During my last trip on Lufthansa, I skipped the First Class Terminal to check out the First Class Lounge in the B Gates of Terminal 1. While the First Class Terminal is intended for passengers originating in Frankfurt, Lufthansa...
How Airlines Are Going To Great Lengths To Avoid Venezuela Layovers
As the economic and political crises in Venezuela continue to worsen, more airline crews are choosing to avoid ever even stepping out of the airport during layovers. That has forced airlines to get creative. While many carriers have scaled back...
Still No Fix For Key Partner Award Redemptions With United MileagePlus
Last month I noted that United is blocking partner award space on Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, and TAP Air Portugal. The problem has not been resolved. United still blames technical issues on the partner side for this problem and...
United Polaris Dining: The Sad New State Of Affairs
Just how important is meal presentation in offering a premium business class product? United Airlines is betting that it simply doesn’t matter. At least that’s the only explanation I can come up with for its choice to begin pre-plating...
British Airways’ Plan To Save The A380 Program
British Airways is willing to buy more Airbus A380s…if the price is right. Last week, we learned that Emirates is exploring switching some of its A380 orders to smaller A350 or A330neo aircraft. The move would likely sound the...
Turkmenistan Airlines Banned From European Union
Citing safety concerns, Turkmenistan Airlines has been banned from flying to destinations within the European Union and even from flying over EU airspace. In the United Kingdom, where Turkmenistan Airlines flies to Ashgabat from both Birmingham and London Heathrow, the Civil...
Review: United Airlines 787-9 Business Class Los Angeles To London
My flight from Los Angeles to London on United was a comfortable, consistent, and frankly boring. That’s a good thing on a flight you just want to sleep on. I reviewed this very flight two years ago and not...
A Hawaiian Airlines Flight Returns To LAX Three Times Over Unrelated issues
For Hawaiian Airlines and a plane full of passengers headed for Maui, the third time was not the charm… Last Friday, Hawaiian Flight 33 from Los Angeles to Maui took off on-time around 9:00AM. Once in the air, though,...
“Athens Spirit” Aims To Be The Spirit Airlines Of Greece
A new airline dubbed “Athens Spirit” hopes to take on powerful and profitable Aegean Airlines in Greece. My initial response: good luck. Wait till you hear the details… The airline wants to offer low-cost service within Greece and to...
An Intriguing, But Cryptic Ad From Turkish Airlines
Last night, Turkish Airlines returned to the Super Bowl with an ad for the third consecutive year. But this was a bit different, to put it charitably. Rather than a showcase of the onboard product or reminder that Turkish...
2019 Will Be A Country Count Duel
At some point, the student becomes the teacher, and in our families, we often play the role of teacher for all things travel, miles and points. One of our disciples has crept his country count up on us and...
Sharing a Business Class Seat
Some passengers book one business class seat or use an upgrade and trade use of the seat, splitting time between coach and business class. Is this right? Fair? Is it wrong? If you are considering booking travel or signing up for a...
Oculus Go May Be The Perfect Airplane Inflight Entertainment
The Oculus Go is a Virtual Reality headset that may just be the best inflight entertainment device a passenger can bring on an airplane. But that doesn’t mean you will want to use it. If you are considering booking travel or signing...
The Best Airline Cheeseburger In The World
I’ve had a lot of hamburgers and cheeseburgers over the years on airplanes, but none as tasty as the incredible cheeseburger I enjoyed on Lufthansa last weekend. Wow, wow, wow… I do love hamburgers…what can I say? I’ve got...
Very Bad Upgrade Advice…
The perennial consumer rights advocate Christoper Elliott is out with a new column entitled, First class for free? Try these innovative tactics to get an airline upgrade. In it, he offers horrific upgrade advice… Far be it from me to...
United’s 2019 Growth Strategy: Target Hubs
After a year of robust “easy” growth, now United will try a riskier growth strategy: small-city growth from its hubs. United’s domestic growth last year was predicated on “low hanging fruit”. The Chicago-based airline increased service to Hawaii and...
Aeroflot Drops Alcohol Ban On Longhaul Flights
Did you know that Aeroflot has banned alcohol in economy class on flights to Bangkok, Havana and Shanghai for nearly a decade? That ban is about to end. I honestly had no idea such a ban existed on Aeroflot...
Drunken WestJet Passenger Fined $21,000+ For Diversion
Another datapoint to be sober-minded when you travel: one man must now pay $21,260.68. To start… David Young, who has battled alcohol problems for years, consumed six alcoholic drinks prior to boarding his WestJet flight from Calgary to London...
Mystery Solved: Should You Tip In Premium Airline Lounges?
The question of whether to tip in airline lounges is a difficult question, especially in more premium ones like AA’s Flagship Dining Rooms or United’s Polaris Lounges. I personally hate tipping…I view it as a dirty stain on American...
United Dramatically Enlarges Business Class Cabin On 767-300
United Airlines will take delivery of its first “premium heavy” 767-300ER later this month, featuring a dramatic increase in business class seats. Last year I wrote a piece entitled Will United Remove Seats From Business Class? after United’s Executive Vice President Andrew...
