What's New

Executive Travel will be closed on Monday, May 27th in observance of Memorial Day. We will be back in the office on Tuesday, May 28th at 08:00 a.m.

For travel emergencies when we are closed please contact our After Hours service at 866-382-4584.

United has introduced a new boarding process. Coined "WilMA", this boarding process replaces the former system of assigning economy customers to groups based on row numbers. With WilMA, economy groups three, four and five are seated in order of window, middle, aisle, respectively, when boarding aircraft.

"WilMA" Boarding Process

• Group 1 - Global Services, Premier 1K, Premier Platinum and all Front Cabins
• Group 2 - Premier Gold, Star Gold, Premier Alliance Silver, Star Alliance Silver, Paid Premier Access, Chase Club Card and Chase Presidential Plus Card holders
• Group 3 - Economy Plus and Economy- window seats
• Group 4 - Economy - middle seats
• Group 5 - Economy - aisle seats

American Airlines is letting passengers board sooner if they travel lightly. The airline announced that people carrying just a personal item that fits under the seat — no rolling suitcases — will be allowed to board before most other passengers.

American tested the new boarding procedure at seven airports before applying it to all flights.

Passengers carrying just a personal item such as a purse, backpack or computer bag that fits under the seat will board right after Group 1 premium passengers.

The airline said that it will let passengers check a carry-on bag at the gate at no charge. That means savvy travelers will be able to move up in the boarding order and avoid checked-bag fees, although they’ll have to retrieve their bag at baggage claim after they land.

One of the last major moves of airline realignment takes place Wednesday, May 22 as one of the longest tenured airlines will move from one end to the other of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. United Airline’s ticket counter will shift from the north end of the terminal to the south end and aircraft gates will move from the North Satellite to concourse A.

Customers will see plenty of signage to direct them to the new counters and no flight or operational delays are expected with the move.

The ticket counter and gate moves are part of overall airline realignment, causing a domino effect on eight airlines at Sea-Tac. Ticket counter moves with other airlines began in January and gate changes started at the end of April.

A new study commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association and carried out by Oxford Economics showed that businesses that invested in travel were more profitable than those that cut back on professional trips. American companies yielded $9.50 in revenue and $2.90 in profit for every dollar invested in business travel.

"When we analyzed data from the Great Recession and recovery, we learned that companies that invested the most in business travel tended to grow the fastest," said Adam Sacks, managing director of Oxford Economics

All Nippon Airways (ANA) will resume regular nonstop service to Tokyo Narita from Seattle on Saturday, June 1 with a 247-seat Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

ANA began serving Sea-Tac on July 25, 2012, and began using their Boeing 787, with 158 seats, beginning on Oct. 1, 2012. Following the FAA’s grounding of all 787 aircraft in mid-January 2013, ANA decided to temporarily suspend its Seattle service at the end of March.

American Airlines changed its fee for ticket changes on most domestic and international tickets to $200, matching United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and US Airways.

Pinnacle Airlines emerged from bankruptcy on Wednesday as a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines. Pinnacle also plans to move its headquarters from Memphis, Tenn., to Minnesota this month. As part of the deal, Delta invested $52 million into Pinnacle.

By the end of 2014, Alaska’s 737-800s and -900s will be equipped with the innovative Recaro seats already installed on the airline’s -900ERs. The upgrade will include power at every seat and an enhanced inflight entertainment system.

Alaska Airline’s business card now earns 25,000 miles upon signup and an annual $99 companion pass. Earn one mile per dollar spent using your Alaska card and 3 miles on each dollar spent for an Alaska Airline ticket. Check it out.

US Airways will benefit from joining the Oneworld Alliance and leaving the Star Alliance, according to American Airlines CEO Tom Horton. "We will have more growth in Latin America," Horton said. "I feel very bullish about that. We have the pre-eminent position there and a very big win in alliance strategy."

Automatic Flight Insurance Suspended

Previously Executive Travel has provided free Automatic Flight Insurance on all tickets we issue for our corporate travelers. This insurance covered loss of life, limb or sight.

The insurance was provided through Cook & Co which underwrites the insurance with Zurich American Insurance Company. Zurich is the only company that offers this type of flight insurance and as yet does not have the proper filings in Washington State, so this insurance is no longer available at this time.

Zurich is working on obtaining the proper filings. When that happens we will again offer the insurance and notify you.

Contemplating Electronic Expense Reporting?

If you are thinking about investing in an electronic expense reporting product, you should be aware that there are several products available and there are compatibility issues among them. Executive Travel can provide guidance and recommendation as to what system best fits your company---give us a call.