With the addition of the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse to the portfolio, Washington Dulles (IAD) now offers four Priority Pass lounges. Which one is best? The four lounges include: Air France/KLM Lounge British Airways Galleries Lounge Turkish Airlines Lounge Virgin...
Introduction: A SkyTeam Adventure in the Middle East
I’m closing in on my goal to try every member airline of the three of major alliances. My last trip focused on SkyTeam, with an opportunity to fly three new carriers: Aeromexico, Air France, and Middle East Airlines. Both...
The Incredulous, Absurd Reason Lufthansa Is Denying Me EU261 Compensation
I received a call from Lufthansa on Friday concerning my EU261/2004 compliant I filed in late June. It bordered on hilarious. If you recall, in June my Frankfurt to Munich flight was delayed due to a late-arriving crew, causing...
Delta Compensates Me For Lounge Denial
Delta has compensated me for the embarrassing lounge access snafu at LAX earlier this month. In case you missed it, Delta denied me entrance to the Terminal 2 Sky Club at LAX even though I was traveling on a...
Review: Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Washington Dulles (IAD)
The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in Washington Dulles is now a Priority Pass lounge. A nice one at that. For Priority Pass members, it is available daily from 6:00 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. Your membership card technically gives you three...
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: August 19, 2018
Greetings from LA. After a busy weak of travel last week, it was nice to be home this week. I’m not planning on going anywhere in the coming week either. Here’s a review of the week’s top stories plus...
First Class Satay: Singapore Airlines vs. Malaysia Airlines
Each week, my Meal of the Week feature examines an airline meal from my travels over the years. This may be a meal from earlier in the week or it may be a meal served over a decade ago....
A Vintage Russian Jetliner Skids Off Runway in Sudan
I learned two new things today. First, there is still a Russian-built Ilyushin Il-62 in service outside of North Korea. Second, it is (well, perhaps was…) operated by a European airline. Rada Airlines is a cargo airline based in Belarus,...
Hong Kong Airlines vs. Aeroplan: An Ethics Lesson
Hong Kong Airlines will honor its $500-600 business class fares from the U.S. to Asia. That warrants praise…and an ethics lesson. While not $0 fares, these business class fares were equivalent to economy class prices. Consequently, I had some...
Airline Serves Raw Chicken, But I Blame Passenger For “Starving”
We can draw an important lesson from a story of raw chicken served on a commercial flight. The UK Sun tells the story like this. 26-year-old Jamie Farrar ordered chicken satay on his flight from Bali to Kuala Lumpur on...
The Polyglot Pilot on United
Have you ever encountered an airline pilot who liked to show off his language prowess? I sure did on my last United flight. While flying on Middle East Airlines from Beirut to Frankfurt last Friday, I was impressed that the pilot...
Thank You Southwest For Your Common Sense On Emotional Support Animals
Southwest Airlines has tightened up its rules on emotional support animals and I could not be happier. Starting on September 17, 2018, Southwest Airlines will only accept dogs and cats as emotional support animals onboard. Furthermore, passengers will only...
Planning My Final Korean Air Award
August 24th is the last day to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Korean Air SkyPass. That has me planning what could potentially be my final redemption on Korean Air. I’ve procrastinated flying Korean Air First Class for years....
New Air France-KLM CEO Already Has A Target On His Head
Poor Ben Smith has his work cut out for him. The Air Canada President and Chief Operating Officer was named CEO of Air France-KLM today. Already, unions representing Air France are up in arms, threatening strikes and condemning Smith’s...
Hot Deal: Under $700 R/T Business Class from West Coast to SE Asia With Hong Kong Stopover
Many have written about a hot deal currently available from Hong Kong Airlines, with business class airfare from Los Angeles to Southeast Asia pricing at economy class levels. But I haven’t seen any reports of stopovers on these tickets…until...
First Impressions: Middle East Airlines A330 Business Class
I received quite a surprise when I stepped aboard the Middle East Airlines A330-200 that would take me to Frankfurt. Based on Seat Guru, I assigned myself a seat in Row 5, which appeared to be a standard row...
Why Did AA Really Pull Back Partner Award Space Online?
After briefly appearing on the American Airlines’ website for several hours on Tuesday night, partner award space on five carriers disappeared like a subway car leaving the station. What really happened? First, let’s breakdown AA’s own statement on the incident....
Turkish Airlines Is A Pawn In The USA-Turkey Chess Game
Turkey and the USA are in the midst of a severe diplomatic spat and Turkish Airlines finds itself as a pawn of the Turkish state. As the carrier cuts ads in the USA, are flights next on the chopping...
Contest: Win One Million United Miles
United Airlines is giving away 1 million award miles to three travelers who share a particularly compelling photo or video from their travels. Here’s how the #UnitedJourneyContest Works: 1. Select a travel photo or video Do you have a...
A Smoking Good Time On Middle East Airlines
As I walked onto my Middle Eastern Airlines A320 flight from Dubai to Beirut, cigarette smoke wafted out of the cockpit. What was in store for me? I know the cigarette smoke will immediately and automatically turn many people...
