Short Haul Air Travelers Aren’t Buying Premium Tickets, May Be a Permanent Change – BNET
Premium air traffic numbers are looking a bit better on long haul, but short haul travel is still feeling the pain.

Southwest Rings in the New Year with an Aggressive Denver Push – BNET
Southwest isn’t giving up on Denver – in fact, it’s kicking up its efforts there. People in Colorado are lucky.

a new year brings new air travel security rules – AntiBride.com
My first post for AntiBride in the new year talks about the newest security rules.

Allegiant’s Unique Aircraft Order Highlights A Different Model – BNET
Allegiant just ordered 18 new planes, 5 simply for parts, and they probably paid less for all these planes than you would for a single new 737-800. Oh yeah.

US Airways Nearly Achieves Unit Revenue Growth in December – BNET
Positive revenue growth? Not quite, but we’re almost there. It’s nice to see.

Getting “Cranky” Over the Parasite Blogger Myth – Starkman & Associates Blog
Eric Starkman has a very nice piece on the legitimacy of blogging vs traditional media, and Cranky features prominently.

Don’t Fly Cranky, Fly WITH Cranky Concierge! – AirlineReporter.com
I spoke with David Parker Brown about Cranky Concierge and he likes what he sees.

Airline Financials Should Get a Boost From Stellar Operational Performance – BNET
November was just a great month for airline operations, and that’s bound to result in a nice cost savings.

US and Japan Open Skies Good and Bad for US Airlines – BNET
Now that the US and Japan have signed an Open Skies treaty, is it good for bad for US airlines? Well, there is some good and some bad depending upon the airline here.

American Airlines and the OJ Incident PR Fail – BNET
First there was Mr X, and now we have the OJ incident. American once again is missing an opportunity.

how cranky concierge can help you get to your wedding on time – BNET
Antibride liked my Cranky Concierge story, so I repurposed it for them this week.

Recent US Airways Route Restructuring Opens Opportunities for New Flying – BNET
Looks like all the canceled European flying is opening up new opportunities here. US Airways will start Philly to Anchorage next summer.

Port Columbus Airports Turn to Profit Sharing to Woo Airlines – BNET
Will profit sharing get airlines to add more flights? We’re about to find out.

Southwest Loses Its Social Media Guru, All Eyes on the Transition -BNET
Paula Berg has left Southwest, and now the airline faces a social media transition. This is something that many companies will be watching closely.

The first true winter storm of the year rolled through the middle of the country yesterday, and that was the first big test for Cranky Concierge. I’m happy to report that we had success. Here’s the story of a client who was trying to get from Chicago to Dallas via snowy-Minneapolis . . . and made it early thanks to Cranky Concierge.

Our client (let’s call him Montezuma just because that name is awesome) was scheduled on Delta 2978 leaving Chicago/Midway at 245p and heading toward Minneapolis. He was connecting to Delta 3380 arriving Dallas/Ft Worth at 747p. We saw the storm coming and prepared Montezuma to be patient. He knew we’d be there ready for him, and sure enough, we got him there early thanks to some quick thinking and flight changes.

Yesterday morning, his flights were still showing on time, but earlier flights had been canceled and delayed thanks to the snow blanketing both Chicago and Minneapolis. He was lucky to be flying out of less-congested Midway, but there were still bound to be problems. Montezuma finished up his work early and headed toward Midway. He told us he would be arriving at about 1130a so he could take an earlier flight out if there was one.

Unfortunately, the 1150a flight had already been canceled while the 111p flight was already delayed 30 minutes (it would eventually depart more than two hours late). This was not a good sign, so we sprung into action.

The weather that had snarled Atlanta the day before had moved out, and Delta had a flight heading there from Midway at 1225p that was actually on time. We figured that was Montezuma’s best bet. He went up to the counter and they put him on that flight, as airlines will do during bad weather situations. They also confirmed him for an Atlanta connection that would have him arrive at 718p in Dallas. There was an earlier connection they wouldn’t put him on for some reason, but we resolved to get that fixed when he got to Atlanta. We just wanted to get him out of Chicago.

Sure enough, his flight left town 3 minutes early, and he even scored a first class seat thanks to his basic elite status. Even after deicing, it arrived Atlanta just a few minutes late. We sent an email that was awaiting Montezuma upon his arrival telling him where to go to try to get on the earlier connection that the agents in Chicago didn’t put him. We were seeing plenty of availability on that flight, and the plane was already there so it was going on time. No sense in waiting around.

Sure enough, Montezuma went to the gate and he walked right on the airplane and into first class once again. He ended up arriving Dallas at 621p, more than an hour earlier than his original schedule and more than two hours earlier than his original flights actually got there.

What happened to his original flights? Well, the 245p from Midway was eventually canceled, so they probably would have put him (assuming there was room) on the very delayed 111p which eventually left after a creeping delay at 330p. That flight arrived Minneapolis at 520p and Montezuma would have had to schlep across the airport mall from the D gates to the F gates where he would luckily find his delayed flight to DFW still hanging around. That flight left an hour late and would have had him in to DFW just shy of 9p.

That was just over an hour later than he would have arrived otherwise, but think of all the stress and hassle he avoided. Having to deal with canceled and delayed flights is a real pain and we bypassed that for him completely.

