Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Airlines accepting Paypal payments for flight bookings

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

pp4

It’s time to update our list of airlines that accept payment via Paypal for flight bookings online. The list has grown a little since last year’s article – but this still remains more common in the US than other parts of the world.

“Paypal” airlines (as of September 2009):

American Airlines – US/UK customers only
Northwest Airlines – US customers only
Delta – US customers only
US Air
Continental Airlines
Southwest Airlines
JetBlue
Midwest Airlines

Lufthansa (Germany)
Monarch Airlines
(UK)
Jet 2
(UK) - GBP/EUR transactions only
Emirates
(Dubai) - GBP/EUR transactions only
Air Asia
(Malaysia)
Air Asia X
(Malaysia)

Some airlines are currently offering incentives to book through Paypal. For example Jet 2 and Monarch are waiving booking fees; JetBlue will give you a free first checked bag; Emirates and AA are offering a 1% cashback to UK residents.

Online agent Hotwire also accepts Paypal as payment for flights.

And AirTravelGenius.com accepts Paypal for purchases of the Ultimate Airfares & Upgrades Guide.


How To Fly On the Airbus A380

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

If you wish to try out the new Airbus A380 as a passenger you have the following options:

Singapore Airlines – the first airline to fly the A380 commercially, from Singapore to Sydney, Australia. They currently have 4 A380 aircraft in service deployed on various routes:

Singapore to Sydney – Flight SQ 221

Sydney – Singapore Flight SQ 222

London Heathrow to Singapore Flights SQ 317 / SQ 321

Singapore to London Heathrow Flights SQ 318 / SQ 322

Singapore to Tokyo Flight SQ 638

Tokyo to Singapore Flight SQ 637

This week (2nd to 8th Aug) one of the A380s has been flying on the Singapore – Beijing route ahead of the Olympic Games.

Emirates – On 1st August Emirates flew its inaugural A380 service from Dubai DXB to New York JFK. From 8th August they will fly the route as follows:

DXB to JFK Flight EK 201 (Sun / Wed / Fri)

JFK to DXB Flight EK 202 (Sun / Wed / Fri)

Emirates plans to fly the A380 on the Dubai to London Heathrow route from December 2008 and Dubai – Sydney – Auckland from February 2009.

Qantas – Are awaiting delivery of their first A380. They begin service on October 20th 2008 with flight QF 93 from Melbourne to Los Angeles. On October 24th, flight QF 11 will fly from Sydney to Los Angeles. These flights can be booked on Qantas’ website.

Qantas will deploy the A380 on its Sydney to London backbone route in 2009.

If you are based in Sydney you will be spoilt for choice on A380 options.

Next year will also see A380 deliveries to Air France and Lufthansa.

Airlines Accepting Paypal Payments

Wednesday, July 30th, 2008

A few readers have asked which airlines are accepting Paypal as a form of payment for buying air tickets. In Europe there is currently only one airline: Monarch Airlines which flies scheduled and charter services around the Med. They are quite well regarded in the industry.

In the US Paypal is more widely used and the following airlines accept it:

Northwest, Southwest, Midwest, Air Tran, US Airways, Delta and Jet Blue.

For Europeans you can buy KLM flights on partner Northwest using Paypal.

Northwest Paypal

In Australia, Air Asia X accepts payment by Paypal – it flies from Gold Coast and Perth to Kuala Lumpur. It will fly from KL to London Stansted from 2009.

Also note that there are occasional “cashback” offers available through Paypal which might get you a small discount off your flight purchase.

You can also invest in the Ultimate Airfares & Upgrades Guide using Paypal.

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines is no more…

Wednesday, April 9th, 2008

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines has gone into liquidation and has ceased flying from today. The budget carrier had started flying between London and Hong Kong in October 2006 and later added a service from Hong Kong to Vancouver.

Read more here: Oasis Suspends Flights

Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 London Heathrow to Sydney

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Today marks the day when Singapore Airlines‘ first A380 flight arrives at London Heathrow from Singapore. According to BAA’s website flight SQ308 scheduled for 1505 is expected to land at 1444 for arrival at a special gate (‘Pier 6′) at terminal 3.

Singapore has been operating the A380 Super Jumbo since October 2007 on flights between Singapore and Sydney, Australia and now has 3 aircraft in service.

If you want to fly on the A380 you can book with Singapore Airlines – return to Singapore from £570. Flights to Australia can be had from £750 return – you can fly out to Oz on the 380 as follows:

Flight SQ 317 Departs LHR 1155, Arrives SIN 0745

Flight SQ 221 Departs SIN 2035, Arrives SYD 0555

This gives you 13 hours to kill at Changi airport – you could head into the city on one of the free tours available.

If you want to return on the A380 you will pay a slight premium which will bump the price to £882.