begins this week, including new daily San Diego-Baltimore/Washington flights and three daily roundtrips between SAN and Sacramento. Alaska also recently won authority for new service from San Diego to Mexico City, but schedules haven’t yet been set.

New Alaska routes coming at San Diego. (Map: Alaska Airlines)

It’s a busy week for Alaska inaugurals in other markets as well. In addition to the San Diego flights mentioned above, the airline this week is kicking off a daily San Jose-Newark roundtrip; a daily Portland-Orlando flight; and three flights a day between San Jose and Burbank.

Alaska said that over the past five years, it has added 18 non-stop destinations from San Diego; by late August of this year, it will be operating 40 daily flights from SAN to 28 destinations.

“From San Diego, guests can make convenient connections to Tokyo and London, served by partner carriers Japan Airlines and British Airways,” the company noted.

Last year, Alaska’s Horizon Air unit placed an order for 30 new E175 jets, with options for 33 more. Deliveries are due to begin this year. SkyWest Airlines also operates some E175s for Alaska.

As it grows its own brand presence, Alaska must also figure out how to blend its network together with Virgin America’s. In last week’s announcement of new service from the Bay Area, Alaska said that all the new mainline routes would be flown with A320 family aircraft. That’s the type used by Virgin America – although the company didn’t say they would be operated by Virgin America. Alaska is expected to decide later this month what it will do with the Virgin America brand– so stay tuned!

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Burbank loses Hope but gains flights

February 21, 2017

Burbank's airport is 16 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. (Image: Bob Hope Airport)

Bob Hope Airport is getting a name change. (Image: Hollywood Burbank Airport)

Burbank’s airport may be small, but with a name change, a new terminal and an increasing roster of flights, it could be a viable alternative to Los Angeles International for a growing number of passengers.

Located northwest of downtown Burbank, the city’s Bob Hope Airport is about the same distance from Beverly Hills as LAX is. It’s even closer to Hollywood, and hence its new name, which was approved last spring and will soon appear on airport signage: Hollywood Burbank Airport.

Actually, it was called Hollywood Burbank Airport before 1978, and then was renamed Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport. In 2003, it was renamed for Bob Hope. But since that actor’s name didn’t say anything about where the airport is located, officials decided a geographic reference was needed once again. And Hollywood Burbank probably has more cachet than Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena.

The little airport is gaining traction among business travelers as Los Angeles International becomes more congested and more bogged down with massive construction projects. It’s also closer to the west side hotels that many road warriors prefer.

Hollywood Burbank Airport is 16 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. (Image: Google Maps)

Passenger traffic during November 2016 was up more than 11 percent over the same month a year earlier, and the airport was poised to show a 12-month total for the year of more than 4 million. Southwest dominates the airline roster at BUR, carrying about half the total passenger count.

The airport is also served by Alaska, American, JetBlue, Delta and United. Route options in the California Corridor are the strongest at BUR, with Southwest flying to San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Sacramento. United also flies BUR-SFO, and Alaska Airlines is due to launch three daily roundtrips between BUR and San Jose in mid-March. Small-jet operator JetSuite X also started operating at Burbank last year, with service to San Jose and to Concord, CA in the East Bay area. United has recently up-gauged some of its DEN-BUR and SFO-BUR flights from regional jets to mainline, according to Live & Let’s Fly.

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Burbank has attracted nonstop flights from as far away as New York-JFK (JetBlue), and Austin, TX. Alaska flies in from Seattle and Portland. Delta used to offer a convenient nonstop from Atlanta.

Southwest will add new service from Burbank to Salt Lake City next month, a route already served by Delta. Service is also available to Seattle on Alaska and American; to Portland on Southwest, Delta, American and Alaska; to Phoenix on American and Southwest; and to Denver on Southwest and United. JetBlue offers a red-eye from BUR to New York JFK, the airport’s only transcontinental non-stop.

The airport is planning for future growth with a new terminal. Last fall, voters approved construction of a 14-gate terminal that is farther from the runways than the existing facility, which will be torn down after the new one opens. Design and construction of the $400 million terminal is expected to take place from 2018 to 2022.

Readers: Do you consider Burbank a viable alternative to LAX? What do you consider Burbank’s advantages and/or drawbacks?

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Bay Area airports booming

February 3, 2017

International traffic is reaching new highs at San Francisco’s airport. (Image: San Francisco International Airport)

As airlines laid on more flights and frequencies in 2016, the three Bay Area airports all reported fast-growing passenger traffic in statistics released this week.

Officials at San Francisco International said the airport handled a record 53.1 million travelers last year, a gain of 6.1 percent from 2015 and the seventh straight year of growth for the facility.

