|
|
Volume 5, Issue 30, July 24, 2007 |
   |
After all sorts of bureaucratic delays about, among other things, the foreign ownership of the airline, Virgin America is officially ready to fly, and selling tickets. Service is to begin on Aug. 8, with two daily flights between San Francisco (SFO) and New York (JFK), as well as five daily flights between San Francisco and Los Angeles (LAX).
The airline is offering two classes of service, economy and first, sold one-way with no advance-purchase requirements. Fares start at $139 in coach and $389 in first class for the transcontinental route, $44 for the California corridor route.
If all proceeds on schedule, the airline will be flying four daily flights between SFO and JFK by Sept. 9 and will add two daily flights between LAX and JFK in late August. Other service scheduled to start from San Francisco includes Washington Dulles (IAD) on Sept. 26 and Las Vegas on Oct. 10, followed by service to those two cities from LAX. The airline plans to serve 10 U.S. cities within a year and is shooting for 50 within five years.
Some of the nifty features of the all-new Airbus 319/320 aircraft that Virgin America will be flying are power ports at every seat, a touchscreen that lets you order food whenever you’re hungry, and the acceptance of credit and debit cards you can swipe at your own seat. First class has eight seats in 2x2 configuration, with 55 inches of pitch, 165 degrees of recline with a full-extension padded legrest and footrest, and a built-in massage feature.
The airline’s frequent flyer program, EleVAte, gives five points for every dollar spent, with free tickets starting at 4,900 points and no restrictions on redemption. Those joining the program by Aug. 31 become “founding members,” with as-yet unspecified future benefits.
After all the delays — the airline had expected to be flying by now — Virgin America is still pushing the FAA’s hand a little: The final hurdle, the FAA’s certification to fly, has not yet been received, although it is expected “momentarily.” Consequently, although the airline has begun selling tickets, they are contingent upon receipt of the necessary paperwork from the FAA. To encourage people to buy tickets anyway, Virgin America promises a full, no-questions-asked refund at any time before the airline begins to officially fly, and, if for any reason they haven’t started flying by your ticket date, to either book you a comparable flight at no extra charge to you, or refund you 200 percent of the price paid. 
We’ve talked before about tray-table ads (most recently, in the June 5 edition of eFlyer), but this takes it to a new level: Attractive, and tray-table-appropriate, ads for New Orleans are appearing on 35 US Airways aircraft for the next nine weeks, featuring that hallmark of the Big Easy, its cuisine. The problem is that these gorgeous ads show an attractive meal — strawberry shortcake with a cup of coffee, or barbecued shrimp with a glass of wine, for example — shot exactly as if they were sitting there for you to eat. Except, of course, they aren’t. To see an image, check out eFlyer’s blog.
Four new lounges — three for premium passengers – have opened this month at Tokyo’s Narita International. Flagship carrier Japan Airlines revamped both its first class lounge and its Sakura lounge in Terminal 2, tripling its lounge area. Both lounges offer self-service dining, now with buffet-style hot meal service, fully stocked bars with bartenders, and salad bars. Each has shower rooms, relaxation rooms with massage chairs, and high-speed wireless Internet. Virgin Atlantic’s reopened Clubhouse for Upper Class and Flying Gold members has been entirely refurbished, now with more open space, a sun deck area, and new business facilities including Internet connectivity and charging ports for mobile phones and PDAs. Air France’s new lounge at Narita is to be the first of a series of designer lounges around the world, with open space, “enveloping” ergonomic seats with individual PC sockets and reading lamps, WiFi, a “quiet zone,” and a full bar, for first and business class passengers and loyalty club premium-level members.
The latest outfit to enter the growing online jet-charter business is called, memorably enough, BusinessJetSeats.com. Like similar businesses, it aggregates listings of open legs or flights from charter operators and private jet owners looking to offset their costs by renting to travelers. Unlike others, it will soon offer a “Share A Flight” capability where you can book seats individually. There are no fees to travelers to use the system, just the prices negotiated for the flights you take.
There’s music in the air in London this summer — all free, and thoughtfully scheduled for lunchtime and after business hours. Most Fridays through September, the Royal Albert Hall hosts the Ignite series of lunchtime concerts from noon until 1:30 at its Café Consort. And at The Scoop, the sunken outdoor amphitheater in Riverside, the free music festival showcasing a variety of musical styles runs through the end of July. Free concerts take place daily from 12:30 to 2 p.m. and from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. In August, the music at The Scoop gives way to free theater.
