In a video to staff marking his first day on the job, CEO Ben Smith promised to seek harmony with unions and re-invest half his salary into Air France-KLM. Smith can earn up to 4.25MN EUR in his first...
Miraval: The Only Man in The Village
I may have discovered the best place in the world to find a female companion… My wife and I arrived late into the Miraval Arizona on Friday, just in time for dinner before the restaurant closed. Right away, I...
First Impressions: United Boeing 767-300 Polaris Class
Last week I had the chance to fly a recently retrofitted United 767-300 from Amsterdam to Newark in Polaris Business Class. United has updated the 2-1-2 business class seating aboard many of its 767-300s to a new 1-1-1 configuration...
Warning: Fiji Airways + Malaysia Airlines Now Bookable On AA.com
Fiji Airways and Malaysia Airlines are now easily bookable online using your AA miles. I know I say this every time a partner is added online, but I do consider this bad news, not good news. Think of it...
Back To The Future: United’s Latest Boarding Process Is Blast From Past
United Airlines has revamped its boarding process…and the new process looks rather familiar. Here’s the rationale for the change: The feedback from customers and employees was clear: we needed to improve our boarding process. As part of our ongoing...
A Weekend At The Miraval Arizona Resort & Spa
I spent the weekend with my wife at the Miraval Arizona Resort & Spa. While I will publish a detailed review in the days ahead, I’ll offer some observations about my stay here. 1. The Miraval is an all-inclusive,...
Review: Qatar Airways A320 Business Class Kuwait To Doha
I was going to call this an Al Maha Airways trip report, based on the livery of the aircraft, but it was a Qatar Airways flight in every other way. An excellent one at that. After arriving from Amman, I...
Singapore Airlines Cancels Flight After Pilot Fails Sobriety Test
A random drug test led to a cancelled flight on Singapore Airlines, underscoring what could be a much broader problem. Singapore Airlines flies from Melbourne, Australia to Wellington, New Zealand, known as the airlines’ Capital Express Route. On Saturday, Australian Civil...
Review: ANA 767 Business Class Hong Kong To Tokyo
As part of my Hong Kong status run, I returned home via Tokyo on ANA in business class. Here is my ANA 767 business class review of the product and service. If you are considering booking travel or signing up for...
Singapore SilverKris Lounge In Hong Kong Disappoints
During my status run to Hong Kong, I returned to the US on ANA in business class and tried my first Star Alliance lounge in Hong Kong, the Singapore SilverKris Lounge. Despite Singapore’s great reputation, it disappointed. If you...
The Road Warrior Life Is Getting Old
During my status run to Hong Kong, I took stock of all of the traveling I have been doing for both leisure and business. In a moment of clarity at the end of my trip, the toll travel can...
Fifth Freedom Dinner On bmi From Baku To Bishkek
Each week, my Meal of the Week feature examines an airline meal from my travels over the years. This may be a meal from earlier in the week or it may be a meal served over a decade ago. I certainly...
Five Things You Cannot Miss When Visiting Jordan
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is an amazing nation with great food and incredible people. