Sunday, April 14, 2013

Every Airport Code United Airlines and United Express Serves

I spent some time with the United Airlines timetable and pulled a list of all the airport codes for United and United Express (current as of March 30, 2013).  These are especially useful for finding mileage runs with ITA Matrix.  My goal is to make 1 million United miles soon, so I am spending a little more to fly United rather than US Airways (upgrades help too).  
United Airlines 737 and 777
ABE, ABI, ABQ, ABR, ABX, ABY, ACA, ACK, ACT, ACV, AEX, AGS, AGU, ALB, AMA, AMS, ANC, ANU, AOO, APN, ARN, ASE, ATL, ATW, AUA, AUS, AVL, AVP, AZO, BAH, BCN, BDA, BDL, BFL, BFS, BGM, BGR, BHM, BHX, BIL, BIS, BJI, BJX, BKK, BKW, BMI, BNA, BNE, BOG, BOI, BOM, BON, BOS, BPT, BQK, BQN, BRD, BRO, BRU, BTM, BTR, BTV, BUF, BUR, BWI, BZE, BZN, CAE, CAK, CBR, CCS, CDC, CDG, CHA, CHO, CHS, CIC, CID, CKB, CLD, CLE, CLL, CLT, CME, CMH, CMX, CNS, COD, COS, CPR, CRP, CRW, CSG, CTS, CUN, CUU, CVG, CWA, CZM, DAB, DAL, DAY, DCA, DEL, DEN, DFW, DGO, DHN, DLH, DNA, DOH, DRO, DRT, DSM, DTW, DUB, DUJ, DXB, EAU, EDI, EGE, EKO, ELH, ELM, ELP, EMD, ERI, EUG, EVV, EWN, EWR, EYW, EZE, FAI, FAR, FAT, FAY, FCA, FCO, FKL, FLL, FNT, FPO, FRA, FSD, FSM, FUK, FWA, GDL, GDV, GEG, GFK, GGT, GGW, GHB, GIG, GLA, GLH, GLT, GNV, GPT, GRB, GRK, GRR, GRU, GSO, GSP, GTF, GTR, GUA, GUC, GUM, GVA, HAM, HDN, HIB, HIJ, HKG, HLN, HNL, HOB, HOU, HPN, HRL, HSV, HUX, HVR, IAD, ICT, IDA, IMT, IND, INL, IPL, IST, ITH, ITO, IYK, JAC, JAN, JAX, JFK, KIJ, KIX, KOA, KWA, KWI, LAN, LAS, LAW, LAX, LBB, LCH, LEX, LFT, LGA, LHR, LIH, LIM, LIR, LIS, LIT, LMT, LNK, LOS, LRD, LSE, LWS, LWT, MAD, MAF, MAJ, MAN, MBJ, MBS, MCI, MCO, MDT, MEI, MEL, MEM, MEX, MFE, MFR, MGA, MGM, MHT, MIA, MID, MKC, MKE, MKG, MLB, MLI, MLM, MLS, MLU, MNL, MOB, MOD, MOT, MRY, MSL, MSN, MSO, MSP, MSY, MTJ, MTY, MUC, MXP, MYR, NAS, NBW, NGO, NRT, OAK, OAX, OGG, OKC, OKJ, OLF, OMA, ONT, ORD, ORF, OSL, OTH, PAH, PAP, PBC, PBI, PDX, PHL, PHX, PIA, PIB, PIH, PIT, PKB, PLN, PNS, PQQ, PSC, PSP, PTY, PVD, PVR, PWM, QRO, RAP, RDD, RDM, RDU, RHI, RIC, RNO, ROA, ROC, ROK, ROR, RST, RSW, RTB, SAL, SAN, SAP, SAT, SAV, SBA, SBN, SBP, SCE, SDF, SDJ, SDY, SEA, SFO, SGF, SGU, SHV, SIN, SJC, SJD, SJO, SJT, SJU, SLC, SLP, SLW, SMF, SMX, SNA, SNN, SPI, SRQ, STL, STR, SWO, SYD, SYR, TAM, TCB, TCL, TGU, TLH, TLV, TPA, TPE, TRC, TRI, TUL, TUP, TUS, TVC, TXK, TXL, TYR, TYS, UIO, UOX, VER, VLD, VPS, VSA, XNA, YAP, YEG, YHZ, YLW, YMM, YOW, YQB, YQM, YQR, YQT, YUL, YUM, YVR, YWG, YXE, YXU, YYC, YYJ, YYT, YYZ, ZIH, ZLO, ZRH

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Another Fun Picture

Here's another fun picture.
United 737-800

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Here's A Picture I Like

It's snowing in Denver, but this picture has me dreaming of a trip on Singapore Airlines.  
Rear View of Singapore 777

