Virgin America, VAustralia, Virgin Blue offer frequent flyer partnership points

by Melanie Nayer on

I love when family members play well together.

News from the Virgin camp: flyers on any of the carriers three brands – Virgin America, VAustralia and Virgin Blue – will have the option to earn points on any of the three loyalty programs.

“Travelers around the world seek out Virgin airlines for their unrivalled value, brilliant service and innovative amenities, and we’re pleased to partner with Virgin Blue and V Australia to allow our loyal guests to earn Virgin frequent flyer credits wherever they are flying– in the U.S., Asia Pacific or Australia,” said Virgin America President and Chief Executive Officer David Cush, in a press release provided by Virgin America.

Here’s how it works: If you’re a VAustralia or Virgin Blue Velocity member, you can earn points in your Velocity account by flying any of the three carriers. Likewise, if you’re a Virgin America Elevate member, you’ll earn Elevate points when you fly any of the three brands.

Elevate redemption levels will start at 40,000 points for flights on V Australia and 6,000 points for flights on Virgin Blue later this year.

Galley Gossip: 10 Smart travel tips from women around the world

by Heather Poole on
When it comes to preparing for a trip, flight attendants are experts. We travel light with just a rollaboard and a tote bag. Rolling instead of folding leaves clothes wrinkle free. Outfits are coordinated around footwear; a comfy kick-around pair for exploring the city by day and something dressy for dinner and a show at night. Undies, socks and bikinis, whatever can be wadded up, are housed inside shoes. No space goes unused. To make things simple, pack black and be done with it. So what if we wear the same outfit over and over, that’s what accessories are for! Scarves and jewelry can completely change boring black into something fab. Whatever gets left behind becomes the perfect excuse to go shopping for something new! Or how about getting to know the locals at a Laundromat. What better place to read a guide book or ask around for a great place to eat?

Flight attendants aren’t the only experts. My last Galley Gossip post, The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2010 – book giveaway, brought in quite a few interesting travel tips from smart women travelers around the world. Here is a list of my top 10 favorite tips…

10 SMART TRAVEL TIPS FROM WOMEN

1. My mom always says bring your swimsuit and one easy outfit in your carry on so you won’t lose a vacation day if checked bags are lost – Lindsay

2. If you are traveling with someone else, pack a few things in their luggage and a few of their things in your luggage. Then, if God forbid, one of you loses your luggage, you will still have some things to wear. – Leslie

3. Bring your children with you on trips. They get to experience the world in a new and exciting way. You will teach them to have a love for both travel and adventure, and you’ll get to see them learning about the world and new places. It’s almost like experiencing things again yourself for the first time. What is more beautiful than that? – Michelle

4. Throw out any leftover shampoo, hand lotion etc when going home. This leaves room for souvenirs that you haven’t shipped home. – Judy

5. When I travel alone I wear a fake engagement ring and wedding band on my ring finger. It helps keep away unwanted attention. – Jen

6. Be spontaneous. When you’re spontaneous, sometimes great things happen, and sometimes not so good things happen, but if you’ve got a good sense of humor the bad times can leave the best (funniest) memories. – Susan

7. Don’t stress! Besides doing some research before you go about what is available (i.e., sailing, snorkeling, hiking tours, etc.) go without much of an agenda at all, except to have FUN! – Julia

8. Make an effort to go somewhere every other month. Even if it’s a 2-3 hour road trip away from home. Work gets monotonous and I need to get a dose of the “travel bug” every now and then to keep things interesting. – Marena

9. Pack an amazing convertible dress like the American Apparel Cotton Jersey Bandeau Dress – $43 . It’s space-saving magic – Gina

10. I email myself AND my mother a copy of my passport, my itinerary, and the international phone numbers for my credit cards. If I can’t get online, I know I can call my mum should anything get stolen. – Morgan

[Photos courtesy of Madaboutasia and Julie70]

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Marijuana declared legal over international waters [Update]

by Annie Scott on

Though cigarette smoking seems to be on the outs, marijuana smoking is becoming more and more widely accepted.

