Under the guise of maximizing sleep for business class passengers, United Airlines is cutting back service in its Polaris Business Class product. In a memo to flight attendants, United outlines changes to United Polaris coming on May 01, 2018....
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: March 25, 2018
Spring began in Los Angeles this week with one more rainstorm, a fitting end to a rather meager winter. I’m still here, further extending my record of time in the last decade I have not stepped onto an airplane....
Lifemiles Award Chart Changes Good & Bad
Avianca sent out an email this week announcing upcoming award chart changes. While Avianca is a smaller airline, they frequently sell their points inexpensively and many readers hold Lifemiles as part of their point portfolio. The changes included many...
American’s Business Extra Awards Suddenly Worthwhile Again?
American Airlines Business Extra corporate booking incentive program became less valuable over the last few years as award availability has dried up on the world’s largest carrier. Has a shift in availability returned Business Extra to relevancy? If you...
Review: Hyatt Regency (Kota) Kinabalu – Suite
During our Christmas/New Year’s trip to Borneo, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Kinabalu. We were able to use a suite upgrade and it was one of the best we have had. The waterfront location, excellent service, and suite...
Vivid Sydney, A Spectacular Light Show
My stay at the Park Hyatt Sydney happened to coincide with Vivid Sydney, a spectacular annual light show. Vivid Sydney is an “annual outdoor lighting festival with immersive light installations and projections in Sydney.” It began in 2009 as...
Review: Park Hyatt Sydney (Opera View Deluxe)
This Park Hyatt Sydney review covers my upgraded Opera View Deluxe room. For a full review of the property, its restaurants, and amenities, you can read my earlier review. The upgrade was unexpected: thank a broken thermostat in my original...
How I Would Spend a $10K United Voucher
How would use a $10,000 United Airlines voucher? Yesterday, I wrote about Allison Preiss, who received a $10,000 United voucher after she was bumped from an oversold Washington Dulles (IAD) to Austin (AUS) flight. Many asked her on Twitter: how...
Where to Eat Near Park Hyatt Sydney
Earlier today I published my review of the Park Hyatt Sydney, a tremendous waterfront hotel in Sydney. But I know many of you are like me: you love nice hotels using points, but don’t want to spend the money...
$10,000 Voucher for United Airlines Bump!
Back in the day, I thought a $600 for a bump was a job well done. But how about $10,000?! The Northeast storm earlier this week led to thousands of flights cancellations, including most United flight in/out of New...
British Airways Tells Passenger to File Police Report, Not Baggage Claim
A disturbing new trend at British Airways: refer passengers to the police when their checked baggage is lost. This is not the way it is supposed to work… Let’s start with this in big bold type: If an airline...
Claim: 75% of Flight Attendants Have Been Sexually Harassed in Last 12 Months
Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), told Congress earlier this week that 75% of flight attendants have been harassed in the last 12 months! Nelson testified before the United States House of Representatives Congressional Caucus for...
Will Malaysia Airlines Return to Paris and Los Angeles?
Malaysia Airlines wants to return to Paris and Los Angeles. The question, though, is when…and why. Don’t expect service to resume to these cities anytime soon. Malaysia Airlines’ Group Chief Executive Officer, Captain Izham Ismail, told reporters yesterday that...
A SWISS First Class Settlement
I wasn’t the only one who took advantage of the incredible SWISS First Class award space made briefly available last fall. Hundreds did, including many other bloggers. Robert from Milenomics shares of his settlement reached with Aeroplan. He had...
My Thought Process In Building A Multi-City Award Trip
We receive many interesting requests at Award Expert, my award booking service, including some that require a bit of creativity. Let me tell you about a recent trip. The client lived in Philadelphia. His destination: Beijing. He wanted to...
EL AL Loses Market Share, Posts Loss
Israeli flag carrier EL AL just reported a disappointing quarterly loss and faces intense competition in the TLV market. EL AL blamed rising jet fuel prices and higher employee salaries for its $29.7MN fourth quarter loss. While revenue grew...
Oops: Delta Rescinds Prohibitive Award Booking Rule
Delta rolled back a prohibitive award booking restriction, leaving in place…a prohibitive award booking restriction. As I reported earlier today, Delta unrolled a draconian new restriction on SkyMiles bookings, prohibiting all redemptions within three days of travel that does...
United Loses $1.5MN in Lawsuit Over FAs Who Watched iPads During Flight
How did firing two FAs for “not doing their jobs” become a civil rights lawsuit in which United Airlines stands to lose $1.5MN? Ruben Lee and Jeanne Stroup had been United flight attendants for over 35 years. But in...
Delta: Legitimate Fraud Protection or SkyMiles Devaluation?
Delta SkyMiles international award tickets now carry a draconian new restriction: they must booked at least three days in advance if they do not start or end in the U.S. or Canada. Is this a legitimate fraud protection or...
Surprise: United Suspends PetSafe Program New Bookings…
Although hardly a surprise, United Airlines has suspended new reservations under its PetSafe program until May 01, 2018. If you visit United’s PetSafe website, you’ll be met with the following language: Effective immediately, we are not accepting any new...
