I did not watch the Super Bowl yesterday, but I was monitoring for airline or hotel commercials. Once again, Turkish Airlines provided a memorable one. Last year, Morgan Freeman did a superb job in emphasizing that Turkish Airlines serves...
Latvian Airline Announces New Service to Washington, DC
Primera Air will offer no-frills service between Washington Dulles and London Stansted starting late this summer with fares starting at $400 r/t. The airline is based in Riga, Latvia but refers to itself as a “Nordic” carrier. It began...
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: February 4, 2018
Hello from 35,000 feet. I’m on my way to New York for a quick business trip. I trust I’ll be back home, though, by the end of the day tomorrow. Who would have thought a little story on a...
Review: Grand Hyatt Baha Mar – Amenities
Prior to this post I reviewed a suite at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar in the Bahamas. This second post examines the amenities of the property including the pools, dining and property more broadly – but frankly, mostly food. If you are...
Review: Grand Hyatt Baha Mar – Suite
The Grand Hyatt Baha Mar (and the entire resort complex) has been hotly anticipated since its originally scheduled opening in 2011, delayed until just six months ago. The hottest new destination in the Bahamas lived up to its legend...
Bucket List: Private Luxury Tour, Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
A last-minute trip to Vietnam during our slow travels through Asia lead us to the picturesque Ha Long Bay. During our trip we booked a private luxury junk boat tour with IndoChina Junk. Here is a review of our...
Disappearing Act…How I Nearly Lost My iPhone X on a Recent Flight
I mentioned in passing in my recent Turkish Airlines 777-300ER trip report that my phone flew out of my lap and into the bowels of the seat during our rough landing in Istanbul. Finding it turned out to be...
The World’s Best Airline Uniforms
I have yet to fly Hainan Airlines on a longhaul flight, which many regard as the best airline in Mainland China for onboard service and comfort. But now I have another reason to fly Hainan: the best airline uniforms...
Google Flights Predicts Delays Before Airlines, Warns of Basic Economy
While I still miss ITA Matrix 1.0 as the most powerful airfare search tool I’ve ever used, Google is slowly making its flight search tool, Google Flights, better than ever. Google Flights will now update you on flight delays,...
United Airlines Honors Ancient Paper Ticket
I’m old enough to remember paper tickets when I was a kid, but it has been many years since I have seen one. One man recently found a 19-year-old paper ticket from United…and successfully redeemed it. I deal with...
United Cracks Down on Emotional Support Animals
Following Delta’s move after the recent peacock incident, United Airlines is tightening up the requirements to bring an emotional service animal onboard. Here’s what changes, effective March 01, 2018: The customer must provide confirmation that the animal has been...
Meet the Woman Who Claimed Her Peacock as an Emotional Support Animal
Earlier this week I wrote about United Airlines refusing to allow a woman to bring her peacock onboard as an emotional service animal. New details have emerged about the passenger and her bird. The incident occurred last Sunday at...
Shame on Hyatt for Latest Petty Stunt
Hyatt may be hemorrhaging elite members, but that has not stopped the hotel chain from committing one of the biggest cardinal sins in loyalty: essentially a no-notice devaluation. At 9:01pm CT On January 31, 2018, two hotels changed categories....
Aeroplan Sent Me a Certified Letter…
After traveling in Europe for nearly two weeks, I returned home to find a certified letter from Aeroplan delivered by FedEx. Here’s the unedited letter, concerning my cancelled first class tickets on SWISS: Dear Mr. Klint: Thank you for...
Flight Carrying 85 Plumbers Forced to Divert…Due to Lavatory Problems
A flight carrying 85 plumbers was forced to divert after the onboard lavatories malfunctioned and could not be repaired. How’s that for irony? Norwegian Air Flight 1156 from Oslo to Munich was forced to turn around just past the...
Lufthansa’s Unnecessary New Livery
A couple weeks ago, I wrote a post entitled, Dear Lufthansa, Please Don’t Ruin Your Beautiful Livery. It was a plea for Lufthansa to leave well enough alone. Sadly, my letter fell upon deaf ears. The new livery is out...
My Hyatt Concierge Experience
One of the benefits of achieving Globalist status in the World of Hyatt loyalty program is a personal concierge, called My Hyatt Concierge. This person is intended to be a single point of contact for all reservation requests and...
27-Year-Old Has Visited Every Country in the World
As I continue my own quest to visit every country in the world, I love reading stories about how others have achieved the same feat. Sal Lavallo is just 27 years old, but recently visited Malta, his final country on...
“Love Suites”: Virgin Atlantic’s Clever Spin on Old Business Class Seats
Coming soon to Virgin Atlantic Upper Class: Love Suites, Solo Freedom Suites, and Solo Corner Suites. But don’t expect a revolutionary new business class product. Virgin Atlantic has acquired a handful of ex-Air Berlin A330-200s which will enter service...
Why You Should Always Book Directly with the Airline
This week we learned about a sad case, a tragedy really, involving a woman who was denied boarding enroute to her mother’s deathbed due to a ticketing snafu. It’s a reminder to always book directly with the airline, when...
