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It’s been a tough few weeks, so the posting machine has been running a bit slow. Time to clear some of the backlog:

Survivor: Skybus edition
Jaunted’s Mark Johnson played anthropologist in the airline world last week, doing some participant-observation onboard ultra-cheap negative-frills airline Skybus. The whole saga, with videos and pictures, can be found here. Photo above is Mark’s pic of a $9/hour Skybus flight attendant selling goods (on commission). Ah, the ubiquitous Toblerone, official chocolate of 35,000 feet. But ice wine? And those crew uniforms look remarkably like the folks in those hotels.com TV ads…

Bonus: Skybus is adding three cities to their roster. “Hartford/Springfield” — which is really Westover Metropolitan (CEF), 19 miles from Bradley (BDL). “Jacksonville/Daytona Beach” — which is really St. Augustine/St. John’s County (UST), a whopping 42 air miles from Jacksonville (JAX). And San Diego. Yes, it’s really San Diego. One out of three ain’t bad.

At least he didn’t threaten the flight attendants
The TSA reportedly detained director Mike Figgis for five hours at LAX, after he told security screeners that he was in town to “shoot a pilot.” What, LAX employees never heard the television-industry parlance of “pilot”? UPDATE: This never happened. Mike Figgis himself says it’s BS. But it’s a good story, I tells ya.

Arthur Frommer had better watch out
Latest competitor to Fodor’s, Frommer’s, and Lonely Planet? Borat!

Canadian citizenship for Kip Hawley?
Even though the Canadian government has created their own security lists, Canadian airlines are still using American no-fly lists. Will TSA Director Kip Hawley freedom baggies be far off?

I’d rather pay for my mortgage with miles
Gary Leff wants to pay his mortgage by credit card, so he can earn points. And it will soon be possible, via American Express and a small set of lenders, who take a $395 fee up front. Years ago, I checked out a rental apartment that let you use Visa to pay your rent. (I didn’t rent it.) The apartment sucked, but think of the miles I left on the table!

Villa livin’
Wendy Perrin has written a great guide to finding an affordable villa or vacation home. But the prices she mentions are still not ultra-cheap. I’m already a villa convert: In December 2005, my wife and I rented a small beachfront house in Anguilla. The house had its own pool, looked across the strait to the beautiful, mountainous island of St. Martin (or St. Maarten, if you prefer), and cost a little over $200 per night. It had no butler service, and, while comfortable, it wasn’t “luxury,” but it was amazing value.

Spend green to go green?
The city of Denver wants passengers to buy carbon offsets when they fly out of DEN. They’re setting up kiosks that let you buy offsets just like you might buy that Mutual of Omaha travel insurance. At the same time, Republican Congressmen are, perhaps ironically, championing a greater role for the federal government: regulating carbon offsets. Might not be a bad idea. I’m all for supporting the environment, but I’m suspicious of the offset idea. This skeptical op-ed in the Times of London doesn’t help.

Explosive curry
Explosive curry damages a Boeing 747. Say no more.

Boxers = Boeing, briefs = Airbus
Great moments in headline writing: “Hong Kong tycoon buys B787 jet after seeing passenger in underpants.”

Yes, that hamster is happy to see you
Jetlagged? Try popping a Viagra. After all, it works for hamsters!

Downgraded: Presidential security
The Secret Service is overburdened. So they’re bringing in the TSA! If presidential candidates look like they haven’t washed their hair, because their shampoo was confiscated, this will be why. God help us all.

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Like flying? A lot? Really, really a lot? Like Canada? Like the idea of going through American immigration in Canada? Have I got a deal for you…

Air Canada is rolling out all-you-can-fly fare passes for 3 and 6-month periods. The fares aren’t cheap, per se (fares start at ~$1700 per month), but if you commute between the US and Canada on a regular basis, this could be up your alley.

This nugget in their press release might be handy, too:

In addition, Air Canada is offering automatic top tier Elite frequent flyer status to its customers who purchase a six-month Unlimited ‘Flight Pass to Canada’ subscription at the Latitude fare level starting at $2,360 per month with additional flexibility and benefits.

All “Latitude” passes offer unlimited free upgrades (when available…). Alas, you’ll earn a fixed number of miles per month, depending on the fare level you purchase (10K/month for Tango Plus, 15K/month for Latitude), and you can’t credit the miles to another Star Alliance program.

Details on the 3-month unlimited flight passes are here. 6-month passes are here. The 6-month passes are here.

Related:
- Air Canada’s new menu of fare options
- Air Canada opens ALL seats to frequent flyer redemption
- Checked luggage now costs 20 bucks on lowest Air Canada fares

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Upgrade: Travel Better is officially taking a few days off. May your holidays be good ones, and may you maintain that slim and sexy figure you’ve had for so long, despite the end-of-year gluttony. If you’re stuck at an airport, thanks to Denver’s snow or London’s fog, good luck getting to your destination, and safe travels.

