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The Smarter Way to Travel™

Category Archive: Air

  1. The rise of Premium Economy

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    In an effort to woo budget conscious business travellers, and leisure flyers who are willing to pay a little extra for a better seat; many airlines have started to introduce premium economy cabins. Business class featuring Flat beds, all aisle access, superior meals, and a more personalized service comes at a cost. Whilst there definitely still is a market for these services, many companies are cutting back on their travel budgets. This is where premium economy can fill a nice gap on long-haul travel. Sitting in between Economy and Business class, Premium Economy is not an Economy-Plus product such as Main Cabin Extra on American Airlines, Economy Plus on United, or Economy Comfort on Delta. Rather it is a distinct class of service which offers a wider seat with more legroom in its own cabin.
    Many airlines have responded to the complaints of passengers that they were being squeezed in wherever possible. British Airways, for example, reduced the number of seats from 10 across to 9 across on a number of its Boeing 777 aircraft after passengers started to complain. American Airlines experimented with a system it called More Room throughout Coach, offering all economy class passengers increased legroom over their competitors by removing seats from their aircraft.
    Ultimately this didn’t last, but it was a precursor to a trend among US carriers to offer certain seats with additional pitch and leg-room for a fee. United now offers Economy Plus, Delta offers Economy Comfort, and American offers Main Cabin Extra. All of these products are a number of seats, generally in the first rows of economy, which feature extra legroom and can come with other perks such as free bags, or priority boarding. Often these seats are offered for free, or at a reduced cost to the airline’s elite frequent flyer members.
    This is not a Premium Economy product. What sets premium economy apart is a dedicated cabin with a different seat and often a more personalized service with better offerings for food and drink. Airlines such as Qantas, Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, and now even Air Canada and Lufthansa are offering a third or sometimes even fourth cabin of service on their flights called Premium Economy.

  2. The benefits of flying Premium Economy

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    In an effort to woo budget conscious business travellers, and leisure flyers who are willing to pay a little extra for a better seat; many airlines have started to introduce premium economy cabins. Business class featuring Flat beds, all aisle access, superior meals, and a more personalized service comes at a cost. Whilst there definitely still is a market for these services, many companies are cutting back on their travel budgets. This is where premium economy can fill a nice gap on long-haul travel. Sitting in between Economy and Business class, Premium Economy is not an Economy-Plus product such as Main Cabin Extra on American Airlines, Economy Plus on United, or Economy Comfort on Delta. Rather it is a distinct class of service which offers a wider seat with more legroom in its own cabin.
    Costing more than economy but less than business class, there are many advantages to flying premium economy. Very often, the cabin only consists of 5-6 or even fewer rows of seats. At this size, flight attendants are able to offer a very personalized level of service. Some carriers have flight attendants dedicated solely to this cabin, whereas other carriers have attendants that serve either business class and Premium Economy, or Premium Economy and Economy. Either way, the staff to passenger ratio is a lot more favourable in the cabin.
    As a distinct cabin above economy class; many airlines also offer Premium Economy passengers better services than economy class. At the airport this can mean separate check-in desks and priority services such as expedited baggage delivery, more free baggage allowance, security screening, and advance boarding. Many of these services are offered for a charge to Economy class passengers; so the cost of Premium Economy may be well worth it, for this fact alone.

  3. Finding better airfares

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    Often we want to get to where we’re going in the quickest manner possible which ideally would be a direct or non-stop flight from our home city to our destination. Airlines that fly the direct routes know that you value this so they will often charge you more than their competitors who will get you to where you need to go but with a connection. Business travellers who are less productive for each minute they’re in the air value the time saved, and generally their company is paying so there’s no personal loss for the higher fares. However, as a leisure traveller you can save up to half or even more of the cost of a direct flight if you choose to connect.
    Airlines will also put their flights on sale. Look out for e-mail and other promotions. Sign up for the airline’s frequent flier programmes and check your inbox regularly if you’re looking to book a flight. Also see if there is a new airline flying to your airport. Often, when an airline launches a new route, they’ll offer promotional fares.
    One of the best ways to shop around is to use a website such as flights.google.com with your dates, origin, and destination. It will often search all of the sites that are able to book the ticket for you and it will give you a direct link to purchase once you’ve selected what you want. It’s quite intuitive and it will offer suggestions on what’s cheaper. Hipmunk is another great comparison website that will rate your trip based on agony.
    Look at alternate airports. Flying to New York, there are 3 main airports that serve the city and each has many airlines flying in or out of it.If a city has multiple airports close by, don’t limit yourself to one, search around and you may be able to find a better deal.

  4. Dealing with the Busy Travel Season – At the Airport

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    In the UK and for most of Europe the busiest travel days are around the school holidays. Families vacationing en-masse in far away places. For The US and Canada the peak travel days are usually around Thanksgiving and Christmas when families join one another from all parts of the country to celebrate together. These are days that we know are busy, and there are many more. For many of us, flying a week early to avoid the crowds just isn’t an option. Here’s some advice to help you prepare your trip and make it go smoothly.

