When free drinks aren’t welcome
Why would there be an uproar over an airline giving a customer a free bottle of wine? When that customer is a celebrity who just left rehab for alcoholism. A well-meaning Qantas flight attendant gave a bottle of red to singer Keith Urban, who apparently declined. But come on: give the flight attendant a break! Unless the airline is giving CIA-style background briefings about the passengers in the cabin, you can’t be expected to know the ins and outs of every celebrity’s (or every passenger’s) personal life. In fact, I was quite content to be blissfully unaware of Mr. Urban’s specific addiction before this imbroglio. (Thanks Dr. Vino!)

Group hug: Mergers and partnerships
JetBlue merging with Delta? Rumored, but unlikely. Brazil’s TAM and Germany’s Lufthansa? Not a merger, but a codesharing partnership. United is getting in on the hot codesharing action with TAM, too. Lufthansa also joined up with El Salvador’s TACA, already a United partner. Are the Star Alliance invitations far off? And keepin’ it Star, is Singapore Airlines buying China Eastern? They’re buying a piece, but how big will that piece be?…

Can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em?
British Airways, apparently in a response to the all-business class service from startups like Eos, Silverjet, and Maxjet, is considering rolling out all-premium service between unnamed European and American cities. Premium economy in the back, business in the front. No straight-up economy, and no first. (Thanks, Benet!)

Countdown to 7/8/07
Boeing has started assembling its first 787 Dreamliner, a plane manufactured in prefab pieces around the world and bolted together at the Everett factory. The debut is scheduled for July 8. 7/8/07… 787… har har har.

American updates website, makes it more like Southwest
American Airlines revamped their website, giving you an overview of the different fares you can book. The layout will be familiar, if you’ve ever booked on Southwest. Or Air Canada. Or Qantas. Or Ted. (Does anyone ever actually book tickets at the Ted site?)

Yapta comes alive!
Yapta, the service that tracks fares after you’ve bought, mentioned here last week, is now live.

Alaska Airlines downgrades their upgrades
If you used miles to upgrade flights on Alaska Airlines, you’ll have to buy far more expensive tickets in order to do so. Thumbs down. Gary Leff has the full scoop.

Reader Raul S. asks:

You’ve mentioned paid upgrades at check in, but how much does that actually cost?

The price depends on a variety of factors, such as the route, how full the plane is, and possibly other, secret factors. It’s impossible to accurately predict an offer of a paid upgrade, but it can never hurt to ask. Not all airlines offer upgrades for sale at check-in, either; in fact, I’d say the number that DO sell them is in the minority.

U.S. carriers are far and away the most likely to try to squeeze out some extra revenue if business or first class seats remain available.

Alaska Airlines is the most explicit in describing their paid-upgrade policy, and they’re also the cheapest. As outlined in their chart, upgrades only cost $50 for every 1250 miles flown. US Airways charges a little more. United has lately been selling domestic upgrades at check-in at a rate of $65 for every 500 miles (or portion thereof) flown. I’ve seen higher, too, but $65/500 is the normal rate.

Internationally, it seems to vary more. On United, I recall being offered an upgrade from coach to business for $550 on the Washington-Amsterdam route — on award tickets — and $450 on paid tickets from Chicago to Frankfurt. $550 is a seemingly magic number that comes up a lot for trans-Pacific routes. American’s upgrades are similarly priced — and considering they charge a fee to use miles for upgrades, the all-cash upgrades are a decent deal. British Airways also occasionally offers upgrades for sale — even on board. I’ve heard of upgrades from regular economy to premium economy for about $250, but that was several years ago.

All these upgrades are one-way, of course. If it’s available on the return flight, you can expect to pay up again. And it may not be the same price. Crapshoot!

Note also that you don’t earn any class-of-service bonus miles for sitting in the bigger seats, even if you’re paying money for it. It’s still an upgrade from a lower booking class, not a purchase of a premium-class ticket.

Is it worth it? Depends on you. But at least you’ll be sitting up front.

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Upgraded: French-sounding names
All-business class startup airline Elysair, who will fly from Newark to Paris-Orly, decided at the last minute to change its name to “L’Avion.” (“The airplane” in French.) Why the change? It sounded more French. I guess this explains why, as recently as last week, their website was so… comment dit-on… crappy. Service, in the same vein as Maxjet, Eos, and Silverjet, allegedly begins December 27, but the newly-minted website isn’t ready to accept reservations yet…

Downgraded: British Airways
The apparent murder of a former Russian spy with polonium 210 has been big news. (FYI, though fingers are pointing toward Russia, the element isn’t necessarily weaponized. While small amounts are found in cigarettes, you can, in fact, buy some for $69 on the internet.) On top of it all, three British Airways planes have tested positive for the radioactive element. Affected: 221 flights, carrying 33,000 passengers and coming into contact with 3,000 airline employees on the ground or in the air. British health authorities say there’s no health risk, but I sure wouldn’t be thrilled to find my flight on the list. Click here to see if you flew on one of the flights, from the BA site.
UPDATE: BA has pulled the flight information from its website, stating that there was no health risk, so presumably there’s no longer a need to let people know if they were among the 30,000. Tsk tsk. No worries: The Seattle Times has the list.

