As the weeks fly by, I hope you are having a wonderful summer. It has been a quiet week in the world of aviation. But over the last week, we’ve seen an Air China pilot endanger the lives of over 150 passengers onboard by smoking, learned of changes to the T-Mobile international plan, and been […]
Frankfurt To Frankfurt In Three Hours
I shared about my recent flight delay on Lufthansa. Here’s a look at two domestic flights I took within Germany from Frankfurt to Munich and shortly thereafter, back to Frankfurt. With an onward connection to Los Angeles in first class for John (business class for me), we spent a couple hours in the fabulous First […]
Introduction: Two Countries, Six Flights on Lufthansa
Welcome to my next trip report, a multi-part series recapping my trip to Germany and Italy last week. This one won’t be road trip-style like my earlier Italy trip report. Instead, I’ll focus on the flights and a couple new hotels I stayed in. This trip included eight flights: two on United, six on Lufthansa. […]
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 […]
Full Lunch on 35-Minute Lufthansa Flight
Yesterday, I flew Lufthansa from Frankfurt to Munich in order to catch a longhaul home to Los Angeles. Expecting a light snack, I was surprised when a hearty meal was served…on a 35-minute (wheels up to wheels down) domestic flight departing at 10:15a. That’s the subject of this week’s Meal of the Week. Last time […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: April 22, 2018
Hello from LA. I’m back from Hawaii after a wonderful, albeit brief, getaway with my wife. In terms of top news for the week, we’ve now learned more about the new Marriott-SPG loyalty program. It looks good (for the most part) but I’m still skeptical (so was Kyle, see his commentary below). We also saw […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: April 08, 2018
Buona sera from Milano. I’m in the midst of a fast-paced business trip through Italy. I’ll provide some detail on it in the days ahead…it will not be a typical trip report. It was a fairly light week of blogging and the coming week will be no different as I continue to travel in Europe […]
My Thought Process In Building A Multi-City Award Trip
We receive many interesting requests at Award Expert, my award booking service, including some that require a bit of creativity. Let me tell you about a recent trip. The client lived in Philadelphia. His destination: Beijing. He wanted to stopover in Rome on the way to Beijing and return over the Pacific Ocean. Other requirements […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: February 18, 2018
Good evening from Carmel, CA…I’m spending the holiday weekend at my favorite California Hyatt and have been enjoying the fresh air and beautiful weather with my family. Earlier today we drove down Highway 1 to Big Sur…it is always beautiful: Last week, Alaska Airlines introduced a draconian new restriction on Cathay Pacific, Hainan, and JAL […]
5 Reasons Lufthansa is a 5-Star Airline
Lufthansa was named a five-star airline by Skytrax yesterday, making it the first European airline to receive such recognition. Per Skytrax: A critical factor for an airline to achieve 5-Star Certification is consistency of standards, and this is where Lufthansa ranks highly across their network and different cabin types, with a core feature of the […]
Review: British Airways Concorde Room London Heathrow
The British Airways Concorde Room at London Heathrow has to be one of most hellacious lounges in the world. Let me tell you about my visit. First, the lounge looks like grandma’s house. You know, your grandma whose furniture is about two decades out of style. There’s vintage and then there is tacky. The Concorde Room falls into […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: April 9, 2017
Greetings from Southern California. I’m home again after nearly four weeks in Europe. My family had a wonderful time visiting friends and family in Germany then spending a few days in Greece to end the trip. While I don’t plan a formal trip report for this journey, I will write a few posts about the […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: March 4, 2017
Hello from Santa Monica, CA. I dined with some very dear clients who have become friends last night. Not knowing LA traffic, I hedged my bets and left early. Thankfully, traffic moved much better than my GPS suggested and I made it early. So now I’m writing the week in review in my car as I wait. I […]
Lufthansa vs. Turkish Within Europe
Although Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa are Star Alliance partners, the two carriers are fierce competitors. Competing head-to-head for both long haul and short haul traffic, the “frenemies” each have a distinctive advantage. Which one is the better option for you? For this piece, I will be comparing Lufthansa and Turkish within Europe only and focusing […]
Introduction: A Month in Africa
For those who have immigrated to the United States, you know that the process is not easy, even for those emigrating from a rich western nation. Weighing our options and deciding that Los Angeles would be the best fit for running my business, my wife set out to secure her Green Card after we got […]
5 Ways to Beat the Upcoming Lufthansa Strike
Lufthansa cabin crews are preparing to strike from November 6-13, 2015 over proposed cuts to pension and retirement benefits. The planned walkout could result in significant flight cancellations to both European and intercontinental destinations. Strikes are never a walk in the park, but here are five ways to minimize any travel disruptions you may encounter. 1. […]
United Airlines Leaves JFK, Moves p.s. to Newark
Big news for New York City travelers, as United announced plans to move its premium service (p.s.) flights from JFK to Newark and discontinue service to JFK starting on October 25, 2015. United cuts p.s. because it was not making money I don’t blame United for doing this — in fact, I speculated UA might abandon […]
Germanwings (4U) Award Space Now Available on United.com
United Airlines MileagePlus members have been eligible to earn miles on Germanwings, the Lufthansa low-cost-subsidiary since last October, with the promise that Germanwings flights would soon be available for mileage bookings. Now, Germanwings flights are bookable on united.com in both “business” and economy classes. Germanwings cities served Germanwings is a low-cost carrier with hubs in: Bonn/Cologne […]
The Dramatic Conclusion To… Ticketless In Malaysia
If you are considering booking travel or signing up for a new credit card please click here. Both support LiveAndLetsFly.com. If you haven’t followed us on Facebook or Instagram, add us today. Getting Out of Asia Concluding my previous posts about being suddenly ticketless and stranded in Malaysia, here is the dramatic close. If you want to catch up you can read […]
Blame Me or Blame Lufthansa for Missed Dublin Flight?
This evening I arrived at Frankfurt at around 2015 from Munich after a long day of flying. I had a separate ticket from Frankfurt to Dublin booked months before, and I chose not to check my bags all the way through to Dublin because I planned to use the long layover to drop a bag […]