But before returning to the feasting, here are a couple considerations for travel in the new year:

- Traveling to America’s national parks in 2007? Consider the $50 National Park Pass, valid for one year, while you still can. In the new year, the price goes up to $80 and the name changes to the “America the Beautiful Pass.” Same pass, new name, higher price. Buy now to save thirty bucks. (via Tim Leffel)

- Traveling in low season is always a good way to save money. But when IS the low season? CheapTickets has compiled a short list of the lowest of the low seasons, with the average hotel stay discount, measured from the peak. Some aren’t that helpful — Phoenix in June? But others are good to know, such as Hawaii in May.

- Through January 3, Air Canada is selling all-you-can-fly “Welcome Aboard” passes for as little as $229 (Canadian) per month, depending on destination. Flight days are limited (e.g., Tuesdays and Saturdays) and the rate goes up as you include a broader geographic range. And unfortunately, you can’t use the passes to rack up miles — you only receive a fixed number of miles per month. But it may be worth your while if you’re traveling within Canada or to/from the United States. FAQs are here. (Thanks to reader Ian!)

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Back in April, Air Canada introduced $20 discount for passengers who agreed 1) not to make any changes to their itinerary and 2) not to check any luggage.

Now, the airline is expanding the “Go Discount” program, making the calculation of your airfare even more a la carte:

The carrier is offering four fare types (Tango, Tango Plus, Latitude and Executive) and gives passengers the option to add or subtract items based on individual preferences. The offerings include value-added car rental and hotel services, lounge access for Latitude customers for C$25 ($22.30), advance seat selection for Tango customers (C$15), a C$5 inflight meal voucher option for Tango and Tango Plus customers and options for Tango, Tango Plus and Latitude passengers to save C$5 by not checking baggage and for Tango passengers to save C$7 by agreeing not to change or cancel flights and C$3 by declining frequent-flier miles.

The airline is claiming that the new policy increases price transparency. True enough, and there are some people who can probably benefit from this. But the benefits have their limits.

Putting a price tag on seat assignments — and such a high price tag — is obnoxious. I know, it’s already common practice in Europe, especially among charter airlines, but it’s still conduct unbecoming a full-service airline.

The meal vouchers are reasonable, in comparison. I’m not sure how many people would prefer the airline’s catering to a sandwich purchased in the airport, but at least the price is competitive.

It’s the C$3 discount for declining frequent flyer miles that really gets me. Besides the fact that not earning miles is heresy if you’re under my roof, it’s valuing the miles far too cheaply. I understand that this is aimed at the very infrequent flyer who never collects enough mileage to be worth a free trip, but 3 Canadian bucks?? A flight from Toronto to Vancouver covers 2085 miles each way — even at a conservative 1 cent per mile, that’s over C$40 worth…

It will be interesting to see if any American airlines follow suit. American Airlines has toyed with various fees (like the $1 soft drink experiment) so they might try this. Southwest, JetBlue, and USAirways are all prime candidates for this sort of pricing, too. But it will be difficult to align a menu of flight options with Expedia, Orbitz, etc. And it will make apples-to-apples comparisons of fares even harder, going forward.

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Just two weeks ago, we learned that US Airways was halving the life of an earned frequent flyer mile from 3 years to 18 months. (Of course, you can still extend your miles’ lifespan by having any activity on the account.)

Now Air Canada does one worse. As View From the Wing reports, the maximum life of an Aeroplan mile, even if you keep adding miles diligently to your account, will be limited to 7 years. On top of that, your account can be closed down if you don’t have activity for 12 months. As Gary Leff writes, that is indeed “draconian.” It makes United Airlines’ recently-effected reshuffling of the Mileage Plus program seem like an upgrade (which it isn’t, so don’t get any ideas).

This should serve as just another reminder to spend your miles. Don’t hoard. You’ll only get burned.

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Air Canada has apparently instituted a new policy: Delay our flight, receive a four-digit bill.

The airline sent Gus Fuentes a $1,350 bill for causing a flight from London to Toronto to be delayed. (Passengers, who were presumably similarly inconvenienced by ol’ Gus, might want to band together and send him a separate invoice.)

The airline says he was abusive, and he was forced to leave the plane before takeoff. He says they overreacted.

While it’s amusing, it’s also disturbing in some sense. Who’s to say what might warrant a fine from an airline? Where do you draw the line? “Sir, please put your shoes back on. Your feet smell. That’ll be $50.”

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tags: travel | Air Canada

Too bad this didn’t happen on WizzAir
An Air Canada Jazz pilot locked himself out of the cockpit after visiting the lavatory. The co-pilot and flight attendant, both up front behind the locked door, were unable to open it. (Insert joke here.) After banging on the door, perhaps even shouting “Let me in!” to the horror of the passengers aboard the 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet, the pilot unscrewed the door hinges and got back in his seat. (The plane landed safely.) — And in case you’re wondering about the puerile joke in the title, there really is a WizzAir.