Downgraded: Kids on Alaska Airlines
As of November 1, Alaska Airlines has stopped selling children’s fares at a 33% discount.

Upgraded: Competition between Chicago and New York
Delta is increasing service between New York area airports and Chicago, in a big way, including a “shuttle-style” service from LaGuardia. This comes as jetBlue starts up JFK-O’Hare service in the new year. That means American, United, Delta, jetBlue, and ATA all fly between the two cities. Viva competition!

Upgraded: Fake boarding pass guy’s freedom
The Indiana University graduate student who posted a fake boarding pass generator for Northwest Airlines (to prove a point about how easy it is to create such a pass, and how the boarding pass/id checks at airport security are pointless) is freed.

Upgraded: Shorter waits for toilets onboard China Southern Airlines
Pee first, fly later. The airline is asking passengers to use the bathrooms before takeoff, since each inflight flush burns as much as a liter of fuel. Yikes!

American Airlines reduced their online booking bonus from 1000 to 500 miles for all but the most expensive tickets back in December 2005. Delta Airlines followed suit in July 2006.

Now Alaska Airlines goes a step further and simply eliminates the online booking bonus, effective September 6, for all tickets EXCEPT those purchased with the Alaska Airlines credit card. (via Gary Leff)

I suppose airlines are increasingly confident that their websites are the primary point of sale, and that customers will continue to book their tickets that way. The sites have thusfar been incentivizing customers with the one-two punch of no additional booking fees (a la Expedia, Orbitz, etc.) and bonus miles. Will customers flee if the miles disappear? Alaska’s move is a bold one. We’ll see how it pans out.

Downgraded: Food on Alaska Airlines
Well, the food is the same, but it’ll cost you $5 starting August 1.

Upgraded: First class food on Singapore Airlines
Flying up front on Singapore? Consider the thali. Do they have a tandoor in first class? This I gotta see.

Upgraded: Smokers’ inflight nicotine fix
Stuck on a long flight (and not flying all-smoking Smintair), or sitting inside a smoke-free Westin or Marriott? Crack open an ice-cold NicLite — the bottled water with the nicotine kick. You’ll soon be able to buy it at LAX, and possibly other airports.

Downgraded: Delta’s online booking bonus
Book a flight online at delta.com, only get 500 bonus miles instead of the usual 1000. American has already done this for less than top-dollar fares.

Upgraded: AA’s Online Check-In
Same-day round-trip American Airlines flyers rejoice: You can now check in online for both the outbound and the same-day return flights. Convenient for out-and-back trips, as well as mileage runners.

Downgraded: Varig. Upgraded: Varig
Brazilian airline and Star Alliance member VARIG, long in bankruptcy court, was sold for a mere pittance to VarigLog, the cargo arm of the airline that had been previously spun off. The new owners immediately cancelled all flights except the lucrative Sao Paolo-Rio de Janeiro shuttle, leaving many international travelers scrambling for alternatives. Brazilian regulators subsequently forced the airline to resume international flights, but the carrier only has 13 planes that aren’t either repossessed or grounded due to lack of maintenance. Where she stops, nobody knows.

Downgraded: Canadians and permanent residents
If you’re Canadian or a green-card holder, you’re more likely than a US citizen to be a criminal. That’s the only conclusion I can draw from efforts to expand fingerprinting requirements. My opinion: Either fingerprint everyone, or no one.

Downgraded: My opinion of South African airport security
Reporters walked through security and onboard aircraft carrying razor blades, knives, mace spray, and other prohibited items.

A Washington-bound Alaska Airlines flight diverted to Denver in order to inspect a “nick” in its paint. The chip was found near the rear of the plane, and had been detected by catering crews on the ground in Seattle.

This isn’t about custom detailing the paint job or polishing the chrome, though thankfully it wasn’t serious damage. I can understand the precaution, especially after the incident last December when a ground worker ran equipment into the side of the aircraft, creasing the outer hull. The damage went unnoticed (or unreported) until the plane was airborne and the crease turned into a hole. The cabin’s depressurization was blogged by passengers (with photos). And just two days before the most recent “chipped paint” incident, another Alaska Airlines aircraft was damaged by a jetway operator in Seattle.

But if the catering crew noticed damage on the ground, why was the plane ever allowed to depart Seattle in the first place? If it’s serious enough to divert the plane, it’s serious enough to ground the plane before takeoff. Why wasn’t this reported to the pilot or the airline earlier??

And what’s up with the AP’s coverage? It focuses more on the fact that a Congressman was on board the flight, and missed a vote, as well as his dinner reservation. Poor fella. That’s the key takeaway? Jeez!

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