Downgraded: Checking in your bags at US airports
You’ve mastered the self-service check-in. You’ve printed your own boarding passes. Now, get ready to tag your own checked bags: “American Airlines(AMR) and Air Canada say they’re in talks with the Transportation Security Administration for a trial program in Boston likely later this year to let travelers tag their own checked bags for the first time in the U.S. Delta Air Lines (DAL) says it’s in talks with TSA for a trial at another airport.” Not a huge deal, frankly, and 32 airlines worldwide have already been testing this for some time at airports around the world, but it’s new to the United States. It’s another transfer of responsibility from the airline to you. Don’t expect to receive any discounts, vouchers, or thank-yous for doing someone else’s job, either.

Upgraded: Inflight wi-fi on Southwest
Southwest is (finally) getting on the inflight wifi train (err, or plane…) and their price will be a relatively low $5 per connection, regardless of flight duration/distance or device used to connect.

Upgraded: Passion for AirTran’s first class seats
Fans of AirTran, which is being taken over by Southwest, have set up a website devoted to saving the first class seats that AirTran frequent fliers have grown accustomed to. Join the resistance at AirTranSOS.com.

Upgraded: Your cellphone as a key
The Clarion Hotel in Stockholm is the first hotel to install a cellphone-based room lock/key system. It’s a limited rollout, for starters. In theory, you’ll be able to check in by phone and walk straight to your room, bypassing the front desk, and avoiding the need for a room key. Neat, if it works.

Upgraded: Back-channel efforts to change our security theater
If existing efforts to change TSA policy have failed — and if the policy itself has continuously gotten worse for travelers — then perhaps a back-channel effort to effect change may be in order. Reader Ed sends in this open letter to the CEO of the Walt Disney Company. The letter-writer, Arthur Krolman, argues that Disney is tacitly endorsing TSA policy, and is thereby supporting the “nude photography or inspection of private parts” of children. Ouch. Will Disney take the bait ?…

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As you’ve probably heard by now, Southwest Airlines has made a $1.4 billion cash-and-stock offer to buy AirTran. (The rumors that Southwest would buy SunCountry didn’t pan out.) I’ll leave the financial analysis to others. The market went nutso today though, with Southwest going up 8.7% and AirTran going up a whopping 61.3%.

So what does this mean to you, whether you fly Southwest, AirTran, or neither?

• More open seating, more coach, fewer first class seats, and tougher upgrades elsewhere?
  Southwest seating rules will prevail, which means a victory for the open-seating model. AirTran will lose assigned seats and its first class. Those first-class seats were rather inexpensive, compared to other airlines’ products, which will disappoint some premium travelers out there. And the network effects of that loss of first-class seats? Demand for first-class fares on other carriers might go up as a result, making your upgrades harder to clear. Hey, it’s a theory.
• Bag fees take a well-deserved beating.
  Southwest has vowed to remove checked baggage fees on AirTran, post-merger. Spreading the gospel of no- or low-fee travel is a good thing. (And given Southwest’s recent advertising of its baggage policy, I think they’re committed to it.) This won’t kill the concept of bag fees, but it might make them less socially acceptable.
• This is about Atlanta and Washington.
  When organic growth slows, or the barriers to entry in a new market are great, buying a local rival becomes more attractive, and that’s what happened here. AirTran has been successfully carving out a piece of the Atlanta market from Delta for the past few years. For Southwest fliers, you’ll (finally) be able to fly to Atlanta without having to change to a different airline. This deal also brings Southwest to Washington-Reagan National. If you fly into either of those cities, you’ll see a bit of fanfare over this deal, and likely some fare sales to kick things off. You may see counteroffers, like double-mileage promotions from Delta in ATL, US Airways at DCA, etc. But over the longer term…
• Fares? A wash, for now.
  Yes, there’s a “Southwest effect” on fares, but it’s particularly pronounced when Southwest enters a new market, bringing low-fare competition to the legacy airlines. In this instance, AirTran has already warmed up the market. So for now, we shouldn’t expect any macro-level discounting. If anything, we might see fares go up in the long term if Southwest retires some of the AirTran capacity. But that’s not going to happen overnight.
• This takes Southwest international, but it’s not a big deal.
  Yes, it’s international, but it’s not like this takes Southwest to Tokyo and Sydney. If Southwest keeps the AirTran routes, you’ll be able to fly Southwest to Cancun, Montego Bay, and Punta Cana. For those who have avoided Southwest because their travel plans (and frequent flier redemption goals) take them to other hemispheres, you’ll still be out of luck, for now.

Any other thoughts on Southwest and AirTran? Any predictions on how this will affect your travels, on a post-merger Southwest or anywhere else? Hit the comments!

