Happy Thanksgiving to my readers in the United States and pleasant greetings to everyone. I am spending the day with family and friends today and thought it would be fitting simply to express my gratitude to the airline industry...
Weekend in Cyprus and Lebanon
Hello from Ercan, Northern Cyprus. I flew into Larnaca, Cyprus last night and after a brief walk around town travelled north to the disputed Northern Cyprus, a breakaway region whose independence is only recognized by Turkey. I will soon...
An Old Fashioned American Road Trip: 12,225 Miles in Five Minutes!
Yes, this blog is entitled Live and Let’s Fly, not Live and Let’s Drive, but in the spirit of discussing all things travel, I really enjoyed the video below of Brian DeFrees’ 12,225-mile journey across the United States and...
Destination: Riga, Latvia
Another weekend, another trip. I really do need a weekend to sleep and catch up on my hotel reviews, but I continue to take full advantage of my time in Europe to see other cities and countries at a...
Air India Has No Money to Pay for Boeing 787s
Poor Air India. When faced with a bloated staff and sagging financial numbers, rather than trim back operations and layoff non-essential personnel, they compensated for their abnormally high aircraft to staff ratio by ordering new airplanes–27 Boeing 787s. The...
Trying out Adria Airways and Croatia Airlines
This weekend I am checking out out two new European cities: Ljubljana, Slovenia and Zagreb, Croatia. The cities are only 140km apart, so I will be flying into Ljubljana then traveling to Zagreb by train, and finally returning to...
In the Heart of Bolivia…
Sorry it has been a couple days…I´m sitting at a little internet cafe in Uyuni getting ready to travel to Argentina and the connection is worse than dial-up speed–I am going to keep it brief. The last few days...
Welcome Back to America. We’re Closed.
After a delayed arrival into Washington Dulles Wednesday evening from Frankfurt, I just wanted to get through passport control and customs and out to the parking lot to meet my friends. It was after 2am Frankfurt time and despite...
Pictures from the Hamburg Aircraft Interiors Expo
As I blogged about on Tuesday, I flew up to Hamburg for the Aircraft Interiors Expo for a couple days. My intention was to take hundreds of pictures and make them available through a picture link on Live and...
Review: Westin Grand Berlin
In a city with such a storied history, it came as no surprise that one of its grandest hotels has a rich history of its own. As Front Office Manager Wendy Stendel guided us on a tour of...
This is Why We Hate the TSA
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) takes a lot of flak on this blog, and rightfully so. Despite my grave consitutional concerns with full body scanners, enhanced pat-downs, and America’s counterproductive airport security paradigm in general, the poor attitude displayed...
The 10 Airlines with the Hottest Cabin Crews
While the days of draconian age and weight restrictions for airline flights attendants are a relic of the past in much of the world, some carriers still manage to offer some very attractive FAs. I do not personally support specific age quotas, but...
One Step Closer to Eliminating Travel Restrctions to Cuba
The Obama Administration is rolling back some of the restrictions on travel to Cuba, making it easier for schools, churches and cultural groups to visit the island. While those wanting to travel to Cuba will still have to obtain...
I Need Your Help Dealing with a Facebook Impostor!
This evening I received a text message from a friend saying, "You might want to check your Facebook page…" I texted back that it must be some other person, because I have no Facebook page. She texted back, stating,...
The Trip is Almost Over
It’s been a great two weeks of traveling (depsite my initial hiccup in BKK), but I am looking forward to getting home tomorrow evening. I had the next installment of Middle East flight report ready to go as well...
A Review of 2010
New Years festivities are heating up in Ho Chi Minh City, but I am at the airport waiting to catch my late Lufthansa flight back to Bangkok. Recalling my pickpocket incident in Bangkok (and because my brother and I...
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Greetings readers. It is Christmas Day and I am about to have Christmas dinner with my family. I had a few aviation topics on my mind today, but thought instead I would share a Christmas Carol that has been...
10 Scenic Airport Landings
Budget Travel queried hundreds of pilots and FAs to formulate a list of the best scenic airport approaches. As they recommend, reserve a window seat if you are flying to one of the following cities: Philipsburg, St. Maarten Mammoth Lakes,...
A Return to "Smoking" Flights?
While tobacco cigarettes, pipes, and cigars won’t be returning to U.S. airlines anytime soon, new technology has made it possible to re-introduce "smoking flights" with little or no discomfort to non-smoking and smoke-adverse passengers. This blurb provides little constructive...
My Thoughts on the 2010 Frequent Traveler Awards
I had the privilege of attending the first annual Frequent Flyer Awards Ceremony in Houston last night and had a great time. Not only was it great to see many friends and familiar faces, it was great to see...