U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was in Cuba today to officially re-open the American Embassy in Havana, which for years as operated in the same harbor-front building as a diplomatically-downgraded United States Interests Section. This is a must-visit location...
United Will Restrict Club Access to Same-Day Travel Only in 2016
UPDATE: See the update from United on the new change. Unlike in much of the world, where airport lounge access is granted solely on the basis of traveling in premium cabins or airline loyalty, the U.S. legacy carriers have...
Sorry, This is the Truth About Delta
Frequent Miler sets forward a reasoned defense of Delta, arguing that “the truth…is complicated” and even while loyalty on the redemption side has taken a hit, Delta is great to fly and rewarding to high-value elite fliers. I will...
A Cool Twist on Travel Photography
I don’t update my Instagram often, but I just love travel photos–both taking them and looking at them. Opening up my photo app reveals I have 58,593 photos and 438 videos spanning the last decade of travel. I also...
Are Held Award Tickets Really Guaranteed?
For a full-timer award booker, the most valuable tool any airline loyalty program can offer is the ability to hold a ticket prior to booking. Few things are for more frustrating than finding ideal award space, alerting the client,...
Humorous New Delta Air Lines Safety Video
Delta is out with a new safety video giving Air New Zealand a run for the money in the humor department. Well actually, the previous one did — I personally like it much better: My favorite part — the...
Cameras Now Permitted on White House Tours!
I used to work at the White House and once in a while I would volunteer to conduct weekend East Wing tours — I remember how delighted I was to visit the White House for the first time as...
New Priority Pass Lounge in T5 at London Heathrow
While I usually make a beeline to one of the British Airways lounges when traveling through Heathrow’s Terminal 5, lately I have been doing more intra-Europe economy class on BA (only 4,500 miles for flights under 600 miles). Having...
Uber Suffers Setback at LAX
Last month it seemed like all the barriers had been cleared for Uber and Lyft to begin serving my home airport of Los Angeles International, but Rome was not built in a day and we’re going to have to...
Can You Book Cuba Award Travel with American Airlines Miles?
I wrote with some glee about the change in U.S. policy toward Cuba and what this meant for travel. Since that December 2014 announcement, more diplomatic breakthroughs have occurred, including the recent re-opening of the Cuban Embassy in Washington...
United Improves Pre-Arrival Meals on European Flights
The butt of many jokes for many years, United Airlines is retiring its (in)famous pre-arrival premium class meals on transatlantic westbound flights. Why does this merit a post? Because we’ve been served something like this for five years, with...
Read Rolling Stone for Ben Schlappig, not Kim Kardashian!
Rolling Stone is an icon of pop culture and a barometer of hipness in American life. Not surprisingly, a recent issue has self-proclaimed diva Kim Kardashian letting it all hang out on the cover. Flip past that though, for...
The 10 Most Insane Travel Deals You Probably Missed
The Trip Sherpa recently wrote about DealRay, an incredibly useful mobile-based service for staying on top of travel deals, and it got me thinking of the great mistakes fares of yesteryear. I’ve been playing this game for a decade...
Can You Travel Without the Hassle?
If you’ve read my blog, you know I have elite status with a handful of airlines and I’ve played the game long enough to know how to beat the crowd. Even so, I wish flying could be half as...
How Bad is Delta’s Latest SkyMiles Devaluation? Time to Buy Delta Stock!
Delta announced an immediate devaluation of its Skymiles program on the redemption side this week effective for flights on or after 01 June 2016. We are now seeing just how draconian these changes are. Folks, this is a devaluation...
Delta Goes All-In on Dynamic Award Pricing in 2016
Just in from Delta Air Lines, a number of upcoming changes to the SkyMiles program, including a confirmed move to more aggressive dynamic award pricing. Let’s start with the bad news– Dynamic Award Pricing Accelerates for Travel in June...
Next FTU Advanced Announced: Newport Beach, CA
I’ve written over and over about Frequent Traveler University, a dynamic weekend of learning and fellowship that is a must for anyone who wants to efficiently master the points and miles game. Back to the West Coast by popular...
Special Report: Delta’s Secret Skymiles Devaluation
When Delta Air Lines depublished its Skymiles award charts in February, we were told that we no longer needed charts because the online pricing system would tell us how many miles were required for any given trip. The problem...
Flying Blue Increases Cost for Flex Business and First Class Awards Without Notice
Flying Blue, the loyalty program of Air France / KLM, offers two tiers of awards, classic and flex. For travel between North America and Europe, that translates to 62.5K for a one-way in business class at the classic level and...
United Airlines To Offer Swanky Cowshed Amenity Kits
United Airlines is teaming up with Cowshed Spa, a division of Soho House, to offer brand new amenity kits in intercontinental premium cabins and United lounges. Beginning Aug. 1, 2015, United will exclusively offer Soho House’s Cowshed skin-care products onboard...
