I flew home from Frankfurt aboard a Lufthansa A340-600 in first class, my first flight on this aircraft in many years. Very little has changed on Lufthansa in 2019. Service was excellent as usual and the meals onboard very tasty. Internet functioned and I enjoyed a five-hour nap during the flight to San Francisco. ‘ […]
Trip Report Roadmap for 2019
As we enter 2019, I want to give you an idea of what to expect in terms of trip reports this year on Live and Let’s Fly. The good news, or bad news, depending upon your perspective, is that I am about caught up on my multi-year backlog of trip reports. In fact, I only […]
My Top 10 Flights In 2018
As 2018 draws to a close, it is time for my annual “Top 10” series. Here, I’ll look back on my 10 favorite flights from 2018. As a reminder, this is not a top-1o all-time list nor does it contain the 10 most luxurious flights I enjoyed this year. Rather, it represents my subjectively favorite […]
KLM Delays Retirement Of 747-400 Fleet
KLM is giving the Queen of the Skies a reprieve. KLM flies a fleet of 12 Boeing 747-400 Combis. The plan was to fully retire this aircraft type by end of 2020, replacing it with Airbus A350-900s. But KLM is deferring delivery of its first A350-900 until 2021. That means KLM 747s should remain the sky for […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: August 05, 2018
After a lot of domestic travel last week, it has been nice to spend the last two days at home. Another trip, however, is on the horizon. More details on that in the days ahead. Here’s a review of the week’s top stories as well as a look back at every story that appeared on […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: July 29, 2018
After a whirlwind trip to New York and Miami, I’m back in Los Angeles for the day, then off to Las Vegas tomorrow. Over the last week, we’ve seen a new photo policy at United Airlines, Chinese anger at U.S. airlines, and a bed bug invasion on Air India. Please find a review of the week’s top stories as well […]
Lufthansa Fails Me, But Recovers Beautifully
Oh Lufthansa. Sometimes I should just listen to my gut and not the ground staff. My flight home from Frankfurt was booked via Munich because I just prefer the A380 (operating from Munich to Los Angeles) over the A340 (operating the morning service from Frankfurt to Los Angeles). To avoid waking up at 5am and […]
Five First Class Products I Should Have Tried By Now
Recently, I listed five “commonplace” business class products that I should have tried by now, but hope to try in the near future. Now I’ll do the same for first class. As with business class, a primary mission on my blog is to sample as many premium products as possible. Only by actually experiencing competing products […]
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 […]
Five Business Class Products I Should Have Tried By Now
A primary mission on my blog is to sample as many business and first class products as possible. Only by actually experiencing competing products will I be able to authoritatively compare and contrast in my flight reviews. I’ve tired some odd carriers over the years. Ariana Afghan Airlines, Biman Bangladesh, Pakistan International Airlines, Ukraine International Airlines, […]
Introduction: A First Class Business Trip
My next trip report will chart my recent trip to Italy and France. As I explained here, I took a rather circuitous route to reach Rome. All for you. All so I could review two first class lounges I had previously never had the pleasure of setting foot in. > Read More: Why I’m Flying Los […]
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: March 25, 2018
Spring began in Los Angeles this week with one more rainstorm, a fitting end to a rather meager winter. I’m still here, further extending my record of time in the last decade I have not stepped onto an airplane. Not that it matters. But I do promise I will never become one of those travel […]
Bizarre Business Class Advice in Harper’s Bazaar
It’s time to start calling out the mainstream media on fake upgrade and premium cabin stories. Several days ago a friend at United Airlines forwarded me an internal communication heralding the high ranking of United Polaris from Harper’s Bazaar. I laughed out loud. According to Harper’s the top 1o business class products include: Emirates United Airlines (Polaris) […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: January 14, 2018
I’ve just begun my next trip…it will be a busy week and much of it is still unplanned. It has been a relatively quiet week in industry news, with Alaska and Virgin now operating under a single certificate. A primary focus of my blog over the past week has been on my surprisingly excellent trip […]
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 […]
10 Flights I Look Forward to in 2018
As we enter 2018, there are a number of airline premium cabin airline products I look forward to trying this year. Here’s the top-10 I will target, in no particular order: 1. Singapore A380 New Suites Class Singapore’s new A380 Suite looks amazing. With a trip to Australia coming up, I should be able to […]
The Tranquility of Snow and Resolutions for 2018
Running though the woods is a gentle reminder of how fast time flies by. My wife and I have a favorite activity whenever in Germany: running in the forest. There are beautiful trails near her parent’s house and the four seasons are beautifully magnified on our favorite trail. Last time we were in Germany, we […]
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 […]
New Emirates 777 First Class Suite Looks Great!
Will Emirates outdo Singapore’s stunning new A380 Suite? The carrier is unveiling a new first class product for its 777 on Sunday and has released a teaser video offering hints at what the new product will look like. I was able to extract the video below from Emirate’s UK homepage, where the video is partially blocked […]