Photo by Todd MacDonald

You used to be able to take 35,000 frequent flier miles and travel to Hawaii, which was the best use of miles since Hawaii is so far and so expensive.

That was the game plan for me and Jon to do over this Thanksgiving, now that we’ve reached the 35,000 mile mark on United.

However, United quietly – very very quietly – released new changes to its frequent flier program that made it impossible for me to get to Hawaii for 35,000 miles. In fact, it will be 40,000 miles… ONE WAY.

?!?

The “saver” version is 20,000 miles one-way, so you could theoretically get a round-trip for 40,000 to Hawaii, but nobody is ever that lucky. In fact, I was just looking online around Thanksgiving, which is five months away, and no such ticket exists. Perhaps if I looked for next April I’ll be lucky.

I checked other airlines to see if anyone else has jumped on the baggage cart, but it seems only United has done this. However, others, like American, are allowing you to book one-way tickets using miles, for 12,500, a nice change from when you had to book a round-trip only for 25,000.

The key? Don’t rely on your miles to get you somewhere but use them for a flexible trip way off in the distant future. I don’t doubt that other airlines will start to add more restrictions to their awards programs as well. They are still a great way to fund a trip that can otherwise cost a couple thousand dollars, so use them wisely.

Several airlines started adding end dates to the frequent flier miles that passengers work so hard to earn – forcing many to subscribe to magazines (using miles) they didn’t really want just so they could say they “spent” some miles before they expired.

The change is effective starting January 1, 2011.

examiner.com

A recent analysis by USA Today recently showed that airline fees have jumped almost 50 percent since a year ago. !! Yes, for reals. Not only do you have to pay for checked baggage, change fees, priority boarding, priority seating (like United‘s “Economy Plus” section), companies like Spirit Air charge for carry-on baggage, US Airways and Allegiant Air charge for booking a ticket by phone, and even Continental, Hawaiian, American and US Airways charge for issuing a receipt seven days after a flight is taken.

Add in charging for meals, drinks, headphones, movies, and whatever else, and soon you’ll be buying your own jet and flying it yourself places. In total, the U.S. airline industry has made about $2.1 billion in revenue from fees alone, which could – I suppose – help its survival.

The bigger issue that arises from this analysis is that the added fees makes it more difficult to comparison shop flights. This is less difficult if you’re like, say, me, who only carries-on and does not need to board before everyone because priority boarding doesn’t get you to your destination any faster – and since I’m not THAT tall, I don’t need extra legroom – so I haven’t contributed to the $2.1 billion revenue. But it is tempting – after all, what’s $10 here, $25 here? You’ll grumble, but you’ll then just let it go. Build it all together into one price, however, and you’ll see your $259 supersaver deal to Miami suddenly escalate to nearly $360. Make it a family of four, or a company department of 15, and you’ll have just added almost $100 extra per traveler.

Anyway, there’s no real lesson to be learned here other than to be aware of what the total price of your ticket will be after you add all those additional bells and whistles. The search engines (like Kayak) haven’t quite caught on to adding buttons so you can search with the extra fees calculated into the total, partly because the fees keep changing.

Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. An Italian company, Aviointeriors, has invented a new airline seat that resembles a horse’s saddle. Known as the “Skyrider,” it’s been said to be the “least comfortable” seat but will provide about 40 percent more seating per plane, and airlines could charge less for such a seat. It’s also been described as a “bar stool” with a seatbelt. Perhaps riders of those seats will get drinks throughout the flight to help them forget what a terrible idea this ever was. (I was always a fan of Italian designers – until now).

There are airlines who are interested, including Ryanair and China’s Spring Airlines. And why not? With the industry hurting, it will get people to fly. Ryanair says it would offer such seats for flights of 90 minutes or less.  Truthfully, I suppose I could withstand a flying bar stool for 90 minutes, so thankfully Ryanair is thinking in that direction. But are other airlines going to do the same – or actually expect passengers to fly those cross-country? Maybe next we’ll just have rows of walls with belts, and we’ll just have standing room-only sections at the back of the plane.

JETBLUE was offering $10 tickets to celebrate its 10-year anniversary of service, to be purchased yesterday and today, but the promotion was so successful it sold out. 

CHINA has lifted a 20-year ban on travelers with HIV and AIDS that prevented them from entering the country. The Border Quarantine Law was amended recently, in light of the Shanghai Expo 2010. 

LIBYA’S plane crash has one lone survivor, an 8-year-old Dutch boy. The Afriqiyah Airways plane from Johannesburg crashed while attempting to land at its destination in Tripoli, Libya, killing nearly 100 passengers on board. Investigations are still underway. The airline, based in Tripoli, has no prior history of crashes or accidents. 

Telegraph

British Airways is threatening another strike by the cabin crew this summer. The 20-day walkoff could affect hundreds of thousands of passengers, including 90,000 who travel through Heathrow alone each day in summer. This would interfere with soccer fans trying to get to South Africa for the World Cup in June. The strike is in response to British Airways’ removing travel perks to those who were striking in March.
 

MEXICO TRAVEL WARNING EXTENDED. The US State Department has extended its travel advisory to Mexico to include three more states: Michoacan and Tamaulipas, as well as parts of Sinaloa. Chihuahua, Durango and Coahuila. These include popular tourist attractions, such as Copper Canyon and the monarch butterfly mountains of Michoacan. These areas have recently experienced violence and organized crime related to drugs. The Mexican government is working to protect travelers, and millions still visit Mexico safely. However, it warns that gangs may use new tactics, such as blocking roads with stolen vehicles and hijacking cars, at times and places that are still unpredictable.

