United must have gotten a lot of complaints, as they’re reinstating the so-called “regional” upgrades:

1K® members will continue to earn Regional Upgrades
Sometimes no change is good news. After our last announcement, we heard from our 1K members how much they value their Regional Upgrades. To thank them for their ongoing loyalty, we’ve decided to continue issuing Regional Upgrades to 1Ks, even after the Unlimited Domestic Upgrades program launches.

That gives top-tier elites the best of both worlds: A reserved upgrade if booked in advance (and if United releases seats for upgrade early…) and the top of the free-upgrade list if they’re sweating it out at the gate.

And entry-level elites don’t really lose anything here. The 1Ks would be ahead of them in line, anyway.

—

Separately, United and Continental announced that reciprocal “unlimited” upgrade privileges will roll out in mid-2010. No word yet on what the hierarchy will be; I assume that, in a tie, UA 1Ks will still outrank CO platinums…

And on the semi-upgrade front: Continental elites will also have free access to the Economy Plus section on United flights — a privilege which United hasn’t been extending to other Star Alliance partner travelers.

Upgraded: Frontier Airlines, front half
Downgraded: Frontier Airlines, rear half
Frontier Airlines is reorganizing the seatmap to put in an extra-legroom section in economy, a la United’s Economy Plus. The section, dubbed “Stretch,” will have 36 inches of pitch between seats. Seats in the rear will have between 30 and 32 inches. 30? That is tight.

Upgraded: The Expedia-Choice Hotels War
You may recall the spat between the Choice Hotels chain and Expedia. Expedia demanded numerous draconian terms of Choice, and Choice said no. But now… As of this evening, Choice is back in. But no details yet on what the deal actual consists of. Stay tuned.

Upgraded: Ways to share your miles with veterans
It’s not new, but on this Veteran’s Day (or Armistice Day in the UK), you may be interested in the Fisher House Foundation’s program that accepts frequent flier miles to share with “military (or DoD civilian employees) hospitalized as a result of their service in Iraq, Afghanistan, or surrounding areas, and their families. These tickets can not be used for R&R travel, ordinary leave, emergency leave, or other travel not related to a medical condition.”

Upgraded: Japanese car rentals
Travelers renting a car in Japan can now reserve a wireless enabled netbook for about $10 per day. The company, Oryx, includes the cost of the wireless service.

Downgraded: Blaming the victim
A Stamford, Connecticut franchisee operating under the Marriott name stupidly and offensively blamed one of its customers, saying she “‘failed to exercise due care’ before she was raped at gunpoint in front of her children in a hotel parking garage.” Stay classy, Stamford Marriott! Now, the Marriott mothership is distancing itself from the words (and legal strategy) of its franchisee.

Upgraded: JetBlue-Lufthansa partnership
It took a while — I blogged about the possibility of an alliance partnership back in December 2007 — but JetBlue and Lufthansa are finally talking about codesharing. The consequences will be interesting. I’m particularly interested to see if Lufthansa will be selling JetBlue segments on tickets to destinations served as well by Star Alliance members United and US Airways.

Downgraded: SkyEurope
SkyEurope, a European (duh) discount airline, has ceased all operations. This was the airline that at one point offered to pay its customers to fly with them. R.I.P.

Downgraded: Enterprise Rent-a-Car
Rental cars typically don’t have a great reputation, and this doesn’t help: Enterprise saved money on its rental fleet by requesting that GM delete safety features — features that were otherwise standard. The savings per vehicle: $175. 66,000 Chevrolet Impalas without side curtain airbags were rented out, and then subsequently sold as used vehicles.

“With our final flight on 24 October, we will leave SkyTeam,” said outgoing Continental CEO Larry Kellner. “We will be in Star just as fast as we can be after that. We just can’t do anything until we get out of SkyTeam to jointly market with Star partners. It won’t be seamless; it will be a couple days in transition.”

Extracting itself from SkyTeam for Continental involves ending loyalty program and airport lounge reciprocity with Air France, Delta, KLM, Northwest and other soon-to-be former allies.

It also requires ending codeshare flights and joint corporate programs. On the former, some code shares with Delta and Northwest already have been discontinued, Kellner said, and “all drop off [by] the end of July.” On the latter, he acknowledged that “we have some joint contracts, but we don’t think that’s a significant risk for us. It’s a very small risk.”

How much time passes between the wind-down of the old partnerships and the initiation of the new ones is another open question.

The transition period may be a bumpy one for Continental loyalists — or for those planning on flying Continental and hoping for benefits via one alliance or the other. Stay tuned.

(image)

Upgraded: Global travel
Downgraded: Swine flu
Good news on the swine flu front: A vaccine for H1N1 should be ready by mid-October. If true, that could have huge implications for the movement of travelers across borders.

Downgraded: Laptops at airports
How many laptops are lost at US airports weekly? 12,000. WEEKLY. And of those, 1200 are at LAX. Most are left behind at security checkpoints. Only a third are ever recovered. That’s horrible, and embarrassing for everyone involved.

