United Airlines gets on board

TO celebrate #California recently naming #surfing as the state's official sport, United Airlines, California's global airline, is getting on board and removing the service fees for surfboards for customers traveling to or from California. 

Effective October 5, customers traveling with a surfboard, wakeboard or paddleboard on direct United Airlines or United Express itineraries that originate or end at any California airport will not have to pay the previous $150 or $200 service fee to check these items. The regular checked-bag fee will apply.

To help preserve California's coast and oceans, United is donating $50,000 to Sustainable Surf, a California-based environmental nonprofit that operates as an innovation lab using surfing as a force for good—to solve the ocean health crisis by 2050.

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Epic dream job from Ski.com

THE Epic Pass offers more access than ever, and Ski.com, the largest provider of ski vacations in North America, is searching for a candidate who can show what it's like to experience it all. 

One lucky person will be hired to travel the world for two months via United Airlines to seven countries on three continents, and ski or ride more than a dozen of the 65 destinations available on the Epic Pass. In addition to being introduced to unique experiences at world-class resorts, he or she will be decked out in head-to-toe gear from Helly Hansen, Rossignol and Oakley; capture enviable content with video equipment from GoPro; have a direct line to custom snow forecasts from OpenSnow and collect a paycheck of US$10,000.

The ideal candidate must have a serious desire to travel to some of the most amazing mountain destinations in the United States, Canada, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, France and Japan; must be able to ski and/or snowboard and must love après, mingling with locals and documenting new experiences.

To apply, interested job seekers must submit an application video between September 5 and October 15, 2018 explaining in 60 seconds or less what makes them the perfect candidate. For more information and to apply, applicants should visit www.ski.com/dreamjob or apply by posting an application video to Instagram tagging @skicom, @epicpass and using the hashtag #EpicDreamJob.


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Time off in Tahiti

EVERY year, more than 700 million vacation days go unused across the United States, signaling that Americans are working harder and not taking the time off they've earned to unplug, relax and recharge. United Airlines today announced Time Off in Tahiti, a contest designed to recognize the hardest-working person in the Unites States with a dream trip to the islands of #Tahiti. 

The winner of United's Time Off in Tahiti contest and their guest will fly from their hometown to San Francisco and then on to Papeete, Tahiti for the ultimate getaway. The journey includes a visit to the United Polaris lounge at San FranciscoInternational Airport, where they will find space to relax, dine and refresh before their flight to Tahiti. They will then fly in United Polaris business class to Tahiti.

Nominations can be submitted at united.com/timeofftahiti.
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In the air . . . Latin America

AIR Europa introduces first direct flight to Honduras - Air Europa has launched the first ever flight from Madrid to San Pedro Sula in Honduras which will operate once a week. Return flights are priced from £405 from London via Madrid with a flight time of approximately 18 hours. www.aireuropa.com

UNITED Airlines announces new service between New York and Buenos Aires -
United Airlines has announced a new year-round daily, nonstop service between New York and Buenos Aires, Argentina, starting in October 2017. In addition, the airline is increasing its year-round, daily service to Bogota, Colombia, from New York, with an additional daily flight starting June 8 through August 14. www.united.com

AEROMEXICO increases flights between London and Mexico City to daily nonstop service - Aeromexico has increased its service from six weekly flights to one daily flight between London and Mexico City. www.aeromexico.com

LATAM Airlines launch new connections from Lima and Santiago
In September 2017, LATAM will launch a new direct flight from Lima, Peru to Tucumán, Argentina. In October, it will also start operating a direct service from Santiago, Chile to three cities in Argentina – San Juan, Neuquén and Tucumán opening up the region futher for international visitors. www.latam.com

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More flights to US Virgin islands this Summer

UNITED Airlines will boost air capacity to the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) this summer. In addition to daily flights from George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, United Airlines will once again serve Washington Dulles International Airport with daily service to St. Thomas this summer, and extend its weekly Saturday service from Newark, N.J., to St. Thomas beyond the summer months, through September and October.

According to the U.S. Virgin Islands Bureau of Economic Research (BER), stay-over visitor arrivals to the Territory in 2016 were up 4.3 percent compared with 2015. St. Croix registered a 6.5 percent increase and St. Thomas/St. John was up by 3.8 percent.

