Call me crazy, but I have a strong desire to fly on the Air France A380 while still in service. Yesterday I wrote about the decision by Air France to retire its entire A380 fleet by 2022. This move makes total sense considering the high costs of retrofitting and CEO Ben Smith’s vision for a […]
Busted: How A New Jersey Woman Smuggled Airline Parts Into Iran
A New Jersey woman faces up to five years in prison for her role in a scheme to smuggle airline parts illegally into Iran. Joyce Eliabachu pleaded guilty on Tuesday to playing a pivotal role in smuggling over $2,000,000 in airline parts to desperate Iranian airlines. As tensions between the USA and Iran have soured […]
Editorial: Cut The Complaints About “Inferior” U.S. Airlines
There’s a cliche amongst frequent travelers. It goes something like this: U.S. airlines are woefully behind European and Asian airlines, especially in terms of service. While just my opinion, I’m tired of that trite argument and reject it. Don’t think I am going to defend the lackluster and sometimes hostile service that FAs on U.S. […]
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 […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: July 23, 2018
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 […]
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 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 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 […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: March 11, 2018
Another week spent entirely on the ground…this is really something out of character. But I’ve cherished the time spent with my wife and son lately: the little one is growing up so fast. I hope to finish up my 2013 Australia trip report in the week ahead. Here’s a hint: I had a very bad […]
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 […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: January 28, 2018
I’m back in California after a whirlwind trip around the world that included stops in Asia, the Middle East, and seven countries in Europe. I’ll be on the ground for awhile…at least that is the plan. This coming week I’ll have an update on my cancelled Aeroplan SWISS First Class ticket and will publish several […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: December 03, 2017
I’m in LA tonight…the question is for how long. I’m hoping I’ll be able to stay home this week, but I may be on a plane to New York tomorrow, then Hong Kong, then Zurich…maybe even Las Vegas. We’ll see how the week unfolds… Last week the big story, for me at least, was the […]
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: October 15, 2017
Good evening from Los Angeles. I’m about to embark upon another adventure…I’ll share the details tomorrow. In the meantime, let’s review the top stories of the last week. The diplomatic spat between Turkey and the USA currently means no US citizen can visit Turkey…that’s got to be painful news for Turkish Airlines. We also learned […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: October 08, 2017
I’m back in Los Angeles after a week in France/Switzerland/Germany. My trip was exhausting so it will be great to stay in LA this week. The big news of for the week, at least in my mind, was the death of the Star Alliance mileage run. Since you can no longer earn one mile for […]
Hey Saudia, Where’s My Limousine?
If you read my Saudia first class suite review yesterday, you know that I had a long but very pleasant journey from Riyadh to Los Angeles. But there were two things missing — Saudia advertises a Special Services Team (SST) and limousine service. Much to my chagrin, I had to find my own way home. […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: July 23, 2017
Hello from Los Angeles. So much for my extended vacation in Germany… I had to fly home yesterday afternoon for a series of meetings over the next few days on a matter totally unrelated to the blog or Award Expert. Now comes the question of whether I will fly back to Germany this week in order […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: July 09, 2017
I’ve escaped the Los Angeles heat and am basking in the cool summer rains of Germany. (sigh of contentment) Oddly, I’ve encountered horrible jet lag the last couple days — this despite flying nonstop to Europe in the evening from Los Angeles: the primary antidote to avoiding jet lag. I’m not sure how long I’ll […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: June 04, 2017
Although it has been a relatively quiet week, I find myself tired on this beautiful spring Sunday. I’m trying to rest up because travel picks up later this week and then again next week. I hope to see some of you at the Frequent Traveler University (FTU) in Minneapolis next weekend (June 9-11th). There are still tickets available […]
