TravelingForMiles.com may receive commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on TravelingForMiles.com are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. TravelingForMiles.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers.
Some links to products and travel providers on this website will earn Traveling For Miles a commission which helps contribute to the running of the site – I’m very grateful to anyone who uses these links but their use is entirely optional. The compensation does not impact how and where products appear on this site and does not impact reviews that are published.
A roundup of some of the news that has been making the rounds in the past 48 hours including news that United Airlines is to introduce a long-haul Premium Economy cabin, details of Qantas’ new route to the US that has just started taking bookings, news that Lufthansa has removed First Class on another route to the US, details of Hilton’s new property in Sydney and more.
Qantas’ New San Francisco Flight Is Now Available To Book
Qantas has announced that its new route between Melbourne and San Francisco will commence on 1 September 2018 and seats are now available to book.
The route will operate 4x/week and the schedule the airline has posted looks like this:
QF49 MEL 21:40 – 19:00 SFO (Wed, Thu, Sat & Sun)
QF50 SFO 22:00 – 06:30+2 days MEL (Wed, Thu, Sat & Sun)
Qantas’ will use its new 787-9 Dreamliners on this route and these feature the Business Class cabin I reviewed back in November.
Qantas 787-9 Dreamliner Business Class Cabin
The aircraft also offers a Premium Economy cabin which, considering how little seat-width the seats in Economy Class offer, may be a good compromise if Business Class is expensive or if Business Class award availability is non-existent.
It’s worth noting that, to allow Qantas to service this route with a Dreamliner, the airline has had to cut back Dreamliner service between Melbourne and Los Angeles from 6 weekly flights to just 2.
Passengers with bookings on the cancelled flights are being offered alternative flights to get them to their destination.
Hilton Opens A New Hotel In Sydney
Image courtesy of Hilton
Hilton has announced that the “West Hotel Sydney, Curio Collection by Hilton” has opened its doors in the city’s CBD.
The property is conveniently located adjacent to Sydney’s new waterfront precinct and is a short walk from sights like the Rocks (Sydney Harbour Bridge), Circular Quay (Sydney Harbour and Opera house) and Darling Harbour.
West Hotel Sydney, the first Curio Collection hotel in Australia, offers 182 rooms all of which offer “Bluetooth-enabled audio visual technology and an open work area”.
The in-house restaurant is the “Solander Dining and Bar” which offers “a modern Australian all-day dining experience with a focus on seasonal and botanical produce”
Right now room prices start at around AU$221/night (on average they appear to be in the mid-300’s) with most reward nights that I’ve seen costing between 35,000 and 52,000 per night.
I’m a big fan of Sydney so news of a new hotel in the city where I can burn some points is always very welcome….especially when it’s a property as well located as this one.
United Airlines Will Introduce International Premium Economy In 2018
United has announced that it will start to introduce a Premium Economy cabin to its international flights in 2018 and the airline says it will offer travelers a number of benefits usually reserved for Business Class passengers.
Before anyone gets overly excited I should point out that these “benefits” aren’t going to be all that significant.
Meals will be served on china rather than plastic, Premium Plus passengers will be offered an amenity kit (which will almost certainly bear little resemblance to the amenity kit offered in Business Class), free alcoholic drinks and Saks blankets and pillows.
The truth is that all of this is just garnish as what travelers really want is a comfortable seat….but United isn’t sharing any seat plans just yet.
The is just speculation on my part but it’s probably a safe bet to say that the seat will offer 38” of pitch (because that’s what American’s and Delta’s Premium Economy Cabins offer) and 18” of width (because that’s as narrow as a Premium Economy cabin seat ever gets and I can’t see United being any more generous than it absolutely has to be).
This is what American Airlines Premium Economy looks like on the 787-9
It will be interesting to see how quickly United plans to roll out the new Premium Economy cabin and on what aircraft and routes it will appear first.
I suspect the airline’s new 777-300ER aircraft may be the first to offer the new product but United could always choose to retrofit some existing aircraft first.
The important thing for passengers is for United to actually get the new cabin fitted into aircraft sooner rather than later as, if the airline takes as long to introduce Premium Plus as it’s taking to roll out Polaris Business class, we’ll have all died of boredom by the time the roll out is complete!
Airbus Publishes Its List Prices For 2018
If you’ve ever wondered how much aircraft cost then Airbus is happy help. The European aircraft manufacturer has published its list prices for 2018:
It’s worth noting that airlines rarely (if ever) actually pay the full list price for an aircraft (they usually pay between 50% and 70% of list price depending on how big their order is and how much clout they have) but these numbers still give a nice insight into the world of aircraft sales.
Lufthansa Cuts First Class Capacity To Chicago
Just the other day I wrote about how Lufthansa has eliminated First Class on two of its routes to the US (at least for the summer season) and now, in a further schedule update, Lufthansa has cut First Class from its route between Munich and Chicago.
Lufthansa currently operates two flights between Munich and Chicago – the earlier flight operates 3x/week and is operated by an Airbus A330 while the afternoon departure from Munich is operated, daily, by an Airbus A340-600.
Lufthansa A350 – image Lufthansa
Not for much longer.
From 25 March 2018 Lufthansa’s daily service between Munich and Chicago will be operated by one of the airline’s new A350 aircraft which doesn’t feature a First Class cabin and, as the A330’s which operate the other flights on this route don’t offer First Class either, Business Class is now the best you’ll get on this route…at least for the summer season.
[HT: Routes Online for the schedule update]
American Airlines Starts To Go Cashless
The Miami Herald has reported that American Airlines is going cashless at Miami meaning that the airline will no longer accept cash for charges such as checked bag fees, excess baggage fees or even seat assignments.
While this change came into effect at Miami airport yesterday American Airlines confirmed that it is now operating a cashless system at over 50 of its locations including LAX, JFK, LaGuardia and Dallas Ft. Worth.
American Airlines aircraft at Miami Airport
I have to confess that I never thought to consider what types of payment American (or any other airline) takes at airports but, now that I think about it, it makes sense to eliminate cash were possible (reduces the risk of theft and fraud).
As this move to a cashless system is unlikely to be limited to American Airlines the moral of the story here is simple: If you think you’ll need to pay the airline for something at the airport make sure you have a working debit/credit card