For the first two months of the year, stay-over arrivals were up by 4.5 percent over the same period last year, with St. Thomas/St. John reporting a 4.4 percent increase in arrivals while St. Croix was up by 5.3 percent.

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New Zealand Campaign in the US

THOUSANDS of commuters in New York's Penn Station are stopping in their tracks to check out a display promoting a holiday in New Zealand. Penn Station is the busiest travel hub in America, with around 650K people using it each day.

The campaign runs until the end of February and is a joint venture with United Airlines and Air New Zealand. 

The space used in the station is owned by United and it's the first time they have worked with a tourism board. The work is part of a larger national digital campaign promoting New Zealand in the US, with additional promotional activity in 6 major airports across America and material in United Airlines' in-flight magazines and guides.

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Houston to Havana with United

THE first flight from #Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) to #Havana took to the air on December 3rd, connecting Cuba to Texas' largest city and United's premier Latin American gateway.

United will operate Saturday nonstop flights from Houston in addition to its daily nonstop service from Newark/New York via NewarkInternational Airport (EWR).

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Up in the air …

American carriers line up to offer Cuba services 

United Airlines has submitted its formal application to the US department of Transportation for authority to provide service from four of its largest US gateway cities – Newark/New York, Houston, Washington, D.C., and Chicago – to Havana.

American Airlines issued proposal to operate scheduled services, including ten daily frequencies to Havana from American’s Latin America gateway hub in Miami. American will also offer additional service to Havana from its hubs in Charlotte, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

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United States-Cuba to restore scheduled flights

SCHEDULED AIR LINKS between the #US and #Cuba are to be restored. It is hoped the deal agreed by the two governments could jumpstart economic relations between the countries, paving the way for Americans to visit the island on a daily basis.

American airlines will now negotiations with the Cuban government over commercial flight routes and schedules.

United Airlines said: ‘We congratulate the United States and Cuban governments on reaching this historic arrangement, which will strengthen ties and economic development between the two countries.

‘We look forward to offering service between our global gateways and Cuba as soon as we have approval to do so.’

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Up in the air ...

NEW for Norwich Airport … Flybe services to Alicante, Malaga, and Geneva. Year-round flights from Norwich to Alicante and Malaga will start in March next year, while the Geneva service is expected later in 2016.

UNITED AIRLINES is to introduce non-stop flights between Auckland, New Zealand and its San Francisco next July. Initially, the service will operate three times weekly, increasing to daily flights later in the year.

MANCHESTER AIRPORT has launched an online tool that allows members of the public to see flight and noise data collected by the airport’s aircraft noise monitoring and tracking system. WebTrak allows residents to see flight activity within 30 miles of the airport. Wendy Sinfield, airport community relations manager, said: ‘We recognize that aircraft landing and taking off can affect our neighbours. By making flight and noise information available on the internet, people can go online and use the system to find details of a particular flight (airline, aircraft type, and destination), locate their property on a map and calculate the height that the aircraft was flying above and the distance from their property and if they have a comment or concern about a particular flight they can report it to us using the system.’

HEATHROW’S chief executive John Holland-Kaye has called upon global leaders to take action to cut carbon emissions. He says Heathrow has achieved a Level 3 Airport Carbon Accreditation, which confirms the airport has ‘optimized’ its carbon footprint reduction by engaging with third parties when measuring and reducing its carbon footprint. Heathrow has committed to a further 34% reduction in CO2 emissions from energy used in buildings by 2020, as well as reducing CO2 from the airports vehicles.

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United's NY route from Newcastle to return next summer

SUMMER seasonal United Airlines’ flight between Newcastle and #NewYork will return next summer. The carrier is to run six flights a week to Newark Liberty airport between May 26 and September 6. 

United’s UK and Ireland managing director sales, Bob Schumacher, said: ‘As the first airline to offer a scheduled non-stop service to the US from North-East England, we are excited to return to Newcastle next year. Our flights offer business and leisure travellers not only convenient access to New York but also connections to hundreds of other destinations across the Americas.’

Newcastle airport chief executive, David Laws, added: ‘As well as connecting the region to New York, United’s Newark hub provides access to a huge range of key cities, including Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Orlando in the United States, and Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver in Canada.’

