This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@xxxxxxxxx /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ Explore more of Starbucks at Starbucks.com. http://www.starbucks.com/default.asp?ci=1015 \----------------------------------------------------------/ Airlines Installing In-Flight E-Mail June 17, 2003 By JOE SHARKEY Answering demand among business travelers, Continental Airlines and United Airlines are rushing to add two-way e-mail to existing in-flight technology supplied by Verizon's Airfone JetConnect. A spokeswoman for United, a unit of UAL, said the carrier would offer the e-mail service on selected flights starting today and on its entire domestic fleet by the end of the year. A Continental spokeswoman said its first installations of the full e-mail service would start on its fleet of Boeing 757's by the end of this month. To use the service, passengers plug laptop jacks into a port on an Airfone handset in the back of a seat. Prices for JetConnect with e-mail are expected to be around $15 per flight, plus around 10 cents per kilobyte of data in excess of 2 kilobytes. Continental and United began offering JetConnect without e-mail last year, for news, weather, video games and outbound text messaging. Wider Choice of Airport Lounges Many travelers who belong to airline airport clubs will have more places to lounge after the marketing alliance of Northwest, Continental and Delta begins its initial phase of operation tomorrow. Members of Continental Presidents Club and Northwest's WorldClubs already have reciprocal visiting rights because of an existing Continental-Northwest alliance. With Delta joining the alliance, that airline's Crown Room clubs will be added to the airport-lounge mix. Summer Air Travel Increases Slightly The anticipated vacation-season bounce in air travel was a little late this year, but travel agents are reporting an uptick in bookings for July. Rosenbluth International, a travel agency in Philadelphia, said yesterday that its analysts were reporting that business travel was up 20 percent over rock-bottom levels during the Iraq war, and was now just 1 percent under comparable-month 2002 levels. Travel to China is up 80 percent over depressed levels during the worst of the SARS scare, the agency added. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/17/business/17MEMO.html?ex=1056854322&ei=1&en=c3dab9b13c27f6ee --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://www.nytimes.com/ads/nytcirc/index.html HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@xxxxxxxxxxx or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@xxxxxxxxxxxx Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company