The travel deals and news feature is brought to us thanks to Mike at InFlightOut. He is always on the look out for great deals and sharing them with us. Follow him on Twitter @inflightout.
In this post, you will find travel deals for Boston, New York, and Fort Lauderdale. Learn about free Wifi at 47 airports for the holidays, the United/Continental free upgrades, Air Berlin new flight from SFO, United Channel 9.
DEALS
SFO/OAK-Boston or New York-JFK $79/each way on JetBlue
Catch a flight on JetBlue from San Francisco or Oakland nonstop to Boston or JFK for just $79/each way + tax. Comes to $179 roundtrip w/taxes and fees. Valid for travel December 2-December 16th and January 6-January 28th. United is matching the fare from Oakland, but a mandatory connection in Denver causes the fees to increase $20, for an "all in" price of $200.
Click hereand search by the "flex dates" function.
SFO-Fort Lauderdale $99 Each Way
Virgin America begins service to sunny Fort Lauderdale is just a few days. To celebrate, they are offering $99 introductory one-way fares($198 round-trip) from the West Coast. Purchase by November 30th, for travel November 18 to December 16, and January 6 to February 10, 2010. 3-day advance purchase required.
Free Airport and Airplane WiFi for the Holidays
Just in time for the busy travel season, Google is offering complimentary WiFi at 47 participating airportsand on all Virgin America flights. Simply bring along a WiFi enabled device and stay connected to friends and family - for free, through January 15, 2010.
Local airports participating: San Jose, Monterey, Sacramento.
NEWS
United, Continental Offer Free Upgrades to Most Loyal Customers
In a relationship that seems to be getting rather close, Continental and United Airlines jointly announceda wonderful reciprocal benefit for elite-level flyers: Complimentary Domestic upgrades. This means United Mileage Plus elite members can enjoy free rides up front on Continental (and United), and Continental One Pass elite members can taste United's first and business class product as well. The complimentary upgrade policy goes into effect next Summer.
Clearing order for complimentary upgrades (as space is available):
Traveling on United: United Global Service, 1K, and Premier Exec clear first, followed by Continental Platinum and Gold Elite.
Traveling on Continental: Continental Platinum Elite, followed by United Global Service and 1K, then Continental Gold and Silver members.
Continental just joined the Star Alliance program a few weeks ago but their relationship with United dates back to June 2008. Recently, for example, United announced Red Carpet Club members can now access the network of Continental President's Club lounges worldwide.
Air Berlin to Launch Seasonal Service to San Francisco
Beginning next May, Air Berlinplans to operate flights between Dusseldorf and San Francisco. The twice-weekly seasonal service begins May 12 and runs through September 29, 2010, and will utilize a long-range Airbus 330 aircraft.
Listening in on United's Channel 9
By Mike Grasso
Among the variety of audio selections available on United Airlines’ aircraft is Channel 9, which is dedicated to air traffic control communications. This programming, unique to United, allows passengers to monitor the airwaves and listen in on discussions ranging from upcoming weather and pilot reports of turbulence. Although most of the communication between air traffic control and pilots is fairly routine such as orders to adjust altitude, occasionally some rather exciting conversations take place.
In one instance, I listened in on a JetBlue flight requesting a reroute due to a depleting fuel supply from unanticipated inclement weather. Conditions continued to deteriorate until the pilot demanded to immediately land the aircraft in a nearby city. In another example, our pilot was within 50 feet of landing on the runway at SFO when he decided to immediately abort landing and quickly ascend back up. The reason as heard on Channel 9: Onboard computer was warning of a spacing issue as another plane was landing on a parallel runway. Definitely some exciting activity and exchanges of words on Channel 9, although most of the time it is pretty tame.
Channel 9 is available on most mainline United Airlines (not United Express) aircraft, and is subject to pilot discretion whether to substitute alternate programming.
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