100% Bonus US Airways Purchased Miles - Again

US Airways is offering 100% bonus on purchased miles this month.  They run this promotion every other month because it does really well.  They collect money up front in exchange for something later.  I trust their redemption costs are less than the miles price they quote, plus they benefit from the float on the cash.  People can buy a business class ticket to Europe or Asia (100,000 miles) for $1,750 plus taxes and fees.  That's a good price compared to advertised prices for US Airways and their oneworld partners.  I recommend against putting down money without a plan to use the miles quickly because US Airways runs this promotion all the time and award price changes can happen at any time without notice and reduce the value of the miles.

US Airways' Airbus Collection at CLT

Southwest AirTran Miles Program Merger Update

Rapid Rewards will be the single frequent flyer program for the merged AirTran and Southwest (the 737 will be the single aircraft and Southwest will be the single brand too).  The AirTran A+ program's final day will be November 1, 2014.  To ease the IT transition, AirTran is sending emails offering 750 Rapid Rewards points (about $10.71 in flight value) to confirm their guess at what your AirTran and Southwest numbers are.  Keep you eyes peeled for the email and free points.

Southwest And AirTran Moving Closer

Window Seats - From 9 to 4

Good luck grabbing a window seat for your flight. The Boeing 787 has only four windows for the flight deck, the older MD-80 has nine. Just an interesting comparison for Friday.

4 Flight Deck Windows on the 787

9 Flight Deck Windows on the MD-80

Last Flight of a Lufthansa 737-300

Lufthansa Cargo today posted a link to their flight radar map showing all the Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo flights in air.  I clicked on a few flights and then found LH9924 from Bangor to Tulsa.  This is the final flight for the aircraft D-ABXY because Lufthansa sends their old 737's there to be scrapped.  It's sad to see an aircraft's final flight after years of faithful service.  I flew a Lufthansa 737-300 last year from FRA to GVA and the aircraft felt up to the task.  Sorry to see this one go.

Last Flight For This Lufthansa 737-300

Frontier Moves to A La Carte Pricing

Frontier was sold last year to the company that turned around Spirit Airlines and then sold it for large pile of money.  Frontier’s parent company seems to be trying that model again by making Frontier into a new Spirit.  They will still not offer perks to people buying tickets purchased anywhere but flyfrontier.com, but now those tickets come with less.  The full fare Classic Plus is unchanged and now there is only one other option, Economy.  The Economy ticket price includes your flight and one personal item that will fit under the seat. Then, you pay for the add-on choices you want, such as:  1st Checked bag – from $20 (just $15 if you join Frontier’s Discount Den), Carry-on bag – from $25 (just $20 if you join Frontier’s Discount Den), 2nd Checked bag – from $30, Ability to choose your seat starting at $3 on every flight.

Frontier Moving Closer to Ultra Low Cost Status

Frontier's Discount Den (sounds like Spirit’s $9 Fare Club): Together with these changes, we are introducing Frontier's Discount Den, a club whose members can receive discount fees on bags and access to ongoing promotional savings opportunities. Frontier's Discount Den members save $5 off their carry-on at time of booking and $5 off their first checked bag at check-in. Membership is free through June 2015 for all EarlyReturns® members, so sign up today. Then, log in to your EarlyReturns account to start saving!

US Airways A319 In American Airlines Colors

I spotted my first US Airways plane in American Airlines paint.  N809AW was in the US Airways fleet (AW stands for America West, the airline that took over US Airways and now American), but recently received a fresh coat of paint.  US Airways is making very fast progress.

US Airways A319 Now In American Paint

Do You Have 5 to 30 Million Dollars?

Four Seasons would like to invite the very rich, but not super rich to take a trip around the world with them on a chartered 757. The $30M mark is when people start contemplating buying a jet (Embraer Phenom 100 or HondaJet for starters) or joining a fractional ownership program (NetJets). So the target market here is couples that can easily afford the $119,000 a person cost, but not quite pay to go private and avoid other people while completely controlling their itinerary. It looks like a decent itinerary, but there are a few stops I could miss, so I won't be going.  Each ticket includes a Rimowa Salsa Deluxe Hybrid Cabin Multiwheel suitcase, a $695 value; so there's lasting value to the trip.

757 Take Off