Starting 01 February, 2012, American will re-introduce free beer and wine in economy class on their flights between the US and Asia, Europe, and select markets in South America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay). Gary wonders if such a move is necessary. So do I.

First, let's be realistic--no one is going to fly on American Airlines because they now offer free wine and beer (not even free cocktails...). As odd as it sounds to a frequent flyers like me, most consumers look for the ...

Hawaiian Airlines will begin daily service from Honolulu to Tokyo Haneda this October, after winning approval for the new route from the DOT on Friday.

With the "Open Skies" pact signed by the US and Japan last December, Hawaiian, Delta, and American plan to begin service from the United States to Haneda, a more convenient way to get to Tokyo than the hour-long train ride from Narita.

JAL is retiring all 747s from its fleet this year, and will soon switch from a 747 ...

This week we continue our award redemption series by discussing Star Alliance carriers including United Airlines, US Airways and Continental Airlines.  In this episode we discuss:

American Airlines new stand by policyJAL's final decision to stay with OneWorldDelta and US Airways proposed swap slotUnited Airlines award levels, website issues, and evil StarNet blockingUS Airways award levels and availabilityContinental's award ...

In this first podcast of a series on airline award bookings we discuss the basics of how we use our miles and an overview of different award types. In future podcasts, over the next few weeks, we will discuss specific reward programs and alliances in greater detail.

In addition we discussed JAL's decision between SkyTeam and OneWorld, although that dicussion seems a bit dated now.  Please send in your recent award redemptions stories and questions for our next few airline award booking shows.

I can't keep up - but as of right now rueters is reporting that JAL is sticking with OneWorld and not joining Delta in Skyteam.

JAL's new chief executive officer, Kazuo Inamori, and officials of the ETIC have decided that switching alliances is too risky and could hinder their ability to turn around the airline quickly, the Asahi said on its website.

As expected there are too many hurdles for cash strapped JAL to overcome including anti trust challenges that were sure to arise. Long term I think this makes the most sense for JAL's growth as they have much bigger issues to deal with immediately. Obviously this is good news for OneWorld and American.

The only downside is what to do with the JAL content from this week's podcast that will go up later today? It seems outdated already ;)

 

After weeks of back-and-forth haggling and the like, the Daily Yomiuri newspaper announced today (tomorrow?) that Japan Airlines (JAL) is leaving the Oneworld Alliance and entering into a relationship with Delta.

I'm trying to pack and get ready for a flight tomorrow, and I'm not someone who knows much about the dollars-and-cents side of the airline business. (My expertise is fast becoming airline food, not the intiricacies of route networks and code-sharing agreements.) So those ...