Traveling Tiger

The Moon at 30,000 Feet

On my first flight today, I managed to catch a glimpse of a nearly full moon (Waning Gibbous, 96% visible) on the departure out of Raleigh. This past Friday was a rare occurrence of a Harvest moon and an Eclipse, so I was excited to see it from the sky.

I used FlightAware’s tracklog feature to correlate the times of the pictures to the approximate locations and altitudes (approximate because as the photos weren’t taken at the exact same time the plane reported in). There is a lot of information available with the tracklog, but I only captured the first few columns. I put this information under each of the pictures:

Time (EDT)
Latitude
Longitude
Course
Direction (Heading vs. Course vs. Direction)
Speed (Knots)
Speed (Miles Per Hour)
Altitude (Feet)

Ever wonder what a city looks like when completely covered by clouds?

Sun 06:33:24 AM

36.0083

-78.8083

283°

West

260

299

5,200

At just under 15,000 feet, I managed to catch a glimpse of the moon!

2016-09-18-moonovernc — Moon, or cold sun?

Sun 06:38:28 AM

36.1653

-79.2789

318°

Northwest

366

421

14,600

As the flight went on, I noticed that we could see hints of sunrise in the sky, which was beautiful. This is why I love to fly!

And another shot of the moon with the sunrise hues at 32k feet.

Sun 06:54:25 AM

37.4447

-81.0061

327°

Northwest

449

517

32,000

Companion Pass Targeted Offer from @SouthwestAir

Though this offer started a couple of months ago, Southwest’s targeted offer is still ticking! You do need to register for the offer prior to travel, but receiving a Companion Pass through the end of 2017 for 5 round trip flights is a steal! The trips need to start or end in California, and they need to be Southwest flights, naturally.

The qualifying airports are spread out nicely, so it’s fairly reasonable in that regard as well:

Ontario International Airport (ONT)
John Wayne Airport (SNA)
Burbank Bob Hope Airport (BUR)
Long Beach Airport (LGB)
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Oakland International Airport (OAK)
San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
Sacramento International Airport (SMF)
San Jose International Airport (SJC)
San Diego International Airport (SAN)

Another @SingaporeAir Sale!

A few days ago, I posted about a great deal on Premium Economy seats to Singapore. This morning I received an email about another deal going on! This one is for economy travel from various US-based hubs (SFO, LAX, JFK, and IAH — San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York-Kennedy, and Houston, respectively).

2016-09-17-singaporesale02 — A sampling of cities

The other big difference is that this sale isn’t just to Singapore, as you might have noticed from the image above. A full table can be found on the deal site, and below.

This is a flash sale, so don’t expect the fares to last for long. If you have any flights planned to these regions, it might be worth jumping on while you can!

737-MAX and A32x-neo

No, I don’t mean the Messianic figure from the Matrix movies, I am referring to Airbus’s denotation of improved engine performance and mileage: “New Engine Option”. These two narrow-body planes are reported to have an improved fuel efficiency estimated at 15% over their traditional counterparts, which will allow them to fly from the East Coast to Western Europe. This efficiency is due to a combination of new manufacturing technologies (and materials) leading to lighter planes , more efficient engines, and wingtip devices to help reduce drag.

Until now, we were limited to 757 variants when it came to narrow-body options to cross the Atlantic. While the 757 does offer lie-flat seats in certain configurations – Raleigh to Paris on Delta, for example, it is definitely aging and it shows. More fuel efficient options should translate to cheaper tickets for the passengers, and more options as well.

737-MAX

2016-09-17boeing_737-8_max_n8704q — From Flickr via Wikipedia

The 737-MAX family will use the CFM LEAP-1B engine, which is larger and more efficient than the older CFM56 engines found on the bulk of the 737 fleet. The estimated range is between 4,000 and 4,400 nautical miles for all but the ‘MAX 200’ variant, which is unique to RyanAir as a variant of the 737-8.

2016-09-17-cfm_leap-x — From Wikimedia via Wikipedia

Additionally, it will have new wingtip devices which further boost its fuel efficiency. This combination of wingtip technologies is referred to as a “split scimitar winglet” by Boeing.

Though Southwest will be the launch customer of the MAX 7 and MAX 8 variants (Lion Air will be the launch customer of the MAX 9 and RyanAir of the MAX 200), I fully expect other airlines to replace their aging 737 population with these, especially when it comes to profit margins and fuel costs.

