My flight from Los Angeles to London on United was a comfortable, consistent, and frankly boring. That’s a good thing on a flight you just want to sleep on. I reviewed this very flight two years ago and not...
A Hawaiian Airlines Flight Returns To LAX Three Times Over Unrelated issues

For Hawaiian Airlines and a plane full of passengers headed for Maui, the third time was not the charm… Last Friday, Hawaiian Flight 33 from Los Angeles to Maui took off on-time around 9:00AM. Once in the air, though,...
“Athens Spirit” Aims To Be The Spirit Airlines Of Greece

A new airline dubbed “Athens Spirit” hopes to take on powerful and profitable Aegean Airlines in Greece. My initial response: good luck. Wait till you hear the details… The airline wants to offer low-cost service within Greece and to...
An Intriguing, But Cryptic Ad From Turkish Airlines

Last night, Turkish Airlines returned to the Super Bowl with an ad for the third consecutive year. But this was a bit different, to put it charitably. Rather than a showcase of the onboard product or reminder that Turkish...
The Best Airline Cheeseburger In The World

I’ve had a lot of hamburgers and cheeseburgers over the years on airplanes, but none as tasty as the incredible cheeseburger I enjoyed on Lufthansa last weekend. Wow, wow, wow… I do love hamburgers…what can I say? I’ve got...
Very Bad Upgrade Advice…

The perennial consumer rights advocate Christoper Elliott is out with a new column entitled, First class for free? Try these innovative tactics to get an airline upgrade. In it, he offers horrific upgrade advice… Far be it from me to...
United’s 2019 Growth Strategy: Target Hubs

After a year of robust “easy” growth, now United will try a riskier growth strategy: small-city growth from its hubs. United’s domestic growth last year was predicated on “low hanging fruit”. The Chicago-based airline increased service to Hawaii and...
Aeroflot Drops Alcohol Ban On Longhaul Flights

Did you know that Aeroflot has banned alcohol in economy class on flights to Bangkok, Havana and Shanghai for nearly a decade? That ban is about to end. I honestly had no idea such a ban existed on Aeroflot...
Drunken WestJet Passenger Fined $21,000+ For Diversion

Another datapoint to be sober-minded when you travel: one man must now pay $21,260.68. To start… David Young, who has battled alcohol problems for years, consumed six alcoholic drinks prior to boarding his WestJet flight from Calgary to London...
Mystery Solved: Should You Tip In Premium Airline Lounges?

The question of whether to tip in airline lounges is a difficult question, especially in more premium ones like AA’s Flagship Dining Rooms or United’s Polaris Lounges. I personally hate tipping…I view it as a dirty stain on American...
United Dramatically Enlarges Business Class Cabin On 767-300

United Airlines will take delivery of its first “premium heavy” 767-300ER later this month, featuring a dramatic increase in business class seats. Last year I wrote a piece entitled Will United Remove Seats From Business Class? after United’s Executive Vice President Andrew...
Beware: Flight Attendants Hawking Inferior Credit Card Offers

When flight attendants tell you they have an “amazing” credit card offer, be sure to double check how amazing it actually is… Last Saturday I flew from San Francisco to Burbank on United Express after connecting from Frankfurt on...
I Tried The New Hyatt Place In Frankfurt…

Last week I was in Frankfurt for a night and rather than head to my usual Hyatt Regency Mainz, decided to check out the Hyatt Place “at” Frankfurt Airport. The hotel opened in 2018 and looks and smells brand...
A New Asian Airline Launches With Fares As Low As $18 One-Way

A new airline has surfaced in the highly-competitive Southeast Asian market. Does Vietnam have room for another airline? Bamboo Airways is now operational and will initially operate domestic flights within Vietnam. Here’s the initial route map: Introductory fares start...
Is There Actually A “Bad” Business Class Product?

My good friend Ed from Pizza in Motion recently wrote a story entitled, Here’s Why Most Of What You’ve Heard About Business And First Class Is Rubbish. This post represents my response to him. Ed takes issues with the...
10 Airlines I Hope To Review In Business Class

As much as I love reviewing first class products, I think business class reviews tend to be more helpful to more readers. Here’s a list of 10 airlines I hope to review this year in business class, but I’m...
JetBlue And Singapore Airlines Cozy Up

Singapore Airlines and JetBlue have expanded their codeshare relationship, further deepening ties. But one key benefit is still lacking. The current codeshare agreements sees Singapore Airlines codesharing on the following JetBlue flights to/from JFK: Austin, Texas (AUS) Boston, Massachusetts...
The Flirt On My London Flight…

I’ve got to admire people for trying…but here’s a hint: snoring is generally a turnoff. There was a young woman sitting across the aisle from me on my flight to London last week. She was traveling alone and good...
First Impressions: Lufthansa A340-600 First Class

I flew home from Frankfurt aboard a Lufthansa A340-600 in first class, my first flight on this aircraft in many years. Very little has changed on Lufthansa in 2019. Service was excellent as usual and the meals onboard very...
Live TV Now Free On United Airlines

United Airlines is making over 100 channels of live DIRECTV available free of charge from gate-gate, effective immediately. 211 Boeing 737s in the United fleet are equipped with seat-back live television, totaling more than 30,000 seats. All live channels of...