Dear Mr. Kirby, A very Happy New Year to you. We met and chatted for quite awhile at the opening of the new United Club in T7 at LAX in November 2016. I admire your vision to make United...
German Government Accuses Lufthansa of Illicit Price Hikes
A German regulatory agency is accusing Lufthansa of unjustified price hikes in the wake of Air Berlin’s bankruptcy. Per thelocal.de: Germany’s Federal Cartel Office (FCO) is currently probing complaints that Lufthansa fares shot up on some routes after bankrupt...
Update from Aimia (Aeroplan) RE: My Demand Letter
Literally minutes after posting yesterday about purchasing SWISS First Class tickets, I received an email from the legal department of Aimia, parent company of Aeroplan. I do not believe that post and this response are at all related. I’ve spoken...
10 New Countries I Plan to Visit in 2018
I only visited four new countries in 2017, my lowest number since I began traveling internationally in 2005. And that’s fine. I had a newborn at home and more important matters than adding to my country count. Still, it...
Delta Accused of Anti-Semitism in FA Lawsuit
“Delta has encouraged and maintained an anti-Jewish, Hebrew and ethnic Israeli attitude among management, who…operate under an express assumption that ethnic Jews and Israelis cannot be trusted.” So claims a lawsuit filed in New York by four Delta FAs...
Real or Mistake? Frontier Airlines Slashes Fares by 99%
Since the subject of “mistake fares” seems to be a recurring theme on this blog, let me ask you this: is 99% off too good to be true? Frontier closed 2017 with a 99% off sale using the promo...
I’m Booked in SWISS First Class, Zurich to Los Angeles…
Sometimes, you have to put your money where your mouth is. In what seems like so long ago, I promised: But mark my words: my family will fly in SWISS First together to end our holiday trip to Germany....
Review: Singapore Airlines A380 Economy Class New York to Frankfurt
It was with some reluctance that I agreed to fly Singapore Airlines economy class, but it was not a mistake: the flight turned out to be one of the best economy class experiences in all my years of flying....
LA to Vegas: New FOX Series starring “Jackpot Airlines”
I appreciate good and clean humor…especially aviation-related. While I’m not sure about the clean part, a new FOX series called LA to Vegas premieres tonight and looks hilarious. Perhaps you should start by watching the trailer: After watching that,...
2018 Trip Report Roadmap
Prepare yourselves…13 months into the rebirth of Live and Let’s Fly and I still am not caught up on trip reports of years past. I do concede that older hotel and flight reviews have a limited shelf life, but...
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...
How I Earned Hyatt Globalist Status thru 2019
I ended 2017 with 65 qualifying nights at Hyatt, helping me to secure Globalist status through February 2019. The value proposition of Hyatt Globalist status really depends on the type of properties you stay in. For example, if you...
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...
2017: The Year in Review (Turbulence, in a Good Way)
Turbulence: great commotion or agitation; departure from a smooth flow. 2017 was a turbulent year for me. But in a good way. It was time for a change and boy did this year usher in changes in my life. Late last...
My Top 10 Hotels Stays in 2017
I spent roughly 85 nights in a hotel room in 2017…not too bad, but still quite a few nights away from home. Here’s a list of my top 10 hotels I personally stayed at this year. My list is...
The Worst Kind of Hotel Guest
We have all encountered them, we hope never to aspire to be them but when we encounter them we know instantly: they are the worst hotel guest ever. This one comes to you from The Confidante, a Hyatt property...
Review: The Confidante (Hyatt Unbound Collection)
While my wife and I have certainly been Hyatt loyalists over the years, we have started to drift away given some of the new changes to their loyalty program, World of Hyatt. Thus the Confidante in Miami is our...
Vacation Roulette: Life Is Better Without Plans
We decided to play Vacation Roulette 2017 and didn’t plan a trip until a week prior to departure. We decided to try a new country, Panama, a new hotel chain, Waldorf-Astoria, and a new airline home for myself and...
My Top 10 Lounges in 2017
In addition to many remarkable flights this year, I’ve also enjoyed many excellent lounges. Here’s a look back at my top 10 lounges of 2017. Although I have visited many superior hotel lounges, I’ve constrained my list only to...
My 10 Best Airline Meals of 2017
For this year’s final Meal of the Week, I count down my top 10 airline meals of 2017. 1. Garuda Indonesia First Class, CGK-AMS Garuda asked me what I wanted to eat, and I told them. Rack of lamb?...
