United Airlines (Chicago) has launched subscription options that offer customers access to Economy Plus seating or pre-paid checked baggage charges for a year.

United is the only U.S. carrier to offer an annual subscription for its extra-legroom economy seating and checked baggage service charges. Terms and conditions apply to each of the offers, which can be found at www.united.com/subscriptions, and the subscriptions may be given as gifts.

Economy Plus

Travelers may access Economy Plus for a year starting at $499, and customers can select the region and the number of travelers on their subscription.

Economy Plus seats offer customers additional legroom to stretch out and relax. United offers more extra-legroom economy seating than any other U.S. airline, with Economy Plus available on most of the airline’s nearly 700 mainline aircraft and nearly 180 United Express aircraft. Economy Plus seating, when available, remains complimentary for Premier-level MileagePlus members.

Checked Baggage

United’s checked baggage subscription enables customers to pre-pay standard checked baggage charges for one year, starting at $349. Customers may tailor their subscription by choosing up to two bags, the number of travelers and preferred geographic region.

United Club

Additionally, customers may now use MileagePlus miles to purchase an annual United Club membership, which currently offers access to the 49 United Club locations, as well as Copa Club locations and participating Star Alliance affiliated airport clubs worldwide.

One-year membership pricing starts at $500 or 65,000 miles for general MileagePlus members, with discounts for Premier members. An initiation fee of $50 or 7,000 miles applies for all new United Club memberships.

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In other news, United Airlines today executed a definitive purchase agreement with AltAir Fuels for cost-competitive, sustainable, advanced biofuels at commercial scale, representing a historic milestone for aviation. With United’s strategic partnership, AltAir Fuels will retrofit part of an existing petroleum refinery to become a 30 million gallon, advanced biofuel refinery near Los Angeles, Calif. AltAir will produce low-carbon, renewable jet fuel and other renewable products. United has collaborated with AltAir Fuels since 2009 and has agreed to buy 15 million gallons of lower-carbon, renewable jet fuel over a three-year period, with the option to purchase more. The airline is purchasing the advanced biofuel at a price competitive with traditional, petroleum-based jet fuel, and AltAir expects to begin delivering five million gallons of renewable jet fuel per year to United starting in 2014. United will use the biofuel on flights operating out of its Los Angeles hub (LAX).

AltAir has partnered with an existing oil refiner for the operation of its first commercial facility and use of the refiner’s existing refinery near Los Angeles, Calif. This partnership is taking idled refining equipment and retooling it to increase the nation’s energy supply – positively impacting the southern California economy and providing the opportunity to sustainably power LAX flights.

Through process technology developed by Honeywell’s UOP, AltAir is retrofitting the existing refinery to produce renewable biofuel. AltAir has worked extensively with Honeywell’s UOP to demonstrate the commercial viability of the Honeywell Green Jet process. Utilizing this technology, licensed from UOP, the AltAir facility will be the first refinery internationally to be capable of in-line production of both renewable jet and diesel fuels. The facility will convert non-edible natural oils and agricultural wastes into approximately 30 million gallons of low-carbon, advanced biofuels and chemicals per year.

These advanced biofuels are drop-in replacements for petroleum-based fuel, requiring no modification to factory-standard engines or aircraft, with which they are fully compatible. This fuel provides the same performance as conventional, petroleum-based jet fuel. AltAir Fuels’ renewable jet fuel is expected to achieve at least a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions on a lifecycle basis.

“This refinery is important for two timely and significant reasons,” said AltAir’s President and COO Bryan Sherbacow . “First, the industry is delivering on the promise of commercial production of advanced biofuels that move beyond additives, like ethanol and biodiesel, to drop-in, replacement low-carbon fuels. Second, this project demonstrates the practical efficiencies these fuels allow by fully integrating into an operating petroleum refinery.”

United will support AltAir Fuels’ efforts to incorporate internationally recognized sustainability standards, such as those being developed by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB). RSB is an international, multi-stakeholder initiative that brings together farmers, companies, non-governmental organizations, experts, governments and inter-governmental agencies concerned with ensuring the sustainability of biomass production and processing.

In 2009, United Airlines made history as the first North American carrier to perform a two-engine aircraft flight demonstration using sustainable biofuels derived from algae and jatropha. United also operated the first flight by a North American commercial airline using synthetic fuel made from natural gas in 2010.

In November 2011, United operated the first U.S. commercial flight powered by advanced biofuels. Flight 1403 departedHouston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport for Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, making United the first U.S. airline to fly passengers using a blend of sustainable, advanced biofuel and traditional petroleum-derived jet fuel.

In June 2012, United, along with the Boeing Company, Honeywell’s UOP, the Chicago Department of Aviation and the Clean Energy Trust, launched the Midwest Aviation Sustainable Biofuels Initiative (MASBI). MASBI is an effort by more than 40 organizations across the aviation biofuels supply chain to accelerate the commercialization of advanced biofuels in the Midwest.

United Airlines is a signatory to the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group, whose members represent approximately 32 percent of commercial aviation fuel demand. United signed a pledge to pursue the advancement of drop-in biofuels that achieve important sustainability criteria, work with leading organizations to achieve biofuel certification standards and take actions to enable commercial use of aviation biofuels.

Copyright Photo: Ton Jochems/AirlinersGallery.com. Boeing 757-222 N538UA (msn 25222) prepares to land at Los Angeles International Airport.

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