United Airlines

Podcast #96 — Eating and Drinking with Social Media; Frequent Flier Alliances

Finishing up my annual 2-week travel sabbatical in an unseasonably warm Chicago. In this episode, a listener asks about if and when to use travel compression socks, we discern the popularity of in-flight Wi-Fi service from Gogo’s IPO filing, and dissect a recent article on the best airports for tech users.  We look at the…

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Podcast #77 – Keeping Traveler Data Private, What I Miss When Off The Road

Again in Washington, DC, I’m back on the road after two weeks at home. As my Twitter followers know, this trip didn’t get off to the best start — a 2 hour delay caused by yet another broken United Airlines plane. Listener comments continue the threads on in-flight bans on smartphones and falling prices of…

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Podcast #76 – Real Benefits of Being Super Elite, Instant Vacations

Recorded in the Washington, DC Marriott as I wrap up a week of business travel before heading out for a week’s vacation. My recent trip back down to Johannesburg, South Africa provides a good bit of content — on-plane security in Dakar, South Africa Airways’ unique ban on in-flight use of iPhones and Blackberries, and…

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What’s the Value of Business Class… to the Passenger?

The International Air Transport Association reported earlier this month that premium ticket purchases fell 21% globally in February — which follows January’s decline of 16.7%.  Part of the drop is due to falling air traffic, but a good bit of it is from tighter corporate travel policies that are pushing mid-level executives to the back of…

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Don’t Call When The Tatty Skies Catch On Fire

I don’t mean to pile on United Airlines, but they do bring it on themselves sometimes. The latest TravelCommons podcast talks about how the “friendly skies” of United Airlines have become a bit thread worn — duct tape holding together armrests, seat backs that can’t stay up (which was my experience again on my Monday…

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Podcast #71 – Winter Travel, Last Year’s Travel, Tatty United

Recorded in the TravelCommons studios outside of Chicago, back doing my thing to support the travel industry with lots of travel in January. We talk about some recent TSA observations, good and bad; my latest spin of the “travel roulette” wheel, trading the plane for a train in an East Coast snow storm; a look…

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Podcast #67 – Stolen Luggage; Month With an iPhone

Recorded in the TravelCommons studios outside of Chicago after a month of travel to and from the East Coast. In this episode, a spur-of-the-moment train trip bypasses a huge air traffic control problem.  A listener story gets us talking about theft after you entrust your luggage to the folks behind the curtain. I have fun…

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Podcast #65 – New Ways to the Front of the Line; Southwest Skips Nickel & Dimes

Recorded in the TravelCommons studios outside of Chicago after taking a month’s break. We see if there’s anything to the TSA’s recent attempts to reduce security line waits — the Clear Registered Traveler and the Diamond Lane Self-Select programs. We also take a look at Southwest’s attempts to attract more business travelers. A listener story…

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