Category Archives: Travel

Happy Christmas to all and may I just say that it is great to be home in Los Angeles! After a marathon visa process, including an unexpected month in South Africa, the visa finally arrived and Heidi and I...

Hyatt has announced its annual update to the Gold Passport award chart and thankfully changes are limited for 2015–here is what you need to know: 70 Hyatt properties are changing categories 22 hotels are moving up a category 48...

Tickets to FTU and FTU Advanced in Dallas, from 17-19 April 2015, are now on sale at FTUniversity.com. I will be doing my usual talks on United Airlines, but will also be talking miles and exotic travel at this...

Tickets to the next Frequent Traveler University go on sale Thursday at 11:00AM ET / 8:00AM PT at FTUniversity.com. Tickets for the Advanced seminars at the last three events sold out very quickly, so be warned if you want to attend....

I recently had the opportunity to experience Lufthansa First Class with my German wife Heidi — just wait till you read her account of the flight — and it reminded again that flying is so much more fun with...

A storm has dumped massive amounts of rain and snow along the Eastern Seaboard today, leading to over 500 cancelled flights and endangering the Thanksgiving travel plans of many. But even at this evening hour, you can still better...

Not exactly a day of celebration here in Germany, but yesterday was Veterans Day (or Armistice Day as I prefer to call it), marking the end of the World War I and a day in the USA to remember...

I’m out of Africa – mission accomplished. That was more than a week ago.  But rather than recovering at home from a 4-week trip to Africa, I never even got back to Germany: from Cape Town, Heidi and I...

Frequent Traveler University (FTU) is coming 05-07 December 2014 to Washington, DC and I will be speaking on a variety of travel-related topics. This is going to be a huge event with a speaker list including some of the indstury’s...

I recently made a short trip to the USA, including a visit to some dear friends in Washington, DC. I like taking the 10pm United service out of Dulles because it allows for a full day and relaxed dinner...

United Airlines hosts a Family Day at its giant maintanence center at San Francisco International Airport each autumn. In past years, select members from Flyertalk and MilePoint have been invited to attend and I have attended twice – it...

Captain Denny Flanagan sent me the following note this morning — My Flying Friends,   It’s early morning on September 11th in Shanksville Pennsylvania. I am here with over 50 United crew members to honor the memory of the Pilots,...

Both Rocky and Sriram have sampled American Airlines’ new onboard premium class menu, effective 01 September 2014, and both found it to be supremely lacking. They are not the only ones, for I have not read one positive review...

With the loss of Darren, our resident expert on airline amenity kits, I admitedly have not kept up with the current amenity kits offered by airlines outside the handful of Star Alliance carriers I frequent regularly. The Daily Mail has...

In celebration of my recent birthday, Heidi and I spent the weekend in Vienna, Austria. More on that in future posts including a great stay at the brand new Park Hyatt Vienna, but I once again encountered a problem...

It has been a very busy day with a totally unexpected (and frankly grotesque) surprise. All I will say now is check back tomorrow – wait till you read what happened today. And on that happy note, I am...

Just a reminder that today is your last day to enter to win a free Rimowa Amenity Kit from EVA. The contest ends about 24 hours from now, at 23:59 CET on 21 July 2014. I’m a huge fan...

In honor of my recent nuptials, I am giving away a Rimowa amenity kit that I received on a recent Amsterdam-Bangkok EVA flight in Royal Laurel (business) class.  Rimowa is the premier German luggage company and this hard-shell amenity...

Track corrosion forced the closure of AirTrain service between Newark’s Liberty International Airport and the EWR Rail Station in May, but the restoration work is now complete, more than 10 days ahead of schedule. With runway construction, no rail...

As Congress considers whether to allow airlines to hide taxes and fees from consumers until late in the booking process, perhaps a hotel anecdote will be instructive. Hotels and the online travel agencies that sell hotel rooms are not...