Jetiquette | The Sky Steward

by Elizabeth Smith

As some of you may know, I am an experienced traveler who holds elite status on a legacy carrier. Last Thursday, June 3, I took my first flight on Southwest Airlines and I wanted to share my experience.

WN 220 RDU-MDW-AUS 6:55 pm-10:55 pm with a 30-minute stop in MDW
Actual: 8:30 pm -12:05 am due to weather/ground stops in the BWI/IAD/DCA area

Pre-boarding experience: The Southwest attitude and service was completely different than what I often experience on legacy [...]

by Elizabeth Smith

If you’re a foodie and wine geek like me, you’re always looking for a new destination at which you can enjoy both. Recently TripAdvisor announced the results of their Traveler’s Choice Top 10 Food & Wine Destinations in the world, the United States, Europe, Asia, South Pacific, and Central and South America.

The top 10 U.S. food and wine destinations are as follows: Napa, CA; Charleston, SC, New Orleans, LA; Chicago, IL; San [...]

Starting June 1, 2010, Delta SkyMiles Gold, Platinum, and Reserve American Express Cardholders will receive their first checked bag free on every Delta flight, which is up to a $50 savings per person on a roundtrip ticket for up to nine passengers in the same reservation.  The fees on the cards are as follows:  $95 for a Delta SkyMiles Gold card (waived the first year), $150 for a Delta SkyMiles Platinum card, and $450 for the Delta SkyMiles Reserve card, [...]

by Elizabeth Smith

Welcome to the first installment of my summer series about my recommended travel websites and tools.  Today I’d like to introduce you to FlyerTalk. Dubbed “the world’s most popular frequent flyer community,” frequent and leisure travelers can find an endless wealth of information within the forums regarding all things travel.  As states the front page,

FlyerTalk is an interactive community that provides up-to-date information on travel-related loyalty reward programs. It’s the hub that brings everyone together — from leisure [...]

According to today’s press release, Alaska Airlines is the latest domestic carrier to add Gogo Inflight Internet to its inflight services.  Gogo was launched on six of its 737-800 aircraft today.  Alaska joins Air Canada, American, AirTran, Delta, United, US Airways, and Virgin America in offering the service.

Alaska Airlines anticipates adding the service to their 737-800s and -900s by the end of summer, and their 737-400s and -700s by the end of 2010.

Gogo Inflight has plans to add additional network coverage [...]