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

June 5, 2017

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 58^th 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: Swiss to SFO + Lufthansa, Aeromexico, Hainan, Delta/KLM, Air Canada

March 1, 2017

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

September 30, 2016

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.

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)

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.

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

March 29, 2016

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)

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’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.

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Routes: Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Salt Lake, Toronto

March 18, 2016

Qatar Airways is using an A350 on its new Boston-Doha route. (Image: Qatar Airways)

In international route developments, Qatar Airways starts flying to a new U.S. gateway, SAS adds a West Coast route, a Delta seasonal route to London will go year-round, American deploys a 787 Dreamliner on a U.K. route, and a WestJet division starts new service to the northeastern U.S.

Qatar Airways this week inaugurated service on its newest U.S. route, offering daily non-stop flights from Boston to Doha, Qatar. The carrier is using a new Airbus A350 on the Boston route, which is one of three new U.S. markets it will serve this year. In January, the airline started daily non-stops from Los Angeles to Doha, and it plans to launch Doha-Atlanta daily non-stops on June 1. And on April 1, Qatar Airways will add a second daily non-stop from Doha to New York, also using an A350.

SAS light attendants change into chef outfits when serving dinner (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

SAS flight attendants change into chef outfits when serving dinner (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Another new route that kicked off this week is Scandinavian Airlines’ daily service from Los Angeles International to Stockholm Arlanda. SAS, a Star Alliance member, is also on a growth track in the U.S. this year; at the end of March, it will begin Boston-Copenhagen service, and in September it plans to add flights from Miami to Oslo and Copenhagen. On the LAX-Stockholm route, SAS is using an Airbus A330-300 with three cabins: SAS Go has seats in a 2-4-2 configuration with 31/32 inch pitch; SAS Plus has 2-3-2 seating with 38-inch pitch; and SAS Business has a 1-2-1 layout with lie-flat seat-beds that have a massage feature.

Delta’s new non-stops from Salt Lake City to London Heathrow that start on May 1 were intended to be seasonal, but now the airline plans to keep the route going year-round, according to Airlineroute.net. The airline will cut back its daily frequencies after October 28, offering three flights a week through December 18, then four a week starting December 19. Delta will use a 767-300 on the route.

American is using a 787 Dreamliner on its new Los Angeles-Tokyo Haneda route. (Image: American)

American’s new 787 Dreamliner (Image: American)

The 767-300 that American Airlines uses on its daily service from Chicago O’Hare to Manchester, U.K. will be replaced this summer with a 787-8 Dreamliner. The changeover, which begins June 3, will put an extra 154 seats a week onto the route.

A three-year-old affiliate of Canada’s WestJet called WestJet Encore has launched its first transborder service, flying three times a day between Boston and Toronto Pearson. Encore’s fleet consists entirely of Q400 turboprops. The carrier plans to start Toronto-Nashville flights in June.

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Routes: LAX-China, Nashville, Toronto, Germany, India, Brazil

January 27, 2016

Hainan Airways is using a 787 on its new route to LAX from Changsha, China. (Image: Simon Auger)

Hainan Airlines is using a 787 on its new route to LAX from Changsha, China. (Image: Simon Auger)

In international route news, China’s Hainan starts a Los Angeles route; Canada’s WestJet plans new U.S. routes; Iberia sets its summer LAX schedule; new overseas code-share flights for United and Delta; British Airways brings 787s to more U.S. cities; and Brazil’s Azul drops a U.S. route.

China’s Hainan Airlines, which flies to Chicago to Beijing and from Boston and Seattle to both Shanghai and Beijing, has kicked off a new U.S. route between Los Angeles and Changsha, the capital of central China’s Hunan Province with a population of 2.3 million. Hainan, a code-sharing partner of American Airlines, is using a 787-8 on the route, which operates twice a week.

Canadian low-cost carrier WestJet said its summer schedule will include new non-stop flights from Toronto to Los Angeles and to Nashville as well as from Vancouver to San Diego. In addition, WestJet will begin new service from Toronto to Boston on March 15 with three flights a day. On June 15, WestJet’s Encore unit will begin five flights a week on the new Toronto-Nashville route with Q400 turboprops. June 29 is the launch date for daily Toronto-Los Angeles 737 service, and on June 16, WestJet begins three 737 flights a week between San Diego and Vancouver.