The news is out

As long as the merger wins approval from the Justice Department’s anti-trust department, the merged airline will be headquartered out of Chicago (United’s current headquarters and major hub).

What does this mean to passengers? Well, it looks like airlines keep swallowing each other up until there is just one giant airline…  and Southwest. This news come only months after Delta took over Northwest Airlines. Of course, the government would never allow this to happen, but what it will mean is fewer seats and higher ticket prices. Likely your frequent flier miles will also be moved to United, which is good for people like me because I rarely fly Continental unless I really want to be in New Jersey. United will take over Continental’s main hub of Newark Airport, as well as all the other cities it services. For the areas they overlap is where service will be cut – at the expense of passengers.

In response, American Airlines, Delta, JetBlue, United and US Airways have all pledged not to charge passengers for carry-on. But while the airlines pat themselves on the back for extending this generous offer to its customers, be aware that you’ll probably end up paying those fees regardless – in the form of higher priced tickets.

In Europe, budget airlines like RyanAir only allow one carry-on item, and it must be under 10 kilos, or you have to check it and pay the checked baggage fee anyway. Spirit Airlines is merely adopting what its foreign counterparts have been practicing all along, except $45 is a heftier sum than what its passengers may have expected. But when you were once used to seeing flights from New York to Chicago for $200 may start at $250… so your carry-on baggage has been paid for already.

I have no good advice to offer, other than, this is life! Life is an unpredictable trip, and that’s what makes it so exciting. Think of all the stories you have from this experience. Even now, people in Baltimore and DC still talk about the February snowstorms that rendered the federal government useless and closed for a whole week. I am one who tends to enjoy natural disasters (as long as people don’t get hurt). There is something so fascinating about having your daily life shaken up, altered, uncontrolled, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Or is there? Forget complaining or trying to get back to your normal life – it isn’t happening right away. Instead, be original with your newfound time.

No matter where you’re stuck far from home, I’m sure there is something interesting you’ve wanted to see that you didn’t have time before. Now’s the time to take advantage. Go treat yourself to a delicious meal, or see a new museum, or participate in a new event happening in town. Sleep in a hostel! What’s the worst that could happen to you? By far, this will be one of your most memorable experiences. Take pictures. Write it down. Share it with friends and family. Tell it to your grandchildren.

Life! It’s a trip, isn’t it?

It’s a shame, but nothing is forever. So plan accordingly, as I am, before these become just shards in history. I won’t re-hash all of the report from MSNBC, but here’s a list:

1. Glaciers of Europe, including my beloved Alps, where I picked wildflowers to wear in my hair, and Chamonix in France, where I’ve dreamt of going skiing when I have loads of euros. Talk about the hills being alive. Not for long.

2. Africa’s lion population. This is partly why I’m trying to jet off to southern Africa this year. The lions are vanishing.

3. Central America’s Cloud Forest. Fortunately, we experienced this last year in Monteverde, Costa Rica, where we took a night tour of the jungle and then zip-lined through the canopy in the morning. It was worth it.

4. Orangutans of Borneo. I took Primate Ecology in college and got an A; orangs are interesting creatures and close relatives of ours. To see them go extinct because of human mistake is a sure shame.

5. Florida Everglades. It’s so close to home, yet we skip away to foreign lands. Go soon before more old people turn it into retirement communities.

6. The Taj Mahal. Another that I was fortunate to visit in 2007; its white marble is threatened by India’s pollution. Already you have to take a separate pollution-free bus to the site and wear booties on your shoes to walk around.

7. Arctic polar bears. A quick ride up into the Great White Northern state of Canada will let you romp around with these creatures, before their glaciers melt away and they all drown.

8. Great Barrier Reef of Australia. Sure, I tried to get the Best Job In the World but the tourism office of the Great Barrier Reef seleted some British bloke instead. However, that doesn’t mean it didn’t pique my interest to check out the diverse underwater life before it died thanks to warming temperatures.

9. The Atchafalaya Basin in Louisiana. The Atchafawhata? Apparently, a coastal salt marsh with your personal romantic view of a bayou, except it’s disappearing quickly because of flood control and deforestation. It’s another quick hop from New Orleans, so take advantage.

10. Kilimanjaro. I’ve already talked about my desire to climb this wonder, and if I don’t do it soon, I won’t get another chance. By 2020, the snows at the top will be gone, and who knows what dangers will lie when the mountain starts mudsliding and dropping boulders left and right on the tourists, as it already did.

Wow. What a life as a  flight attendant! Whatever was I doing working in a newsroom in my partying years? (Perhaps there will soon be a reality show about five hot journalist girls trying to make deadlines and having drama with their computers and catfighting over bylines). I suspect, however, that the majority of flight attendants do not live this sort of lifestyle. I suspect most of them just pass out on the hotel bed upon arrival. I have a friend who is a part-time flight attendant on the smaller routes – between LA and Cleveland – but her way of going crazy is by taking advantage of employee discounts on airfare to exotic countries where she might ride some elephants and go white water rafting. I’m sure some of the younger ones have their wild n’ crazy nightlifes in every port, but if Virgin America and the CW are smart, they will not show their employees working flights the next day with hangovers from these extravagant evenings. Just a thought.

I will, however, give CW credit for showing actual working individuals instead of Real Housewives who are just catty socialites living off their husbands’ income (although some of them actually do have jobs, but it’s not really emphasized).

If you’re looking for other in-flight entertainment, I highly recommend the hilarious “View From the Top” in which Donna Jensen (played by Gwenyth Paltrow) is looking to leave her small-town life to become a world traveling flight attendant.  Mike Myers is the flight attendant instructor. Most movies with Mike Myers are pretty entertaining, at least more so than what I expect out of the CW. But I shall not judge until I have watched.