For more info on Cranky Concierge, go to crankyconcierge.com, send us a note at info@crankyconcierge.com, or call us at (707) 797-7474.

Let’s face it – this is a slow news week with Thanksgiving approaching here in the US. Though there isn’t much news, it’s a huge week for traveling. I know I promised to write about what’s happening with Cranky Concierge, and I thought this was a good time for it. We’ve now had more than 40 clients traveling on nearly 200 flights. The outliers are always fun to talk about (and you can follow on the Cranky Concierge Facebook page), but today I thought I’d show you the benefits of using Cranky Concierge even when everything goes right.

Let’s take a recent example from this week. We had a client who signed up about a month ago in need of assistance getting from LA to Orlando for Thanksgiving. There was a catch. While she wanted to fly American, she also wanted to get enough miles to requalify for Gold status for 2010 and a Dallas connection wasn’t going to cut it. In the end, she chose flights that went through Chicago on the way out and came back from Tampa through Miami. That way she just squeaked across the line for requalification.

When it came time to travel, she asked for an email before she left and then text messages after. So the night before her trip, I put together this email:

Good evening
I hope you’re ready for your trip. So far so good as the flights look to be on time.

American 764 Lv LAX 6a Arr Chicago/O’Hare 1205p
You’ll be leaving out of gate 47B at LAX. You are expected to arrive at gate H11B at O’Hare. (Gates can always change.)

Your airplane is coming from Chicago as flight 607. It is in the air and will be arriving LAX at 1112p, ready for a good night’s sleep before taking you back to Chicago.

The weather looks great in both places so that shouldn’t be an issue.

American 1397 Lv Chicago/O’Hare 3p Arr Orlando 640p
You’ll be leaving out of gate K1 at O’Hare. Your arrival and departure gates are actually very close to each other. You can see the map here:

http://www.aa.com/i18n/aboutUs/whereWeFly/terminals/terminal_ORD.jsp

You are expected to arrive at gate 15 in Orlando. (Gates can always change.)

It’s too early to figure out where your airplane is coming from, but I will have a full update on your flight status when you arrive at O’Hare.

The weather in Orlando looks as you would expect. There’s a slight chance of showers with clouds rolling through. Yep, it’s Florida. Here’s the 5 day forecast:

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=mco&wuSelect=WEATHER

Additional Info
If you would like any information on wireless internet, restaurants, or shops at any of the airports through which you’ll be traveling today, just let us know.

If you send an urgent request, we will make sure to respond within 10 minutes of receipt of the request. Other non-urgent requests may take longer to respond.

Thank you for using Cranky Concierge. If you have any questions during your trip, email us as assist@crankyconcierge.com or call/SMS at (707) 797-7474.
Brett
Cranky Concierge

Early the next morning I received an email from her that her gate had changed. Sure enough, the Chicago gates had changed as well so I gave her those updates and promised to have more when she arrived in Chicago.

When she was in the air to Chicago, I noticed that she was expected to land early, and that she might be able to run to an earlier flight to Orlando that appeared to have good availability. I sent her a text message saying that if she didn’t have bags, she should run directly to that gate so she could try to get on.

Unfortunately, she had checked a bag, so she had to hang around O’Hare until her scheduled flight. I figured she would be hungry, so I suggested the Prairie Bar or, of course, Garrett Popcorn for a tasty treat. I also explained that the airplane for her flight to Orlando was on its way from Newark and would arrive with plenty of time for her flight to be on time.

She reported back that Prairie Bar wasn’t that great – that info is now going into our database for future clients. She headed to her gate for an on-time departure.

Before she landed in Orlando, I sent her a message that her bag would be at carousel 4. I’ll do this all again when she comes back next week.

So while she wasn’t stranded (and hopefully won’t be on the return), she still received a good deal of value from Cranky Concierge. Keep that in mind on your next trip. We’re always happy to help.

Oh, and if you’re traveling in the upper Midwest this week, keep our number handy. Looks like some weather should be rolling through as a nice welcome to winter. You can always reach us at (707) 797-7474 or via email at info@crankyconcierge.com. (Urgent requests should go to assist@crankyconcierge.com.)

American and British Airways Still Waiting for Feds Antitrust Immunity Decision – BNET
The waiting game continues as the DOT has gone past its own deadline for ruling on the BA/American deal. This is getting tiresome.

Capacity Restraint Leads to Fewer Empty Airline Seats in October – BNET
October traffic shows very few empty seats. Thank you, low fares.

US Airways Masks Frequent Flier Devaluations by Calling Them Customer Enhancements – BNET
US Airways has made over its frequent flier redemption, and while they claim its good for customers, that’s really just PR spin.

Holiday Season Is Upon Us – Flying Colors
One Cranky reader recommends Cranky Concierge for holiday travel for those who don’t already have their own airline dorks to help.

AirTran, SkyWest deal challenges traditional regional-airline model – Cleveland Plain Dealer
I was asked about my thoughts on whether this AirTran Skywest deal was truly innovative. Not so much.

American’s Firing of Mr X Becoming a Social Media Black Eye – BNET
American has fired Mr. X and the blogosphere is abuzz. Is American handling this right? I think you know the answer.

Melbourne Offers US Airways an Incentive that May Actually Work – BNET
You know I generally hate temporary airport incentives, but this is one that I don’t actually mind.