Spirit is the king of a la carte fares. They promise cheap seats on direct flights but everything is extra, even paying for your ticket incurs a $15-20 convenience fee when you buy online. We decided we don’t want...
Why The Willard InterContinental Is My Favorite Hotel In Washington, DC
I’m generally a very loyal Hyatt patron, but there are exceptions. Washington, DC is one such exception. In the District, my favorite hotel is not one of the three Hyatt properties, but the Willard InterContinental. I first stepped into...
Air France Cancels Venezuela Flights While Air Europa Offers Crews Kidnapping Advice
In the wake of escalating civil unrest, Air France is temporarily halting flights to Caracas. Meanwhile, Air Europa has issued an advisory to crews on how to avoid kidnappings… It is a historic day in Venezuela. The Maduro regime...
Please Don’t Go Kamikaze On Us American Airlines!
Rumors are swirling that American Airlines is considering restricting the use of systemwide upgrades to only recipient account holders. To do so would take AAdvantage on an unnecessary kamikaze mission. The rumor comes from reliable insider JonNYC. Over the...
Airfare Is Cheaper* Than Ever Before
With inflation factored in, average airfare in the United States is lower than it has ever been since the government started keeping track. But do note the asterisk in my title. Government record keeping began in 1995 and this...
United’s Secretive Top-Tier Status Has Nice Perks…
When it comes to airline loyalty programs, there is “top-tier” status, and then there is true top-tier status… While Premier 1K status is the top published status level at United Airlines, there’s one level above it. And the perks...
An Online Travel Agency Invites You To “Break The Rules” (But Be Careful…)
A popular European online travel agency has promised to pay your legal fees if an airline sues you for throwaway ticketing. Or maybe not. Let’s take a closer look. Last week I wrote about Lufthansa suing a passenger for...
Amtrak Faces A Daunting Dilemma
Amtrak, America’s state-run passenger railroad company, faces a daunting dilemma. Its path to profit is to cut what its Congressional overlords seem unwilling to even consider eliminating. I’m taking about long-distance rail service. Storied routes like the Empire Builder...
Scammed By A Fake United Airlines Call Center
You must be ever vigilant that when you call an airline you are actually calling that airline. One United passenger learned the hard way. The sad story is shared on Flyertalk. A passenger needed to change a reservation and...
Hilarious: An “All-American” Breakfast On American Airlines…
Your “All-American” breakfast on American Airlines includes Canadian bacon… Appropriately shared by @FakeOscarMunoz, the parody account of United CEO Oscar Munoz, the menu clearly features this apparent paradox. Now I can already anticipate an AA rebuttal. I picture it...
The Wall Street Journal Battles The Airbus A380
In a hit-piece entitled Airbus’s Lesson for Young Socialists, a Wall Street Journal column heaps scorn on the Airbus A380 program. The column is by Holman W. Jenkins Jr, a long-time columnist and editorial writer for the Journal. He starts by...
WestJet Debuts First Safety Video
With WestJet morphing into a full-service airline to compete with Air Canada, it was only a matter of time before the airline created its own safety video. Airlines take safety videos very seriously. And I don’t mean the message,...
ANA Award Space Blocked For United MileagePlus Members
Add ANA to the list of United MileagePlus Star Alliance partners that are currently not bookable using your United miles. This fix, however, will hopefully be quicker than the other partner award problems still present. Last night, All Nippon...
I Want To Go To Iceland. Now.
One of the top goals on my bucket list is to see the Northern Lights. For years I have put it off but one image has placed it again at the forefront of my travel agenda. NASA releases an...
South African Airways Denies Three-Way Split
South African Airways is denying a report that it will split into three units. News surfaced yesterday that beleaguered South African Airways would split into three separate entities, one for domestic, one for regional, and one for international flight routes....
Turkmenistan Airlines Turns To Lufthansa For Help
Earlier this month, Turkmenistan Airlines was banned from European Union airspace after the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) deemed the carrier unsafe. Now the airline has turned to Lufthansa for help. The Lufthansa brand has many hats; far more than...
British Airways’ Stunning New 747 Paint Job
British Airways has unveiled its new 747 retro paint job and I am very impressed… Last month, I wrote about BA’s plan to repaint one of its Boeing 747-400s with classic British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) livery. British Airways...
Why Air Canada Lost Money Last Quarter
On the operational side, Air Canada is looking strong. Revenue is up and so are fares. So why did Air Canada report a loss last quarter? Foreign exchange losses. The Canadian dollar is weakening and many costs are fixed...
First Impressions: Hawaiian Airlines A330 First Class
Greetings from Hawaii. Yesterday I flew in Hawaiian Airlines First Class aboard the A330-200 from Los Angeles to Honolulu and want to share my initial impressions of the flight here. Hawaiian Airlines took delivery of its first A330 with...
LOT Polish Plans To Create Hub In Budapest
Polish carrier LOT, a Star Alliance member, is creating a hub…outside of Poland. The flag carrier is slowly but steadily expanding operations in Budapest, Hungary. LOT already serves Chicago (ORD), Krakow (KRK), London (LCY), New York (JFK), and Warsaw...
