American Airlines has taken delivery of its first new Airbus A319s and invited me and a cadre of other travel writers to examine the new aircraft in Dallas last week. I was already at LAX on another matter, so...
Rumor Confirmed: United 777s to Sydney, 787 to Osaka, 747 Returns to Chicago
United Airlines will replace its 747-400s with three-cabin 777-200ERs on its flagships Los Angeles/San Francisco-Sydney routes starting next spring. Other changes include a 787 on the San Francisco-Osaka route (currently a mix between the 747 and 777) and the...
Higher Costs + No More Holds = Delta Further Devalues Skymiles Program
Delta Air Lines has announced an “enhancement” to their Skymiles award chart, raising the price of saver business class redemptions up to 25% in some markets. Citing abuse, the carrier also announced an end to the ability to hold award reservations...
Cathay Pacific Announces New Service to Newark Beginning on March 2, 2014
Cathay Pacific teased us on Facebook and Twitter last week with the image above, stating that it would announce new service to either Boston, Seattle, Miami, or Newark this week. Newark is the winner and the new flight is already...
Limited Starwood American Express Sign-Up Bonus
UPDATE: Offer now expired. Through Labor Day 2013, Starwood was offering an enhanced sign-up bonus on its Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card and Business Card from American Express. Starwood points are great for booking Starwood hotel properties, but they are also...
Sneak Peek at JetBlue’s A321 Business Class + Mini-Suites
JetBlue has released the first images of its new Airbus A321 interiors, including a look at its 16-seat business class cabin that will contain four mini-suites with sliding doors providing complete privacy. The new aircraft and addition of business...
An Important Decision Resolved
Let me give you a bit of advice that probably goes without saying—if you wish to do well on something, you have to put in the effort…unless you happen to be naturally brilliant of course, which few of us...
Cathay Pacific First Class Cabin Refresh
Only a few weeks after Singapore Airlines announced their new first, business and economy class designs, Cathay Pacific is following suit. Today they announced their anticipated refresh of their first class seat. While the new seat isn’t a big...
Air France-KLM Flying Blue Promo Awards: 50% Off Business Class through August
I’ve griped about the inept call center and arcane policies of Flying Blue, the loyalty program of Air France-KLM, but I’ve been booking a lot of clients on Air France and KLM flights this month and want to make...
Birds of a Feather Get Two Seats Together
My brother travels to the Bay Area regularly for business and buys same-day tickets which has led to frequent trips on Southwest Airlines. Burbank Airport is his preferred departure point in LA and he flies out of the “other...
Breaking: Nose Gear Collapse on Southwest Airlines Plane at New York LaGuardia
Some breaking news out of New York– At least three people suffered minor injuries when a Southwest Airlines plane landed at LaGuardia Airport with a nose gear collapse, according to officials. The airport is closed until further notice, the...
EVA Award Space Returns to united.com
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...