Upgraded: Star Alliance
Continental gets the final nod to join Star Alliance. It will be departing SkyTeam.

Upgraded: Upgrades to Hawaii on Continental
Perhaps in the spirit of joining a new alliance, Continental is changing its rules to allow its elite-level OnePass members to upgrade free on flights to Hawaii. Jared Blank has more.

Upgraded: Traveling like a Dolphin
For the person who has everything, and wants to travel a little deeper: A personal submarine based on a dolphin. Promo video below. Bizarre.

According to the lawsuit, Simon tried to book a flight in January from Los Angeles to Cleveland for 25,000 miles, which was the number of miles needed to earn an economy-class round trip within the lower 48 states when Simon joined the airline’s OnePass frequent-flier program several years ago.

The airline demanded 50,000 miles even though reservations officials said there were empty seats on some flights, said Simon’s lawyer, who described his client as a semiretired man in his 60s who “travels a fair amount.”

As much as the fees and continued mileage devaluation irk me, and as annoying as it is to be party to a contract where the rules are so prone to shifting, I don’t think he has a leg to stand on, legally. He may travel a fair amount, but Continental’s OnePass program is notorious for “selling out” tickets at the “EasyPass” level…

Downgraded: Expedia users’ web histories
Expedia is tracking your browsing habits and selling those data to advertisers, who may target you based on your purchases on the travel site. It’s cookie based, so it’s targeted to the computer you’re using, and allegedly doesn’t include personally identifying information, but your computer may be betraying information about you that you don’t want to share.

Downgraded: Homonyms
On the show “24,” the plot has turned to a private corporation that is plotting to use biological weapons against American citizens. That fictional company, clearly inspired by Blackwater (which is now renamed “Xe”…) is called “Starkwood.” I barely heard the “k” in the name when they first mentioned it on-air. My first thoughts: Why would Westin and Sheraton want to kill people?… (And yes, my wife makes fun of me for watching “24,” which she oh-so-lovingly derides as a “boy soap opera.” Guilty as charged!)

Downgraded: Digging to China
Ever wonder where the exact opposite spot on the earth is from where you’re standing? Too lazy to find a globe? The Antipode Map website is for you. And just so you know, if you want to “dig to China,” you’d better be standing in South America.

Upgraded: Pilot air rage
Downgraded: 37 people’s on-time travel
Sure, it’s amusing that a pilot got so frustrated at having to pass through security at London City Airport that he pulled down his pants, exposed himself completely, and demanded, “‘Do you want to search THIS?” But if I were one of the 37 passengers waiting to fly to Zurich, I might be a little ticked that someone got all high and mighty at the prospect of being searched at an airport. Yeah, it’s security theater. We all have to do it. Get in line, skipper.

Upgraded: Continental (gasp!) removes fees from the OnePass program
Continental, which is joining Star Alliance (and leaving SkyTeam) as of its first flights on October 25, is going against the grain and (gasp!) removing fees and restrictions from frequent flyer tickets in their OnePass program. Gary Leff points to a FlyerTalk thread, in which a Continental representative spills the beans. Changes made to frequent flyer tickets, if initiated 21+ days before the start of travel, will be free as long as the departure and destination are the same. Now, if only you could actually get tickets at the SaverPass level…

Upgraded: JetBlue cuts a break to the unemployed
It started in Europe, now it’s hit North America: If you lose your job, JetBlue will give you a refund.

Upgraded: Bump scheduling
Downgraded: Bump compensation
Air Canada will let you put yourself on the bump list in advance, in case a flight is overbooked, but in terms of cash, it’s a lousy deal. At best, they’ll let you earn up to $57 CAD or USD per one-way flight, including connections. That’s at least half of what you’d be getting if you were bumped at the gate. the tradeoff: You get to choose your alternate flight in advance. Maybe that works for you. They’re upgrading the options, but downgrading the payment. (via Cranky)

The Dallas Morning News noted the following comment by Continental’s chief operating officer during the airline’s earnings call on Thursday:

Finally, we are implementing a new internal policy for 2009, whereby we will give customers the opportunity to get off an airplane during tarmac delays in excess of three hours, subject of course to making sure we can do that safely.

The tarmac delay issue is a serious (if rare) one, but it’s not the #1 problem facing travelers today. The reason for the timing is most likely the legislation that’s moving through Congress right now that would require a three-hours “escape” option.

Being stuck on a plane is no picnic, and this is a good step. But the policy needs to be fleshed out. Right now, there are more questions than answers.

How will customers be “allowed to get off the plane”? Will they be bused to the terminal, or does the plane taxi back?

Do all passengers have to get off if someone wants off? Is it an all-or-none proposition?

Will the flight be canceled if someone opts to leave? What if other passengers who really need to make it to their destination stay on board? Who makes that call?

This is going to be a big, stinkin’ logistical mess to work through. And flight crews will need clear rules on both how to implement the policy, and how to communicate the options to passengers.

(image)

Upgraded: Biofuels
Air New Zealand tested the use of biofuels last week. This week, it’s Continental’s turn to burn a mix of jet fuel, algae, and jatropha weed extract. (Perhaps it should be renamed jetropha weed, har har har.) Anyway, Japan Air Lines is next in line. Flights testing these experimental fuels are unmanned, so don’t worry about what’s in the tanks on your next flight.

