Since the merger between Continental and United there has been rampant speculation as to which reservation system will survive.  United currently uses a system called Apollo which is hosted by Amadeus.   Meanwhile Continental uses an in-house system called Shares. 

In this article from Travel Weekly is reporting that United has terminated its agreement with Amadeus to move to the new Altea platform and has decided to standardize on Shares. 

As with ...

Now that we're well into the merger of Continental and United the realization is starting to set in that we're going to be losing Channel 9.  You may be wondering why.   It's not a political issue, it's not a personnel issue, it's due to a technical limitation.

For a number of years, the Continental folks have been asking for Channel 9 and Continental was even ready to introduce it, until an issue arose.   You see, the LiveTV system, that Continental has standarzied on, lacks the ability to host an external audio source.  

Given that the new United has hinted that LiveTV will be standardized platform for inflight entertainment, when you put the pieces together the writing is on the wall. 

In my case, I've chosen to enjoy it while I can and speak with my wallet by not paying for the LiveTV product.

The title of this post is an old saying when undesirables move into the neighborhood.  In this particular case, it is referring to the entry of Southwest airlines into Newark.

For years, Newark has avoided the mass of low cost carriers and thus keeping a higher caliber of travelers through it.  Whereas take the caliber of the Southwest population enmasse and you'll see a large difference.   

First, people belive that Southwest brings low prices.  ...

Last week I had the pleasure of taking a ride on the Lufthansa A380 in First.  A truly amazing experience, I highly recommend.

While the seats aren't suites like Turkish or Emirates, they are very private and quite spacious.  One of the coolest parts was that each person gets a private locker with a combination lock.

Here are some pictures I was able to snag.

The private storage locker.

A closeup of the storage locker showing seat assignment.

To all the battlefield upgraders, yes, it is an inconvenience for me to change my seat.  Just by asking, you put me in an awkward spot.  Do I stay in the seat that I chose and wanted while being a jerk, or do I inconvenience myself and sacrifice my choice just so you can sit next to Schmoopy? 

It's one thing to change seats on a long-haul flight, that I get.  But to ask on a hour long flight, really?  More often than not, people will know you're together.  If they want to switch seats, they will offer -- I've done this and i've seen others do this.  But to ask, puts the person in the seat in an awkward position and it's rather selfish of you.   If it's so important you sit together, then you should get seated together and that may mean sitting in the back or buying a first class ticket.