Security 2: Electric Booga-loo (emphasis on “loo”)
Losing your iPod certainly sucks. Losing it by dropping it into an airplane toilet, even worse. Having your plane make an emergency landing because of your dropped iPod being in the toilet, and being questioned as a terrorist suspect: almost trip horror perfection. (via Consumerist)

Moisture-based lawsuits begin
Add it to the growing list of lawsuits. An Irish woman is suing Delta Airlines for failing to provide beverages for her 18-month old boy, whom she carried on her lap. TSA agents at JFK had required her to empty her child’s juice at security. (via Consumerist, again)

Passports not worth what they once were
The U.S. government is preventing two American citizens from returning to the United States from Pakistan, unless they agree to be questioned — with lie detectors — by the FBI about their relatives, who were convicted in a case involving terrorism. Though they are not considered suspects, and are not charged with any crime, these two Americans are on the no-fly list for now. As usual, Ed Hasbrouck, recently turned consultant to the Identity Project/papersplease.org is on the scene, making a strong (if wordy) case that this is a violation of constitutional rights.

More kung fu fighting, still fast as lightning
China is sending some of its air marshals to the United States for further training. Apparently China’s flying cops are already “trained in martial arts and carry knives and clubs.” But can they sing and dance as well?

(image, taken onboard Southwest Airlines)
tags: travel | airlines | security

Award availability has been the Achilles’ heel of frequent flyer programs for some time. But in a remarkable change of pace, Air Canada announced this week that it would open *all* available seats on its flights to its Aeroplan members for point redemption by the end of the year. Already the airline claims to leave 15% of its seats open for frequent flyer redemptions.

The catch? As the flight date approaches, the number of miles required goes up, too. (Alternatively, I could imagine the price going up even earlier for heavily booked flights, but this is not part of the plan…) This parallels American and (soon) United, which both charge a fee for short-term redemptions. Air Canada has not announced the rates it will use for the short-term redemptions, but it claims that the Classic Rewards base schedule will remain as-is.

An all-seats-are-available-for-mileage-redemption policy already exists at the major US airlines, but at elevated (usually doubled) redemption rates. This is the “standard” award. So if Air Canada is allowing unlimited redemptions at “classic” award prices, then this is a HUGE enhancement.

This proves that airlines — even legacy carriers — *can* come up with innovative changes to their frequent flyer programs that don’t destroy the value of points. (And I’m not talking about United’s “Choices,” even though it’s gotten some tepidly positive press…) Joe Brancatelli’s interview with Steve Grosvald, one of the founding fathers of frequent flyer programs, suggests that rethinking of programs is afoot — but not always for the best. Grosvald advocates a program based on fare paid, not miles flown. But this would destroy the appeal of the frequent flyer game for me. Read the whole thing…

I hope Air Canada’s changes are real and positive. If they are for the better, then I hope they get some positive press south of the border. Other airlines might learn a thing or two about using their programs to increase customer satisfaction, and thus loyalty.

(image on flickr)
tags: travel | air travel | Air Canada | frequent flyer miles

Taking a page from Ryanair’s playbook, Air Canada effectively began charging bottom-fare customers for checked luggage on Wednesday.

Starting today [April 26], Air Canada customers booking a Tango fare at aircanada.com, will be eligible for up to $20 savings on their return trip if they agree not to make any changes to their booked itinerary, and agree to fly without checked baggage, within the normal carry-on bag allowance only. To obtain the discount, customers simply click on the GO Discount Tango fare option when making their online booking.

Air Canada already sells tickets in a simplified set of five fare types. Of these, “Tango’ is the cheapest, and they already sock it to you for things like seat assignments ($15) and limited mileage earnings (both redeemable and elite-qualifying).

I was amused to see an enthusiastic press release from the “Coalition for Luggage Security,” seemingly a front for a penny-stock company that offers to ship your luggage to your destination in advance of your travels. Their statement, dripping with praise of Air Canada’s new consumer-unfriendly policy, is a howler:

Other airlines should take their lead. We believe more airlines will adopt similar pricing and option models when they realize the savings to consumers and their own business. Soon we may see offering the shipping of luggage during reservations, and charging for carry-ons, or separate lines into airports for those travelers without luggage. The ideas are only limited by the willingness for airlines to become profitable, governments to release their controls on the traveling public, airports to utilize more effective use of space and infrastructure and most importantly for the American people to re-embrace freedom of movement without restrictions.

Look, I am all for carry-ons rather than checked luggage, but checking in bags doesn’t mean you aren’t embracing freedom of movement. What’s next? If you don’t use online check-in, the terrorists have won!? Oy.

But back to Air Canada: They can save the last dance for someone else. I won’t Tango.

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tags: travel | air travel | Air Canada | luggage | jingoism