Plane scares

I was really disappointed that my United 787 flight to New York was cancelled and replaced with an old aircraft.

The flight attendant said that they knew the night before that the 787 had been hit by lightning. United Airlines did not tell me that the 787 had been switched till I arrived at the airport. I had been checking every day and it still said that it was going to be the 787. I would have changed my flight if I had known a few hours earlier. A few years ago the airline allowed passengers to change their flights, without change fees, if it was on the same day of travel. Wish that they would re-instate this customer friendly waiver.

I have heard that the carbon fiber composite is more susceptible to lightning strikes than the traditional aircrafts. I’m not sure if this is true or not because I’ve not seen official reports confirming this rumor. Phil LeBeau reported on CNBC, that, "Boeing says the fire in yesterday's JAL Dreamliner was traced to "the battery used to start the auxiliary power unit."

I’ve been a fan of the 787 Dreamliner since my first flight on the inaugural flight. Click here to see all the reasons I love this aircraft.

On the top of my list is the Dreamliner’s lower cabin pressure, improved air quality and optimal humidity. The pressure never bothered me before, but recently I just don’t get enough air if I’m not on a 787 flight.

Boeing shares are down today on an electrical fire on a 787 Japan airlines JAL flight with engine trouble at Boston's Logan airport. It was supposed to take off to fly to Tokyo's Narita airport, but had to return to the gate prior to take-off.

United Airlines is delaying putting the Boeing 787 Dreamliner service on the daily nonstop route from Houston to Lagos, Nigeria to improve the aircraft’s reliability, the Houston Chronicle reports

Today’s problem came just weeks after Boeing suffered several other electrical problems that briefly grounded 3 planes. The new 787 jet has also had an engine failure and fuel leaks in the 14 months it has been in service."I don't want to be an alarmist," said Carter Leake, an analyst at BB&T Capital Markets in Virginia. "But onboard fires on airplanes are as bad as it gets. Even though it happened on the ground, rest assured the FAA is asking 'What if it happened in the air?'"

In December, another relatively new 787 operated by United Airlines was diverted safely to New Orleans after experiencing mechanical problems.

A Qatar Air  787 was grounded in London on December the 9th, for a faulty Generator.

Elite status with Qatar Airways Privilege Club offers four membership tiers:- Privilege Club, Burgundy, Silver and Gold with great benefits.

I was thinking of flying Qatar Airways’ new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, they have developed superior seats for its Dreamliner fleet.Every seat is an aisle seat in Business class. The cabin configuration forms a unique diamond shape, allowing you more personal space The flat bed seat also features ample stowage options. Qatar has 3 classes and I’ve heard of the private rooms they have in First. Even Economy has 30” of personal space with a 31” seat pitch to stretch out.

There were 2 reasons I did not book a flight on Qatar, though I’m tempted:
The First Class flight RT to Brussels via Doha costs $34,000 and
the other reason is that they may pull the same switch that United pulled on me, and replace it with a different aircraft.

I would love to attend the Qatar Masters It only costs 1,000 Starpoints (one Sheraton hotel stay earned me 1,000 Starpoints) You can attend the 2013 Qatar Masters with St. Regis VIP Pavilion Access on Wednesday 23rd January. This is a special offer by” Moments”, an exclusive program for members of SPG® in which hard-earned Starpoints can be transformed into one-of-a-kind experiences. SPG is your ticket to the ultimate in music, sports and the arts, so check the site frequently for an ever-changing array of great events)

AAdvantage elites get Admirals Club for less

American Airlines is closer to merging with US Airways

I hope that American Airlines will prosper because prices of flights have gone up substantially since United Airlines took over Continental and moved to their Chicago HQ. Houston is now one of the most expensive cities to fly from, so Houstonians are getting the bad end of the deal. American is based in Dallas and a lot of Houstonians are flying via Dallas to get cheaper flights.

As American Airlines board meets next week, expectations are high that the airline's plans to merge with US Airways and AMR's creditors will come together. In a message to employees, Horton said there's no specific deadline for the evaluation to end, but the company expects to "bring this to a conclusion within a matter of weeks." The Pilots union for US Airways must still vote on how to integrate labor contracts, but the process got a boost late on Friday with a recommendation by the board of the US Airline Pilots Association. Other unions also are reviewing the details. American is the last of the three major U.S. airlines to restructure through bankruptcy.

US Airways( LCC) has key operations in Philadelphia and Charlotte, North Carolina. The East Coast operations could be structured in a way to make a combined American-US Airways more competitive against Delta Air Lines which operates out of Atlanta and New York. American faces more competition for corporate clients on the lucrative New York-to-London Heathrow route now that Delta is buying a stake in Virgin Atlantic and plans to apply for a joint venture that would allow revenue-sharing if they can integrate their workforce. This will give us travelers a better opportunity to earn Elite tier points, to propel you from Flying Club Red, to Silver, up to Gold. With Virgin Flying Club Gold (the top ELITE tier), . Gold members earn an extra 50% of base flown miles for every flight, access to Clubhouses, Upper Class Check in and enjoy so many more benefits.

American Airlines will give you automatic elite status if you prove that you hold it with another Airline. AA offers good benefits for AAdvantage Executive Platinum, AAdvantage Platinum, and AAdvantage Gold members. elite status entitles you to receive exclusive recognition and earn automatic mileage bonuses like the National Car rental Emerald Club membership that alows me to bypass the counter and choose my own car. I earn 100 bonus miles per rental when renting from National Car.

AAdvantage elite members enjoy reduced mileage redemption rates for an Admirals Club lounge membership. As an AAdvantage elite member, you can save up to 55,000 miles when you redeem your AAdvantage miles for your annual membership compared to the mileage rate for a non-elite AAdvantage member.