As you’ve probably noticed, airline AVOD (audio/video on demand) services are getting more sophisticated by the minute. Latest example: Singapore Airlines’ KrisWorld inflight entertainment system, which now incorporates a full suite of business programs including spreadsheets, presentation software and word processing. There’s no need to plug in your laptop; just work, and then plug in your flash drive to download your work product. The new KrisWorld Sun Microsystems Office Productivity Suite is available in first and business class on the airlines’ 777-300ER aircraft, and will be offered on the new A380.
MonteLago Village Resort
30 Strada di Villaggio, Lake Las Vegas
Henderson, NV 89011
tel 866 399 2753, fax 702 564 4777
www.montelagovillage.com
Driving at night, look to the left from Lake Mead Drive and you will glimpse an overview of the entire desert valley floor, the clear night air offering a spectacular vista of the bright lights of Las Vegas 15 miles to the west. That’s one good reason to stay at the MonteLago Village Resort, a 20-minute drive from McCarran Airport (LAS) and The Strip, but not the only reason. During a recent visit I found that this resort property offers lots of other advantages for individuals traveling to the city on business—and not just the nearby golf courses, either.
It was 114 degrees when I walked from the car into the spare, un-Vegas-style lobby of the hotel. No slots, gaming tables, bustling crowds, or mile-long check-in lines, just a friendly young girl with a beautiful smile who handed me a bottle of cold water, directed me to the free underground parking garage, and presented a room key, all within five minutes. My fifth-floor, one-bedroom condominium unit (one of 300 units ranging in size from studios to three bedrooms) included a full kitchen and a large bedroom, living room and terrace overlooking two swimming pools, a lake, and the dry desert hills beyond. A big desk, complimentary high speed Internet, and a quietly efficient air-conditioning system provided a great work environment.
The MonteLago Village Resort, open since 2003, sits between the upscale Ritz-Carlton and Loews Resorts. MonteLago Village, just outside the gates of the resort complex, is composed of a few cobblestone streets with restaurants, outdoor cafes, boutiques and a small food market. It is not as Disneyesque as it sounds, and is a peaceful alternative to the boisterous activity of Las Vegas Boulevard, yet guests don’t have to worry about being far from the gaming action — the resort is located next to the Casino MonteLago, a smaller and less flamboyant casino than most others in the area.
Staying in this part of Las Vegas, you have the wonderful juxtaposition of the arid brown desert and the glistening blue of Lake Mead right at your doorstep, with the shimmering neon lights of The Strip just minutes away. To me, it seemed like the perfect combination of what southern Nevada has to offer.
Score: ••••• Ron Bernthal
Icelandair is offering substantial discounts off its Saga Class fares to Europe if you book by Aug. 15 for travel between Aug. 20 and Oct. 30. The sale fares represent $500 off the normal round-trip Saga fares to Scandinavian destinations, $300 off the fares to other destinations. The sale is good for travel from five U.S. cities: Baltimore (BWI), Boston (BOS), Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP), New York (JFK) and Orlando (SFB).
In a joint promotion with The Simpsons Movie, JetBlue is running a contest in which you can win various stuff. The grand prize, a trip to the movie’s premiere, has already been awarded, but you have through July 31 to enter for a chance to win one of the other prizes, which include a 32-inch LCD TV and a limited-edition XBox 360. You must be, or become, a JetBlue TrueBlue member to enter the contest.
Chiang Mai may be becoming a major business center in Thailand, but that doesn’t mean it’s forgotten how to relax. You can turn a stay at the deluxe Chedi Chiang Mai hotel into a spa retreat and save money on your hotel bill at the same time. The Chedi Chiang Mai’s spa retreat package for four days/three nights costs $858 ($1,040 in a Club Suite), which is already 18 percent off the regular room rate and 34 percent off the nightly cost of a suite — and the package throws in two spa treatments. Guests also get breakfast, welcome drinks, dinner cocktails, and airport limousine transfers.
To celebrate its new membership in the OneWorld alliance, Malev, the Hungarian airline, is offering its Duma Club frequent flyer program members a chance to win prizes. Anyone who registers for (or is already registered with) the Duma Club program and flies on any OneWorld airline by Oct. 31 can enter a drawing to win a pair of round-trip business class tickets on any of six alliance-member airlines including American, British Airways and Qantas.
You have until Aug. 1 to book tickets at sale prices for travel on BMI from Sept. 4 through Dec. 17. The fare sale is good for BMI’s flights to London (LHR) and Manchester (MAN) from Chicago (ORD) and Las Vegas (LAS). Fares start at $634 in coach, $1,114 in premium economy and $3,060 in business class, round-trip. Add $38 round-trip in all fare classes to continue to Aberdeen (ABZ), Glasgow (GLA) or Edinburgh (EDI). The sale fares require either a minimum three-night stay or a Saturday overnight, and are nonrefundable.
