EXECUTIVE TRAVEL SKYGUIDE E-ALERT 06/20/05 Welcome to EXECUTIVE TRAVEL SKYGUIDE E-ALERT for the week of June 20, the weekly e-mail of essential business travel news! To sign up for the e-Alert, click here. United enhances service for business flyers at O'Hare Continental boosts first class capacity in 757-300s American expands online options for passengers Delta upgrades functionality of its web site Fares go up, down, then up and down again Alaska Airlines plans fleet renewal, trims schedule Varig seeks court protection from creditors DFW holds pre-opening gala for new Terminal D AIRLINES United enhances service for business flyers at O'Hare United Airlines, which already offers a premium service for business flyers on some of its transcontinental flights, is now providing enhanced perks for corporate travelers in and out of its hub at Chicago O'Hare Airport. United calls the program Business1, and it applies for all non-stop United and United Express flights between O'Hare and Boston, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Newark, New York LaGuardia, Philadelphia and Washington Reagan National. First, United is scheduling all those flights to operate at gates on O'Hare's B Concourse that are close to the main terminal. Second, it will give free newspapers on weekday flights before 10 a.m. to first class and Economy Plus travelers. And finally, it will award 500 bonus Mileage Plus miles to anyone whose flight arrives more than 30 minutes late for any reason, including weather and air traffic control delays. To benefit, you must be a Mileage Plus member, and you must register (just once) at www.united.com/business1. The Business Travel Coalition praised United's new on-time guarantee, predicting that it will earn a positive response from travelers, "thus encouraging United to expand the program and other airlines to match." Continental boosts first class capacity in 757-300s Citing a "significant increase in demand for our first class product," Continental Airlines said last week it will expand the front cabins in its fleet of 757-300s, which is being expanded from nine to 17 planes. The reconfiguring work should be finished by early next year, a spokesman said. The existing 757-300 layout of 12 first class and 210 coach seats will be replaced by a 24-seat front cabin, with 192 seats in economy. American expands online options for passengers American Airlines last week unveiled a couple of new functions for its web site (www.aa.com). First, it has started online sales of single-day passes to its network of Admirals Clubs, at a price of $50. The day pass can be used at multiple club locations, and if you decide to buy a regular club membership within 30 days of using the pass, you can apply up to $100 in pass fees toward the membership fee. The specific location for buying the passes is www.aa.com/daypass, where you print out a confirmation to take with you and show at the door. You can get passes for up to two other people for $25 each. Second, American now permits passengers to check in online for flights that involve interline connections, and to print boarding passes for all flights on the ticket. The originating flight must be on American, American Eagle or AmericanConnection, and the connection must be on Alaska, Continental, Delta, Hawaiian, Northwest, US Airways or Midwest Airlines. Delta upgrades functionality of its web site American isn't alone in permitting online check-in for interline itineraries. Delta said last week that its customers can now do a one-time check-in at www.delta.com for domestic itineraries that originate on Delta and connect to Alaska, American, Continental, Hawaiian, Northwest or US Airways. Other new functionality at www.delta.com (and www.flysong.com) includes the ability to add or change flights, choosing other dates, times or cities and paying the change fee with a credit card or an electronic credit remaining from an unused ticket; and a SkyMiles calculator that will tell frequent flyer program members exactly how many miles they need for a specific redemption, based on level of service and operating airline. They'll also find award codes and applicable rules and restrictions. Fares go up, down, then up and down again Last week, we mentioned that Northwest Airlines had quietly initiated a $50 increase on business fares in many markets, driving them above the $499 one-way cap that had become the standard since Delta brought it in several months ago. But a few days later, Northwest's increase had evaporated after American and Delta failed to match it (even though United and Continental did). This past week, a smaller increase - only $10 - started appearing on those fares, driving them up to a maximum of $509. This time the increase was backed by Continental, United, Northwest and America West - and even by Delta, but only on code-share flights. But American didn't match, and later in the week it looked like the increase would not stick. Meanwhile, Delta also said last week