Business Travel Tips

Beginning September 9, 2009, the member airlines of oneworld® alliance will move to the new Terminal 1 (T1) at Barcelona International Airport.

T1 is located 10 km from the city center and 3 km from Terminal A.

A terminal bus runs between the two terminals.
Terminal 1 is expected to double the capacity of the Barcelona International Airport, with more than 30 million passengers anticipated to pass through the new terminal every year.

It has 101 boarding gates, 43 air bridges, 166 check-in desks, more than 11,000 car parking spaces, a full-service spa, fitness center, 73 shops, 43 bars and restaurants.

According to the report released by IATA about International airline traffic results for July 2009, passenger demand declined 2.9% compared to the same month in 2008.

International passenger load factors were 80.3%.
In June 2009 it was recorded a decline of 7.2% compared to the same month in 2008, as for the first seven month of 2009 the average decline was 6.8%.

The freight demand for July 2009, was down 11.3% compared to the same month in 2008; it also represent a relative improvement over the -16.5% recorded in June and the -19.3% average for the first seven months of the year. The Middle East is the only region recording a growth.

- Passenger (P) and freight (F) demand compared to July 2008 by region -

- Asia Pacific: (P) decline by 7.6% (big improvement respect to the -14.5% recorded in June); (F) decline by 9.5%
- European: (P) decline by 3.1%; (F) decline by 6.2%
- North American carriers: (P) decline by 3.2%; (F) decline by 14.6%
- Latin American: (P) decline by 3.5%; (F) decline by 1.2%
- African carriers: (P) decline 5.5%; (F) decline by 25.9%
- The Middle East: (P) 13.2% growth in July (slightly better than the 12.9% growth recorded in June); (F) decline by 1% growth.

Continental Airlines passengers traveling between the United States and Europe will be able to check one bag for free and will pay $50 for the second checked bag.

The airline announced the new checked bag policy, applying to economy travel between Europe and the 50 U.S., Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada, will be effective for tickets purchased on or after Aug. 27, 2009 for travel on or after Sept. 15, 2009.

Customers checking in and pre-paying online at continental.com will receive a $5 discount on the second checked bag. (source: Continental Airlines)

Delta Air Lines announced it will add full-flat beds to its BusinessElite cabin on all flights between New York-JFK and London-Heathrow,

In a press release, Delta explained that with the expanded BusinessElite service it will offer customers:
- Fully flat beds with 180 degrees of recline and 77 to 82 inches of legroom in the BusinessElite cabin of all flights between New York and London.
- Popular cradle-style seats with 150 degrees of recline and 55 inches of pitch in the BusinessElite cabin on all transcontinental flights between New York and San Francisco and Los Angeles. These seats are the same as Delta’s business class offering on 757-200ER international flights and offer personal on-demand games, music and movies at every seat.
- Wireless Internet access for both business- and economy-class customers on all flights between New York and Los Angeles and San Francisco by the end of the year.

Also, the carrier announced that in September it will begin to introduce new BusinessElite service on transcontinental flights between Delta’s JFK hub and Los Angeles and San Francisco.

[...] Delta customers in Atlanta and Detroit also benefit from the BusinessElite enhancements with full-flat bed seats available on all flights between these hubs and London-Heathrow and Minneapolis routes will be added in September. Routes served with Boeing 777-200LR aircraft already feature full-flat seats, including flights between Atlanta and Dubai, Johannesburg, and Sydney (via Los Angeles).
(source: Delta Air Lines press release)

Beginning September 1st Continental Airlines will resume its rewarding promotion for OnePass members, Mileathon.
With this points-generating promotion, more points you accumulate the more bonus points you earn. Maximum bonus is 100,000 miles.

Here’s how Mileathon works (source: continental.com)

- Register for Mileathon between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30, 2009, and then complete qualifying credit-earning activities at continental.com.
- Activities include using online check-in, booking flights, hotel stays and car rentals and more. Each credit-earning activity you complete between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31, 2009 earns you credits. The more credits you accumulate, the more miles you earn.
- At the end of the promotion, the top credit-earner in each OnePass category will also receive a Grand Reward – a dream vacation for two to Colorado, Hawaii, China or Paris, including First Class or BusinessFirst® airfare, hotel accommodations and a $500 gift card.

This offer is not retroactive; credit accrual begins the date of registration.