A rowdy group of female revelers were removed and arrested after creating a disturbance onboard a Rynair flight to Spain. The evening Liverpool to Alicante flight featured a group of ladies headed for a weekend hen party. In the UK,...
Oddly, I Was Approved for the United MileagePlus Explorer Card
Last week I wrote a post entitled My Final Credit Card Churn for Two Years. I mentioned that even though I was over 5/24, I applied for the Chase MileagePlus Explorer Card, essentially just to confirm I was over...
United Pilots: Foreign Airlines Should Be Required to Hire U.S. Pilots
While management seems more focused on Gulf Carriers, airline unions have set their crosshairs on low-cost carriers like Norwegian. Why? Labor costs, specifically Norwegian practices to keep them low. But have United pilots taken it a step too far...
How is Breakfast on a Chinese Domestic Flight?
How was breakfast on a Chinese domestic Hainan flight? The answer, not bad at all. For this week’s Meal of the Week I recall a hearty breakfast on an early morning flight. Hainan is considered one of the better...
Virgin Atlantic to Join Air France-KLM + Delta Joint Venture
Delta currently has a joint venture with Virgin Atlantic and a separate joint venture with Air France-KLM (and Alitalia). Today, the carriers announced the two JVs would merge into one. China Eastern and Delta also get a seat at...
United 747 Will Fly Domestic on Friday
United is retiring its 747-400 fleet this autumn. While I’m hearing rumors of a farewell domestic tour, nothing has been confirmed yet and the final flight is still scheduled from Seoul to San Francisco on October 29, 2017. But...
Ouch! Ramifications of Etihad’s $1.87BN Loss
Etihad lost near $2BN last year due to bad investments and low fuel costs. What will the future hold for the behemoth Gulf carrier? When it comes to actually flying, Etihad made money. Its losses come primarily in three...
United Airlines Adds New London Service from Denver
As United faces mounting competition from Frontier and soon Norwegian in Denver, it is embracing the fight rather than abandoning it. Today the carrier announced new seasonal service to London starting next spring. United has tried service between Denver and...
Why Isn’t Delta Protesting South African Airways?
Delta talks a good game about the evils of government subsides. But you have to wonder, then, why a blatant case of a government propping up a failing carrier on a route Delta competes on doesn’t even merit mention. South...
VIP Treatment in China Eastern VIP Lounge Shanghai Airport
Sometimes an ordinary lounge visit becomes a little bit extraordinary thanks to unexpectedly excellent service…even if such service is part of concerted scheme to deceive. I already wrote about what happened here. It was simply an amazing experience in...
The Good Samaritan: Onboard Charging Edition
My seatmate literally saved my day on an 11hr flight from Frankfurt to San Francisco last week. While my carelessness almost cost me eight hours hours of productivity and great aggravation, one kind gesture spared me that misery. I use a MagSafe to MagSafe2...
Review: Grand Hyatt Shanghai
While I do prefer the intimacy of the Park Hyatt, the Grand Hyatt proved an excellent hotel for a long layover in Shanghai. We arrived into Shanghai around 5:30pm and did not leave for 21 hours. An airport hotel...
Overconfident? United Airlines Mocks Frontier Airlines
United Airlines’ President Scott Kirby is a smug man. I don’t even use that term in negative way. Such bravado has served him well at American and now United. But did he step over the line during a recent dressing down...
Avoid Unnecessary Frustration: Essential Call Center Lingo
I spend hours on the phone each week speaking to different airlines and loyalty programs from around the world. The single most important time-saver: the phonetic alphabet. I was on the phone last night with Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific) booking an...
Review: China Eastern 777-300ER Business Class Los Angeles to Shanghai
Let me start by saying that now I know what it is like to have been on a smoking flight. That, a fairly comfortable seat, horrible food, and totally unprofessional service are my takeaways from my first China Eastern flight,...
New Airport Security Measures: Business as Usual
Last month I wrote about the planned introduction of new security protocols on all USA-bound flights. The new guidelines were not specific, but included “heightened screening of personal electronic devices”. How does that look in practice? If my flight from...
United Flight Diverts When Passenger Rushes Cockpit
A United flight was forced to turn around after a distressed passenger made a rush for the flight deck. United 898 was scheduled to leave Houston at 9:43p on Saturday evening for a short flight to New Orleans, but...
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: July 23, 2017
Hello from Los Angeles. So much for my extended vacation in Germany… I had to fly home yesterday afternoon for a series of meetings over the next few days on a matter totally unrelated to the blog or Award Expert....
Introduction: A Trip Around the World with Lucky
I’m doing my best to catch up on old trip reports and there is a huge one I’ve never published: my trip around the world with Lucky (One Mile at a Time) last August. There will be no surprises...
How Much Cash Do You Bring on Vacation?
Earlier this week I wrote about the potential danger of traveling to Thailand without sufficient cash. The discussion in the comments section took me by surprise: how much cash is reasonable when traveling abroad? Some mocked the $300-600 cash...
