The only thing worse than openly complaining about a crying baby on an airplane is passive-aggressively complaining about a baby. And perhaps the only thing worse than that is passive-aggressively complaining about the passive-aggressive passenger… Stephanie Hollifield, a parenting...
Bombardier CRJ 550: A New Regional Jet Experience On United
United revealed a brand new aircraft today, the CRJ-550, that I call the business-friendly regional jet. It’s quite a leap from United’s current 50-seat jet. Currently, United operates CRJ-200s through its various United Express partners. These 50-seat aircrafts are single-cabin,...
United Massively Increases Premium Cabins Across Fleet
United Airlines announced it will add 1,600 United Polaris Business and United First Class seats to almost 250 international and domestic aircraft. I’d call 25-50% increases in the size of premium cabins massive. Last week I wrote about the increase...
Review: Lufthansa First Class Lounge & Spa – Frankfurt (B Gates)
During my last trip on Lufthansa, I skipped the First Class Terminal to check out the First Class Lounge in the B Gates of Terminal 1. While the First Class Terminal is intended for passengers originating in Frankfurt, Lufthansa...
How Airlines Are Going To Great Lengths To Avoid Venezuela Layovers
As the economic and political crises in Venezuela continue to worsen, more airline crews are choosing to avoid ever even stepping out of the airport during layovers. That has forced airlines to get creative. While many carriers have scaled back...
Still No Fix For Key Partner Award Redemptions With United MileagePlus
Last month I noted that United is blocking partner award space on Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, and TAP Air Portugal. The problem has not been resolved. United still blames technical issues on the partner side for this problem and...
United Polaris Dining: The Sad New State Of Affairs
Just how important is meal presentation in offering a premium business class product? United Airlines is betting that it simply doesn’t matter. At least that’s the only explanation I can come up with for its choice to begin pre-plating...
British Airways’ Plan To Save The A380 Program
British Airways is willing to buy more Airbus A380s…if the price is right. Last week, we learned that Emirates is exploring switching some of its A380 orders to smaller A350 or A330neo aircraft. The move would likely sound the...
Turkmenistan Airlines Banned From European Union
Citing safety concerns, Turkmenistan Airlines has been banned from flying to destinations within the European Union and even from flying over EU airspace. In the United Kingdom, where Turkmenistan Airlines flies to Ashgabat from both Birmingham and London Heathrow, the Civil...
Review: United Airlines 787-9 Business Class Los Angeles To London
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...
