This morning, the FAA announced some big news: personal electronic devices – as long as they’re in airplane mode – are indeed safe to be used during all portions of flight. Also, duh.
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If you haven’t already seen it, Virgin America today released their new safety video. It’s a break from the normal boring videos you see telling you how to do the obvious, but it’s so much more than that.
A few days ago, my parents told me of an opportunity they had to stay in Hawaii at a friend’s timeshare for next to nothing. The trouble? The only availability was in a few days, and flights ran no less than $650 a piece. Not bad for last-minute tickets, but who wants to pay that? I sent my parents to Hawaii at the last minute for $10.
Over the past few days, Delta, United, and Alaska have all offered promotions where (during the duration of the promotion) trips are eligible for double miles. It’s getting a little wild out there, but it’s a good way to bulk up on some miles before the end of the year.
In exactly 30 days, I’ll be heading to Dubai for #DXB13, also known as the Dubai Air Show. Having never been to Dubai, I’m pretty excited to be visiting this ever-growing metropolis – but until I did some research, I didn’t know much about it.
Dubai one of seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates, and is home to approximately 2.1 million, nearly double what it was just in 2005, doubling again from 1995. As such, the city’s landscape has grown tremendously, becoming a city that is well-known for its tall skyscrapers, including the tallest man-made structure in the world, the Burj Khalifa.
In just over a month, I’ll be heading to Dubai, UAE for the Dubai Air Show. I’m really excited to be traveling out there (not to mention it was a really good deal), because I’ve never been to Dubai, and the air show is rumored to be pretty awesome. For just a little over $700, I’m flying out of LAX to Dubai — but the trouble is that I live in San Diego. How will I get there? Drive? Train? Nope. Looks like I’m flying San Diego to LAX…via Orlando.
November’s Dubai trip is looking like it’s going to be a lot of fun. I still don’t have a whole lot planned yet (including where I’m going to stay), but I’m excited nevertheless to be heading there. When it’s all said and done, I’ll have earned 18,714 base miles from flying for 20 or so hours each way, plus another 18,714 miles because of my status with United. What does that mean? 37,428 miles by the time I get home, or more than enough for one-way saver flight to London from San Diego.
in American Airlines / British Airways / Dubai / Dulles / LAX / Loyalty Programs / Mileage Runs / San Diego / Travel Hacks / Trip Reports / United Airlines
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For those of us who fly through San Diego, there are a bunch of great things about the new Terminal 2. But one thing was missing: TSA PreCheck, the VERY worthwhile service which allows you to go through airport security without taking your shoes off, belt off, laptop out, liquids out and is pretty much like pre-9/11 security. Well, it’s now finally in place (despite the government shutdown)!
As posted earlier, PreCheck is worth its weight in gold, and by signing up for U.S. Customs’ partner program called Global Entry, you can use PreCheck – which has seriously saved me hours waiting in line at airports around the country.
United Airlines offers Economy Plus seating on all its mainline fleet, giving you a few extra inches (generally about two inches) of legroom compared to its standard economy class for. Generally speaking, those two inches can be great, especially on transcontinental and on international flights.
To get these extra inches, you generally have to pay a fee (depending on how long the flight is, $25-$129), have a ‘subscription’ (starting at $499 for U.S.-only flights, other regions have additional costs), or have elite status with United (starting at 25k miles flown in a year).
Now here’s the thing: while the Economy Plus seats are very worthwhile in terms of comfort, it’s important to do some calculations to see if $500+ a year is worth it.
Slightly off topic, United Airlines released their new revamped ad and media campaign, complete with a new slogan “Flyer Friendly,” paying homage to the “Fly the Friendly Skies” slogan of yesteryear.
Here at Carpe Points, we have a love-hate relationship with British Airways Avios. They’re incredibly useful for booking domestic U.S. flights (odd, right?), but generally a pain in the neck (and expensive) to book flights on British Airways, especially from the U.S. west coast.