I had a nice day outside with my family and just returned home to find a response from SWISS to my DOT complaint. While not wholly unexpected, its arrogant tone and outright fabrication of facts is deplorable. Here’s the...
New “Pop-Up” United Club in Newark Airport
With ongoing construction on a new Polaris Lounge at Newark’s Liberty International Airport, United faced a critical overcrowding issue in its only other Terminal C United Club. The solution? A new “Pop-up” United Club near Gate C-124. United’s lounge...
Case Closed: Korean Air “Nut Rage” Executive Avoids Prison
Cho Hyun-ah, famous for her nut rage incident at JFK, will avoid jail time after the South Korean Supreme Court upheld her suspended sentence. In case you forgot: Heather Cho, 40, was in a first class seat on a...
How I Tried (and Failed) to Enter Turkey
Despite a good rest on the flight over, I had no desire to spend last night sitting up in the Turkish CIP Lounge. Here’s how I tried (but ultimately failed) to obtain a visa on arrival and enter Turkey....
My Demand Letter to Aeroplan
In the interest of transparency, I’m keeping you updated on what/how I communicate with Aeroplan concerning the SWISS First Class award controversy. Having been thus far unable to resolve this in a manner that suits me, I just mailed...
How I Booked My Air France First Class Ticket
As of 9am ET, my Air France first class ticket is still intact. I’m not expecting it to stick, but even if it is cancelled I sure had fun booking it. I had just awoken from eight hours of...
Malaysian Politicians Deem FA Uniforms Too Sexy and Arousing
Forget the economy. Forget trying to restructure state-owned Malaysia Airlines to make it profitable once again. No, Malaysian members of Parliament are focused on FAs attire on the nation’s budget carriers. From The Straits Times: Senator Abdullah Mat Yasim, a...
Dear Air France, If You Cancel My First Class Ticket, I WON’T Sue You
Unlike the SWISS First Class award redemption controversy, today’s Air France first class deal was a pricing mistake. I knew it, everyone knew it. I did manage to book a ticket…from 38,000 feet above the air over Turkey…I’ll detail...
Trapped in Istanbul Airport!
I had a very pleasant flight to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines, but I’m not pleased with them now… My flight from Los Angeles to Istanbul was delayed by over two hours (mechanical), causing me to miss my connection to...
More United Polaris Aircraft Enter Service
While the retrofit process will take several years to fully complete, United has just rolled out its third Boeing 767-300 with new Polaris seating. I wrote about the first 767-300 retrofit here, which is a 1-1-1 configuration with direct...
Next Stop: Istanbul in Turkish Airlines Business Class
I’ve flown Turkish Airlines many, many times over the years, but now I finally get the chance to fly the 777-300 in business class. Yesterday evening was a beautiful winter day in Los Angeles. It was brisk outside…like 52ºF....
Win a Free Trip to Australia from United Airlines
Is your name Sydney? United Airlines may have a free ticket to Australia with your name on it… To celebrate our new route between Houston, Texas and Sydney, Australia, we’re running a sweepstakes that calls on people with the...
Last Chance to Win a Free Lufthansa First Class Duck!
In a few hours, I will be using random.org to choose the winner of my Lufthansa First Class Duck sweepstakes. But you still have time to enter! Remember, to enter this sweepstakes, follow these two steps: Like my Live and...
Street Tacos in LAX Star Alliance Lounge
My love for Mexican food was recently satiated by extremely tasty street tacos at the LAX Star Alliance Lounge. > Read More: Star Alliance Lounge LAX Review If you read me regularly, you know that I am a hopeless optimist...
My Hyatt Globalist Status Requalification is Complete
Although I once questioned the value of it, I have successfully re-qualified for Hyatt Globalist status with 60 nights in the bag for 2017. Last year I barely squeaked by, earning Hyatt Diamond status with 25 stays. Hyatt has...
First Airbus A350 Service Starts at LAX Today
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) will finally see an A350 at the gates of the Tom Bradly International Terminal. Today, Hong Kong Airlines will launch new service to Los Angeles, adding a budget carrier to an already competitive route....
Zimbabwe Airways is Dead, Long Live Air Zimbabwe?
In the world of airline travel in the land of corruption, sometimes the best way to shed debt is to close shop and re-open a block away. That was the plan for Air Zimbabwe. Was… I haven’t addressed the...
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: December 17, 2017
After another trip to New York, I’m back in Los Angeles until tomorrow…when I’ll fly to Germany for Christmas. It has been a hectic month, so I am looking forward to some downtime. American Airlines’ opened a beautiful new...
How Valuable is Your Time? Airline Bump Economics
Earlier today, I wrote about my oversold United redeye flight, where passengers were offered $2000 to take a flight the following morning. I’m still not understanding why there were not more takers. First, I do acknowledge we are talking about...
$2,000 for a United Bump…
My flight from Los Angeles to Newark on Thursday night was so full I was unable to get a seat on it. That, in and of itself, is not all that unusual during the busy holiday travel season. The...
