Delta Airlines adding hourly Chicago <-> New York service

by Scott Carmichael on

Delta airlines just announced the introduction of 22 new daily flights between Chicago and New York. The new flights will be operated as Delta Shuttle flights, and will start June 10th.

The new hourly service out of O’Hare replaces current Delta flights between Chicago Midway and LaGuardia.

Delta obviously means business – because they are also going to offer free coffee and newspapers at the gate, which will be located as close as possible to the terminal 2 security checkpoint.

More flights on this route means cheaper fares for everyone, because the other airlines will clearly be paying attention to this increased capacity. Delta kiosks will be available for same-day ticket purchases.

The route will be operated by an Embraer 175 jet – with 12 seats in first class, and 64 seats in coach. Because this is a narrow body jet, there are no middle seats. The flights will offer Delta’s “enhanced shuttle service” which means meals in first class, and free wine and beer in all cabins.

White Collar Travel: Three perspectives on business travelers and their miles

by Tom Johansmeyer on

What would you do with 300,000 frequent flier miles in your account – not to mention enough hotel points to get you 10 days in the blissful destination of your choice? Your imagination is probably running wild, as mine did when I got my first travel-intensive gig a decade ago. I had visions of southern France: soaking in the Mediterranean sun, roulette in Monte Carlo and smoking Cuban cigars from a balcony overlooking the ville.

Six months later, I fantasized about sleeping in my own bed for three nights in a row, in a one bedroom apartment I shared in a suburb of Boston. Eventually, I did burn most of my miles, some of them to Nice and Monaco, but not under the circumstances I expected. Along the way, I saw three major attitudes that business travelers had toward the points and miles they’d collected.1. Points are to be amassed, not used
Among the hardcores, this was the norm. We were all engaged in an unspoken race, the point of which was to make the numbers ever higher. Strangely, this exercise was separate from status. Points are for “winning,” status is about comfort. As far back as 1999, a client mentioned to me that he’d overheard two guys in a restaurant swapping astronomical numbers. He asked me, “Will they ever use those miles?” I just shook my head “no” and let out a mouthful of smoke.

2. My day will come
Road warriors who have plans to leave the life at some point think about consumption. In a few years – when they get “normal” jobs – they’ll take a few mind-blowing trips … in style. Exotic locations, first class seats and unimaginable luxury are the salient objective, and there may be plans for the girlfriend/boyfriend or spouse who tends to materialize shortly after life on the road comes to a close. The major risk is burnout: these folks need to get off the road before they find the prospect of travel under any circumstances utterly loathsome.

3. Go away instead of getaway
I ran into a few people who had but one dream: watching it all expire. They miss their families and crave a normal life. I remember one of my bosses reflecting, “The only thing better than watching ’em get higher will be sitting back and watching ’em expire.”

Be sure to check out Episode 5 of Travel Talk TV, which features a Santa Cruz beach adventure; explains why Scottish money is no good; shows how to cook brats the German way; and offers international dating tips!

March is Deep-Vein Thrombosis awareness month

by Scott Carmichael on

March 2010 is the seventh annual Deep-Vein Thrombosis awareness month.

DVT is sometimes referred to as “economy class syndrome” because the cramped airplane cabin often prevents people from getting the movement they need to prevent blood clots.

Of course, airplanes are not the only place where DVT can be a problem – even desk workers or people bedridden can be in danger.

The Coalition to Prevent DVT has put together a collection of videos that raise awareness of the dangers of DVT, and help people understand the basic steps they can take to prevent DVT.

The videos can be watched online, or downloaded for transfer to your portable media player.

The dangers of DVT are very real – the spokesperson of the Coalition to Prevent DVT lost her husband, NBC News correspondant David Bloom from complications of DVT while covering the war in Iraq.

So, do yourself a favor and devote a small part of your day to watching these videos and learning how to combat DVT. Your knowledge can also help others so forward the information to anyone you know that is regularly stuck in a cramped airplane seat.

Check historical on-time ratings – Airlines tip

by Gadling Staff on

The uncertainty of flight delays can be nerve-wracking. Will you make that 40 minute layover… or will you be stuck in Newark for half the day? An alchemy of time of day, current weather, and the airports involved determine your fate.

You can obsessively check, but can’t really predict, weather. The other factors, however, are a little easier to figure out ahead of time. Sites like the well-regarded FlightStats.com offer historical on-time performance for most routes. Punch in your flight info, and you’ll be rewarded with average delays and details on past performance.

Maybe, now, you can relax.

Maybe.

Galley Gossip: Flight attendant is sent to prison for sexy texting

by Heather Poole on

Recently someone said to me, “I travel on international flights all the time to visit family and I’ve noticed that the women who work for the airlines are getting older. Is this okay?”

Is this okay? Is this okay! I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or throw whatever was in my hand at the time. Instead I took a deep breath and replied, “Of course it’s okay! Women age. So do passengers.”

I mean really!

After it hit me that the man was probably a foreigner and not used to the ways of airlines in the U.S., I added, “I plan on being one of those flight attendants who use the beverage cart as a walker. Because in the United States flight attendants are allowed to age. We’re also allowed to gain weight, get married, and have children.”

Crazy, I know!

Wanna know what else flight attendants are allowed to do? Send sexy text messages. It’s true! Not that I’m a sexy text-er or anything, but if I wanted to send a sexy text I could, and I could do so without worrying about getting sent to prison for three months. Ya see here in the good ole US of A life is pretty darn nice. Especially if you’re a flight attendant.

What in the world am I talking about? In case you haven’t heard, an Emirates flight attendant and supervisor were recently sent to prison for three months for sending sexy text messages to each other. MSNBC reported that “the pair were convicted of ‘coercion to commit sin’ over messages and were initially sentenced to six months in jail”

Gulp.

MSNBC also reported that there is grave concern about the rapid growing population of foreigners in the deeply conservative area which may be threatening their social and religious identity.

So how did the sexy texts even come to light? The husband of the flight attendant. He’s been battling her for a divorce since 2007. I guess it only makes sense he would turn her in so she could be sent to jail.

Nice, eh?

Flight attendants aren’t the only ones getting thrown into the slammer for sexually related activity. “a British pair caught kissing in public in Dubai is appealing a month-long jail sentence handed down after an Emirati mother complained her child had seen their indiscretion,” Cynthia Johnston, the MSNBC correspondent covering the case, wrote in the article Airline workers face 3 months in jail over texts. Then she goes on to discuss three more cases involving British couples either going to prison or narrowly escaping prison for similar actions.

When I mentioned this story to Bob, the singing pilot, he asked, “What is considered a sexually explicit text in that part of the world?”

Honestly, I don’t know. I’m not so sure I even want to know.

Photos courtesy of Telstar Logistics and Jrodmanjr