EWR Archives - TravelSkills

Tip: 3 hot mess airports to avoid this summer

April 22, 2014

A storm brews in the skies over Newark International (Photo: Jim Larrison / Flickr)

To avoid the chances of running into flight delays during the peak spring/summer travel months ahead, there are three airports you should temporarily avoid:

EWR. There are a couple things to look out for in coming months at United’s big hub at Newark International Airport. The airport is currently repaving runways adding new “high speed taxiways” that allow aircraft to exit runways faster. While this will eventually help delay-plagued EWR reduce delays, it’s going to slow things down this summer. One of the airport’s three runways closed on April 1 and won’t fully open again until June 15. The runway will be closed again from September 20-30. This could pose big problems for United flyers connecting to late afternoon departures to Europe, especially when afternoon storms loom. In addition to runway construction, the convenient AirTrain monorail connecting terminals to the car rental center and New Jersey Transit trains to Manhattan will shut down for repairs from May 1 through July 15. This means you’ll have to board buses ($16) or take cabs ($50+) for the traffic clogged journey to Manhattan. Uber is $85 from EWR to Manhattan (click here for $20 off your first ride). It also means taking a shuttle to the car rental lot. 25,000-30,000 passengers a day will be dumped onto airport roadways, so avoid EWR if you can by using JFK, PHL or La Guardia.

SFO. One of San Francisco International’s two runways will be closed from May 17th until mid-September for federally mandated runway safety upgrades. While scheduling this work during peak summer travel season sounds insane, airport officials say that they can get the work done fastest during summer months, the Bay Area’s driest season of the year. However, while it may not be raining, the fog still blows in from the Pacific, and travelers can expect delays during the airport’s peak hours of 10 am – 2 pm. SFO says that new flight procedures implemented last year to allow more planes to land during foggy conditions should help, but that remains to be seen. Smart summer travelers should book SFO flights departing in the early morning or late evening— or consider alternate airports such as Oakland or San Jose that rarely face weather related delays.

(Photo: Mi Ami / Flickr)

MIA: During June and July, Miami International Airport is expected to see an additional 25,000 Brazil-bound travelers headed to the hugely popular FIFA World Cup, June 12-July 13. In June alone, there will be 578 departures from Miami to Brazilian cities, up from 437 last year, according to the Miami Herald. MIA is not only a crossroads for US-based travelers; it’s also a key connecting point for Europeans, Asians and Canadians headed to the games. Miami already has a dismal reputation for customs and immigration, so you can only imagine what it’s going to be like flying through there in June or July. (Hello, Global Entry!) Also factor in south Florida’s famous late afternoon thunderstorms. Talk about a hot mess! Domestic passengers should consider alternate airports such as Ft Lauderdale or West Palm Beach. Those flying to South America or the Caribbean in June or July may consider connecting in Dallas, Houston or Atlanta instead.

–-Chris McGinnis

Catching up on Bay Area Travel News, March 17 2013

March 17, 2013

In this issue: New flights to Newark; free mags at Bay Area airports; new lie-flat seats to Japan; more car sharing at Bay Area Airports; take our POLL about car-sharing!; how to jump in a seat on a private jet.

Jersey in Noe Valley (Chris McGinnis)

25% OFF JERSEYLICIOUS FLIGHTS. To celebrate its new nonstops between SFO/LAX and Newark, New Jersey (EWR), Virgin America is offering a nice 25% discount on a future flight to or from EWR. (somewhat restricted– no Fridays or Sundays). To get the discount, you must enter its “Fly Like a Boss” Facebook campaign. You can also win a chance to fly on the inaugural LAX-EWR run with Richard Branson and Mashable’s Peter Cashmore. Details here. Virgin says that since it announced the launch of EWR flights, fares on the EWR-West Coast routes have dropped by as much as 30 percent “and travelers now have an airline option that guarantees Wi-Fi, live TV and new aircraft on every flight.” Current roundtrip fares on the SFO-EWR run for mid-May flights are about $365. Virgin is also offering a double or triple points promo on flights between now and June 30, but you have to register to get the bonus.

FREE PREMIUM MAGS AT SFO/OAK/SJC. Here’s a helpful new app for TravelSkills Readers (BATs) who frequently find themselves stuck at the airport during delays, yearning for a good read, but hesitating to weigh down their bags with heavy magazines. The new Foli iPad app offers free access to premium magazine content (the stuff that’s normally behind a pay wall at glossies like Vogue, Car & Driver, GQ or Bon Appetit)—but it only works at the airport. Foli uses geolocation technology to limit access to Bay Area airports only—as well as a few coffee shops and hotels. Download the Foli app for free at the iTunes store. It’s definitely worth a download because you never know when the fog will roll in.