Iberia Airlines, a member of American’s Oneworld alliance, has set its summer schedule for Los Angeles-Madrid service, according to Airlineroute.net. It begins March 30 with three weekly flights, increasing to five a week on May 26, six a week beginning June 6, and daily from July 3 to August 28. (Last year, Iberia only had four summer flights a week on the route.) The airline will use A330s and A340s for the LAX flights.

British Airways will add San Jose service next spring with a new 787-9. (Image: British Airways)

British Airways bringing more 787s to US. (Image: British Airways)

British Airways plans to pull the 787-9 from its Austin-London Heathrow route on March 27, according to Airlineroute.net, and to replace it with a 777-200ER. But the airline is bringing 787s to more U.S. routes. It will begin 787-9 flights between Houston Bush Intercontinental and London on March 27, instead of August 1 as previously planned. And 787-9 service on the Newark-LHR route moves up to April 2 from August 1. BA will also use a 787-9 from Philadelphia to London on selected flights beginning April 9, and is sticking to its original May 4 stating date for new London-San Jose 787-9 service.

United Airlines has started putting its code onto several intra-European flights of Star Alliance partner Lufthansa’s low-cost affiliate Eurowings. The UA code is now on Eurowings flights from Dusseldorf to Geneva, Birmingham, Manchester, Milan Malpensa and Paris CDG; and from Hamburg to Dusseldorf, LHR, Manchester, Prague, Stuttgart, Toulouse and Zurich. MileagePlus members will get revenue and status miles on the flights.

Etihad uses a Jet Airways 777 on its new SFO-Abu Dhabi run (Photo: Aero Icarus / Flickr)

Delta selling tickets on India’s Jet Airways (Photo: Aero Icarus / Flickr)

Delta has started selling tickets for its new code-share service with India’s Jet Airways, which it is starting along with joint venture partner KLM. Effective for travel beginning March 27, Delta’s code goes onto Jet’s flights from Amsterdam to Delhi and Bombay, as well as service beyond those gateways. From Delhi, it’s on Jet’s flights to Amritsar, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata; and from Mumbai to Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi and Kolkata.

Brazilian airline Azul, which operates a daily A330 flight between Orlando and Belo Horizonte, Brazil, plans to discontinue that route on February 29.

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Air Canada plans big transborder expansion

November 24, 2015

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.

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.

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

September 24, 2015

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)

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.

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100,000

BEST 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

August 7, 2015

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.

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

July 28, 2015

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

Seat in full recline (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

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

(Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Warm nuts to start.

Starter salad (Chris McGinnis)

Chicken breast with tagine sauce (Chris McGinnis)

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

Beef tenderloin (Chris McGinnis)

Pan seared Atlantic salmon (Chris McGinnis)

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.

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.

Economy class on Air Canada B767 (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!

10 most popular: Sleeping around + Delta fare sale + hotel rate shock + Avoiding airport lines

July 26, 2015

TravelSkills took off for Toronto on Air Canada last week. Stay tuned for our Trip Report! (Chris McGinnis)

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

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

2. Can you guess the rates? Super Bowl shock: San Francisco hotel prices soar

3. New routes: American heads south + BA upgrades Austin + Sydney skeds + Delta to Paris + New Delhi nonstop

4. Well, is it? Illegal to disobey fasten seat belt sign?

5. Spend your miles: Delta’s fall fare sale — with a twist

6. Straight from your phone: A new way to recover from delays & cancellations

7. This free app saves you time: Avoiding long customs & immigration lines

8. More ways to earn: Alaska expands mileage options

9. Cute? Or creepy? Watch this video. And then this one.

10. Branding matters: Delta: ‘Up-selling’ is working

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

Mini-review: The Thompson Toronto hotel.

