Delta moves to paperless checkin

Delta has just announced that they will join Continental in offering paperless checkin. delta's initial foray into this technology will take place at their main terminal at LGA. Having used this on my recent departures from EWR, I am looking forward to DL rolling this out across their network, especially their main hub ATL and my home airport MCO.

The future looms closer

Overloaded hubs....

As you will see from my posts, my recent travel has been in and out of EWR and PHL. One of the disadvantages of both of these airports is that they are both effectively only 2 runway airports. And yes, I know that PHL has a small runway used by some commuter planes but most aircraft, including commuter jets use the 2 main runways. As both airports are also hubs (EWR = CO, PHL = US), this means that things can get very busy at peaks times. Any small weather problems can really mess things up. So on my recent trips to or from the NorthEast almost every flight has had more than usual delay.

Even when there are no weather problems, I have had bad experiences. About a week ago on a flight out of EWR there was an initial delay of 45 minutes, due to the later arrival of the incoming aircraft. Once we finally left the gate we waited over an hour before we could even take off. This on a day when there was absolutely no bad weather any where up or down the Eastern seaboard. In other words the delay was purely due to scheduling too many departures at the same time.

I wish there were a way that the airlines could be penalized for making these bad scheduling decisions. Oh, I forgot, they can....avoid those airports or airlines!

Delta Down on Information?

Dear Delta,
One of the benefits of flying on your airline is the ability to get information about stand-by and upgrade list status from the screens at the gates of many of your aiports. One quirk has been that your flagship international concourse E at Harstfield never had these screen. I always put this down to the fact that this concourse had been equipped just before the screens were available.

However, today I noticed that some of the E gates have been remodeled, and still no status screen. The only reason that I can think of, is that international travel does not involve as much stand-by and upgrade travel. But you still have quite a few domestic flights leaving from the E concourse.

I sincerely hope that this is not the start of the removal of the status screens from all of your gates. This is easily one of the most useful tools for frequent fliers and much appreciated by all of us.

Delta, please, say it ain't so....

StuffBak WORKS!

Earlier this week I was devastated to find that I had dropped my phone while travelling. I knew roughly where I had done so, so retraced my steps, but to no avail. I tried all the usual things, calling the phone, sending an SMS message and calling the 'Lost and Found' at the car rental where I dropped the phone. I was just getting ready to call ATT to order a replacement when I received a call from StuffBak, saying that my phone had been found and helping me arrange for its return. For those who do not know this service, StuffBak sells stickers, at electronic retailers, office supplies stores or online, which offer a reward for calling an 800 number (or accessing a website) if an item is found. Each sticker has a unique code number, which enables Stuffbak to relate it back to the owner. I my case, it was a Hertz employee who found it and called Stuffbak.

I have had these stickers on various items for a while now, unfortunately not on some items that I have misplaced over the last couple of years, so this was the first time I had actually lost a tagged item. Of course I was very pleased to receive the phone call as I had really given up hope. StuffBak claims a 75% success rate, and while I originally thought this might be advertising hype, I now believe them. In fact I am so happy about this that I am recommending that my employer join their corporate program.

Thank you StuffBak

N.B. More Kudos to Hertz as well, their 'Lost & Found' department voicemail promises only return calls if an item is found, but they did call me to say that my phone had not been turned in to them. Once again, great service from Hertz. It is this kind of service that keeps me coming back.

Misery at Liberty

As you will notice from my posts, I have been travelling with Continental quite frequently in the last few weeks. One of the reasons was it helps me avoid my least favorite airport, PHL. I am having to rethink my strategy though, as this trip, both out and return I had some bad experiences with the AirTrain monorail at Newark. On Sunday night, when the train runs as a single line shuttle, combined with technical problems, it took me over an hour to get from gate to rental car. On the return trip, again there were technical problems, so this time it took only 45 minutes to get from the rental car facility to the terminal.
On Sunday evening I sort of understand that they use the 'quiet' time to do maintenance, but why not start at 2 am as there seemed to be enough irate passengers arriving between midnight and 1. The troubles today were at peak time though, so should not happen.

I have always wondered why the Port Authority installed such a tinker toy type monorail anyway. They should have ordered the Disney monorail system. These sleek, reliable trains run 365 days a year, with hardly any problems. But they probably cost a lot more than the AirTrain.

You gets what you paid for......

Back to Old Fashioned Flying?

On my flight up to EWR last night, I felt like I had taken a step back into the past. Due to weather in the North east we had to wait on the ground in Orlando, and stayed parked at the gate. I was surprised to see the Captain coming through the cabin, handing out flight crew (wings) pins to all the children on board. I can remember when I was young that getting such a pin was a big deal. Of course, flying is not the big adventure that it used to be, but it was nice to see Captain Beattie bringing back some of the magic.

Paperless Check-In

For a while I was jealous of Continental's trial at IAH for paperless check-in. This involved displaying a special 3D bar code on your cell phone, which could be read by both TSA and at the gate. Well, I have to wait no more. CO have recently extended this facility to include departures from Newark (EWR), as well as Washington national (DCA).
It is really fantastic to be able to take out your phone and be scanned through. On my latest trip, someone in front of me at the TSA line used his phone and a number of people were asking the TSA officer about it. Even the gate agent was pleased to be able to do this, obviously not a lot of people are doing it,.....yet!
It finally looks like the US is catching up with Europe, where cell phone check in has been available for quite a time. Now just to hope that this capability spreads to other airlines (Delta, are you listening?) and airports all over the US.

Update: The day after this posting, I read in USA Today that NWA are starting paperless check in at Indianapolis. Begs the question why not at Minneapolis or Detroit. So maybe DL will get this functionality via the (merger) back door.