Downgraded: Upper Class, upstairs, on Virgin Atlantic
Upgraded: Economy Class, upstairs, on Virgin Atlantic
Like many airlines, Virgin Atlantic has been cutting seats in business class, in response to the economy’s woes. But the upstairs section of the 747 has always been sacred space for the premium-cabin travelers. Until now. The airline will slowly roll out “configuration 4,” which moves some regular economy seats to the back of the upstairs cabin. Virgin Atlantic Upper Class loyalists will object to the lack of exclusivity. Which, in turn, should be an improvement for economy customers who get the service boost of a small cabin.
Upgraded: Consumer rights for “mistake” fares
As I’ve argued in the past, it’s sometimes impossible to know if a low fare is an error, or just a deal. (1 cent fares, anyone?) So I’m pleased to read that, in the U.S., the federal government is warning airlines that they’re (at least partially) on the hook for mistake fares. The DOT ruled: “We believe that all airlines should accept some responsibility for even the erroneous fares they publish.” Customers with canceled tickets must now be “made whole,” though this doesn’t mean that tickets will be honored. Still, a good move.
Downgraded: TSA’s mad redacting skillz
Seth, over at the Wandering Aramean has been digging through a document detailing the TSA’s standard operating procedures. The document was redacted, but Adobe Acrobat doesn’t delete the text hidden behind the black boxes. Oops. Now the TSA says the policies were never implemented, after all. (Then why were they posted, and redacted?) Seth has links to the original documents on his site.
Upgraded: Continental systemwide upgrades for top-level elites
In a further alignment of Continental OnePass with United MileagePlus, Continental is systemwide upgrades and a double-secret invitation-only ultra-elite level for high-spend elite frequent fliers.
Upgraded: United’s long-range aircraft… eventually
After slicing and dicing their fleet over the years, and recently killing off their 737s, it’s finally time for United to look at renewing their fleet. They’re ordering 25 Boeing 787s and 25 Airbus A350s, which will replace their 767s and 747s, respectively. …in 6 to 9 years.
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December 9th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Ugh – Air New Zealand has that configuration on their 747s’ upper decks – Business Class herring bone seats at the front, and Premium Economy seats at the back . The front toilets (behind the cockpit) have been taken out, and only the rear ones by the galley remain, so the BC pax have to pass through the Premium Economy rows to get to the toilets.
I don’t know what’s more pitiful – the longing looks of envy from the PE pax staring wistfully at the Business class flat-beds, or the people in BC, embarrassed from having the PE pax staring at them the whole trip. From either seat class, the flight is long and less enjoyable!
December 9th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
And Virgin’s seats in the back of the cabin aren’t even premium economy. They’re just economy, so the “longing looks of envy” will be even more pronounced.
December 9th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
This sounds like what Air France has been doing. ??? Earlier this year I got to upgrade — for a fee — at the time of signing in to an upstairs seat on a Paris to San Francisco flight, a little roomier than economy downstairs. Believe me, I appreciated it.
December 10th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Air France has some configs with economy upstairs but they aren’t mixed with business. Only Air New Zealand also has the split config on their 744 upper decks.
Thanks for the links on the TSA stuff!
April 17th, 2010 at 10:28 am
there is no rear WC per the diagram do Virgin seriously expect just 10 UC passengers to be happy at 33 economy passengers tramping through their cabin past their beds to use the loo? This breaks all the principles of the separate cabin class system