British Airways will show the world its new Boeing 787 Dreamliner and its Airbus A380 aircraft July 4 at Heathrow Airport (LHR). It is so nice for the British to honor us on our day of independence! BA has twelve A380 jets on order and 42 Dreamliners designed for specific routes and distances.

The A380 will be used on the Los Angeles (LAX) route Oct. 15. BA has been tight-lipped about where the 787 Dreamliners will be used, but rumors suggest the United States (maybe because we have the largest economy in the world?). I asked BA last week, and the information is top secret, but I am sure some of you already have some news and ideas. I plan to follow up on this tomorrow in a scheduled meeting I have with the carrier. 

Delta Air Lines has been given the go-ahead to buy a 49 percent stake in the money-losing Virgin Atlantic Airways. Once the golden boy of the airline industry, Virgin has been having an impossible time turning a profit and turned its business class into a less-than-special onboard experience. Will Delta be able to bring back the sparkle to Virgin’s eye? Hard to tell. On the other hand, Delta can learn a lot about how to run a lounge from Virgin. The carrier’s Clubhouse Lounge at Heathrow is tops and well worth scheduling time before your flight for a haircut or a fine, relaxing meal.

Lastly, it is becoming increasingly important to point out many Global Traveler readers believe that booking through Travelocity, Orbitz or Expedia is not the way to go … why? When you have a problem with your flights or trips, they seem to be unable to help you make the change, or they have to ring up the particular airline or hotel and try to negotiate for you. They usually are not helpful, and this is why Global Traveler‘s subscriber board (also known as the Globility Board) believes that booking with the airlines or hotels directly is the best option.

I wrote about this in the past, but it seems to happen again and again. Recently, an x-Global Traveler employee asked for my assistance in switching a flight to Turkey. She said to me, “Travelocity has really given me a hard time (I am never booking that way again), and I cannot change my itinerary on the airline’s website after using a booking agency.” Let the buyer beware!

— Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO