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A look at some of the news stories that I noticed over the past few days that didn’t merit a blog post of their own but that may be of interest or of use nonetheless. Stories include American Airlines scheduling 2-class 777 service to Asia, United Airlines clarifying Polaris Lounge access Virgin Atlantic ordering the increasingly popular Airbus A350 and more.
Club Carlson Offers TSA Pre-Check As A Redemption Option
For those who aren’t sure, Club Carlson is the rewards program for the hotel group that owns the likes of Radisson, Radisson Blu, Park Plaza, Park Inn etc…
TSA Pre-check is the expedited security screening program that allows low-risk passengers of certain airlines (full airline list is here) to pass through TSA lines a lot quicker than otherwise possible – you don’t have to remove shoes, belts or light jackets and your laptop and liquids can stay in your carry on.
You can complete an application for TSA Pre-Check online and it costs $85 for 5 years but, from 1 July 2016, Club Carlson is offering to pay for your application if you’re prepared to part with 65,000 of their Gold Points.
I value Club Carlson points at around 0.3 – 0.4 cents each which would make the 65,000 Gold point redemption worth between $195 and $260 so, for me, this really isn’t a good idea at all.
If you have 65,000 Gold points you’re within 5,000 of an award at any top Carlson Rezidor property in the world and you already have enough points to stay at any second tier property (50,000 points) so you can get far better value elsewhere.
Unless you have more Gold Points than you know what to do with this is a truly terrible waste of a loyalty currency.
Virgin Atlantic Rumored To Order The Airbus A350
The Airbus A350 is an aircraft with an ever bigger fan club. I flew on one of Finnair’s first A350s last year and, since then, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and a host of other carriers have added the A350 to their fleets.
Now Business Traveller is reporting that Virgin Atlantic is looking to replace some of its inefficient (although, in my eyes, still fantastic) Boeing 747s with the Airbus A350-1000.
To be fair, this rumor has been around since the beginning of the year but Business Traveller is claiming that sources indicate that an announcement of a 12 aircraft order, for deliveries starting in 2019, is imminent.
On the face of it the aircraft would appear to fit well with Virgin’s products and routes as it’s designed for long haul travel on routes that aren’t heavy with premium traffic (no airline has added a first class cabin to their A350 yet). Virgin’s order would look to replace the 747’s out of the airline’s Gatwick base which primarily serves leisure markets in the Caribbean and, to a lesser extent, the US.
American Airlines To Fly 2-Class 777 Aircraft To Asia
As American Airlines continues to refurbish its older 777-200 aircraft we’re seeing fewer routes offering a First Class cabin. The latest routes to lose First Class thanks to the arrival of the refurbished aircraft are Dallas – Tokyo and Dallas – Seoul.
Image courtesy of Eric Sallard via Flickr
Dallas Ft. Worth – Tokyo Narita
From 5 August American’s second flight of the day between Dallas and Tokyo will be operated by a refurbished 777-200 aircraft:
AA61 DFW 13:30 – 16:30+ 1 day NRT
AA60 NRT 18:30 – 16:30 DFW
And, although Routes Online is reporting that this will change from 30 October, the schedule on ExpertFlyer shows that both flights between Dallas and Tokyo Narita will be operated by 2-class 777-200 aircraft from as early as 6 October:
Dallas Ft. Worth – Seoul Incheon
Once again there appears to be a discrepancy in what Routes Online is report and what ExpertFlyer is showing.
Routes online suggests that the Dallas – Seoul flight will be operated by a refurbished 777-200 from 7 September…..
AA61 DFW 10:40 – 15:15+ 1 day ICN
AA60 ICN 17:15 – 16:05 DFW
While ExpertFlyer is showing the flight losing its First Class cabin as early as 23 August 2016.
It’s not really possible to overstate just how much better the Business Class cabins are on the newer aircraft so this is a big improvement for Premium Cabin passengers.
Another positive is that the refurbished 777-200 aircraft come with 45 Main Cabin Extra seats which will give passengers an option of seats with 36″ of seat pitch (leg room) – 4″ more than in the Economy Class seats on the older aircraft.
Entertainment options on the newer aircraft will be a lot better through all cabins but the Economy Class cabin will go from 9-across seating to 10-across seating meaning 1″ less seat width for all Economy Class passengers (17″ seats are not to be welcomed!).
United Clarifies Lounge Access Rules – Bad News For Star Alliance Elites
Australian Business Traveller has obtained clarification from United Airlines regarding the access policy for their new Polaris Business Class lounges which are due to start opening in December this year.
United unveiled their new Polaris Business Class product with great fanfare less than two weeks ago but it would appear as if not everyone who may have expected to enjoy some of the new facilities will be able to do so.
United Airlines’ spokesman Koji Nagata told Australian Business Traveller that:
Star Alliance Gold customers traveling on Star Alliance carriers in a premium cabin will have access to the United Polaris lounges
But….
Other customers with lounge privileges will be invited to United Club locations
So no access to the new Polaris lounges if you have Star Alliance Gold status but are traveling in Economy Class.
This is the kind of thing that gives me pause for thought when I consider moving my flying away from oneworld.
As I’ll explain in greater detail in an upcoming post, now that American Airlines has taken yet another axe to the AAdvantage program I’m assessing all my options for flights I take next year…but restrictions on lounge access for top-tier StarAlliance status holders doesn’t exactly have me running away from oneworld where, regardless of my class of travel, I can access most of the First Class lounges around the world.
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