Yesterday, in an international symposium held by the FAA, a presentation was given encouraging airlines to consider purchasing stocks of marijuana for their overseas flights. Specialist Sanford Kronenbergerstein appeared outside the conference afterward to talk to the press.

“In international waters, international jurisdictions apply. If smoking marijuana is legal anywhere, and it is, it should be legal over international waters, by air or by sea,” he said.

International waters, or trans-boundary waters, are defined as areas 12 nautical miles from any given country’s shoreline.

“People could get in trouble for having it in various airports, so it’s up to the airlines to supply the marijuana. I think most airlines will find this to be a tremendous source of additional income, which we all know they could really use in this economic climate. There should be smoking and non-smoking areas designated — and I think they’ll find their smoking areas full of mellower, happier passengers,” said Kronenbergerstein with a smile.

Guess they’d better stock up on chips, too. Mile-high munchies.

UPDATE: Holland’s national carrier, KLM, announced immediate plans to to carve out space in this new market. Apparently, they plan to —
1.) rebrand KLM as “Keep Loving Marijuana”;
2.) designate sections of all planes as either “toking” or “non-toking” (rumors are circling that they plan to charge additional fees for choosing seats in one section or the other, though it’s unclear which section which will come with an additional fee);
3.) hire Woody Harrelson as their new “tokesperson.”

[Thanks, Rick!]

American Airlines, JetBlue Airways sign slot swap agreement out of East Coast cities

by Melanie Nayer on

Washington DC travelers rejoice: JetBlue Airways will begin flying to Reagan National Airport as part of a new agreement with American Airlines. In return, American Airlines will take over some gate slots at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The news, announced this morning, also says American Airlines and JetBlue Airways are joining forces to help boost international travel. The two airlines signed an agreement for commercial collaboration that will allow JetBlue customers in New York and Boston access to American Airlines’ international flights.

The payout: American is giving up eight slot pairs at Ronald Reagan National Airport and one slot pair at White Plains, N.Y. to JetBlue, and JetBlue will transfer 12 slot pairs at John F. Kennedy International Airport to American.

In a press release from both airlines, “The partnership will focus on routes into and out of JFK and Boston that extend and complement each others’ networks. For example, it would provide seamless service for customers who wish to fly nonstop from Nantucket to JFK on JetBlue and from there to London on American. Likewise, customers can board American from Paris to JFK and connect to a nonstop flight on JetBlue to Burlington, Vt. JetBlue customers will be able to effortlessly connect on flights to 12 of American’s international destinations from JFK and Boston including Barcelona, Spain; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Tokyo, Japan.”

In addition to the international flights, award program members of each airline can book flights with the other airline to collect miles. For example, American Airlines customers can book JetBlue flights from JFK or Boston to Portland, Maine, and collect miles.

As someone who has covered the travel and airline industry extensively for years, this relationship between American Airlines and JetBlue is intriguing. On the one hand, JetBlue prides itself on in-flight customer service and amenities (something American Airlines has been chastised for over the years, according to customer complaints). On the other hand, American Airlines has consistently prevailed in down economies, even introducing new routes and destinations when travel is at an all-time low. How it all pans out we’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, maybe American Airlines can learn a thing or two about effective customer service, and maybe JetBlue can pick up a few tips on how to manage customer demand.

You can the entire press release here.

Avoid conversations by wearing headphones – Airplane tip

by Gadling Staff on

Sick of hearing about a stranger’s dysfunctional family or odd medical conditions? Avoid conversations all-together by doing a simple thing: wear headphones.

This works best if you also avoid eye contact (and it may be necessary to pretend that you don’t hear you fellow passengers the first time they speak). Pull your headphones off when speaking to them and then put the headphones back on when the chit-chat is over.

In reality, it doesn’t even matter if the headphones are plugged in. The other passengers just need to believe they are.