Delta's flat bed seating on a 767. (Photo: Delta Air Lines)

Delta’s flat bed seating on its Boeing 767s. (Photo: Delta Air Lines)

MORE LIE-FLAT SEATS TO JAPAN. Starting April 1, Delta will offer business class seats that recline to a full 180 degree flat bed for sleeping on its Boeing 767-300ER flights between SFO and Tokyo Narita. That means that all business class seats on all airlines (United, ANA, Delta) on the heavily traveled SFO-NRT route are now flat. Japan Airlines flies between SFO and the closer-to-downtown Tokyo Haneda Airport, but offers the less popular “angled lie flat” business class seat. (Did you know that JAL’s SFO-Haneda flights are numbered 001 and 002?) Headed to Tokyo? Then be sure and check out my latest dispatch from the Land of the Rising Sun for BBC: Business Trip: Tokyo.

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One of BMW’s electric DriveNow cars in SF (Photo: DriveNow)

DRIVING TO SFO. TravelSkills recently included mention of FlightCar’s car sharing service but we’ve heard from readers about other similar options. For example, DriveNow is a car sharing service that allows travelers to drive all-electric BMW cars from several locations in and around downtown San Francisco to parking lots near SFO or Oakland airports for less than the average cost of airport shuttle services and more than 50% cheaper than cab fares. The first 30 minutes costs $12 and then 32 cents for every additional minute. (There’s a $39 fee to join the car sharing service.) The service is part of BMW’s sustainable transportation initiative and currently only available in the Bay Area. A similar car sharing service for airport trips called Hubber is in the works, too, with locations at SFO and LAX expected to open this April.

DRIVING TO/FROM NYC AIRPORTS. Hertz on Demand has a similar service in New York City—members can drive a Hertz car between airports and several locations in Manhattan for less than half of what you’d pay a cab or car service…and with the Hertz plan, there is no membership fee. (Hertz on Demand has a location in downtown SF, but currently does not offer one-way drop offs at local airports.)

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A plush Gulfstream IV awaits private-jetsetters (Photo: Nima Pirzadeh)

PRIVATE JET SHARING, TOO. Since we are on the topic of sharing transportation, let’s take a look at a brand new service called Jumpseat, which has been billed as “the Airbnb for private jets.” Since many seats on private jets fly empty, Jumpseat is a new app that connects people looking to share those seats with those looking to fly, producing significant savings for both parties. Shopping is free and takes only a few clicks. Registered members can book a JumpSeat without paying a membership fee. For example, when I recently searched for flights from the Bay Area, I found several flights in March and April from San Jose to Santa Ana, CA available for $1000-$2,250 each way. In March, there’s a nice big Citation X jet flying from LA to Eagle (Vail), Colorado with two seats available at $5000 each. Eight seats on a March flight from New York to Aspen on a posh Hawker 4000 are going for $20,000 each. Flying private is not cheap, but there are few hassles—no airport security, for example, when using private jet terminals. Interested? Then check out this article about it on Forbes.com.

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Virgin America adds 20th city

December 11, 2012

Today Virgin America announced that it would begin nonstop service to Newark from both San Francisco International and and Los Angeles International on April 2.

Newark will be the carrier’s 20th destination. Introductory fares are running at about $150 each way, including taxes and fees. Virgin will operate three round trip flights per day from SFO and LAX. Flights from SFO will depart at 8 am, 3:15 pm and 9:15pm. Returns from Newark depart at 11:05 am, 2:05 pm and 9:05 pm.

Virgin says that the addition of Newark to its network means it will now serve eight of the top ten business markets from both SFO and LAX. Over the last year it seems that Virgin’s goal has been to blanket the “megalopolis” which extends from Washington DC to Boston with flights from the west coast– it now serves both Washington DC airports (Reagan and Dulles), Philadelphia, Newark, JFK and Boston.

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Given Virgin’s recently well publicized growing pains, I asked, “Why Newark?” since it already serves the NYC metro area with JFK flights. Plus, Philly is only a couple hours south by car.

Here’s how a spokesperson explained it to TravelSkills:

>”Newark is a high fare destination with very little competition on the long-haul routes from the West Coast that are Virgin America’s focus – that’s why we’ve persisted for nearly five years in our efforts to serve Newark.”

>”Newark is also a massive market for business travelers. For San Francisco business travelers, Newark is the second largest market behind New York’s JFK. And from Los Angeles, Newark is just behind New York’s JFK and Washington DC and tied with Chicago’s O’Hare in terms of business travel demand.”

>”Our service will also be the only WiFi-enabled low-fare service from Newark to the largest airports on the West Coast.”

Currently, United offers seven round trips per day between SFO and EWR using a combination of A320, B757 and B737 aircraft. Looking at mid-January itineraries, its flights are priced at about $375 round trip today. United Mileage Plus members earn a fat 5,130 miles per round trip on this route.

So the big question here is: If you’ve been flying United to Newark, will you switch to Virgin America? Why or why not? Please leave your comments below!

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SQ1 departs SFO at 10:50 pm and arrives in Hong Kong at 5:50 am two days later. Flight time is about 13 hours to Hong Kong, and with another 3.5 hours to Singapore, you’ll have plenty of time to soak up the luxury and explore the 1000+ onboard entertainment options. SQ2 arrives daily in SFO at 7:45 pm on the same day it departs from Singapore and Hong Kong.

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