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Upgraded: JetBlue joining Star Alliance?
German carrier Lufthansa bought a 19% stake in JetBlue, a $300 million investment in the original luxe discount carrier. There’s no talk of merger, or even alliance. Yet. But the companies Lufthansa invests in have the tendency to join Star Alliance.

Upgraded: Star Alliance, again
So JetBlue’s membership is pure speculation. But Star Alliance *did* invite Air India into the alliance for eventual membership. And just yesterday, Air China and Shanghai Airlines officially joined the alliance.

Upgraded: Silverjet, at Maxjet’s expense
Maxjet’s woes, Silverjet’s joy? “Silverjet, which operates all-business-class flights from London to New York and Dubai, said that through Tuesday, the carrier had seen a 20 percent surge in bookings since MAXjet’s announcement.”

Upgraded: Planepooling
With a major treaty to be signed in Lisbon, some EU member states’ prime ministers are flying there together, carpool style, in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint. (Thanks, Dr. Vino!)

Upgraded: Editors’ hateful laziness
Who came up with this headline? “French rude and their hotels smell.” Top shelf editorial work, team!

Downgraded: Traveler’s IQ, and traveler’s brain cells
If you packed a one-liter bottle of vodka in your carry-on, and airport security says you can’t take it onboard, what would you do? If you said, “Open the bottle and chug the entire contents before going through the metal detector,” then you might be the now-hospitalized 64-year old resident of Dresden, Germany who proved he couldn’t hold his liquor at the Nuremberg airport. He should have just checked the booze.

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When is a free ticket not free? When it’s in India.

The government of India has started bilking first class and business class passengers, INCLUDING those who upgrade or buy a ticket with miles, on all flights departing their country.

The finance ministry has now decided to levy 12.25% service tax from all passengers who occupy the Business and First Class seats in international airlines. And these would also include Economy Class ticket holders who are upgraded to the upper class free of charge. […] Roughly, travellers need to pay a extra Rs 15,000-20,000 for travelling in Business Class, and around Rs 25,000-40,000 more for First Class to Europe. For US, such upgrades to Business Class would cost Rs 33,000-40,000, and Rs 60,000-80,000 for upgrades to First Class.

How do you tax a free ticket, you ask? By assuming the full fare were paid. Like charging rack rate taxes on a free hotel room (which is also done). Terrific.

That comes to anywhere between $300 and $1700 in taxes, payable at the check-in counter.

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tags: travel | India