This five-year-old hotel offers an excellent location in the trendy, leafy King West neighborhood near some of the city’s best dining and nightlife, but it’s a good 15-20 minute walk from city center. (I walked there from Union Station with my roller bag.) Rates start at around $200 (US) per night. Rooms are bright & modern with hardwood floors, big bright bathrooms with roomy walk-in showers and Keurig coffee makers (wish they offered in-room cream, tho!). Strangely, some of the floor-to-ceiling windows are covered with a frosting that’s there for privacy, but I found it a little claustrophobia inducing. Ask for a room with a view of the CN Tower, or head up to the rooftop pool deck for a great view. Basic in-room wi-fi is free, but you’ll pay $15 for premium speeds. I arrived late, and was pleased to see that the hotel “Diner” was still open– and busy doling out gigantic burgers and a famous truffle mac & cheese- it’s open 24 hours, which is convenient. On the other side of the busy lobby is Colette, a beautiful pale-blue-white-gray indoor-outdoor dining room that’s currently one of the hottest tables in town. Perfect for a business lunch. More…

A few helpful nuggets of news from other sources that we missed on TravelSkills this week:

Plush New York-JFK Terminal….for animals

Alaska Air adds new Mileage Plan partner

T-Mobile adds free calls/data to/from Mexico or Canada to US plans

A handy guide to complicated Uber/Lyft airport pick up rules

Teeth whitening at the airport is now a thing?

Two new nonstops to India

July 6, 2015

Air India plans to start 777-200 flights to San Francisco. (Image: Mohit Purswani/Flickr)

Now that the Federal Aviation Administration has given a green light to Indian carriers to expand service to the U.S., the Economic Times of India reports that Air India is planning to start flying to San Francisco later this year.

The newspaper said the state-operated airline plans to begin service from New Delhi to both San Francisco and Toronto when its winter schedule takes effect, although the airline had no details yet on starting dates.

It is reportedly planning to use 777-200LRs on both routes, after they are reconfigured to add more economy class seats, remove some business class seats and all first class seats. The reconfigured planes could pack in as many as 310 passengers according to the Economic Times story.

The SFO-Delhi nonstop would be a super-long one at about 16 hours. Regrettably, its no-lie-flat business class seats on the 777s don’t rate highly on SkyTrax. (Note: Air India’s new 787s do have flat bed seats.)

Related: Etihad vs “Jetihad”

Air India is a member of the Star Alliance.

Air India’s only current U.S. routes are to Chicago and New York.

In April of this year, the FAA said it had determined that India is now in compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s safety standards for air travel, and thus it reinstated a Category 1 safety rating for the country.

That change means India‘s airlines are once again permitted to add new flights to the U.S., something they hadn’t been able to do after the country was downgraded to Category 2. That happened following a 2012 FAA audit that found some deficiencies in India’s aviation system.

Would you fly Air India? Have you? Please leave your comments and experiences below.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: San Francisco hotels NOT most expensive + New Centurion lounge opens + Planespotting 101: Airbus + Pay to join loyalty programs? + More!

Toronto opens airport-downtown rail link

May 27, 2015

Toronto’s new downtown-airport rail link takes 25 minutes. (Image: Union Pearson Express)

Travelers to Toronto will have a new option for getting to and from Toronto Pearson International Airport starting June 6; that’s the starting date for passenger service on the Union Pearson Express.

The new rail link runs from Union Station in downtown Toronto to Terminal 1 at the airport via intermediate stops at the Bloor and Weston GO Transit stations. Trains operate every 15 minutes, and the estimated travel time between Union Station and the airport is 25 minutes. Trains will be equipped with Wi-Fi and flight information screens.

The individual one-way fare is $27.50 — about half the taxi fare for an equivalent trip. Frequent users might want to take advantage of the PRESTO regional transportation card, which brings the cost of an airport-downtown trip down to $19. Tickets are available online or via mobile device at upexpress.com, or from vending machines at stations.

Entrance to the new express trains at Pearson Airport. (Image: Union Pearson Express)

The decision to build the airport rail link was made in 2010, with plans to have it ready in time for Toronto’s hosting of the Pan Am Games, which will be held there this summer.

In the U.S., the next big airport-rail link is coming at Denver, running from Union Station downtown to Denver International. That one is due to start carrying passengers next year.

NOTE: Be sure to click here to see all recent TravelSkills posts about: Airport smoking ban? + Trip Report: Aer Lingus + Terminal shuffle at Heathrow + More Uber at airports