Greetings from sunny Los Angeles. I’m in a holding pattern this week. I thought I was going to have to leave for Europe tomorrow, but that trip has been postponed. I’m both relieved and disappointed. I never like leaving my family but there’s a heatwave coming to Los Angeles that I wanted to escape. In […]
Review: Lufthansa A380 First Class Houston to Frankfurt
My recent flight from Houston to Frankfurt was one of the worst Lufthansa First Class flights of my life. It truly was. But I also must add it was not just fine, but a good flight overall. Read on to understand this apparent paradox. Let’s just get down to it. What I love most about […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: July 01, 2018
It’s a beautiful summer evening in Los Angeles and I’ve spent the day with family and friends. My thanks to Kyle and Carly for giving me the chance to take a break on Sundays. Over the last week, we’ve seen a Sun Country challenge to Alaska Airlines in Portland, re-shuffling of Singapore service on United, […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: June 17, 2018
Greetings from Italia. Sadly, I’ve had to spend Father’s Day away from my family…but my trip, like every trip, is in order to provide for them. Even so, every trip in which I am separated from my family is bittersweet. Top stories from the last week include the official announcement of an American Express lounge […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: June 03, 2018
I’m convalescing in LA this evening after catching a nasty virus from one-year-old Augustine earlier this week. For those of you who sent me email that has gone unanswered, please be patient. This week we learned more about Delta’s massive investment at LAX, United’s desire to return to JFK, and American Express limited lounge access […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: May 27, 2018
Los Angeles has been experiencing “May Gray” all week and I love it! Every year around this time I am reminded of how I should be living in London or Seattle…but I digress (while hoping for “June Gloom”). This week, we learned that Sun Country will cut first class, Delta announced new transcontinental service to […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: May 20, 2018
Good evening from LA. For the first time in weeks, it appears I will not set foot on a plane this week. I’m looking forward to it. Honestly. Last week, the Gulf Carriers “kissed and made up” with their American legacy counterparts in an agreement that changes nothing and allows both to save face. We […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: May 13, 2018
Greetings from Tokyo Narita. I’ve been overseas the last several days and will provide further details on my trip tomorow. Over the last week, United has announced network updates including changes in Mexico service and a re-tooling of its Newark and Washington hubs. We also learned of new service fees coming to Alaska Airlines and […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: April 29, 2018
Greetings from the fairly remote Las Padres National Forrest about 90 minutes north of Los Angeles. It was special weekend for me: my brother is getting married next week and this weekend was his bachelor party. Heidi, don’t worry…it has been a very calm weekend. We’re in a lodge-style house. Our big activity was not […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: April 15, 2018
Greetings from Los Angeles. It is good to be home after two nearly weeks in Europe. I had a fabulous trip (hope you have been enjoy the Italy road trip report), but there is no place like home…especially after being away from my wife and son for so long. This week I’ll finish up the […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: April 01, 2018
Happy Easter and Happy Passover. I’ve enjoyed a wonderful day spent with family and friends and trust you have as well. I’m looking forward to a very “Matthew” like trip coming up this week. Details on that on Tuesday. For now, I’ll just leave you with the top stories of the week plus a recount […]
Flying in 2018: The Best of Times
Like Charles Dickens’ famous opening line, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” In a counter post to one previously published today, I can prove that flying in 2018 is the best it has ever been. From first class suites at business class prices to a lie flat bed standard […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: December 24, 2017
It’s Christmas Eve and I hope, like me, you are spending it with family friends. I’m on “vacation” in Germany for awhile, but there is never really any true vacation in the world of blogging and Award Expert. Posts will be more limited over the next week to maximize time spent with my family, but […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: November 26, 2017
Greetings from a beautifully blustery autumn day in Carmel, CA. I’ll have details tomorrow about the wonderful way I’ve spent my long holiday weekend. It was a fairly quiet week on the blog and in the aviation industry, which was appreciated. We’ll see what next week brings, though. We did learn further details about Lufthansa’s […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: November 19, 2017
I really enjoyed FTU this weekend. Not only was it fun to meet many readers, but it was a great crowd–I hope all who attended enjoyed it. I’m happy to report that I have no more (planned) airline trips until Christmas. It has been quite awhile since I’ve been able to spend more than a […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: August 06, 2017
A pleasant Sunday evening to you. It has been a quiet week for me that included a nice trip with my family to Carmel, CA. I’ll have a full report on the Hyatt Carmel Highlands in the weeks ahead. United announced several new European routes for summer of 2018 this week, Air Berlin inched closer […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: September 10, 2017
After three consecutive weeks of travel, it was great to be home this week. I’m traveling a bit in the week ahead, but just with family and just by car. Hurricane Harvey and Irma have dominated news headlines this week. I once again wish a safety and speedy recovery to all my readers in Texas […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: August 13, 2017
Hello from Tashkent, where I am spending several days checking out Uzbekistan. The country has defied expectations…in good way. I don’t recommend the national airline, though. On Monday I will finish my current trip report with a review of JetBlue Mint class from New York to LA. Before I transition into the current -stans trip […]
Matthew Is Wrong About Gulf Carriers
There has been an awful lot of debate regarding major US carriers and the Gulf “ME3”. US airlines are simply trying to defend their home turf against an onslaught of new traffic. Why are they being derided by bloggers like Matthew and Lucky? They have a point and I can prove it. If you are considering booking […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: July 17, 2017
I’m hardly in full relaxation mode, but after another week in beautiful Germany I’ve acclimated back nicely to a life of paying in cash and not being able to buy groceries on Sunday! As we start thinking about the trip home, I still have nothing booked. Tomorrow I’ve prepared a post discussing two options: Greenland/Iceland […]