Pet Airways Takes Flight in 2009

Speaking of the Portable Life, what would it be without your pets? Now if you are lucky enough to fall in love with a 20 pound or under furry friend, you can take them in the cabin of an airplane with you, but if, like me, you have a MUCH larger friend (www.DumboDane.com), its quite a different story.

Finally there is a less stressful way to get your best friend to his/her destination.



Now to find a crate large enough for my Great Dane.

Does Continental's Mobile Boarding Pass work?

Continental Airlines - Mobile Phone Boarding Pass

I gave this a try on a flight to Portland Or (PDX) from Newark Airport in New Jersey. The day before I flew, I checked in online, but instead of printing off my boarding pass to take with me to the airport, I had it sent to my mobile phone, in this case an iPhone. A link to a web page was sent to my phone via my email address. I clicked on the link, and there was my boarding pass, along with the scanable barcode.

The next day I showed up at the security screening area of the airport (a bit early, since this system seemed to good to be true) and showed the security agent my phone opened to the browser page displaying the boarding pass (I had already pulled this up before I got into line, to make sure I could access it). The security agent then scanned the barcode right from the screen of my phone, and I was allowed pass through. At the boarding gate, the attendant was waiting with a printed boarding pass, which she scanned directly and then gave me the paper stub. Success! And no boarding pass to misplace, which was the best part. Unfortunately, this is only available at a few Continental Airlines airports.

This worked very well and easily from my iphone because the screen display is scalable, and I was able to enlarge the icon for agent to scan. I would be interested to know how well this works on a blackberry, since it seems the barcode would appear very small, making it harder to scan. If anyone has tried the mobile phone boarding pass using a Blackberry, please let me know how it worked for you. See the link below for more details.

Introducing Truly Paperless Check-In

Ongoing Offer Posted Wed., Dec. 5, 2007

Mobile Boarding Pass option is currently available for Houston departures (Terminals B, C and E only), Newark Liberty departures, Boston departures and Washington, D.C. departures from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Customers have the option of Mobile Boarding on nonstop domestic flights and this option is only for single travelers. Now when you check in for your flight, you can choose to receive your boarding pass electronically on your mobile phone or PDA. Just display your barcode at the security checkpoint and when boarding your flight, and you're on your way. Tips for Using a Mobile Boarding Pass Know your e-mail address for your mobile phone and/or PDA. Save your mobile boarding pass to your phone to make it easy to retrieve when you get to the security checkpoint (check your phone/PDA manual for options on how to save e-mails and view offline). Make sure the entire barcode is visible on the screen of your phone/PDA (example: photo shows proper display of barcode). If the scanner cannot read your barcode, a paper boarding pass will be required. Turn the backlight setting for your phone/PDA display to the brightest mode. Continental is the first U.S. carrier to test paperless boarding passes. The paperless boarding pass pilot program is consistent with the global standard of the International Air Transport Association for bar coding of passenger boarding passes. This program also heightens the ability to detect fraudulent boarding passes while improving customer service and reducing paper use.

How to Buy a Cheap Airline Ticket in First Class

Great tip, courtesy of Daily Candy yesterday. I fly quite often, and I have never heard of this. Totally worth a look at FareCompare or more info. Who would pass up a chance for first class?

Step-By-Step Guide:

"These discount first class tickets are the airline industry's best-kept secret. Called Y-Ups, they price like a coach ticket, they look like a coach ticket, but when you sit down, you are one seat behind the pilot -- and they serve warm cookies.

FareCompare.com is the only web site that tracks over 100,000 of these confirmed discounted first class airfares. Y-Up airfares are intentionally published by the airlines to look exactly like a coach ticket, but the seats are allocated in the first class cabin. This sneaky little trick allows corporate travelers to legitimately & inexpensively get around their "No First Class Travel" policy.

Y-Up airfares are deeply discounted first class airline tickets available for travel within/between the United States and Canada. They do NOT apply to international coach, business or first class air travel.

How to Buy a Cheap Airline Ticket in First Class

Top 10 Discount First Class Airline Ticket Tips

• Seat inventory for Y-Up airfares is almost always available -- even on full flights, peak days and times (Mondays, Fridays, Sundays, Holidays) or last-minute trips.
• Frequent corporate travelers have the most to gain from Y-Up airfares. For the same or cheaper price than they are paying for refundable and last minute coach tickets, they get a confirmed first class cabin seat BEFORE frequent fliers are automatically upgraded. You don't have to compete against the 60 road warriors that are vying for upgrades to 10 first class seats when you purchase a Y-Up.
• Most airline and travel agents don't know about Y-Up airfares. You should ask for Y-Up airfares by name as most agents are not trained to offer these even though they may be cheaper.
• Most "self-serve" corporate booking tools do not check for Y-Up airfares. You will need to call your corporate agent and ask for them specifically.
• Most Y-Up airfares are one-way. If you miss your flight be sure and ask the airline ticket agent to check for a Y-Up. Many times the Y-Up first class airline ticket will be cheaper than the walk-up coach ticket for the flight replacing the one you missed.
• In many cases Y-Up airfares are refundable and are always exchangeable.
• If there is a super cheap Y-Up airfare, it is normally due to a promotion or an airline attempting to match a smaller competitor that has first class cabin seating on the same route.
• Make sure the planes on your itinerary have a first class cabin. You may end up on a regional jet on a segment of your journey that does not have a first class cabin.
• Y-Up airfares are great for special occasions and in some cases are a better deal than using your frequent flyer miles for a first class seat (honeymoons, anniversaries, ...)
• Y-Up airfares are booked in the first class cabin; you will get frequent flyer mileage based on buying a first class ticket (usually 2 times the mileage award of a coach ticket)."

The Gadget Geek's Airline

The Gadget Geek's Airline

. . .Virgin America's planes are a techie's and gadget lover's dream, with such frills as full USB and electrical power connections at every seat, both in first class and economy. Using the ports, you'll be able to charge portable gaming devices, MP3 players, laptops, cameras, and cell phones. You won't be able to make calls of course, even with Virgin Mobile handsets, but your phone will be fully powered up for your yammering needs once you arrive. And later on, the airline will activate ethernet ports at every seat, so you can surf the Web from 35,000 feet.

The seat-back video screens will offer a wealth of programming beyond the normal in-flight safety video. Not only will you find satellite TV from the Dish network, but also you'll get live TV (a first for an airline), streaming satellite radio, audio books, an MP3 library with 3,000 tracks, and 25 pay-per-view movies. You'll be able to manipulate the screen through a remote control set into your seat's armrest. And for your messaging needs, (yes, you can text message the other passengers who sign up) the aforementioned remote control includes a full QWERTY keyboard.

Mood lighting in the cabin.
(Credit: Virgin America)

You'll also be able to use the screens to order food or drinks from the minibar.

Hey all you laptop laden travelers flying cross country with a 2-3 hour battery, can you say SWEET? I knew that you could.