A Thai Airways Boeing 747-400 skidded off a runway in Bangkok after landing in torrential rains. It’s monsoon season in Thailand, creating fierce storms that pummel the earth with concentrated spurts of rain. Thai Airways flight 679 was approaching Suvarnabhumi...
Norwegian Overtakes British Airways in New York City
Norwegian Air Shuttle continues to flex its muscles. The budget carrier has now achieved a symbolic victory that demonstrates how much air travel has changed over the last several years. Flights between London and New York City have always...
Introduction: An Astounding Amtrak Adventure
I am switching gears for my next trip report, pivoting away from flying and writing about a wonderful train trip I enjoyed with my wife in 2016 from Los Angeles to Glacier National Park in Montana. Whenever I publish...
Editorial: Cut The Complaints About “Inferior” U.S. Airlines
There’s a cliche amongst frequent travelers. It goes something like this: U.S. airlines are woefully behind European and Asian airlines, especially in terms of service. While just my opinion, I’m tired of that trite argument and reject it. Don’t...
Impressive Amenities on Air Dolomiti “Seventh Freedom” Flight
I just flew an Italian airline between France and Germany. Air Dolomiti is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lufthansa based in Verona, Italy. It operates many flights on behalf of Lufthansa to/from Munich. Unlike many of Lufthansa’s other regional partners,...
Miniature Horses Are Welcome On Alaska Airlines, Possums Are Not
Alaska Airlines’ updated onboard animal policy has entered into effect and the list of approved animals has been substantially narrowed down. Your dog and cat are still welcome as service animals. So is your miniature horse. That’s it. Miniature...
EgyptAir Insists Its Bizarre Celebrity Interview Is Real
EgyptAir is digging it, insisting it’s bizarre “interview” with Drew Barrymore in this month’s Horus in-flight magazine actually occurred. If you missed my story on this earlier in the week, you can read all the juicy details here. The...
Man Denied Boarding For Wearing Shorts, Wears Skirt Instead
An American passenger was forced to improvise quickly after being told he could not board his flight due to his “inappropriate” attire. He was wearing shorts. Jordan Bishop, a Forbes contributor, was flying from Jakarta to Istanbul via Riyadh...
Business Class To Germany: Lufthansa Or United?
Who offers a better business class product between the USA and Germany, Lufthansa or United? I have recently flown both carriers in business class and will do a side-by-side comparison using the following 10 metrics: Ground Services Lounge Seating...
Review: United 777-200 Polaris Business Class Chicago To Frankfurt
I’ve written this review in a more casual way than my usual trip reports. Hopefully it will be helpful to some of you. Flying United is like driving my car…I do it so often it just become second nature....
Still My Favorite Business Class Lounge In Frankfurt
I’ve written before about the first class-turned-business class Lufthansa lounge in Frankfurt. That remains my go-to lounge every time I transit via Frankfurt. Located in Terminal 1 in the A Concourse near Gate A26, this lounge used to be...
Review: Campanile LAX (Priority Pass Restaurant)
I deliberately arrived at LAX a bit earlier before my last flight flight in order to test out Campanile, a new Priority Pass restaurant in Terminal 4. There was no wait for a table and since time was limited,...
Meet The 26-Year-Old CEO Of Rimowa
The President and CEO of Rimowa Luggage is only 26 year old..and has grand plans for the luxury luggage brand. But will he save Rimowa or ruin a brand that did not need saving? First some background. French-born Alexandre...
Wow: Airline (Badly) Fabricates Celebrity Interview
An “interview” of Hollywood celebrity Drew Barrymore in the EgyptAir in-flight magazine raised many eyebrows for its questionable content. Not surprisingly, it is fake. But did EgyptAir have to make it so obvious? Let’s just examine a few excerpts...
Captain Claims Holy Spirit Prompted Him To Take Off Early To Avoid Indonesian Earthquake
A Batik Air captain (pictured above, right) claims that he took off from Palu, Indonesia three minutes ahead of schedule due to promptings from the Holy Spirit. Whatever the source of his inspiration, his decision likely saved the lives...
Flying United’s Retrofitted 777-200 In Polaris Business Class
Over the weekend I had the chance to fly United’s recently renovated 777-200 featuring new Polaris business class seats. This is the same aircraft that featured United’s new premium economy seating. I used a Global Premier Upgrade to confirm...
Airplane Etiquette: Look Before You Recline
Just as we always look before making a turn while driving, we should always look before reclining our seat on an airplane. My laptop almost broke on a recent flight from Los Angels to Chicago. I purchased the ticket...
Is JetBlue For Sale?
Is JetBlue positioning itself for the next big airline merger/acquistion? One airline analyst says yes, though I remain skeptical. That analyst is Dan Reed, a Forbes contributor who has written about airlines the last 26 years. He makes the following...
Pictures: Testing Out United’s New Premium Economy
On Sunday evening I flew from Chicago to Frankfurt on United. I happened to fly on a 777-200 that has already been retrofitted to include premium economy seating. On the 777-200, United will add three rows of premium economy...
Passenger Ejected From Southwest Flight For Running Her Racist Mouth
A woman was ejected from a Southwest flight (to the applause of fellow passengers) after embarking on a racist tirade when told to fold up her tray table. I write about these stories, in part, to chronicle poor behavior...
