In a mildly hilarious video, the British Embassy in the United Arab Emirates is warning British Expats to respect local law. But not everyone is amused. The five-minute video is surprisingly well done, using stop-motion animation with LEGO figures. Titled,...
World of Hyatt Program Enhancements Announced, On Par With Competitors
World of Hyatt has been going through changes over the last 18 months with the retirement of Hyatt’s Gold Passport and the rollout of World of Hyatt to the change in management of Hyatt loyalty itself. Some changes were...
Hot Deal: Scandinavia to Australia in Qatar Airways Business Class $1658 R/T Plus 30K Bonus Miles
Qatar Airways is like the gift that keeps on giving. Business Class companion fares out of Scandinavia to Australia remain incredibly low. Let me make clear from the outset, this is for companion fares…meaning for two tickets purchased together,...
Business Class Upgrades on Turkish Airlines at the Airport
If unsold seats remain, Turkish Airlines will sell you an upgrade at the airport. While checking in for my Los Angeles to Istanbul flight last week, I noticed a small sign in the Star Alliance Gold check-in line: The...
Awakened by a Barking Dog Halfway Over the Atlantic
I’ve flown with a lot of dogs over the years, but recently experienced a loud one for the first time. This was once again my Turkish Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Istanbul last week. I did not mention...
UPDATE: United Insists It Did NOT Boot Woman From First Class for Congresswoman
I had a telephone conversation with United Airlines yesterday about the events surrounding the Washington, DC woman who found herself booted from first class and a Congresswoman in her original seat. If you missed out on yesterday’s post, you...
Supermodel’s Account of the 8hr ANA Flight from LAX to LAX
An ANA flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo turned around yesterday, four hours into the flight, after a potential stowaway was found onboard. Interestingly, play-by-play coverage was brought to us by Chrissy Teigen, a supermodel onboard (who View from the...
Bye, Bye Mr. Turkish Guy, Drinking Rakı and Rye
Forgive my pun playing on Don McLean’s famous American Pie in my title…I could not resist. Nor could a Turkish man resist his own bottle of Rye Whiskey at LAX last week. If you recall, my Turkish Airlines flight from...
Congresswoman Poaches First Class Seat, Accuses Victim of Racism
A teacher has accused a prominent Democratic Congresswoman of stealing her first class seat on a United flight from Houston to Washington, DC. Jean-Marie Simon was traveling back from Guatemala to Washington, DC via Houston. Upon boarding her connecting flight...
Sleeping Rooms in Qatar’s Al Mourjan Lounge (Doha)
My layover in Doha (DOH) was too short for even a nap, but if you ever find yourself there with a long layover, a relaxation area is available. During my recent transit in Doha, I wanted to shower before...
Reflections on a Christmas Eve Hug
A very Happy Christmas to you from Germany. Sometimes we find life in the least expected places. Last night I attended a late-night candlelight church service, a cherished tradition. But what struck me was not the familiar lessons and...
All the 2017 Airline Holiday Videos
Christmas has arrived and many airlines have released holiday videos for 2017. I have compiled them into one place for your viewing pleasure. I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas. Air Canada Air France Air New Zealand American Airlines...
The Aer Lingus Worker Who Saved Christmas
An Aer Lingus worker in Dublin delivered a Christmas miracle to a woman in New York City. Few things makes your heart sink more than realizing that you left something valuable behind on an airplane. For Laura Begley Bloom,...
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: December 24, 2017
It’s Christmas Eve and I hope, like me, you are spending it with family friends. I’m on “vacation” in Germany for awhile, but there is never really any true vacation in the world of blogging and Award Expert. Posts...
Vacation Roulette: We’re Going to Panama!
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about playing vacation roulette and just going wherever was available or nothing at all as opposed to previous years with heavily-planned trips far from home. We shopped a few options but none...
Passing on Sofitel Because of Novotel
Hotel loyalty and its associated perks are a cornerstone to the life of any road warrior. Hotel chains can’t afford to offer full service hotels in saturated or smaller markets, but likewise, they also can’t afford to ignore the...
British Airways Terrible Bungling of a Diversion
A couple of years ago my family took a trip to Delhi, India and I wrote this review but thought I had lost it forever. After a recent discovery I decided to post the tale. To-date this is the...
Review: Qatar Airways A350 Business Class Doha to New York
Sleep and food…two of my favorite things and the two items my Qatar Airways A350 flight from Doha to New York centered on. After spending a couple hours inside the Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge in DOH, it was time...
Air France Cancels My First Class Reservation…96 Hours Later
I’ll be honest…I thought I had squeaked by. But no, Air France has now cancelled my first class reservation…four days after ticketing it. While most people booked Los Angeles (LAX) or San Francisco (SFO) to Paris, I booked San...
Is U.S. Biometric Exit Program Constitutional?
While exit controls do not exist when leaving U.S. airports, they are coming…in some form. But the Department of Homeland Security’s experimental new Biometric Exit Program may be unconstitutional in its current form. Mandated by Congress in 1996 and re-affirmed after...
