Delta flyers: Get double elite miles through June 30

by Grant Martin on

You’re probably tired of me yammering on about elite status and how useful it is and how I wear my collar popped every time I go through airport security. I apologize. But there are a lot of benefits to keeping loyalty in an airline that you just don’t realize until you’ve reached greener pastures.

If you think that you can’t get to the minimum 25,000 mile threshold to reach status and you fly on Delta Airlines though, this could be your lucky break: the Atlanta-based airline just started a promotion giving passengers double Medallion Qualifying Miles for any flights booked before April 30 and flown before June 30. Those are miles that specifically count towards your exalted status.

This means that if you only need to travel 12.5k miles in order to achieve elite status, which is a pretty fantastic deal. Even if you’ve got only a few trips planned before June 30, these miles will give you that extra boost to hopefully get up to 25k by the end of the year.

Clarification before you register though: this is for double Medallion Qualifying Miles, not Skymiles. So you won’t technically earn more miles with which you can fly places, proper. You’ll earn more miles with which you can accrue status. Follow? Think of them as points towards a goal that you can use to fly places. Kind of silly, I know, but all airlines do it. It’s a crafty way to divide earned and status-gaining miles so that you get the least amount of benefit. I can get to that in a later post of you guys want.

Register on Delta’s promo website and make sure you have your frequent flyer number attached to your reservation before you travel — otherwise you’ll have a hard time getting your miles — and double miles — credited retroactively.

Delta Airlines: That second checked bag is going to cost you

by Jeffrey White on

Flying Delta in the coming months? Checking a second bag is going to cost you an additional $25.

But Delta hasn’t felt the need so far to tell you that.

A glance at the baggage guidelines on Delta’s Web site still shows that you’re allowed to check two bags to your destination. Luckily, the Washington Post, presumably acting on a tip, called Delta and a spokeswoman confirmed that beginning May 1, the fee will go into effect.

And get this: It doesn’t matter whether you booked your flight well before that date, the Post notes. If you’re flying after May 1, you’re paying for that second piece of luggage.

The fee affects both domestic and international flights (though business- and first-class and SkyMiles holders won’t have to pay).

United also plans to start a $25 fee for a second piece of checked luggage, beginning on May 5.

My question: Why doesn’t Delta feel the need to bring its baggage information current on its Web site?

Delta Airlines cuts jobs; who’s to blame?

by Grant Martin on

Atlanta based Delta Airlines announced Tuesday that they were cutting 2,000 jobs, their second cutback in six months. Citing rising fuel costs, the airline also says that it will cut back capacity and park 45 airplanes.

As the airline despondently pointed out, fuel prices have risen 20% in the last three months while market prices and competition have stayed tight. Under those conditions, how can an airline not be forced to cut back?

The problem, as a function of the egregious gouging by oil companies, is that airline prices have not appreciated correctly with crude and inflation. Increased internal competition and external pressures from passengers to produce the cheapest fares possible have forced carriers to underbid one another to the point of taking losses on many of their flights while operating costs skyrocket. Sure, airlines could enact a unilateral increase in fares across the country, but then some carriers (those perhaps, who locked in their oil prices years ago) could unfairly take advantage of the market.

Besides, are we as Americans going to stand by while airline prices assume their normal level? I guarantee you congress and passengers would be in an uproar and we would have three particular senators crying murder.

But until something drastic happens, we’re bound to ride the imploding American skies. Bankruptcies will continue, mergers will haunt our shareholders and the unions will continue to battle management over labor costs. We’ll blame a CEO for taking a million dollar bonus and politicians will form committees against the backdrop of your favorite airline stock inching closer to the floor. Through it all, the oil companies will step back and let us fight amongst ourselves, and as we slowly work our way towards collapse they’ll silently take our money — and laugh themselves all of the way to the bank.

Near-collision videos show need for updated airport safety technology

by Catherine Bodry on

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released dramatic animation of two runway near-collisions, in order to promote the need for improvements in runway safety. The re-creation was based on radar and flight data recorder information from the planes involved.

The video includes audio from an air traffic controller yelling “stop! stop! stop!” to a United plane as it begins to taxi onto a runway where a Delta flight is landing. The planes came within 230 feet of each other. In another situation, one plane lands while another is taking off on a perpendicular runway. The leaving flight is able to lift off early while the landing flight hit the breaks and stops in the middle of the runway. The planes avoided a collision by as little as 30 feet.

The animations were presented at the annual NTSB board meeting, where the agency reviews its most transportation safety concerns.

Read the full article and watch the video on CNN.com.

Want to smell a new plane? It might be awhile if it’s American

by Jamie Rhein on

I’ve bought new cars and I’ve bought used. My last used car smelled lovely. The friend of mine who sold it too me must have either used wonderful soap daily —or wore a light, fabulous perfume. New cars don’t have to work hard to smell special. Smelling new like the grown up version of a fresh, just taken out of the box vinyl toy is enough–unless it’s brand new leather shoes, and then double yum.

A brand new airplane must really smell fantastic. I have no idea, though, since I’ve never been on a brand new airplane that I can recall. According to the latest news on U.S. carriers, it might be awhile before anyone will get the experience–at least if one is getting from here to there on an airplane from an American company.

These days, frugality is in–new planes are out. The airlines want to beef up their coffers in order to make up for the post 9/11 shortfalls that had them tumbling towards bankruptcy. Okay, so new is not an option, and according to the New York Times article that outlined all the reasons why new airplanes aren’t on the horizon, giving the airplanes a through cleaning is not a priority either. One guy who was quoted used words like “grimy” to describe the problem.

According to the airlines, older planes are safe so there really isn’t anything to worry about. I do admit when I was flying Delta round-trip from Columbus to Los Angeles a few weeks ago, when I rested my head against the seat, I wondered about the upholstery.