Travel Blog

Category: Air Travel

Connecting through enemy territory

Yesterday's announcement that Continental Airlines would be moving to the North Terminal got me thinking: just how many people connect at "enemy hubs" anyway?

According to the folks at Detroit Metro Airport, not many. While a lot of the Delta/Northwest passengers in Detroit are connecting from one flight to another, most of the travelers using other carriers in Detroit are starting or ending their trips here.

But a few don't. And if you're looking for low fares, a slightly bizarre routing that's not through an airport's main hub -- or perhaps that of a major competitor -- could save you big bucks.

I love going to Europe, for example, and while Detroit is lucky to have direct connections to London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and (in the summer, at least) Rome, it's many times cheaper to take a Delta/Northwest flight to, say, Toronto or Montreal (both Air Canada hubs) and fly from there on a Delta/Northwest/KLM operated flight to, say, Amsterdam. The savings can be significant, in the range of hundreds of dollars in some cases.

A friend of mine has also been able to save hundreds flying to Minneapolis/St. Paul by connecting via a Delta flight to Chicago and then another onto MSP, even though there are many direct flights from Detroit to the Twin Cities everyday. The interesting part: Delta and Northwest have a pretty small presence in Chicago, where competitors United and American both run hub operations.

The risk, of course, is that you'll be connecting in a place where the airline isn't usually connecting passengers. And in some cases, you might have to change terminals which can result in awkwardly long walks or waits for shuttles, plus the hassle of going through security again. If you do go that route, check sites like this one for help navigating the facilities.

Category: Air Travel

Continental and United up elite perks

Continental Airlines and new Star Alliance partner United Airlines announced Monday they'll be offering better benefits for their elite members.

For one, the two airlines, now partners under the Star Alliance since Continental left SkyTeam (with Delta and Northwest) last month, will start offering unlimited complimentary upgrades for each others' elite customers beginning in the second quarter of 2010.

And United is really ratcheting it up for its top-tier fliers: they'll also be able to get free upgrades to Hawaii (Delta and others specifically exclude Hawaii from free upgrade programs). Some will even qualify for unlimited free international upgrades.

That's a big change for United, which currently has one of the toughest upgrade systems for elites, requiring 500-mile certificats for most bump-ups.

All of the details for the new programs are here for Continental and here for United.

Category: Air Travel

What to do when your SkyMiles go missing

To be honest, I was kinda surprised when it happened: my precious Delta SkyMiles had gone missing.

It was the first time since entering the too-much-flying-for-my-own-good club in 2007 that my miles hadn't materialized following a trip. After a family jaunt to Spain last month, only the outbound half of my miles showed up on my account. The return half, from Barcelona to Detroit via Paris, were nowhere to be found.

It's actually pretty easy to get your miles back, but the links to find help aren't that easy to find. For all you Delta/Northwest SkyMiles members, you'll want to go here to find the online form that'll get you the credit you deserve. There's also a link back to the old Northwest form for any pre-merger credit you might be missing.

When you submit the form, you'll get an e-mail confirming its receipt. The message I got late last week indicated there could be a backup and a slowdown taking seven to eight business days, but today, I got notification that everything had been updated. They even remembered to add my bonus for being a Gold Medallion level frequent flier.

There are a couple of nuances to requesting certain kinds of credit, including those owed from a flight on a partner airline like Air France/KLM or CSA Czech. You'll find those rules here.

No confirmation on this, but I think the mistake might have been because my ticket was booked with my pre-merger Northwest WorldPerks number, and Delta was in the middle of combining the WorldPerks and SkyMiles systems in October, right as I was on vacation.

Just another good reason to make sure everything's all merged with your two accounts. All the merging details are here.

Category: Air Travel

AMEX wants your business ... bad

And the credit card issuer is offering a ton of Delta SkyMiles to get it.

American Express is now giving away hundreds of thousands of frequent flier miles to customers who use their Delta SkyMiles-branded credit cards at thousands of shops in the Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Memphis areas.

Those cities are all former Northwest Airlines hubs, and AMEX is vying hard to switch all of the former WorldPerks Visa cardholders who used US Bank to switch to American Express.

The new promotion, running through Nov. 23, enters customers into a contest to win 100,000 miles for paying for transactions with their AMEX card at any of a few thousand participating merchants in each of the three cities. Detroiters can find a list of local ones here.

There'll be one winner each week.

And for an idea of where you could go with all those miles, check here.

Category: Air Travel

Delta makes up for long delay on tarmac with gift of bonus miles

What a pleasant surprise! I just opened a letter from Delta Air Lines that had been sitting on my desk for a while(I thought it was just another credit card solicitation) giving me 2,500 bonus SkyMiles to make up for my recent Northwest flight to Chicago that was delayed for a very long time at Detroit Metro Airport.

The letter from Elizabeth Reed, Delta's customer care general manager, read in part: "In this competitive airline industry, travelers expect the best value for their travel dollar. The best value is a complicated mix of safety, on-time operations, courteous efficient service, as well as a wide range of destination options. Occasionally, we must compromise on-time operations to guarantee safe travel. Unfortunately, this was one of those times."

