TravelSkills

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Most popular: New transcons | Crazy low fares | Dogs | United Polaris | Odd flight numbers | New SeaTac bridge

Delta Sky Club San Francisco

Watching the sun and the planes from a pretty perch at Delta’s exceptional Sky Club at SFO (Chris McGinnis)

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

1 This post has gone viral: Kicking “support animals” off the planeWeekend Edition

2 Routes: New JetBlue transcon + more Mint, Delta, OneJet, United, AA

3 A sneak peek: Deep Dive: United Polaris business class (Part 1 of 3)

4 Flight 420? Unique, unusual or eccentric flight numbers

United Polaris

Soon in United Polaris business class: A Bloody Mary cart on flights that depart before noon (Photo: Scott Hintz)

5 Deep Dive: United Polaris business class (Part 2 of 3) Food & beverage, lounge

6 Low demand = super low prices this fall: The season for jaw-dropping low fares

7 100,000 members link accounts every day: Marriott Starwood: Higher prices, better rewards

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

9 Nice work, DL! Inside Delta’s newest SkyClub (Slideshow)

10 Vamos! Airlines start rolling out Havana schedules, fares

Renaissance New York Times Square bar

Looking down on the cacophony of Times Square from the cozy, recently renovated R Lounge at the Renaissance New York Times Square hotel (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Last week I was in NYC for the Skift Forum, which is something like TED talks, but for the travel industry. I spent two days hanging out with wunderkinds, CEOs, visionaries, and media in the spectacular Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. (More on what I learned in a future post.) Thanks to the Renaissance New York Times Square hotel (4.5 stars on TripAdvisor) for putting me up for two nights to check out its latest updates, which include a refresh of the dramatic R Lounge overlooking Times Square. Since I’m not a big fan of Times Square, I found the lounge the perfect place to quietly sit above the fracas and enjoy the colors and a cocktail. I also checked out the hotel’s newest suites on the fourth floor…all are big bright (white and canary yellow) with terraces overlooking 7th Avenue. In a quirky twist, the terraces are carpeted in astroturf and have life sized plastic sheep that appear to be grazing. Rates start at around $350 per night. — Chris

A big bright white & yellow room with terrace overlooking Times Square (Chris McGinnis)

A big bright white & yellow room with terrace overlooking Times Square (Chris McGinnis)

Links to stories from other sources that we thought you’d like to read:

Cathay Pacific B777 Economy

Economy class on Cathay Pacific’s B777 is now 9-abreast as seen here. Soon it will squeeze in one more seat.  (Photo: Ramsey Qubein)

Oh no! Cathay Pacific to introduce dreaded 10-across seating on Boeing 777s

A short history of airport moving sidewalks

Gogo plans to speed up inflight wi-fi…. in 2018

Frontier and Spirit to join TSA PreCheck 

Maps that show how Americans speak English differently

West Elm starts a hotel brand

Best Western launches new brand in the economy hotel segment

Check out what’s coming at Seattle-Tacoma International: A new glass enclosed pedestrian sky bridge that’s high enough for a 747 to pass underneath. Construction begins this fall and it’s expected to be operational in three years as part of the airport’s new international terminal. Full report from Glenn Farley here.

Frontier Airlines passengers can now use TSA PreCheck

Harvard Business Review warns biz travelers are targets of ‘spymail’ hacking on the road

World airline group finds air rage incidents are increasing

Orlando Airport’s lobby gets 1,560-foot-long hi-def video wall

Air France KLM will install Gogo satellite Wi-Fi in long-haul fleet

Uber starts selling gift cards

Lufthansa acquires the rest of Brussels Airlines

Air Berlin’s fleet shrinks in restructuring plan

Celebrity chef brings Latin cuisine to DFW Airport

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! )

DONT MISS! The 100,000 points question!

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Cute little Amex Centurion Studio pops up at SEA-TAC

Seattle's new Centurion Studio- small but nice (Photo: Amex)

Seattle’s new Centurion Studio- small but nice (Photo: Amex)

American Express’s Centurion Lounge sprouted a mini-me version: the “Centurion Studio” in Seattle this week.

The small space has similar design elements as the popular lounges that you’ve seen on TravelSkills or in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Dallas, Miami and New York LaGuardia.

The Studio is located inside in Sea-Tac’s main terminal Concourse B, opposite gate B3- near Virgin America, Southwest and Frontier gates. It’s open from 5 am until 10 pm daily.

Amex Centurion Map

In addition to its smaller size there are some things about the studio that make it different.

First, to control crowding, access is limited to Platinum and Centurion card holders + one guest ONLY.  No $50 one-day passes for non-platinum Amex card members. Rules here. Crowding has been a big problem at other lounges, so these measures should help.

Second, there’s only beer and wine— no booze. And there’s only one red and one white wine from Columbia Valley and three local craft brews. (Compared to the full-on wine tasting experience you get at the San Francisco lounge.)

While Centurion Lounges are now famous for celebrity chef inspired full-meal buffets, the studio will only offer “lite bites” such as granola/yogurt parfaits for breakfast and grilled veggies or crudite later in the day.

Our first look: Centurion Lounge at SFO

The media wall in Seattle looks identical to the one in San Francisco (Photo: Amex)

The media wall in Seattle looks identical to the one in San Francisco (Photo: Amex)

The Centurion dog and living wall make their debut at Sea-Tac (Photo: American Express)

The Centurion dog and living wall make their debut at Sea-Tac (Photo: American Express)

Related: Centurion Lounge Miami

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Delta adds more widebody transcons + San Francisco mistakes + Planespotting 101: Airbus + Cool gasoline price heat map + More!

 


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Photos of new, expanded Delta Sky Clubs

As part of Delta’s multi-billion dollar overhaul designed to appeal to business travelers, its Sky Clubs have undergone a big transformation. In the last year, Delta has unveiled nine renovated or new clubs across the Delta system, all featuring the new Delta Sky Club design.

In just the last month, Delta’s unveiled a re-do and expansion of the club at Atlanta’s A-17.

It’s opened the first Sky Club ever out on Atlanta’s Concourse D.

And it’s built a brand new 8300 square foot perch on top of Seattle’s South Satellite Terminal near gate S-9 with big western sky views of Mt Rainier. Delta now has 38 daily departures out of Sea-Tac to 12 destinations, including Amsterdam, Beijing, Osaka and Tokyo-Narita.

Here are a few snaps of the new digs: What do you think of the new design? Please take a gander at the photos and leave your comments below! Thanks. And Happy Labor Day!

New ATL Sky Club at D27 (Photo: Delta Air Lines)

 

New ATL Sky Club at D27 (Photo: Delta Air Lines)

 

Re-do and expansion at Delta's big Sky Club at ATL's A-17 (Photo: Delta Air Lines)

Re-do and expansion at Delta's big Sky Club at ATL's A-17 (Photo: Delta Air Lines)

 

Re-do and expansion at Delta's big Sky Club at ATL's A-17 (Photo: Delta Air Lines)

 

Entry at the brand new Sky Club near gate S-9 at Sea-Tac (Photo: Delta Air Lines)

The bar at the brand new Sky Club near gate S-9 at Sea-Tac (Photo: Delta Air Lines)

 

The seated bar at the brand new Sky Club near gate S-9 at Sea-Tac (Photo: Delta Air Lines)

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