After a number of technical glitches forced United to suspend the ability to book EVA award space online, United promised the fix would be quick. Just one week later, EVA award space has resurfaced on united.com. I am very anxious...
Upcoming Frequent Flyer Meetup in New York City
For those of you who missed the earlier announcement, Mike is organizing a New York City Frequent Flyer meetup on Tuesday, July 30th. Join the group and RSVP for the event at meetup.com/reach-for-the-miles. Sadly, I won’t be able to...
Video: Gary Leff on the Colbert Report
Gary Leff is both a friend and an inspiration, and he faced a tall order in defending Delta’s Skymiles program on Comedy Central last night, even with a “sympathetic” Steven Colbert. No, this wasn’t exactly a discussion about credit cards...
RewardsPlus: United MileagePlus Partners with Marriott Rewards
When United Airlines tweeted about a “new rewards experience” coming to MileagePlus last Friday, I was very afraid. The news at United has not been good lately, but even with minor fee increases and a minimum-spend requirement that effectively...
Local News Station Reports Racist Joke as Names of Asiana Flight 214 Pilots
I have yet to offer my analysis on the recent Asiana crash, but it will be forthcoming and will focus not on the crash itself, but on the way the media reported on it: irresponsibly in many cases. With...
Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner Catches Fire at London Heathrow
More problems for Boeing’s 787 program, this time in London: An internal fire broke out on Friday on a Boeing 787 that Ethiopian Airlines had parked between flights at London’s Heathrow Airport, the airport said. The plane was in...
Massive United MileagePlus Devaluation on the Horizon?
It is Friday, that special day of the week reserved for dumping bad news. At around midnight CT, United Airlines posted the following on Twitter– A very ambiguous message, so it will do little good now to speculate about...
Snowden Onboard Aeroflot Flight to Havana?
The whole Edward Snowden issue is a mess and I am not going to weigh in on my own feelings about him here. But his saga to seek asylum is inextricably linked to travel and after spending two weeks...
Singapore Airlines Blurs the Line Between Business and First Class
Singapore Airlines announced the new design of their first, business and economy class cabins yesterday on select 777-300ER and A350 aircraft. I just completed a trip in Singapore First, Suites, and Business Class and there is a tendency to...
Breaking: Rediske Air Crash in Alaska Kills 10
When I saw the headline just a moment ago, I thought it was a joke–surely there could not be another crash just one day later. But sadly the Wall Street Journal is reporting: LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — The crash...
Breaking: Asiana 777 Crashes at SFO
The news is just breaking now, but an Asiana 777 from Seoul has crashed while landing at San Francisco International Airport. No injuries reported at this point, but one passenger tweeted: plane came in at a bad angle, flipped,...
A Gift in the Mail from United Airlines
I do not get much snail mail anymore, save for far too many credit card apps and various bar association items, so it is always just a little gratifying to see something out of the ordinary. Today, a large...
EVA Airways Space Temporarily Pulled from united.com
Yesterday I highlighted the ability to book EVA awards on united.com and urged you to act fast before others booked all the space. If you searched last night or this morning for EVA space, you would have noticed there...
Book EVA Airways Award Space on united.com
EVA (pronounced E – V – A) Airways has recently joined the Star Alliance network and the Taipei-based carrier has been very generous when it comes to releasing award space. In fact, many dates this summer have four or...
New United p.s. Premium Service Commercial with Matt Damon
United Airlines has a new television ad out for their Premium Service (p.s.) flights between New York JFK and Los Angeles/San Francisco. Narrated by Matt Damon and showcasing United’s new BusinessFirst® lie-flat seats on the route, the ad compares...
The Secret to Obtaining SWISS First Class Award Space
Booking first class award space on Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) has become much, much more difficult over the last 18 months. SWISS was once fairly generous–you could book months in advance and award space was generally decent: with...
Dubai to New York via Jeddah in Saudia Economy Class
The Saudia flight was from Dubai to Jeddah was so uneventful I will only spend a few sentences on it—I was tried and quickly fell asleep after the meal service, which included beef with noodles and mixed vegetables. A...
Kabul to Dubai on flydubai
فلاي دبي (flydubai) is a low-cost carrier based in Dubai offering budget flights throughout the Middle East and beyond. The ticket from Kabul to Dubai was $152 and flydubai was the only carrier with an afternoon flight. FAs were...
The Afghanistan Dilemma
It was a brisk winter day, but heat from a black wood-burning stove warmed the room. Sunlight streamed in from outside and the sound of the rushing Panjshir River outside was audible over the din of voices inside. Faded...
Video: Drunk Passenger Attacks United Pilot at Washington Dulles
I’m not the type that hangs around bars, but in my travels around the world I’ve run into a lot of drunk people and must admit that there are a few things I enjoy more than observing disorderly conduct...