Downgraded: Airtran
Airtran has been slapped with a $500,000 fine for failing to assist disabled passengers and further failing to respond adequately to complaints between 2007 and 2009.

Upgraded: Ubiquity of inflight wifi
Aircell, which markets inflight wifi under the Gogo brand name, has installed hotspots in its 1000th plane. Delta is closest to the finish line, with 527 out of 549 planes installed.

Upgraded: Bling
For those who’ve wondered what it’s like in the absolute highest-end (widebody) luxury jets, consider this slideshow of photographs by Nick Gleis, “who photographs the pimped up private jets that belong African dictators and other heads of state.” Enjoy the ultra-tacky comfort!

Downgraded: The view on AirTran
While US Airways has long had ads on the tops of their tray tables, which you only see if you pull the tray down, AirTran is going a step further and pasting ads on the undersides — the side you see during takeoff and landing, when those traytables are in their “upright and locked position.” The Ryanairification of American air travel is nearly complete. Stay classy!

Downgraded: Premium seats on Qantas
Qantas is cutting the number of premium seats. No surprises there.

Upgraded: A380 first class seats
The Global Traveller has flown the A380 on Singapore, Qantas, and Emirates, and offers a comparison of all three products. Well played, sir. Well played.

Downgraded: Airbus A380, not so premium
In direct contrast to the previous item, how about an A380 equipped with 840 seats? Air Austral, which travels between La Réunion in the Indian Ocean and Paris, has ordered two single-class A380s, jam-packed with passengers.

Upgraded: Tokyo
Forget Paris, New York, San Francisco, London, Chicago… Tokyo gets the nod for the city with the most top Michelin-starred restaurants.

Downgraded: Flying into de facto lava fields
Horrible event, but a great headline: “Plane Misses Runway, Lands in Lava“… The accident occurred in Goma, Congo, where the runway was cut in half by the lava flow from a 2002 volcanic eruption. Apparently, there were a few injuries, but thankfully no deaths.

Downgraded: Amex cards’ point/mile programs
Want to earn the miles or points from an affinity credit card purchase? Be sure to pay the bill on time. American Express is withholding the points if the cardholder doesn’t pay the bill by the due date. Customers forfeit the points, unless they pay a $29 reinstatement fee, in addition to late charges and interest. This isn’t just Amex: JPMorgan Chase has a similar policy with their United Visa. Expect this to be the norm. And try to pay that bill on time.

Some light fare for a pre-holiday Friday afternoon… My favorite gimmick from the recent (brilliant) AirTran PR stunt, wherein comedian Mark Malkoff lived on AirTran planes for an entire month, ostensibly to get over his fear of flying. In the process, he learned about the vacuum power of airplane toilets, as is evidenced in this video. (entirely safe for work, no worries)

You may have seen it before, but it’s a keeper in my book.

Didn’t pay for first or business class? Didn’t put your name on the upgrade list before the flight? Boarded and seated in your coach seat, and feeling remorse about not pushing for the seat up front? No longer a problem, if you’re on AirTran. The airline has started allowing passengers to upgrade to business class after boarding.

AirTran has been selling upgrades for some time, but the notable change is that they’re now selling those upgrades on board. (Assuming they’re free, of course.) It’s the same price — $49 to $99 each way, depending on the route — as if you had bought the upgrade online or at the airport. But this way, if you decide at the very last minute that you really do want the bigger seat, you now can buy it.

AirTran will continue to sell upgrades at the time of booking, at check-in, at the ticket counter or at the gate, and continue to give complimentary upgrades to elite travelers. Flight attendants will make announcements on board if any upgrades remain and are for sale.
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Passengers pay by credit card to flight attendants, who carry card readers already used for on-board drink sales.

Pretty smart of them. It’s possible that others might follow suit, but don’t expect it on the long-haul international flights where sitting in a bigger, reclining seat really matters.

Don’t expect a big meal or a fancy production. This isn’t Singapore. What you get is a bigger seat and free drinks. Not a bad option to have, though, and I salute AirTran for being creative (and aggressive) in turning those bigger seats into cash.

I don’t expect many airlines will follow suit. Most other airlines have so many elite-level frequent flyer program members, that the seats would already be filled. I haven’t seen an empty first-class seat in ages.

AirTran’s pool of elites is a smaller group, so the airline can both pamper them AND go for revenue from the masses. (Back in September, they announced some improvements to their elite program, including upgrades from any fare class, subject to availability, 40 minutes before takeoff. So elites shouldn’t worry that they’re competing with cash buyers on board, though a cash-upgrader could trump an elite if they buy the upgrade before the 40-minute mark.)

I’d expect to see Spirit and Virgin America follow suit soon. Perhaps airlines without an “unlimited” upgrade policy for elites (e.g., United and American) would be also consider testing this sort of program.

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