The jump in traffic was even greater for international flights at SFO, officials said, with a 10 percent increase over 2015. (And in 2015, SFO’s 9 percent increase in international traffic was the highest growth rate for any U.S. airport.)

That’s great news for the city and the airport, but not such great news for travelers who’ve found themselves more frequently waiting on the tarmac after long flights because another plane is at their gate.

New international carriers coming to SFO last year included Iceland’s WOW, Fiji Airways, and Mexico’s Volaris. United Airlines added three international destinations, including Tel Aviv and the Chinese cities of X’ian and Hangzhou; and China Eastern started non-stop service from SFO to Quingdao. That gives SFO service to more cities in China than any other airport in the Americas, officials said.

British Airways added San Jose service last year. (Image: Mineta San Jose Airport)

At Mineta San Jose International, 2016 traffic surged by almost 1 million passengers last year, to a total of 10.8 million. That represented an increase of 10.2 percent over the previous year, and marked SJC’s fourth straight year of traffic increases.

SJC added new international service in 2016 from Lufthansa to Frankfurt, British Airways to London Heathrow, Air China to Shanghai, and Air Canada to Vancouver. In addition, Southwest added a new transcon route to Baltimore/Washington and American started seasonal transcon service to its Charlotte hub. This spring, the airport expects to finish work on an $8 million expansion of its International Arrivals Building.

Southwest Airlines jets at Oakland International Airport (Photo: Port of Oakland)

Oakland International’s 2016 passenger total hit almost 12.1 million, a growth rate of 7.7 percent from the previous year. That caps 37 straight months of increasing numbers, and gave the airport its busiest year since 2007, when it hosted 14.6 million travelers.

That makes OAK California’s fourth-busiest airport. Southwest is set to continue its steady growth at OAK in 2017 with new international service to Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos, as well as new transcons to Newark; meanwhile, new transatlantic flights coming to OAK this year include British Airways to London Gatwick in March, along with Norwegian Air service to Copenhagen in March and Barcelona in June.

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California competition heats up

June 9, 2016

Alaska is taking on Southwest in a battle for California dominance. (Image: Jim Glab)

Bay Area travelers have some new airline options this week as carriers add more routes in a growing competition for California customers.

Alaska Airlines has taken on the daunting task of horning in on a pair of Southwest Airlines’ intra-California monopoly routes out of San Jose. Alaska just started up three daily flights between San Jose and Orange County’s John Wayne Airport, as well as three daily roundtrips between San Jose-San Diego. The flights will be operated for Alaska by SkyWest, using 76-seat E175s with first class, Preferred Plus and main cabin seating, as well as Wi-Fi access and free streaming entertainment. They’ll be facing Southwest’s heavy daily schedules of multiple 737 flights in both markets.

At Oakland, meanwhile, Southwest this week launched nine new daily flights, including new intrastate service to Long Beach four times a day, along with three new daily flights to Reno-Tahoe and one to St. Louis. Southwest also boosted its Oakland-Baltimore/Washington schedule from one flight a day to two.

Southwest Airlines jets at Oakland International Airport (Photo: Port of Oakland)

With the new service from Oakland to Long Beach, “Oakland and Southwest will offer more daily departures by a single airline from a Bay Area airport to Southern California with 43 peak non-stop flights per day,” according to a spokesperson for the airport. With the latest additions, Southwest now has more than 120 flights a day out of OAK – with half of them going to airports in the greater Los Angeles region plus San Diego.

The new routes are just the latest escalation in a growing battle for the California market between Southwest and Alaska, which should get really interesting when Alaska merges with San Francisco-based Virgin America. And more new routes are coming from the two carriers, including Alaska’s plan to begin Sacramento-San Diego and San Jose-Burbank flights next winter, and new Southwest flights from San Jose to Baltimore/Washington and Salt Lake City coming this fall.

Cruising over Oahu on Virgin America (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Speaking of Virgin America, that airline is due to add another new Hawaii route next week (June 14), when it kicks off daily service from Los Angeles to Maui’s Kahului Airport. Early last month, Virgin started daily LAX-Honolulu flights. It also flies to both islands from San Francisco.

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KLM’s first 787 Dreamliner route to U.S. (photos)

April 6, 2016

The Bay Area is getting yet another on of these shiny new birds (Photo: KLM)

The Bay Area is getting yet another one of these shiny new birds (Photo: KLM)

It becoming increasing difficult to find a flight out of the Bay Area that’s not on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Today, KLM announced that it, too, will deploy its first US Dreamliner between Amsterdam and San Francisco International on May 4.

