Triangle Trip

If you’re flying in the US, always check-in online as soon as you can.

Here are the reasons why:

1. For Southwest, you can get a better seat and avoid boarding towards the end of the plane.
2. For most carriers, you can pick an Exit row seat which is reserved for same day check-in if you don’t have status.
3. As I have recently experienced on (ghetto) Delta, they actually give up your seat if you do not check-in 31 minutes before the actual flight. Delta is actually treating their Medallion Gold members this way, image when you do not have status.

Most airlines also have mobile sites that allows you to check-in via your phone. However most do not work too well. I actually tried to check-in via ghetto Delta’s online site and it failed me. The recent experience will definitely prompt a letter to management,

I received an email from Delta today telling me that I can link my Delta and Northworst (NWA) account. I clicked on the link and it took me to a page where I can enter my Skymiles and WorldPerks accounts with my PINs. After entering the information, I received instant confirmation that the accounts have been linked.

The Delta site brought to my attention that my emails were different between the two accounts and asked me to select my preferred email address. I also got an opportunity to transfer miles between my Skymiles and WorldPerks accounts. You will receive an extra 500 miles from Delta if you perform a transfer before March 15. I took advantage of this perk and emptied out my NWA account to focus on earning Delta miles.

The Delta Skymiles/NWA WordPerks accounts merger has been awesome experience compared to the US-scare (USAir) and AmericaWorst (AWA) merger. For US-scare, I’d to enter my personal information on both sites and had to make sure they were identical — as the two systems weren’t sophisticated enough to rationalize accounts based on first and last names plus address.

Huge kudos to Delta as it’s their system that is managing the process!

After merging these two accounts, I have successfully consolidated all my alliances with Delta (SkyTeam), United (Star), and American (OneWorld).

I have been commuting coast to coast for over 10 years – that’s between New York and California. I have flown out of JFK to LAX and SFO months at a time. There were only two carriers back in the 90s… now we’ve five options:

1. American
2. Delta
3. JetBlue
4. United
5. Virgin Ameirca

I have experienced all carriers and want to share my experience with everyone. Here are the plus’s and minuses for each:

1. American:

PLUSES:  Price – usually cheaper than Delta and UA. Coach seats are pretty roomy vs. the other four.

MINUSES:  The AA terminal at JFK is a zoo. Planes are older.

2. Delta

PLUSES:  Price – usually cheaper than UA. New seats inside the plane – leather. Live TV in coach. If you’re a Medallion Gold or Platinum, 80% chance to be upgraded to First.

MINUSES:  If you buy a low fare ticket, you will not get full mileage in your bank. Skyteam points are not as valuable as Star Alliance or OneWorld.

3. JetBlue

PLUSES:  Newer planes. Flights are cheap. Free live TV. Food for sale is decent.

MINUSES:  Have to fly to OAK or SJC vs. SFO. Long Beach or Burbank vs. LAX. No first class upgrades.

4. United

PLUSES:  Star Alliance points and UA offers 100% on all flights regardless of the price of tickets. JFK terminal is extremely clean. If upgraded to buniess, service is awesome – personal DVD player, plugs on all business class seats, etc.

MINUSES:  UA divided plane into 50% business, 50% coach. As a result, there are not that many seats available for sale in coach. Tickets are generally expensive.

5. Virgin Ameirca

PLUSES:  Plugs on all seats, games and TV on your seats, comfortable throughout the cabin, ticket can be pretty cheap as well.

MINUSES:  Limited flights throughout the day. Can only bank Virgin points.

Summary

In summary, you should fly Delta if you have Medallion status as you will get upgraded. Fly United if you have enough points to spend on the upgrades. Go with Jetblue if you’re cost conscious or don’t mind flying to alternative airports.