Air New Zealand and Virgin Blue have revealed plans for an alliance including codesharing and joint frequent flyer benefits. Regulators are expected to take around six months to review the applications …
Alaska Airlines will begin nonstop service between Portland, Ore. and Honolulu on Sept. 20, 2010 just as Delta plans to end its service on the same route after the busy summer season. Alaska’s flights will feature Mauna Loa macadamia nuts and complimentary Mai Tai or POG juice, as well as Hawaiian-themed meal-for-purchase options for $6. Alaska Airlines is ending service to Cancun from Los Angeles and Seattle …
LAN Airlines is launching nonstop service four times a week between San Francisco and Lima, Peru on July 1, 2010. The flight will be a codeshare with American Airlines so AAdvantage members can earn and burn miles on the flights …
Free WiFi is tentatively scheduled for SFO in September …
Southwest Airlines will offer twice daily nonstop flights between Minneapolis and Phoenix beginning Aug. 15, 2010 …
Omni Select Guest reports a 94 percent increase in enrollments since the program was relaunched a year ago and added a new top elite level and the ability to earn free nights (one free night for every 10). Seventy percent of members choose free nights over airline miles …
VOILA Rewards members can now earn points and book award stays through the Swiss-Belhotel Rewards network, which has more than 30 hotels worldwide …
Air Canada has announced nonstop seasonal Phoenix-Montreal flights Saturdays and Sundays between Nov. 6, 2010 and April 30, 2011 …
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan has partnered with a Pacific Northwest based air and sea plane operator, Kenmore Air and members can now earn 250 Mileage Plan miles for each flight on Kenmore Air to destinations in Washington state and Canada such as the San Juan Islands, the Olympic Peninsula and British Columbia’s Inside Passage. Award travel on Kenmore Air will be 10,000 miles for a roundtrip award ticket between Seattle and any Washington destination or Victoria, B.C. or between Seattle and any other Kenmore destination in British Columbia for 15,000 miles …
The Clear program that allows members to speed through security is expected to return this fall. The program shut down last June …
Reminder: the Delta SkyMiles and Midwest Miles partnership ends June 7, 2010 …
The partnership between Marriott Rewards and American AAdvantage will end July 1, 2010 …
New Hyatt hotels just opened or opening this year include Chicago Naperville/Warrenville, Santa Fe, Seattle Downtown, North Charleston, Pittsburgh North Shore, Boulder/Broomfield and Austin. The Four Seasons Aviara golf resort in Carlsbad, Calif. will become a Park Hyatt this month …
JetBlue has announced plans to begin service at Washington D.C.’s Reagan National Airport on Nov. 1, 2010, initially offering seven daily roundtrips between Boston Logan, along with one daily roundtrip to both Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale from Reagan. On Nov. 17, 2010, JetBlue will begin service between Hartford, Conn. and Orlando and on Nov. 18, between Boston and Sarasota, Fla.