KLM will offer 787-9 Dreamliner flights twice weekly throughout the summer season in addition to its daily flight, currently operated by a Boeing 747-400 from San Francisco-SFO to Amsterdam-AMS. KLM told TravelSkills that “after the summer season the Dreamliner could remain on the AMS-SFO route based on demand.”

KLM Dreamliner flight schedule – on Wednesdays and Sundays only:

KL610: Departs San Francisco-SFO at 4:45 p.m., arrives at Amsterdam-AMS at 12:15 p.m. the following day;

KL609: Departs Amsterdam Airport Schiphol-AMS at 12:40 p.m., arrives at San Francisco-SFO at 2:45 p.m.

KLM is the only carrier offering nonstop flights between SFO and Amsterdam. I’m surprised to see that fares are currently extremely high on its nonstop flight compared to one-stop options. According to Google Flight, business class SFO-AMS roundtrips in May are about $10,000 roundtrip. Economy Comfort is around $3,000 and economy is about $1,700. (One stop business class on other airlines is running as low as $4,000, economy is at about $1,200)

Business class seats on KLM’s 787 Dreamliner (Photo: KLM)

The Dreamliner will be a far cry from the ancient MD11 that KLM only recently removed from regular service on the SFO route. The 306-passenger jet will offer a state-of-the-art inflight entertainment system, Wi-Fi for all passengers, and new World Business Class (WBC), Economy Comfort, and Economy class cabins designed by renowned Dutch Designer Hella Jongerius. It’s also outfitted with inflight Wi-Fi. And like other Dreamliners, the plane will have larger windows, a higher cabin pressure and special LED-lighting.

There are 42 seats in business class, 48 in economy comfort (35 inches of pitch) and 216 standard economy seats (with 31 inches of pitch). See SeatGuru layout here. All business class seats have direct aisle access– no middle seats on this bird. Interestingly, every seat is a slightly hue of blue or gray and gets a 16-inch entertainment screen- as well as a smaller handset that mirrors the image on the main screen. Oh, and there’s inflight espresso, too.

Cool! Track all Boeing 787 Dreamliners in flight right now

Economy class seats on KLM’s new 787 (Photo: KLM)

KLM says its economy class seats recline 40 percent more than previous models and have access a power outlet. There are also new 11-inch HD entertainment touchscreens, interactive 3D maps, and the option to communicate via Seat Chat with fellow passengers who are not seated nearby.

Take a virtual tour of the new plane here.

KLM is a member of the SkyTeam alliance.

Have you flown KLM before? What did you think? Please leave your comments below.

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Flying to the tech center of the universe

March 7, 2016

SFO's new 221-foot air traffic control tower will open next summer (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

SFO’s new 221-foot air traffic control tower is not just a gateway to the Pacific, it’s a gateway to Silicon Valley. CLICK to see inside it! (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

San Francisco International Airport had the highest rate of international passenger growth among US airports last year, and continues to add new international flights at a dizzying pace. And it’s not just SFO that’s growing– San Jose and Oakland are picking up new overseas flights, too.

This is most likely due to the strength of the Bay Area economy, and the need for better, faster access to the tech center of the universe.

According to the International Trade Administration, SFO posted a 9 percent increase in international travelers in 2015, ahead of other major international gateway airports such as New York-JFK, LAX, and Miami. Much of the increased traffic to SFO and elsewhere in the US is coming from China which grew a whopping 25% in 2015.

If you are having trouble keeping up with all the new flights coming to the Bay Area, here’s a rundown:

In 2015, SFO added the following new flights:

The right side of Turkish Airlines B777 is a mural of Istanbul (Chris McGinnis)

The right side of Turkish Airlines inaugural B777 to SFO was a mural of Istanbul- on the left was a mural of San Francisco (Chris McGinnis)

April – Turkish Airlines launched nonstop B777 service to Istanbul
May – Swiss International nearly doubled its nonstop service to Zurich
June – China Southern began nonstop service to Guangzhou
September – COPA launched with nonstop 737 service to Panama City
December – Air India launched the first nonstop flight from U.S. West Coast to Delhi
December – Qantas returned to SFO with B747 nonstop service to Sydney

Fiji Airways is SFO's latest coup (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Fiji Airways is SFO’s latest coup with flights starting in June (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

In 2016, SFO keeps up the momentum:

March – United Airlines begins nonstop service to Tel Aviv
May – Air Berlin launches with nonstops to Düsseldorf, Germany
May – United Airlines begins new nonstop flights to Xi’an, China (Plus there are rumors of a new United nonstop SFO to Hangzhou)
June – United Airlines begins the first U.S. nonstop flight to Singapore
June – WOW Air launches nonstop flights to Reykjavík, Iceland
June – Fiji Airways inaugurates nonstop service to Nadi, Fiji

It’s not just SFO that is growing by leaps and bounds…so are other Bay Area airports. For example, San Jose International has recently snagged (or has pending) new 787-9 nonstops to London (British Airways), Frankfurt (Lufthansa), Beijing (Hainan) and Shanghai (Air China) in addition to its ANA nonstop service to Tokyo.

