United and Continental have made changes to their standby and same-day confirmed flight change policy that bring the two carriers closer to alignment. Good news for Premier Executives–standby and even confirmed same-day changes are now free on United and Continental....
I Gave Up Three Upgrades to Get Back to Frankfurt Two Hours Early
If my colleagues at Star are reading this: take note! I care about getting to work on time. It has been a draining three days, but my mileage run around the world is near completion: one flight remains. This morning I arrived in...
Taking Advantage of Continental’s Last Day at Washington Dulles
Starting tomorrow, Continental will move to the D-gates and Continental Express to the lower A-gates at Washington Dulles. Up this point, CO has operated at the far A-gates right about where the B-gates start as a separate entity from...
Reciprocal Seat Assignments Now Availabile Online with Continental/United
For months, seat assignments have been a major annoyance on mixed Continental/United itineraries. A CO-operated UA codeshare booked on united.com required that you copy the reservation reference number and proceed to continental.com to assign seats. The same was true...
United Changes Boarding Procedures to Align with Continental
Yesterday I was surprised when my Honolulu – Los Angeles flight boarded economy class passengers by row rather than by zone, starting with the back of the plane and moving forward. I assumed it was a HNL quirk and...
United/Continental Strand Me in Washington, DC!
(and without question, I am partially to blame…) Hardened by years of travel as a quasi-road warrior, I thought I was ready for anything. Yesterday proved to be one of my biggest challenges yet. If you are not focused now, you...
Award Ticket Fee Changes on United Airlines – You Win Some, You Lose Some
I credited United for taking a step in the right direction when they eliminated close-in "processing fees" for award tickets in 2009. These fees, charged simply for the convenience of booking an award ticket within 21 days of travel,...
Guess Who Didn’t Get the Upgrade?
The screenshot below was grabbed four hours prior to departure on Monday. Guess who didn’t get the ugprade? If you gussed me, you guessed correctly. Unfortunately, I still suffer from upgrade phobia and was quite angry when I was offered the...
Jeff Smisek Hints at Major Changes for United
United CEO Jeff Smisek has been making his rounds lately and spoke today at the J.P. Morgan Aviation, Transportation & Defense Conference in New York City. I just listened to it and offer my notes from his ~30 minute...
Continental Plans Wi-Fi Expansion to 737s, 757s – Will United Follow?
United announced today that its fleet of Continental domestic 737s and 757s (over 200 planes) will be equipped with Wi-Fi starting in 2012. Unlike the Gogo land-based system that UA currently uses, Continental will use satellite provider Ka-band, which purportedly will utilize world’s highest-capacity satellite to provide...
United’s New Award Chart a Better Deal for the Savvy Traveler
It came a complete shock to me when United updated their award chart this week and did not introduce across the board price increases. On the contrary, United cut the number of miles needed to fly to Europe or...
Jeff Smisek Addresses United’s "Service" Problem
While Glen Tilton, former United Airlines CEO, may not have been as bad as some made him out to be, he seemed to have a lot of trouble with empathy. He often gave the appearance that he could care...
How I’ll Earn 40,000 United Award Miles Flying from Seattle to Newark
Last night a friend alerted me via e-mail that something fishy was going on with Continental flights between Seattle and Newark. While CO usually limits connections to one or two at most (and those connections are usually restricted to...
United E-Certs Now Valid on Continental Flights!
Although United has cut back on compensation, recently halving the amount offered for service issues on domestic flights, they remain the most generous legacy carrier in the United States when it comes to making amends. I anticipate that will change...
Transfer Miles Freely and Enjoy Elite Status on Both Continental and United
Nick sums up today’s announcement that United and Continental miles can be freely transferred between accounts and elites can enjoy status with both airlines perfectly–I have only my own two cents to add. Word came this morning from Scott O’Leary,...
Should United Start Taking Meal Orders from Front-to-Back like Continental?
A raucous debate is going on right now on amongst frequent flyers regarding how meal orders should be taken in premium cabins of the combined United/Continental. Currently, Continental takes meal orders from front-to-back on all flights, regardless of fare...
Continental Eliminates Free Snacks in Economy Class
If you are a big fan of pretzels or biscoff cookies while flying on Continental Airlines, you better bring your own. On Tuesday, the carrier eliminated these free treats on all routes that do not feature BusinessFirst seating. Among the...
Economy Plus Survives the United/Continental Merger
The news is over a day old now and Damian has already nicely highlighted United’s decision to retain and expand Economy Plus across the Continental fleet. I just want to add my two cents. With Delta’s announcement of a “premium” economy product (again,...
United Grounds Boeing 757-200 Fleet
If you were scheduled to fly on a United Boeing 757 yesterday afternoon or evening, you likely encountered a delay or cancellation. In a move reminiscent of American Airlines’ grounding of their entire MD-80 fleet when found to be...
Delta Agents Going Back to Charm School
It takes only one bad experience, one delayed flight, or one rude gate agent to permanently mar the reputation of an airline in the eyes of a disgruntled traveler. I suppose that is true for just about anything–take my short time...
