United announces new non-stop flights from San Francisco to New Delhi, Melbourne, and Toronto

This morning, United announced new service from San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The new flights are:

  • San Francisco to New Delhi, India (flight times are difficult though, with arrival in New Delhi at 12:45am and the return leaving New Delhi at 4am).
  • San Francisco to Melbourne, Australia
  • San Francisco to Toronto, Canada

United also announced additional flights and/or year-round service for their Seoul, Auckland, Tahiti, and Amsterdam routes.

United hypes this big announcement and I was hoping for direct flights to Guam, South America, and Africa, as Toronto is already well-serviced by Air Canada, there are currently direct flights between LAX and Melbourne, and there’s already non-stop service from SFO to Mumbai.

That said, will likely try out at least one of these new routes! Will you?

San Francisco Trip Deal: $308 direct, round-trip from SFO to Barcelona on Level by Iberia

Level, which is a long-haul, low-cost offshoot of Iberia, is putting direct flights from San Francisco to Barcelona, Spain on sale. Flights start at $308 direct, round-trip. There is currently availability between November 2018 and March 2019.

Sample travel dates include:

  • January 19-23
  • January 26-30
  • February 9-16
  • March 9-13
  • And more

To support Josh Trips, search for travel on Google Flights and book using this link:

BOOK THIS FLIGHT

United offering limited nonstop service between SFO and Barcelona

As a San Francisco-based travel blogger, I’m always on the lookout for new nonstop flights leaving from the Bay Area.

So it was an awesome surprise when this morning, I saw that United will be offering special nonstop service between SFO and Barcelona (airport code: BCN) in February 2019. United will be offering the following flights:

  • February 23 – San Francisco 1:45 p.m. Barcelona 10:25 a.m.+1
  • February 24 – Barcelona 12:50 p.m. San Francisco 4:20 p.m.
  • February 27 – San Francisco 1:45 p.m. Barcelona 10:25 a.m. +1
  • February 28 – Barcelona 12:45 p.m. San Francisco 4:15 p.m.

These flights are being offered as a result of Barcelona hosting the 2019 Mobile World Congress, and will help the Silicon Valley crowd get to/from the event.

Tickets aren’t cheap (I just did a search and it was $2,589 on United) and there is no saver award availability, meaning you’d be paying at least 70,000 miles. If you are cost-sensitive, Level by Iberia offers the best deals to Barcelona from San Francisco (with round-trip, direct flights as low as $308), but this is still a pretty cool offer from United.

H/T: Live and Let’s Fly

SFO to name terminal after Harvey Milk

San Francisco’s interim mayor, Mark Farrell, signed a bill into law today to officially name the new Terminal 1 at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) after former mayor and gay rights activist Harvey Milk.

According to SFGate, the Harvey Milk Terminal will not be open for a few years — until at least summer of 2019 — as SFO undergoes a $2.4 billion rebuild.

I’m excited for this change and look forward to checking out the new terminal when construction is completed!