Triangle Trip

Furthering my previous post highlighting issues with (Fly) Clear, below are two more missteps:

According (Fly) Clear, they would have Clear service at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) by winter 2009. To me, winter 2009 has come and gone. December 21, 2009 is not winter 2009, it is actually winter 2010 (just look at all the winter Olympics schedules if you do not agree). Here we are, spring 2009 and I do not see any signs of (Fly) Clear at LAX. I visited the Clear website today and noticed LAX is now off the map (not even a “coming soon” city). How can (Fly) Clear stay in business when they cannot service the second most populated city in the US.

(Fly) Clear also announced that they have launched Clear services at JFK’s terminal 4. I am a frequent flier out of JFK’s terminal 4 and only realized last week that I could use the Clear service. I have been standing on the regular line all this time because I don’t see any Clear signage. How I found out that Clear actually launched in terminal 4 was when someone cut my line last week. There is a Clear station after you pass the initial ID screening. I thought Clear was supposed to help you bypass the ID screening process as most airports have a Clear agent standing right next to the ID screening TSA agent.

If Clear executives read all my post regarding (Fly) Clear to date, their service would grow in leaps and bounces. I should send them an invoice for my consulting services.

Virgin America is flying from point to point as opposed to using a hub and spoke model like the larger US carriers. The point to point flights work well on regional hops but don’t think they work as well on coast to coast flights. The coast to coast flights cost too much to operate when you have planes that are 1/4 full.

Virgin America flies from NYC and Boston to Los Angeles and San Francisco. I have been going coast to coast on Delta an United for the past four months, and the coast to coast flights are rarely full. Although I haven’t been on a Virgin America flight but I can’t image they are packed or even 50% full.

United probably has the most loyal business travele customers and they can’t fill up the United P.S. flights which has less seats than Delta and other airlines due to the larger business class cabin. If you have Virgin America miles (I am not even sure how it works), I highly recommend you use them now before they go under like the Virgin retail stores. I don’t see how Richard Branson and his hedge fund partners are making money here.

If you’ve ever flown United’s Premium Service flights from New York’s JFK to LAX or SFO and had the misfortune of getting a middle seat you might’ve missed one of the key features of that aircraft’s configuration: power outlets.

Power outlets on United? Yeah right, you may think. But it’s true. Underneath the middle seats there is actually a power outlet. So next time you are stuck in a middle seat on a United P.S. flight, don’t be so glum, at least you’ll have power.