Premium News Roundup

Two updates on premium travel:

1. My post yesterday regarding the disappearance of all premium aircraft is no longer valid, as OpenSkies announced today they would be removing the 30 economy seats on its aircraft and replacing them with 12 Prem+ seats. This had been long rumored and the timing is not surprising. The seats will be in place by October 1st just as OpenSkies enters the peak period for premium traffic.

2. Continental unveiled a new Business product. They are going lie-flat and it will be a huge upgrade. It is a wider seat and extends to 6'6 when fully flat. However, as Cranky points out, window passengers are going to have climb over their aisle counterparts to get to the bathroom. This a let down. Most premium passengers travel alone and thought of paying $4000 for a ticket and then having decide if your bathroom needs are urgent enough to risk waking the person next to you isn't the most appealing proposition. On the other hand, it is probably easier to jump over a flat bed than an angled seat.

Questions Answered

The Houston Chronicle offered up a bit of service journalism on Saturday in answering its readers questions about the United-Continental cooperation. As for my quip last week regarding the checked baggage issue, the Chronicle clues us in on how Alaska and American are dealing with it. Essentially, it all comes down to your first flight:

Q: How about the whole checked-bag fee issue?
A: ....United hasn't started charging the fee yet, but American Airlines has, even though one of its domestic partners, Alaska Airlines, has not.Alaska Airlines spokesman Paul McElroy said in cases in which a flight involves both carriers, the fee is charged based on which plane the passengers board first. In other words, flying from Austin to Seattle using both carriers, a passenger would pay the fee on the initial American leg before switching to Alaska in Los Angeles. Coming back, the passenger would not pay the fee boarding Alaska, even though the homebound leg would be on American.

United and Continental Join Hands

News broke late yesterday that United and Continental had formed a cooperation agreement that would involve a code share and also Continental leaving the SkyTeam for the Star Alliance. (United's link and Continental's link).

Mark Ashley raises a few questions regarding the compatibility of the two mileage programs. Of course its a far way off, and Continental is rumored to be instituting its own charges, but here's my question: If I book a United and Continental code-share with one flight on United and one flight Continental, do I have to pay $15?