Norwegian Air flies 787 Dreamliners to Oakland International (Image: Oakland International Airport)

Oakland is on a growth spurt, too, with its major international carrier, Norwegian Air adding nonstops to London-Gatwick this June in addition to its flights to Stockholm, Sweden, and Oslo.

All this new competition is very good news for frequent flyers. That’s because more flights and more seats usually mean cheaper fares.

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United, Virgin duke it out in Denver

December 1, 2015

United is taking the gloves off in a fight for SFO-Denver trvaelers. (Image: Jim Glab)

United is taking the gloves off in a fight for SFO-Denver travelers. (Image: Jim Glab)

Ever since deregulation freed up carriers to set their own routes and frequencies without government approval, the legacy airlines have used a tried and true tactic when a new entrant started flying in their key markets: Flood the market with extra capacity in an effort to drive the newcomer out.

So it should be no surprise that United will resort to that strategy in the face of new competition from Virgin America between United’s hubs at Denver and San Francisco.

Virgin recently announced plans to start flying SFO-DEN on March 15, 2016, with three daily roundtrips. And now United has responded with a planned boost in frequency on the same route starting March 3. In January and February, United’s schedule shows eight or nine flights a day in the market, but in March it will boost that up to 14 flights a day on weekdays, according to Airlineroute.net. It will reportedly use a mix of 737-800s, A320s and 757s on the route. Flight time between the two cities is about 2.5 hours.

Airways News notes that when Virgin jumps into the market, there will be four airlines flying between Denver and San Francisco/Oakland with around 25 flights a day — a huge jump in capacity thanks to the extra eight daily frequencies from United and Virgin.

Can you say fare war? How about some spring skiing?

The other competitors are Southwest, which flies to both Oakland and SFO from Denver; and Frontier, although that ultra-low-cost carrier is reportedly planning to drop its Denver-San Francisco flights in April.

If United plans to wait out Virgin America in a battle for DEN-SFO, it might have a long wait. United tried the same strategy two years ago when Virgin started service between another pair of United hubs — San Francisco and Newark. United doubled its frequencies and fares fell by 30 percent. But Virgin is still operating three non-stops a day in that market, which was a United monopoly route before Virgin came along. Alaska Airlines also tried the same tactic — without success — when Virgin entered the Seattle market from Los Angeles and San Francisco several years ago.

With United still struggling to overcome a poor service reputation among frequent flyers that dates back to its merger with Continental, some road warriors might be glad to have another option on the SFO-Denver route (other than one-class Southwest).

“As is the case in EWR and other markets, we believe that our superior, consistent and tech-forward product and service will resonate with travelers in the Denver area,” a Virgin spokesman tells TravelSkills. “We will be the only airline with three cabins of service on every flight between SFO and DEN, and guests will also have WiFi, personal touch-screen entertainment, and on-demand food and drink every time they fly on us.”

Game on!

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New ATL-Bay Area flight + SIA trip report + Global Entry + Airfares fall

November 1, 2015

New Southwest Airlines nonstop flights between Atlanta and Oakland start today (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

New Southwest Airlines nonstop service between Atlanta and Oakland starts today (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Today Southwest Airlines begins new nonstop service between Oakland and Atlanta. The Boeing 737-700 flight departs OAK at 12:25 pm arriving in Atlanta four and a half hours later at 7:55 pm. The flight to Oakland departs Atlanta at 8:35 am and arrives at 11:10 am. Southwest no longer flies nonstop between SFO and ATL leaving the route to Delta and United. Will Virgin America move in? See below…

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

1 Gotta see this: Trip Report: Singapore Airlines’ NEW business class [PHOTOS]

2 Airline updates: Alaska Air’s new partner + United trims Mideast + Lufthansa Denver + London

3 Shorter lines, please! Global Entry gets more global

4 We see the future: Stunning new airport designs: FRA, SLC, PDX (images)

5 Airport expansion: How to unclog Chicago O’Hare

6 New routes: New Southwest routes + Virgin expands at Dallas + Alaska, AA add more

7 A war of words: Delta dumps Dubai, blasts Mideast carriers

8 Great reader comments here: Want more business trips?

9 Nothing official yet, but Will Hyatt buy Starwood?

10 Most readers want New Orleans Where will Virgin America fly next?

Did you choose a custom background yet?

