Southwest Airlines offers double Rapid Rewards credits

by Leigh Caldwell on

Southwest Airlines is offering “Double Credit Days” today through May 26.

To be eligible, you must be a member of the airline’s frequent flier program, called Rapid Rewards, but you can join today and still earn the extra credits.

If you already belong to the Rapid Rewards program, you still have to register online to get in on the promotion. If you fly and don’t register, you won’t get the double credit.

Once you are registered, you will earn 2 credits for every flight (4 credits for every roundtrip). If you buy Southwest’s Business Select ticket, which includes perks such as early boarding and drinks, you will get 2.25 credits for shorthauls and 3 credits for longhaul flights.

The trick here is that you must book and complete your travel between now and May 26. It takes 16 Rapid Rewards credits to earn a free Southwest flight.

On Wednesday, Southwest announced that its traffic increased slightly in March, 0.4 percent over last year’s numbers.

The best airline safety announcement videos

by Gadling Staff on

Air travelers have all been there — the plane is about to take off, but first we have to awkwardly look away or bury our noses in magazines to avoid paying attention to the safety announcements. They’re the same every time, so we always know that the closest exit may be behind us. But a few savvy airlines have come up with better ways to grab passengers’ attention. From stripping down to rapping, here are some of the best airline safety announcements you’ll see on board.

Thomson Airways
British airline Thomson Airways knows that cuteness always gets attention. When a plane full of adorable kids tells you how to buckle your seatbelt, you’re sure to listen:

Air New Zealand
If cute doesn’t work, sex always sells. Take this Air New Zealand video, which encourages passengers to “take a second look” at safety — and the body-painted flight crew:

To further prove they have a sense of humor, Air New Zealand released a blooper reel of the clips that didn’t make the safety video. After all, reciting lines wearing body paint can’t be too easy:

Delta Airlines
Delta is a little more subtle with its sexy announcements — but every person in the video is ridiculously attractive, with perfect teeth and not a hair out of place. YouTube commenters have even dubbed the main announcer “Deltalina” for her resemblance to Angelina Jolie:

Virgin America
International airlines aren’t the only ones who get to have fun. Take Virgin America’s safety video, which pokes fun at the various characters found on a typical flight:

Southwest Airlines
Southwest is known for its funny flight crews. This flight attendant brings the entertainment with a safety rap:

This Southwest attendant makes announcements American Idol-style, singing a parody of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies:”

Virgin Atlantic
When in doubt, use flashy graphics. Virgin Atlantic puts passengers at ease with its calming music and intriguing animation:

New airport set to open in Florida Panhandle

by Leigh Caldwell on

Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport is set to open in Panama City, Fla., in May, and travelers can already book flights to the new facility.

The big coup for the new airport is a deal with Southwest Airlines, which did not previously fly any routes to the Florida Panhandle. Southwest will offer nonstop flights between Panama City and Nashville, Orlando, Houston and Baltimore beginning May 23.

Delta, which already serves Panama City’s existing airport from Atlanta and Memphis, will move to the new and improved one.

But is there a need for a new airport with a 10,000-foot runway in a town of 37,000?

That’s the question the New York Times asked, and the newspaper got all kinds of answers.

The airport’s main backer, the St. Joe Company, is a major real estate developer in Florida that owns hundreds of thousands of acres of undeveloped land in — guess where? — the area that will be served by the new airport. Company officials say the airport is one step in a plan to build the area into a major international destination.

Environmentalists say the building of the new airport on wetlands was damaging to the environment. And a former Delta executive says building the new airport was unnecessary, when the old airport could have been enlarged.

The biggest challenge to the new airport in Panama City right now is the economy. Will the airport survive until Florida travel rebounds?
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Philadelphia airport’s $45 million makeover unveils today

by Melanie Nayer on

Philadelphia airport’s Terminal E got a little makeover and it’s debuting the new look today.

The $45 million expansion in Philly Phili includes seven new gates for aircraft, a 500-seat passenger waiting area, a mini food court with new restaurant chains, and a 350-foot curved-glass wall. Coming soon, a new baggage-claim building with nine carousels and new ticket counters. Behind the scenes, a new automated bag sorting system with high-technology explosives-detection machines will be put to the test, with the hopes of using the machines full time in the fall.

Terminal E is home to Southwest Airlines, which operates 54 nonstops a day from Philly Phili. The purpose of the renovation is to make traveling between terminals easier for travelers. A 204,000-square-foot “connector” building opened in December 2008 that allowed travelers to go between Terminals D and E, and stop to shop at the airport mall along the way.

Who’s paying for this renovation? The mult-million tab comes paid for by airport revenue bonds funded by the airlines, federal grants, and you – the passenger facility charges you pay when you purchase airline tickets goes to these type of improvements.

[via Philadephia Inquirer]

Southwest Airlines decides actor Kevin Smith is “too fat” to fly with them – kicks him off plane

by Scott Carmichael on

Oh Southwest Airlines… You make yourself look good by staying away from those pesky baggage charges, then you go and make yourself look ridiculous by kicking a famous actor off your plane because the captain decided he was “a safety risk” for being too fat to fly.

Bad, bad move.

The actor in question is Kevin Smith (you may know him as Silent Bob). He admits that he’s a bit of a fatty, but he also told his Twitter followers that he had no problems putting both armrests down. So, once the Southwest PR team wakes up tomorrow morning, I’d love to hear their side of the story, and how they decide who is entitled to fly on their planes, and what their definition of “safety risk” is. Seriously, I can’t wait for the PR spin on this one.

See, Kevin Smith has 1.6 million followers on Twitter, who all get to read just how unfairly he was treated, and how the airline tried to make everything better with a $100 voucher.

Of course, this is not the first time the airline has managed to get in the news with stupid decisions by its staff – last time they made the news, an overweight passenger was barred from flying, and missed the funeral of his uncle.

UPDATE: Southwest airlines issued a public apology this afternoon, along with their side of the story. Sadly, their page won’t load right correctly now, so we have posted their response here for you to read.

As you can see, there is indeed another side to the story. That said – Mr. Smith confirmed that he could sit with the armrests down and without the use of a seatbelt extender, so despite their statement, there still remains the issue that someone at their airline decided he was too large.