American Airlines now offers one-way trips for miles

You can now book one-way trips using AAdvantage miles (that name always bothered me, like "Hilton HHonors").

USA Today says "It's hard to know how many people would use miles for a one-way trip — parents driving a child to college and flying home might — and American officials didn't offer any estimates." (http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-05-11-aa-frequent-flier-revamp_N.htm).

Well, I can provide a personal example. I would use the miles to book a transatlantic flight, using half the miles which I would normally use, and book a cheap one-way return trip with Aer Lingus (through Dublin) to get me back. Hey presto, a cheap way to get to Nice, or Rome, or London. With so many airlines now effectively "one way airlines", it makes sense for them all to move to "one way mileage rewards".

Big Ben in the rain

Worth stepping out of Westminster Tube Station to get a quick Blackberry snap of Big Ben reflected off the wet pavement.

Porter Air to add flights from Boston to Toronto

It is usually crazy expensive to fly from Boston to Toronto, or to Canada in general. But Porter Air, with their Tyler Brûlé designed site and uniform, may change that.....

From CNN.com:

Where it flies: The Toronto-based carrier services six Canadian cities, Chicago-Midway, and Newark. In 2009, it plans to add flights between Toronto and Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.

Link: www.flyporter.com

Dublin airport to charge for those little clear plastic bags used to bring toiletries through security

"A spokeswoman for DAA last night said .... “We’ve been giving the clear bags out free of charge for 2.5 years, and we’re probably the only airport left in Europe still doing so,” she said. “Passengers don’t have to purchase the bags if they plan ahead.”"

Can that really be true? I know that Heathrow gives them away for free...

The purpose of the bag is just to group the toiletries together. The bag itself is not seen in the X-Ray. I just simply group the toiletries together and forget about the bag. This has never caused me any problems, in Ireland or anywhere else. Skip the bag and help the environment, and also save a couple of Euro in Dublin Airport.

From the Irish Times

A nice touch - USA today in a little pouch

At a Holiday Inn Express in California