Anyone want a free Northwest Airlines WorldClub pass?

by Grant Martin on

[Sorry for the delay in getting this posted — we had some legal issues to iron out]

Many of you have been privy to the ongoing discussion between Iva and myself about the virtues and the vices of airline club memberships. I think the benefit has come down to how valuable you find a) free snacks and alcohol and b) free wireless. While the noise is a bit quieter and the seats a bit more comfortable, other purported benefits may not be as useful as the airlines say.

Well, it’s time for you to make your own opinion. I have an extra one-time use WorldClub pass that I can send to any Gadlinger that can use it. It expires March 31st and you must be 21 years old to use it. It also helps if you’re flying on NW, although you don’t necessarily have to be. Just make sure that the terminal that you’re flying through has a WorldClub in it (and that its not in the next terminal over).

All that we ask in return is that you USE the pass and write in to tell us what you thought of the WorldClub. It doesn’t have to be an award-winning essay — just drop us an email telling us how you found the experience.

If you want me to mail the pass to you ASAP, post a comment below. We’ll make the drawing on Wednesday and you’ll have it before the end of the week.

Check out lounge locations here.

Good luck!

  • To enter, simply leave a comment below.
  • The comment must be left before Wednesday, March 12 at 2:00 PM Eastern Time.
  • You may enter only once.
  • One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
  • One Grand Prize Winner will receive a Northwest Airlines WorldClub pass good until March 31 (valued at $45)
  • Click Here for complete Official Rules.

[Thanks for all of your comments, we’ve already selected a winner]

    Chicago plans to build new airport

    by Grant Martin on

    It looks like authorities are slowly getting the green light to start building Chicago‘s third airport. Dubbed the South Suburban Airport, the site has been under development for over forty years now, but the city just submitted new plans for a runway that should start moving things further along.

    The city has also started usurping land around Will County, to the obvious chagrin of the locals. They say that this new airport will alleviate much of the traffic that O’hare airport, the oft despised hub of United and American Airlines, has been subject to over the last half century. While Midway can do much of this, apparently their runways aren’t large enough to accommodate all sorts of aircraft, namely those used frequently in international legs.

    As far as location, Will County is a pretty far hike from the city center. If you remember your El cartography, O’hare and Midway are both positioned on the blue and orange lines respectively, making transfers from the city out to the airports relatively painless. The South Suburban would be even farther away than the Gary Airport (in Indiana), so you would have to budget more time and effort to get out there. It’s kind of like the Dulles of Washington DC.

    To connect the terminals to the city, a high speed rail service is thus part of the construct.

    Planning still seems to be in its early stages, but you can read a ton of info on the Master Plan website. You’ll find that their “Project Implementation” link is broken; maybe even they admit that construction is still a ways off.

    You can read more about the proposed site and opposition at the wikipedia page, or read the airport website here.

    JFK drops off list of most-delayed U.S. airports

    by Jeffrey White on

    John F. Kennedy International Airport has long been a joke in terms of on time departures and arrivals. But there are signs that JFK might be getting better.

    The Associated Press is reporting that JFK is finally off the list of the country’s 50 most-delayed airports, while previously it was a perennial Top 3 contender. The secret? It finished 2007 strong, with 73 percent of all flights arriving and departing on time between Nov. 1 and Jan. 31, 2008, the AP says. That’s up from 67 percent.

    O.K., so that’s not going to have travelers rushing to reroute their trips through Kennedy. But that should still give us all hope of greater improvements to come.

    The U.S. Dept. of Transportation reportedly targeted New York City airspace for a massive improvement initiative starting around Thanksgiving last year, which, among other things, included allowing commercial flights to use military airspace, the AP says.

    The Federal Aviation Administration also jumped on the bandwagon in December with its own plans to overhaul NY airspace.

    There’s still more in the offing. By the end of this week, DOT is expected to begin cutting the number of hourly flights at JFK from 100 to 83, which means less flights at the most congested times, the AP reports.

    Still, it seems that there is little in the way of good news to report over at Newark Liberty International Airport, which topped the 2007 most-delayed list. It hasn’t seemed to improve a lick.

    What’s the worst airport in the U.S.? Let us know.

    Attempted terrorist attack on Chinese flight forces emergency landing

    by Aaron Hotfelder on

    Air police on a flight from the western Chinese city of Urumqi to Beijing foiled a would-be terrorist attack on Friday, said Chinese officials. The flight was forced to make an emergency landing in the northwestern city of Lanzhou, after two passengers aboard the flight tried to crash the plane. Everyone aboard the flight arrived safely, and the suspects are in custody in Lanzhou.

    Though details of the incident are largely unknown, the state media is calling it a terrorist attack. It’s unclear how the attackers were planning on bringing down the plane, but officials say they found flammable materials in the plane’s toilet.

    Urumqi, the city in which the flight originated, is the capital of Xinjiang, a region that is “home to 8 million Muslim Uighurs, many of whom resent the growing presence and economic grip of Han Chinese,” according to Reuters.

    This attempted hijacking comes less than two months after Chinese officials say they thwarted a plot to attack the Beijing Olympics– a plot hatched in that same region of Xinjiang.

    MacBook Air or bomb? One guy’s trip through airport security

    by Jerry Guo on

    Apple’s newest doodad is 3/4th of an inch at its thickest point and weighs three pounds. But apparently that makes the Macbook Air the perfect bomb–at least in the eyes of airport security.

    One Mac lover ran his Air through the x-ray machine without thinking about what the lack of a hard drive, CD drive, or ports would look like to the security guys. Pretty soon, there are dozens of security guards running around thinking they’ve got a terrorist dumb enough to carry a bomb through the security checkpoint.

    It wasn’t until a new recruit with some common sense (and who reads the news) chimed in.

    He tells the others that it is a real laptop, not a “device”. That it has a solid-state drive instead of a hard disc. They don’t know what he means. He tries again, “Instead of a spinning disc, it keeps everything in flash memory.” Still no good. “Like the memory card in a digital camera.” He points to the x-ray, “Here. That’s what it uses instead of a hard drive.”

    Over at Reddit, there are some hilarious comments to this story. My favorite:

    Ironic that the “Air” keeps him grounded.

    In January, I raised concerns about the suitability of the MacBook Air for travelers. Add this to the list.