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Happy Spring

Bike riders are clogging the roads, Home Depot has a full parking lot, and the de-icing trucks are stowed at DEN.  Spring has arrived and delays shouldn't be very bad for a while.  It's time to fly.
No More Pictures Like This For a Few Months
Update 4/8:  Maybe not.  Denver could get 6-12 inches tomorrow.  http://denver.cbslocal.com/guide/colorado-denver-weather-forecast-rain-snow-storm/

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The Lufthansa 747 Looks Outstanding

The Lufthansa 747 looks majestic, it has to be the best looking airplane / livery combination in service.  Also the new American is much better in person, it actually looks good. The United Continental colors are also growing on me.
Lufthansa, American, and United at Denver

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Flying to Iceland on Frequent Flyer Miles

The Euro crisis is starting to impact my travel plans.  Air service to Iceland (KEF) has been reduced dramatically since the Icelanders started having currency problems (they have since been made to look responsible thanks to Greece, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, and Cyprus).  Despite not being in the news, air service to the Continent has shrunk to EasyJet, airberlin (oneworld), SAS (Star Alliance), and Iceland Air.  I'm not 100% certain, but SAS and airberlin are my most likely options.
Iceland Air 757 Having an Overnight Stay at DEN
Yes, I know I can fly direct from New York on Delta, but where is the fun in that?  Delta charges twice as many miles to go JKF-KEF than JFK-SFO and KEF is just 7 miles farther away.  If I'm not completely crossing the Atlantic, I refuse to pay full price.  Same complaint for Iceland Air's Saga miles, the rates are atrocious (Alaska is an Iceland Air partner until June 1, 2013 and their rates are also high).  SAS is the best option for me because I can fly from anywhere in Europe to Oslo and then to Iceland.  This will cost 25,000 United or US Airways miles round trip (or 40,000 miles in business class) from another European city.  I can also use American Airlines or British Airways miles to fly airberlin (both would cost 20,000 miles round trip in coach).  Iceland can also be a destination for my United or US Airways ticket and then I can stop at a Star Alliance hub for my free stopover (AA and BA don't have free stopovers).  
I Won't Be Flying Delta

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Nevada Test Site (NNSS) Tours

The Nevada National Security Site, originally the Nevada Test Site, was the home of America’s domestic nuclear weapons testing.  100 open air tests, or “shots” as they are called by NNSS, were conducted in the 50’s and 60’s and 828 underground tests were conducted until 1992.  The site is still used for subcritical testing, DHS training, weapons R&D, weapons assembly, radioactive waste storage, and other activities not discussed.  It’s also a good place to take a device one finds with nuclear materials mated with explosives, that is if you didn’t want to bury it where you found it.  
GRABBLE - May 25, 1953
The site has tours open to the public once a month, but reservations need to be made in advance.  More information on the free tours is available on their website.  The problem is their site looks like it hasn’t been updated in a year and the email address is dead.  What you should do is call National Security Technologies (tour operator company) at 702-295-0944 and ask about tour availability.  Frequently there are cancelations so short notice booking is possible.  I booked my aunt and I on a tour about two weeks before the tour date, others on the tour reserved space about a year ago.
PRISCILLA - June 24, 1957
The tour was great!  The tour guide worked at the site doing nuclear tests for 20 years and is very passionate about the area and its history.  The tour departs Las Vegas in a new coach bus in the morning and arrived back in the afternoon.  No cameras or electronic devices are permitted.  The NNSS is very desolate, but there are some fun things to view.  Frenchman Flats was the original areal test site and still has remnants of the test structures.  The railway trestles are an amazing display of the destructive force of a relatively small blast.  Some of the test houses are still standing too.  Some of underground craters are huge; Sedan for example is more than 1,200 feet wide and 350 feet deep.  The bus also drove us into the Bilby crater to help give a sense of scale.  The landscape is pot marked with dozens and dozens of craters.  There are also the remnants of the cancelled US-UK Icecap test.  This test was a few weeks from detonation when the testing moratorium was signed.  All the test facilities are in place and it looks ready to go on short notice.  It’s somewhat eerie to see it 21 years later, but is a great visual of what testing was like.  
Icecap Test
Some of the modern uses for the Nevada National Security Site are also displayed.  There was a tour of the radioactive waste dump that was interesting (I’ve also very comfortable with how waste is stored).  We also drove through a DHS training area with quite a few wrecked vehicles.  Some of the current uses were kept a good distance away and Area 51 is about 12 miles from the Sedan crater.
Sedan Shot
It was a great tour and fun way to experience Las Vegas off the strip.  I also recommend the MobMuseum in downtown if you have time.  The Westin on Flamingo felt dated, but it’s the closest SPG location to The Strip.  
NNSS Landscape