it is adding a $10 one-way fuel surcharge on transatlantic flights purchased after June 15. Alaska Airlines plans fleet renewal, trims schedule What is Alaska Airlines doing right? True, it posted a first-quarter loss, just like most of its major-airline competitors. But while other carriers are mired in labor strife, strike threats and fleet downsizing, Alaska is showing signs of a positive future. In the past month, the company has reached tentative agreements on new labor contracts with its pilots, flight attendants and mechanics, with none of the public acrimony displayed at other airlines during their labor talks. And last week, Alaska announced it has placed a $2.3 billion order at Boeing for 35 new 737-800s, with options on 15 more and purchase rights for an additional 50. Deliveries will begin in January 2006. The airline's current fleet includes 109 planes. The new 737-800s, with 157 seats in two classes, will "give us the ability to fly additional transcontinental routes and increase our seat capacity to better accommodate growing passenger loads on the west coast," a spokesman said. Alaska CEO Bill Ayer remarked that the company is "beginning to have visibility into a cost structure that will allow us to be profitable in this changed environment," although he conceded that "we still have work to do on or operational performance." In order to improve Alaska's on-time operations, the company recently trimmed several daily flights from its summer schedule including one daily roundtrip each in the L.A.-Anchorage, Phoenix-Anchorage, Seattle-Anchorage, Las Vegas-Seattle and Orlando-Seattle markets. The airline also suspended until October 30 its single daily Miami-Seattle flight, and postponed the launch of twice-daily DFW-Seattle service until September 12. INTERNATIONAL Varig seeks court protection from creditors Brazil's Varig Airlines, the country's leading international carrier, has filed for court protection from creditors, according to reports from Sao Paulo. Under Brazilian law, the Varig filing is not exactly the same thing as filing for bankruptcy, but will allow the troubled company to renegotiate its debt payment schedules without having to worry about creditors trying to seize its assets. The airline had been facing pressure from at least one airline leasing company to return several planes due to late payments. AIRPORTS DFW holds pre-opening gala for new Terminal D Hundreds of guests in black tie streamed into the still-unopened Terminal D at Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport last week, getting a first look at the 2 million square-foot facility and its $6 million art collection. Passengers will start using the new terminal next month. The international terminal is part of an overall expansion and improvement program debuting at DFW this year which also includes its new Skylink people-mover system connecting the terminals, as well as a 298-room Grand Hyatt hotel and a new 8,100-space parking garage. The new Terminal D has the capacity to handle up to 37,000 passengers per day. AIR ROUTES ATLANTA (ATL). AirTran's newest destination from its Atlanta base is Richmond, with four daily 717 roundtrips starting June 23. DENVER (DEN). Frontier Airlines will add a second daily Denver-Anchorage flight effective June 19, continuing until August 13. On June 26, Frontier begins new service between Denver and San Antonio, with two daily Airbus flights. HONOLULU (HNL). Taiwan's EVA Airlines on June 25 will resume Honolulu-Taipei service, operating on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. NEW YORK KENNEDY (JFK). Delta Connection/Comair has launched new service between JFK and Louisville, Ky., with three daily regional jet roundtrips. Meanwhile, JetBlue has beefed up its Puerto Rico service, adding one daily roundtrip between JFK and Ponce to supplement its existing JFK-San Juan and JFK-Aguadilla flights. PHILADELPHIA (PHL). AirTran on June 23 kicks off twice-daily 717 non-stops between Philadelphia and Richmond. THIS WEEK'S DEALS AND SPECIALS FOR BUSINESS TRAVELERS El Al (800-223-6700; www.elal.com) is having a summer sale on business class tickets from New York (JFK or Newark) to Israel, for travel from July 3 to September 9. The roundtrip sale fare, available on select non-stop flights, is $2,176 roundtrip - including fuel surcharge. A 30-day advance booking is required. Hundreds of hotels represented by Utell International (www.utell.com) are offering steep discounts - as much as 25 to 50 percent off rack rates - during July and August as part of the group's GreatRates promotion. Utell represents 1,500 properties in Europe, 200 in the Asia/Pacific region and more than 500 in the Western Hemisphere. The promotion includes starting rates as low as $128 in London, $109 in San Francisco and $89 in Miami. For links to other websites where you can search for bargains, click here: www.executivetravelonline.com/reference/deals.html By Jim Glab To sign up for the e-Alert, click here.