Dots, Lines & Destinations

Did you pick Lome, Togo and Seattle, Washington for your next round of smooth connection opportunities? If so, please step forward to claim your prize.

Also in this episode:

* Singapore Airlines adds Seattle to its route map

* Ethiopian shifts its LAX feed to Lome

* IATA gets more aggressive on Brexit (and Stephan might change a vacation as a result)

* Icelandair buys out WOW

* Someone will probably buy out Alitalia. Maybe. And it might not really have a loyalty program by the time that happens.

* American adjusts EXP rules

* United Airlines faces a lawsuit over its actions related to a catering facility listeria outbreak

* Engine issues and engine issues because we like to rile Fozz up from time to time

* And a first flight, just to round out the list

Why fly to Hong Kong and Beijing for the weekend? Because we can. The price was right and dumplings were on our minds. And so away we went.

Two very different itineraries gave us equally different travel experiences. Economy class plus an overnight train led to the new high speed rail service for Seth while Stephan took advantage of a good United Airlines business class fare to make his trip. Once in Hong Kong there were dumplings a plenty. The venerable Tim Ho Wan baked BBQ buns were a hit, though the rest of that experience left a little to be desired. Soup dumplings at Cheung Hing Kee Shanghai Pan Fried Buns were a hit, too, thought the black truffle option was incredibly overpowering (multiple locations, comparable quality).

We missed stops at this bamboo noodle shop, Maxim's City Hall and One Dim Sum, but we did stop in at one of the many airplane model shops to collect souvenirs.

United made changes to its 1K program (and other tiers) for the 2019 program year and, not surprisingly, lots of people have lots of opinions on this issue. Somewhat surprisingly, they're not all completely negative.

Also in this episode:

* Marriott continues in its struggles to integrate the SPG operations into a common loyalty program and website operation

* Emirates might not be taking those new A380s after all, thanks to engine issues at Rolls Royce

* Drunken pull-ups caused the diversion of an American Airlines flight

* JFK Airport moved a step closer to a $13 billion terminal upgrade

* British Airways is no longer the largest foreign carrier in the New York City area by passenger count. Does that matter?

* OTG transactions are annoying

* How should Seth ride the trains in China?

 

Want a look into the future of aircraft cabin interiors? APEX EXPO is a good opportunity to see what's coming and prepare for the inevitable. Often that means getting ready for not so great changes to the passenger experience. As is often the case we have Jason on as a guest to review the show and parse out what's really going to fly or not.

What's cool? What's going to fly? What isn't?

* New, smaller lavs are definitely coming

* A new way to pay for power on board might take off

* Overhead bins get connected to the internet in strange and maybe useful ways

* New screens for entertainment systems are bigger and brighter than ever

Also in this episode:

* Austin gets another long haul

* JetBlue goes Basic

* Delta had another computer outage

* Paine Field gets some routes

* United confirms the first 787-10 routes

Will a Middle East merger happen? Did a plane run very low on fuel? Is the new UA boarding process a joke? Lots of answers in this week's show!

Stephan and Fozz are on this week, with some lively conversation including the following stories:

* An Air India Flight Loses Landing Instrumentation and Runs Low on Fuel

* For a short while, American Airlines was considering ending ticket changes

* Emirates and Etihad are Considering a Merger

* This New Zealander Has a Plane In His Backyard

We also talked about Fozz's United agent experience in Amsterdam and EU261 rules. And we talk about the first couple of weeks of the new United boarding process.

Is it fair that Turkey's president gets a new 747-8i before we do? Alas, it probably is. Questions remain around how long his government will be solvent to operate it, though.

Also in this episode:

* The gate crunch at SFO sucks for United passengers

* A new longest domestic US route as Hawaiian announces Boston service

* More lift to Miami for Europeans thanks to LOT's new flight from Warsaw

* United has new boarding groups, but will they really make a difference?

* British Airways improved catering which is a somewhat surprising shift to being nicer to passengers

* Mexico City's new airport is behind schedule, over budget, and at risk of seeing the project canceled; oopsie!

We also talk IATA forecasts and Hyperloop and Dubai and lots of other stuff. So solid off-topic rambling going on in here.

Are the days of Aerolineas Argentinas numbered? Norwegian is now selling seats for its domestic flights there, with service launching mid-October.

Plus:

* Primera adds Frankfurt as another base for TATL LCC flights

* United is investing $200 million in Hawaii and appears to be adding westbound redeyes to the islands

* Delta is looking for investors for its Trainer oil refinery operations

* Might PreCheck become Trusted Traveler only? Some Congress-critters want that to happen, but maybe that's not the true solution

And, as always, the usual ramblings of our intrepid crew.

 

Is Primera ready for Transatlantic prime time? Seth took a trip with the carrier this week and has a few thoughts on the product.

Also in this episode:

* Berlin is getting its TATL back

* Cayman Air is coming to Denver

* Carlsbad gets service again as California Pacific finally launches (only took 7 years!)

* The 737-10 landing gear is crazy cool

* United's efforts to avoid the China/Taiwan spat continue to come up short

* More engine woes for Pratt & Whitney

And lots, lots more!

 

Can a pair of –10 models from Boeing redefine the US transcon market? Or maybe United is just playing a bit of catch-up here, hoping to keep premium passengers from defecting to JetBlue's growing Mint product. And how does it affect the 757-200 fleet??

Also this week:

* Gatwick had a tech outage and handled it moderately badly

* Cathay's pilots all hate the company despite a ridiculous housing stipend

* United is moving to trade on NASDAQ and we have no idea why that matters

* Qatar's ruling family is selling its 747-8i and we need a new recording studio, so help us out!

* Long haul route shuffling from American and Delta as they jockey for new markets (or mere survival)

* Joon might be on strike soon, owing to crew wanting more pay despite knowing from the beginning they were going to be paid less

* A FAM flashed his weapon instead of a badge to a FA recently, causing all sorts of issues

And plenty more…

Will the Singapore-Newark route really fly? Some of us are more skeptical than others. But the first A350-900ULR is in test flights now so expect delivery soon enough.

Also in this episode:

* United has a new "elite" program for corporate contracts. And it could mean bad news for regular travelers.

* Body scanner cameras in the subways of Los Angeles (and NYC)

*

US inbound traffic from China is suffering mightily

And, the story of traveling on "hard" passports we didn't talk about