Did you know that you can choose the background on the new United. com website? I chose “random for each visit.” Which one did you pick? And what do you think about the new site? Leave your comments below!

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

Here’s an inside look at how United prepares in-flight meals.

New carry-on bag design has link to phone, Wi-Fi, battery pack, USB port and more

JetBlue will introduce a new co-branded credit card in 2016.

United expands code-sharing with Brazil’s Azul.

Airfares coming down slightly. Here’s why

FlyteNow, the Uber of private aviation, fighting court order

The real reason Delta dumped Dubai

Why federal air marshals should be grounded

Parking at ATL will be a hassle for next 8-10 years!

Delta to exit big airline trade group

United losing momentum due to C-suite drama?

Delta vs United in New York City

Lyft beats Uber to the airport in Las Vegas

Get your flu shot at the airport- multiple locations

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More 787 Dreamliners headed west

August 31, 2015

Don’t miss! Our full report & slideshow of Delta’s new SFO Sky Club! Wow!

Look for more United 787s on transpacific routes next year. (Image: United)

Look for more United 787s on transpacific routes from California next year. (Image: United)

United has announced that it will be shifting most of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet from Houston to its West Coast hubs at San Francisco International and Los Angeles starting in Spring 2016.

When the redeployment is complete, it will fly the 787-9 on routes between SFO and Sydney, Taipei and Tokyo Haneda. In addition, it will fly SFO-Seoul with a 787-9 between Aug. 1 and Oct. 21, 2016.

From LAX it will fly new Dreamliners to Melbourne (Australia), Tokyo Narita, Shanghai, Sydney and London Heathrow.

The Houston routes that it previously flew with the 787-9 will be replaced with Boeing 767s and Boeing 777s, and the 777s displaced from LAX and SFO will be re-assigned primarily to Newark, Chicago O’Hare and Washington Dulles.

Hainan Air arrives at SJC with 787 nonstops to Beijing (Photo: SJC)

Have you inhaled that new airplane smell on your own first Dreamliner flight yet? Frequent flyers who want to experience Boeing’s newest widebody will find their best odds at the mega-gateways of Los Angeles and New York — but the Bay Area isn’t far behind.

The website Airlineroute.net recently compiled a handy listing of every route worldwide where the 787 is now flying, or is about to start flying soon. By our count, it includes 16 routes out of New York (JFK and Newark) and 16 out of Los Angeles International, with the Bay Area (San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose) currently in third place among U.S. gateways with nine (not counting United’s plans mentioned above).

At SFO, United is currently using Dreamliners across the Pacific to Osaka, Japan and Chengdu, China; China Southern has 787 flights to Guangzhou; and Virgin Atlantic is poised to begin SFO-London Heathrow flights with a new 787-9 beginning October 24.

European budget carrier Norwegian has started flying Dreamliners from Oakland to both Oslo and Stockholm. And at San Jose, Dreamliners are available on flights to Tokyo Narita with ANA; to Beijing with Hainan Airlines; and soon to London Heathrow with a new British Airways 787-9.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Delta’s new Sky Club at San Francisco International + LAX will allow Uber, Lyft pick-ups + British Airways coming to San Jose + Airbnb draws corporate customers

Don’t miss! Our full report & slideshow of Delta’s new SFO Sky Club! Wow!

Apple vs Visa vs United Olympic ads: Who wins?

July 31, 2012

There are three Olympic ads running this week that have a lot to do with frequent travel AND the Bay Area. They are perfect to instigate commentary and debate on TravelSkills. Take a gander and tell us which one wins the gold medal in your mind. Leave your comments below.

Apple, which is based here and on which this blog is created each week, has a clever ad depicting how an Apple Genius on board a plane comes to the rescue of passengers in the middle of a flight much like a doctor would.

Visa, a card most TravelSkills reader have in their wallet, which is also Bay Area based, put out a variety of ads, the most dramatic of which shows an Olympic diver descending from the tippy top of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

United, which is an official sponsor of the US Olympic Team, offers up an ad meant to tug at our Olympic heartstrings, showing athletes in various stages of departure.

First up, Apple:

Next up, Visa:

Next up, United:

Sorry but you must click over to United to see this ad… it has disabled embedding for some reason….click on the image to view. http://youtu.be/BxMPQFqFmeA

They are all good, but which one gets the gold…and why? Please leave your comments below.

*****

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