    Check in online. We cannot stress this one enough. Checking in online saves a lot of time and can even save you money on baggage fees as some airlines charge less for checked bags online than what is collected at the airport. With a boarding pass in hand and carry-on only you can go straight to security in many cases though sometimes you’ll still have to see an agent for a passport check. With bags, many airlines have designated special bag-drop queues where your boarding pass gets scanned, a label prints out and gets attached to your bag, and you can be on your way.

    Even if you have checked in online this next piece of advice is still important for you. Arrive early! there will be lots of people and there will be lots of waiting in line. Remember to pack a light snack and a water bottle to get you through the wait but please remember to empty the water bottle or dispose of it before going through security; and if you’re flying internationally remember to check the restrictions on taking food across the border.

    Getting through security can be rough at the best of times. Remember to have your ID and boarding pass at the ready because having to look for it at the bottom of your carry-on holds everyone up. If you’re wearing something with pockets, we’d suggest keeping it in there, or somehow easily accessible on your person at all times. that way if you would happen to get separated from your bags you still have your ID and ticket.

    Have a look at your airport’s website. See what facilities and amenities there are and have a plan. Some airports feature museums and exhibits whilst others have great shopping. If you’ve got the time, make use of it and you’ll notice it’ll soon be time to board.

    This definitely doesn’t cover every aspect, but the mantra is be prepared. it takes a lot of the stress out of travel.

  5. Using frequent flier points

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    Whilst airlines used to only offer reward flights and “free” tickets on their own flights; with the rise of global airline alliances miles can be earned and redeemed on partner airlines’ flights too. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Northwest (now Delta) pioneered this level of cooperation and integration, and were the first major carriers to work so closely together that their loyalty benefits became almost mutually assured. Nowadays, within the three major alliances; oneworld, Skyteam and Star Alliance, points earned in one programme can very easily be redeemed for flights on many other carriers.

    In the case of BA as above where the taxes and fees can amount to more than the cost of an economy-class ticket, the use of miles on partner airlines can sometimes reduce this. It really pays to shop around when looking for a flight and open up the possibility of flying on a partner airline to avoid some of the high costs that would otherwise be charged by the carrier whose points you are using. Another thing to look out for are connections. Some airlines charge per-segment based on distance of the flights, and not for travel between the origin and destination. This, however, is the exception and not the rule. Most airlines will charge a fixed price in miles charged based on travel beween zones. For example, LAX to LHR would be classed as North America to Europe and you’d pay the same price if you flew direct, or if you had a connection in Chicago, or New York on American Arilines (for example) whereas if you flew BA and your flight had connections each flight would be priced individually.

    When it comes to the airlines that charge high fees for reward travel such as Air Canada or British Airways, the best value almost never lies in economy class travel, but rather in premium cabin travel and upgrades. You have to pay more points, but for what usually amounts to the price of a discounted economy class ticket you may be able to fly on a flexible business class ticket.

    By far one of the best ways to use your frequent flier points is to upgrade. Be careful when purchasing your ticket, because not all fares can be upgraded using miles or points and there may not be availability but if there is you’re in for a treat. Upgrades usually cost far less in points than full reward tickets do and as a bonus, you usually earn miles for the cabin you’ve paid to fly in which effectively further reduces the miles cost of the ticket.

    So whether you’re saving up for that once-in-a-lifetime round-the-world trip; or you want to fly in more comfort on your next trans-Atlantic hop… it pays to shop around and do your homework before spending the miles.

  6. Airline Status Matches

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    Airline frequent flyer programs give extra benefits (upgrades, free checked bags, and lounge access among them) when you attain upper-tier “status,” and they sometimes offer incentives to switch your loyalty from the program you use the most. It’s called a “status match” in airline parlance.

    Airlines are competing for your business especially when carriers merge and become stronger. They know they can lure flyers away from other airlines because of their expanded network, and many flyers take the bait especially when media coverage touts the new airline’s program.

    The coming American Airlines-US Airways merger has opened new possibilities. American is a member of OneWorld, and US Airways was a member of Star Alliance. The new carrier will belong to Oneworld, and it will work hard to bring over Star Alliance loyalists from the US Airways program while also courting other airline elite members to take advantage of the new airline’s expanded program.

    Carriers often provide status matches to certain tiers within their program to give new customers a chance to see what it’s like in the loyalty program without having to do all of the work to get there.

    What is required of most airlines is usually a copy of one’s current elite credentials and account activity. Some airlines are more lenient than others especially when a traveler is paying higher, more lucrative fares.

    Other airlines offer challenges requiring new members to show they will be loyal by flying a certain amount within a specified time period to maintain a status level for the whole year. Be aware that some airlines limit the number of challenges available per member within a certain period of time so be sure to ask as it varies frequently. For example, if you take a status match this year, you may not be eligible for it again next year. And some airlines offer status matches just once per member.

    When applying for a status match, it is wise to decide if another airline may serve your needs better than another. And while one carrier may not have worked for you in the past, recent mergers may have made it a better. For example, Charlotte, N.C. travelers may not have been interested in American’s AAdvantage program before, but now that it is merging with US Airways, it is the new “home program”.