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34639903@N03/3439647651">Signs of Times Square in HDR</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)

Up in the air …

Ryanair launches Sofia flights – Ryanair is to start a daily service from London Stansted to Sofia, Bulgaria, next May. The airline plans to release 100,000 Stansted-Sofia seats for sale from £19.99 in September and October.

Sofia will be Ryanair’s second Bulgarian airport, following Plovdiv (which has a four- weekly service to London Stansted).

That’s a very, very long flight – Emirates has revealed its plan to launch services from Dubai to Panama City in February. It will be the planet’s longest non-stop commercial flight – 17 hours, 35 minutes westbound.

Flights to the sun – United Airlines is launching a non-stop weekly service from Newark (New Jersey/New York) to St. Kitts in the Caribbean in December.

Newquay Airport passenger numbers up – The latest data released by Newquay Cornwall Airport has revealed a significant increase in passengers using the airport for business and pleasure. More than 71,000 people used it between April and June, a 26% increase on the same period last year.

BA adds Costa Rica to long-haul schedule – Starting on May 4 next year British Airways will offer non-stop flights between Gatwick and the Costa Rican capital of San Jose … twice-weekly for summer months, rising to three time a week in the winter.
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Up in the air …

Monarch Airlines has expanded its schedule for summer 2016. New routes from Leeds Bradford to Malaga and Manchester to Gran Canaria are part of Monarch Airlines’ expanded schedule for summer 2016. Extra frequencies have been added from Birmingham to Gibraltar and Ibiza; Gatwick to Ibiza, Rhodes, Paphos, and Verona; Leeds Bradford to Naples; and Manchester to Ibiza.

Flybe has released its 2015-16 winter schedules to and from Stansted and Bournemouth Airport. Its thrice daily service to the Isle of Man from Stansted, which was launched in March, will continue to operate between October 25, 2015 and March 26, 2016, making it a year-round route. Flybe’s winter schedule from Bournemouth will include six routes to Amsterdam, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Dublin, Glasgow, Jersey, and Manchester.

United Airlines will be offering its customers from Northern Ireland a year-round non-stop service from Belfast to Newark, New York.


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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8269539@N04/9648446330">Monarch Airlines</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license),http://www.flickr.com/photos/27828336@N00/3519634225">Flybe</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/">(license) 

From snowy Chicago to sunny St. Lucia

WITH visitors arriving at a record pace from the US – showing a year-to-date increase of nine percent over 2014 – Saint Lucia will see additional winter season flights as United Airlines launches a non-stop, weekly service from Chicago in December.

‘The expanded partnership with United signifies the first non-stop regularly scheduled service between the two destinations, making Saint Lucia even more accessible for travellers,’ says Louis Lewis at #SaintLucia Tourist Board. ‘The new flights connect major gateways in the Midwestern United States and provide added convenience for connections with a number of new markets.’

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/33174580@N00/7336989612">Smugglers Cove</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(license)

Travel facts …

COMPLAINTS against #US airlines in the first quarter of 2015 are up by 15% over the same period in 2014. 

More than one-third of consumer complaints about US airlines stemmed from flight problems, including cancellations, delays, and missed connections.

Among the carriers facing the largest number of flight-problem complaints were American Airlines, United Airlines, Frontier Airlines, and Spirit Airlines.

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United to run summer Newcastle-New York flights

UNITED AIRLINES is to add a seventh airport to its UK network this summer with the launch of a seasonal service between Newcastle and Newark, New York.

‘We’re excited about the unprecedented range of travel choices we’ll be offering our UK customers this summer,’ said Bob Schumacher, United managing director sales, UK and Ireland.

United will operate five flights per week between Newcastle and New York/Newark from May 23 to September 7.

Passengers arriving at New York/Newark on flights from Newcastle will be able to connect with United flights to destinations throughout the Americas.

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United beefs up 1st class menus

UNITED AIRLINES has unveiled new, improved lunch, dinner and beverage choices for domestic first-class customers, offering travellers chef-inspired meals and premium drinks.

Designed by United's team of chefs, new salads and sandwiches will be made fresh daily and paired with a gluten-free soup.

By mid-2015, United will further improve its in-flight dining with completely re-designed menu concepts and expanding premium-cabin meals within North America to flights that are more than two hours and 20 minutes, or 800 miles.

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