The BAT http://thebat-sf.com The Bay Area Traveler Thu, 16 May 2013 21:58:10 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Mileage Plus ranking + new 787 @ SFO + PreCheck + Airport standoff http://thebat-sf.com/2013/05/16/mileage-plus-ranking-new-787-sfo-precheck-airport-standoff/ http://thebat-sf.com/2013/05/16/mileage-plus-ranking-new-787-sfo-precheck-airport-standoff/#comments Thu, 16 May 2013 17:57:36 +0000 chris http://thebat-sf.com/?p=4422 In This Issue: New 787 Dreamliner flight at SFO, Mileage Plus ranks highly, Sour Milk, SFO Airport Tiff, Virgin America loss, Tito’s vodka, dream of a new Terminal 1 at SFO. Sorry for the recent lag in updates! Let’s catch up on Bay Area Travel news right now>>> MORE 787 DREAMLINERS.  Starting September 1, Japan Airlines will [...]

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]]> http://thebat-sf.com/2013/05/16/mileage-plus-ranking-new-787-sfo-precheck-airport-standoff/feed/ 0 New SFO flights + United fee hike + SFO Terminal video + 787 http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/29/new-sfo-flights-united-fee-hike-sfo-terminal-video-787/ http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/29/new-sfo-flights-united-fee-hike-sfo-terminal-video-787/#comments Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:56:13 +0000 chris http://thebat-sf.com/?p=4396 Catching up on Bay Area Travel news: New flights to France & China; United hikes fees; video inside new SFO Terminal; flirt on Virgin America flights from San Jose; 787 Dreamliner update, new Routehappy booking site; FlightCar is back. HUANYING AND BON VOYAGE. Last Friday (April 26) was a busy day at San Francisco International. At [...]

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]]> http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/29/new-sfo-flights-united-fee-hike-sfo-terminal-video-787/feed/ 13 Do you trust hotel review sites? [Infographic] http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/24/do-you-trust-hotel-review-sites-infographic/ http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/24/do-you-trust-hotel-review-sites-infographic/#comments Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:23:01 +0000 chris http://thebat-sf.com/?p=4379 Nearly every traveler I know (including me) checks out hotels on TripAdvisor before making a booking. I’m sure you do, too. Right? The infographic below provides an interesting look at how travelers use the review sites and what makes them trustworthy. It also provides some tips on spotting “fake” reviews. (The infographic was prepared by [...]

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]]> http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/24/do-you-trust-hotel-review-sites-infographic/feed/ 4 Q&A with SAS CEO Rickard Gustafson http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/19/qa-with-sas-ceo-rickard-gustafson/ http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/19/qa-with-sas-ceo-rickard-gustafson/#comments Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:21:04 +0000 chris http://thebat-sf.com/?p=4349 Last week SAS inaugurated flights to San Francisco International Airport  from its main hub in Copenhagen.  A large Scandinavian contingent included SAS CEO Rickard Gustafson, who agreed to a lively Q&A with The Bay Area Traveler-The BAT! Our warm spring weather was a big hit for the shivering Scandos, who have endured a longer-and-colder-than-normal winter. [...]

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]]> http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/19/qa-with-sas-ceo-rickard-gustafson/feed/ 8 Travel Q&A re: Boston bombing http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/15/travel-qa-re-boston-bombing/ http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/15/travel-qa-re-boston-bombing/#comments Mon, 15 Apr 2013 23:44:06 +0000 chris http://thebat-sf.com/?p=4328 What’s the situation at local Bay Area airports? At 4 pm today, my contacts at the airports as well as readers surprised me with NO reports of longer lines, increased scrutiny, etc. Boston had a brief “ground stop” which lasted only about an hour, and apparently operations are back to normal there and elsewhere… FAA [...]

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]]> http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/15/travel-qa-re-boston-bombing/feed/ 1 SAS arrival + Fight over Jersey + Taipei Delei + United woes http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/14/sas-arrival-fight-over-jersey-taipei-delei/ http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/14/sas-arrival-fight-over-jersey-taipei-delei/#comments Sun, 14 Apr 2013 17:36:58 +0000 chris http://thebat-sf.com/?p=4306 SKAL TO SAS. SAS touched down at SFO last Monday at around 2:30pm. While the BAT was unable to attend the airport arrival celebration, reader Joe D’Alessandro sent along the above photo of the first SAS A340-300 getting a water cannon salute. Within 10 minutes, we posted the photo on The BAT Facebook page and [...]

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]]> http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/14/sas-arrival-fight-over-jersey-taipei-delei/feed/ 3 Mega mileage earning bonuses proliferate http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/11/mega-mileage-earning-bonuses-proliferate/ http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/11/mega-mileage-earning-bonuses-proliferate/#comments Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:24:42 +0000 chris http://thebat-sf.com/?p=4286 Word about two new travel websites, RocketMiles and PointsHound, which woo frequent travelers with massive mileage bonuses for hotel bookings, is starting to leak out. A quick scan of RocketMiles today shows that it is currently offering 15,000 Mileage Plus miles for a three-night stay (@ $493/night) at the swank Andaz Wall Street in New York City in [...]

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]]> http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/11/mega-mileage-earning-bonuses-proliferate/feed/ 3 Ridesharing unwelcome at SFO + Virgin matches SW elite + New arrival from Europe http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/06/ridesharing-unwelcome-at-sfo/ http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/06/ridesharing-unwelcome-at-sfo/#comments Sat, 06 Apr 2013 22:16:45 +0000 chris http://thebat-sf.com/?p=4262 In this issue: Ridesharing unwelcome at SFO, Virgin expands elite matching, SAS nonstops from Copenhagen land at SFO, United upgrades IAH terminal, Presidential visit, 787 flying (empty), $100K a year to travel and blog? RIDESHARING UNWELCOME AT SFO. San Francisco International has issued cease and desist letters to six car/ride sharing services picking up or [...]

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]]> http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/06/ridesharing-unwelcome-at-sfo/feed/ 7 United’s transition to “new” p.s. flights http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/04/united-transition-to-new-ps-flights/ http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/04/united-transition-to-new-ps-flights/#comments Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:10:34 +0000 chris http://thebat-sf.com/?p=4233 Do you jump on United Airlines p.s. service flights to New York much? If so, take a look at this document produced by United that clearly spells out how it plans to make the transition from the current “old” p.s. service to the “new” p.s. service that debuted last month (covered by The Bay Area [...]

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]]> http://thebat-sf.com/2013/04/04/united-transition-to-new-ps-flights/feed/ 2 United to remain in Terminal 1 at SFO until 2014 http://thebat-sf.com/2013/03/27/united-in-sfo-terminal-1-until-jan-2014/ http://thebat-sf.com/2013/03/27/united-in-sfo-terminal-1-until-jan-2014/#comments Wed, 27 Mar 2013 23:37:13 +0000 chris http://thebat-sf.com/?p=4202 Have you flown United Express out of San Francisco International Airport (SFO) lately? If so, you likely know that most (but not all) United Express flights now use Terminal 1 instead of United’s Terminal 3. Passengers who don’t know– and enter the airport at United’s T3– must descend a metal stairway and into a small [...]

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