Southwest Airlines is a great no-frills airline with service across the United States. Unfortunately, a big part of their “no frills” aspect is that seats are not assigned at all; once you’re onboard the aircraft, you can pick any seat you want that’s available. That also means that to get on the aircraft sooner, you want to check in as close to exactly 24 hours before your flight to get an A, B, or C number, which determines the order in which you board and is assigned sequentially upon check-in. Fortunately, for $12.50, Earlybird Check-in does all the work for you before anyone else has a chance to do the same.
One of our readers, Jonathan, received a promotion from US Airways: buy 30,000-50,000 miles and get another 30-50k miles. But is it a good deal, and is it worth it?
The short answer: it depends, but it can actually save you money.
Yesterday, we managed to get several hours behind in our plans, but eventually headed to Abu Dhabi in the afternoon, primarily to see the Sheikh Zayed Mosque – which turned out to be absolutely breathtaking. Although we didn’t get there until around sunset, it ended up being the perfect time, and I’m glad we got there when we did.
Day 1 was full of flashing lights, glamour, malls, and consumerism – but Day 2 was a complete 180-degree turn from the glitz and glam with stops at the beach, the Dubai Museum, the fish market, more rain!, Bastakiya, Bur Dubai Souk (a marketplace), and some awesome dinner. Despite all the new and shiny, it’s very apparent how much history lives in this city.
Thursday was our first full day in Dubai, and it involved a lot of walking. The main airport, the air show (a moot point, since it was cancelled), two giant malls, the Burj Khalifa, dinner, and then drinks – all part of the fun in this amazing place – until the end when I nearly began to fall asleep standing up. Jetlag’s…jetlag.
Ever wanted to sit in first class but didn’t want to pay a usually-unusually-high-priced fee to sit in the big chair? American just launched a trial program called “Plusgrade” to allow you to bid on upgrading to the next highest cabin, potentially at less cost than if you just outright paid.