First it was Boeing’s failed Connexion service (R.I.P.). But in recent months, inflight internet is making a comeback. There was JetBlue’s announcement of a Yahoo/Blackberry inflight internet service. Then last week, Southwest announced that they would be rolling out wi-fi internet access onboard a limited number of their planes in coming months. Then, this week, Continental followed suit with a JetBlue style TV and limited internet service. The similarity to JetBlue’s product isn’t coincidental: They’re buying the service from a JetBlue subsidiary.

The Southwest internet announcement was more interesting, because it was real internet, and not limited to Yahoo or Blackberry. Still, I had some questions. Today, I’ve got some answers from the heart of Southwest HQ.

The biggest deal: No voice. Not even Voice-over-IP. Just try and use your Skype connection. I dare you. Double-dog dare you. Southwest has got you blocked, sucka.

Q: Will passengers know in advance which routes will have the wi-fi capability?
A: Maybe. Noncommittal. “Nothing is concrete yet.”

Q: Will voice features, e.g., the portal for Skype, be turned on, or off?
A: OFF. Southwest will be blocking VoIP. “We’ll have more than enough bandwidth to support e-mail and IM…great SILENT communication options!”

Q: Any plans to consider cellphone capability?
A: Not at this time. (Whew!)

Q: Any plans to bundle wi-fi with the “business” fares now offered?
A: No word yet on the pricing. TBA.

Related:
- JetBlue starts testing inflight internet next week
- Feed the Internet addiction: American Airlines will roll out high-speed inflight wi-fi next year
- It’s official: Boeing pulling the plug on its inflight internet service, Connexion
- “No Cellphones” light to be added to aircraft interiors

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Reader Michelle sends in an e-mail she received from Expedia, in which she’s encouraged to pack her bags and depart frigid New York for warmer climes. Such as:

Click for larger view

Chicago??!

That’s some solid marketing right there. Maybe if this were sent as a fare alert to customers in Nome, Alaska. But New York?

Let’s take a quick peek at weather.com and see where things stand in Chicago right now. Hmm…

At least it’s sunny!

Boaz Shmueli of the excellent MileMaven.com website sends in this tip:

For those Alaska Airlines frequent flyers whose 2007 travels were insufficient to meet the threshold for MVP or MVP Gold, the airline’s elite status tiers, there’s a shortcut that can help you catch up.

If you want to requalify for MVP status, you can fly four paid segments on Alaska or Horizon between January 15 and March 15. Registration is necessary. Click here for full details.

To requalify for MVP Gold, you can fly eight paid segments during the same timeframe. Click here.

These links are “hidden” on the Alaska Airlines website, i.e., you won’t find them on the homepage or the MVP program promotions page. Completing the required flights will extend your status until December 2008.

Related:
- My mom is doing a mileage run
- Alaska Airlines (aff)

Our man on the inside at Spirit Airlines writes in with this warning:

Spirit airlines is rolling out a new reservations and check in system called Navitaire. The changeover will be happening on Feb 4th.

[...] These changes can cause as much commotion as they did when US Airways merged systems with America West. Except this time we are predicting a meltdown because the gate agents and employees have been “trained” on the new system, but by the time it is rolled out they will have forgotten how it works. I’ve surveyed several employees and the response is the same: “I don’t know what will happen, I have no clue how to work that system.”

Expect long lines, delays, and angry passengers…

Consider yourselves forewarned.

If you’re flying with Spirit, despite most advice offered here (see “related” links below), then check in early, leave yourselves extra time at the airport, and keep those fingers crossed.

For passengers’ sake, here’s hoping that the systems will have been figured out and operational by the launch date…

Related:
- Spirit Airlines’ CEO flips his customers the bird
- Is Spirit Airlines’ new club worth joining?
- Downgrades: Spirit Airlines to charge for ALL luggage, coffee, and soda
- Spirit Airlines to Democrats: Drop Dead

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Family friends recently returned from a trip to the Wynn Las Vegas, but the first story they had to tell wasn’t about luxurious accommodations, gambling, restaurants, or shows. It was about the snacks on top of their minibar.

The motion-detector minibar wasn’t new to me. Those are bad enough: You move any item in the minibar, and if you don’t put it back within 60 seconds, you’ve bought it. So much for making room to store your own food or beverages in there.

But what the friends told us was about the outside of the minibar. Snacks were placed on a tray. Not inside anything, but out in the open. (Here’s a link to a photo of the display.) There’s a warning that the food is on an electronic scale, and moving the item means you bought it.

This is just absurd. What if you wanted to look at the nutritional information on the back? Or, as one Expedia review noted, what if you have kids who inquisitively pick stuff up? (Best not to take the kids to the Wynn!) And check your bill: As one TripAdvisor reviewer learned, after getting hit with $100 of minibar fees, even though they didn’t consume anywhere near that much, you need to watch your charges, to make sure you didn’t accidentally budge anything.

What’s next, a tripwire that triggers a fee if you use the bathroom?

Related:
- The hotel minibar is dead! Long live the hotel minibar!
- Upgrades and Downgrades: Pizza delivery to your plane, wi-fi minibars, why airport security wants to sniff your armpits, and more

Last weekend, the missus and I went out to see a film about a font. Yes, a font.

“Helvetica” was really a quite fascinating flick, and it’s got me noticing streetsigns, logos, and other public typefaces with a greater awareness. At least for the next few days, before the film “wears off.”

Why am I mentioning this? Because at one point in the film, in discussing the rise of the sans serif font in corporate literature, the film spotlights the designer Massimo Vignelli. Vignelli is the mastermind behind the New York City subway signage, as well as the American Airlines brand and logo. The AA logo was meant to convey modernity, and in contrast to some of the earlier iconography, it was a pretty revolutionary change.

But notably, American Airlines is cited as the only U.S. airline to keep the same logo and visual identity for the last forty years. If you review the timetable covers over time you’ll see the shift from the busy, 1950′s style to the modernist Helvetica base design you still see today. (Vignelli apparently was forced to include the eagle in American’s logo, despite his numerous objections.)

So what does the persistence (or lack thereof) of a logo say about a company? Consistency? Dependability? Dynamism? Conservatism?

Either way, there’s a whole lot of Helvetica out there.

American Airlines’ logo may seem staid by today’s corporate design standards, but it is positively gorgeous compared to some other logos in the travel industry. Here’s the lowest-hanging fruit:

Just awful. What says “luxury hotel” about that logo? Blechh.

Maybe they need a little Helvetica.