A320neo & A321neo

2016-09-17-lufthansa_airbus_a320_neo_d-aina — From Flickr via Wikipedia

A321neo test-bed on a low gears-up departure from Toulouse. — From Flickr via Wikipedia

Both the A320 and A321 narrow-body aircraft from Airbus offer ‘neo’ options, and both are driven by CFM LEAP engines, though -1A. As with the 737-MAX, these planes also have redesigned wingtip devices (referred to as ‘sharklets’ by Airbus).

@AwardWallet and @ExpertFlyer – Making Life Easier

There are two websites that all frequent fliers should be familiar with: AwardWallet and ExpertFlyer. The former helps you track your various frequent traveler information (car, hotel, and airline), the number of miles you have, expiry date, and so on. ExpertFlyer lets you search for award fare, which is particularly important when trying to book award tickets or look for routing to use Global Upgrade Certificates from Delta (or Systemwide Upgrade Certificates from American Airlines).

AwardWallet

There are two different types of AwardWallet accounts: Free or Plus, and a brief difference between the two can be found below. The biggest perks are that having a Plus account is that you will be able to refresh accounts in parallel and that you will be able to see expiry dates of miles/points. This means you can plan any necessary purchases/trips to make sure your account stays active and your points stay safe. If you sign up with this invitation link [affiliate link], I would appreciate it!

As you can see, AwardWallet Plus also shows special codes attached to accounts: the companion fare for my Alaska Airlines credit card, for example. It also shows my Hyatt Suite Upgrades and Starwood Suite Night Upgrades, and when they expire. Plus only costs $5 every 6 months, which is very reasonable for what you get.

2016-09-16-awardwallet01 — Account Overview

ExpertFlyer

On the other side of things we have ExpertFlyer, which lets us find find particular equipment (for example, those of us who have a fascination for 747-400s ;)), route selections that allow for use of System Wide Upgrade certificates (more on that below), and other information that isn’t as easily viewed at other locations. I opted for Basic as I don’t need to search too often, and while flexible searches would be nice, I can live without it.

To search for routes that would allow me to use my Global Upgrade Certificates, for example, it is as simple as clicking a checkbox! Note that each search will use two queries: one for the departure and one for the return.

2016-09-16-expertflier02 — Searching for Global Upgrade Seats

The Seats column identifies how many eligible seats are available for the particular code (Z, in this case), and the aircraft type is also shown. ExpertFlyer doesn’t allow direct booking with this information, though, so you will have to find the same fares on the respective airline website to do that. I usually call Delta as it allows application of the upgrade certificate at the time of booking.

2016-09-16-expertflier03 — Dreamliner Available Seats!

2016-09-16-expertflier04 — Nothing for Return

Increased Signup on @Barclaycard Arrival+

Application Link [not an affiliate link]: Here

For the longest time, the signup bonus for the Arrival+ was 40,000 points for $3,000 spend, but today it was increased to 50,000 points. This can be redeemed for $500 of statement credit for travel purchases. The nice thing about the Arrival+ card is that it gives you 5% back when you redeem your points in this manner, so you actually get $525 (ish).

Though there is an annual fee of $89, it is waived for the first year. You incur no foreign transaction fees and have access to the MasterCard network for purchases, so your card will be accepted in most places.

My favorite thing about this card is that it is a Chip+PIN card, not just Chip+Signature. There are many automated systems across the world that require use of a PIN, that you wouldn’t be able to use with a Chip+Signature card. Most cards offered to US are Chip+Signature, so if you are planning international travel, it might be worth looking into!

Tip of the hat to DoctorOfCredit!

On Track for @spg Ambassador Status! #spglife #spg100

Thanks to some upcoming travel over the next few weeks, I am on track for attaining Ambassador Status with the Starwood Preferred Guest program. The SPG website describes what this offers for you:

The more your ambassador gets to know you over time, the more he or she can provide the personal touches that make each trip special. Whether it’s an early arrival, shopping, a meeting venue or a restaurant for a client dinner, your ambassador will scope out the local scene to find the best your destination has to offer.

I’m really looking forward to this – having a single point-person for all my bookings would make things a lot more interesting! This takes the idea of a concierge to a whole new level, and I am thoroughly impressed. I hope this isn’t lost when the Starwood-Marriott merger goes through.