Fortunately, extra frequent flier miles are always welcome in this traveling household. Thanks, Delta!

Category: Air Travel

Two new shops offer coffee break stops at DTW

The delicious aromas of coffee and tea are greeting travelers in two new spots in the McNamara Terminal at Detroit Metro Airport.

Called The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and part of a southern California-based chain of specialty shops, the new pit-stops are located in Concourse A (near gate A60) and in the domestic baggage claim area, pre-security.

"We are thrilled to offer ... this exciting new food and beverage option both to travelers on the concourse and customers waiting for arriving travelers in the McNamara baggage claim area," said Lester Robinson, CEO of the Wayne County Airport Authority.

Three similar coffee shops are located in the Ontario International Airport in Ontario, Calif., and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Category: Air Travel

With recovery, expect more delays

Here's a downside to the budding economic turnaround, one frequent fliers aren't going to like much at all: flight delays are likely going to get worse as passengers loosen the iron grip on their wallets and take to the skies again.

That's the word from the Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, D.C.

Brookings released a major report on air traffic congestion and delays this week; researchers had good things to say about Detroit and Metro Airport out in Romulus.

But the report also pointed out a number of snags in the nation's air transit system that are continuing to delay passengers and waste fuel, even with fewer planes taking to the skies because of the recession. Among the biggest problems, the folks at Brookings say:

-- Short-haul flights are becoming increasingly common and cause many delays, especially when they're clogging up capacity at big city hubs.

-- Federal investment in an improved air traffic control system has been slow to materialize.

-- Big city hubs like those in New York, Miami and San Francisco are at or over capacity, and likely to see traffic grow quickly in a post-recession era.

While the report points to a bleak outlook for travelers already frustrated by air delay hassles, there is a bit of a bright side: at least there's talk of an economic recovery, even if it's not quite here yet.

Category: Air Travel

Peak flights? Get ready to pay $10 extra

Here's a consideration for holiday-time air travel: it might just cost you $10 extra ... each way.

That's the news from Rick Seaney over at FareCompare.com, who recently discovered a new airline fee: the $10 "peak travel surcharge."

American Airlines was the first big carrier to slide in such a fee, and all of the other big U.S. airlines have decided to follow suit since American's Sept. 24 overture. It amounts to $10 each way, and was initially targeted at two specific time periods: the Sunday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 29) and Jan. 2-3 of 2010, the Saturday and Sunday after New Year 2010 celebrations.

Now the airlines have extended the surcharge to some other dates as well. So far, Seaney and his team have identified 10 more days with a surcharge. They include:
- Nov. 30, the Monday after Thanksgiving.
- Dec. 19, the Saturday before Christmas.
- Dec. 26 and 27, Christmas weekend.
- March 14, the Sunday before St. Patrick's Day, and a big Spring Break travel day.
- March 20 and 21, more Spring Break peak travel.
- March 28, ditto: Spring Break.
- April 11, expected to be a big post-Easter travel day.
- May 28, beginning of the Memorial Day 2010 weekend.

Category: Air Travel

Farewell, WorldPerks, hello SkyMiles

The e-mail finally came this weekend.

It's now official: my Northwest WorldPerks account is officially no longer. I'm a Delta SkyMiles member now.

I had been awaiting the news since Delta Air Lines took over Detroit's longtime hometown carrier Northwest Airlines last October. Now, it's all official.

For the 70 million-plus other WorldPerks and SkyMiles members out there, this is the big month for combining balances, elite statuses and all the other fun stuff.

The good news is the transition was relatively seamless. The balances of my two accounts were combined and my Gold Elite status on Northwest (it's been a busy year of flying) now shows up on my SkyMiles account online. There was only one small glitch in my transition, and I'm guessing that it'll affect only a handful of customers. I went to Northwest's Web site to book a November trip to Las Vegas (reservation systems are still separate, for now, at least), and tried using my new SkyMiles number. My elite status wasn't recognized, but when I checked today, it was, so all's good.

If you're having any trouble with your accounts combining, give it a little time. The airlines are combining accounts of quite literally tens of millions of customers into what'll be the largest airline loyalty program in the world, a feat that doesn't happen often. They're expecting to have the whole operation complete by the end of this month.

If there are any nagging questions, try checking here for an answer.

Category: Air Travel

Start racking up the miles

If you're an avid frequent flier mile collector, the airlines have more than a few pitches for you.

Book directly with Delta Air Lines and get 500 miles.

Fly virtually anywhere with Northwest Airlines and earn double or triple elite qualifying miles that will take to you silver, gold or platinum elite status -- along with the extra luggage allowances, free upgrades and other worthwhile perks -- much faster than before.

United Airlines is offering 25,000 bonus miles for round-trip coach flights between the U.S. and anywhere in the United Kingdom -- enough for a free domestic round-trip award ticket -- or 50,000 bonus miles for first-class trips.

It's all part of the airlines' attempts to get recession-weary travelers out of their homes and back in the skies again. And for mileage mavens, it's a great chance to earn extras.

Many of the deals are only available if you book directly with the airlines, and in some cases, travelers will need to register their frequent flier accounts ahead of time, so be sure to shop around.