Downgraded: Sitting near the restroom
I would not have wanted to be a passenger (or a flight attendant… or a cleaning person…) on this flight to Houston. The headline: “Man Covered In Feces Attacks Flight Attendant.”

Upgraded: Airport welcomes
Improv Everywhere went to JFK to welcome a random person whom they didn’t know back. What a lovely — if somewhat disconcerting — way to arrive! Thanks to FD and Victor for sending this along!

Reader David writes in:

Did I miss the memo or is this old news? As plat elite on CO I got an email yesterday on my blackberry alerting me that I was upgraded on my IAH-LGA flight today. I didn’t read the details, but an upgrade to First is always welcome. Upon check in, and re-examination of the email, I was “upgraded” to the exit row! It’s nice but it’s not a real upgrade, is it? How long have they been sending these “upgrade” emails out?

News to me! It’s the first I’ve heard of this, but if readers have had similar experiences, I invite them to share their story in the comments.

Exit rows are generally nice, for the extra legroom, though some travelers dislike that the seats sometimes don’t recline. And they are an improvement, though not technically upgrades according to Continental’s own chart. They should count under the “preferred economy seating” benefit for elites. But that’s still not an upgrade.

I’ve sent a note to Continental media relations, requesting official comment, but it has gone unanswered. Is this a trend? Is it a goof? If they offer an explanation, I’ll post it here.

(image)

Downgraded: New York aviation landmarks
There are a handful of routes where pilots use land markers to guide their approach for landing. New York’s LaGuardia is one of them, and they’re about to lose a key marker: Shea Stadium, the home of the Mets, is being demolished. The use of these physical markers, seen from the sky, is kind of quaint. I recall flying into LaGuardia (on a different approach path) and listening to Channel 9 on United (which lets you listen in on the cockpit conversations with the tower). The tower’s instructions were something like “Turn left at the Statue of Liberty and fly up the river.” Awesome.

Downgraded: Flights to Pakistan
A note to any passengers flying to Pakistan: British Airways has indefinitely canceled its flights to Islamabad, in the wake of the Marriott hotel bombing. BA’s FAQ page for passengers with flights to Pakistan is here. Joe Brancatelli suggests that travelers to the region avoid US and UK airlines and hotels, and consider companies that cater to Japanese travelers instead.

Upgraded: Elite lines at American Airlines… and Southwest
American Airlines is rolling out the red carpets for their elite frequent flyers. Literally. Starting September 30, at select airports, you’ll find check-in lines, security lines, and boarding lines. (Before anyone gets upset: The TSA doesn’t control the security lines, the airports and airlines do. See here for a defense of the process.) I’m not frequently on board AA planes, so I’m not an elite with them. But I’m shocked that this isn’t already out there for AA flyers. Other airlines have been doing this for years. Years! More shocking, though also, not entirely: Southwest is rolling out elite lines, too.

Upgraded: Continental, caving, brings back the 500-mile minimum
An anonymous commenter brought it up early, and it’s since confirmed: Continental is reversing itself and granting passengers a minimum of 500 frequent flyer miles on flights under that distance.

Elite beggars staying at five star hotels
A sweep of Abu Dhabi for beggars during the month of Ramadan has found some particularly successful panhandlers staying at some of the city’s top hotels. Clearly, if they’re making the kind of bank that puts them in the Ritz, I’m doing something wrong. Maybe I should have put in that limit order to buy UAUA at a penny.

Boston fires up the juice
Benet Wilson, who admits that she travels with a power strip, reports that Boston’s Logan International Airport has added 520 power outlets and 520 USB ports under terminal seats and tables for you to charge your electronics. The juice isn’t everywhere yet, but you’ll find it at Terminals A, C and E and near Gate 37 in Terminal B. And yes, the airport is looking for companies to sponsor the power outlets, so the juice stays on and free.

But the car already HAD Bondo on it when I rented it!
You gotta appreciate the renter’s moxie here:

The blue Ford Focus left the lot back in June. The renter paid every 30 days until the middle of August. Rental Manager Brittany Aldrich reported it stolen Tuesday and the car showed up the next day damaged, to say the least. But the damage had been “fixed” by the renter, with Bondo and blue spray paint.

Fuel surcharges CAN be reversed
Air France/KLM and El Al are doing the unthinkable: They’re rolling back the fuel surcharges that they tacked on weeks ago. So is Singapore Airlines. Now that oil has slid back, closer to $100 than to $150, the charges were no longer justified. Could you see that sort of thing happening among U.S. airlines? Neither can I. Hmm, that brings us to…

Continental adds a fee for the first checked bag, worsens OnePass program
Citing higher fuel costs, cough cough, Continental has added a $15 fee for those checking their first bag, eliminated the 500-frequent-flyer-mile minimum, reduced elite bonuses, and raised the mileage cost for frequent flyer ticket redemptions on certain routes. What a surprise.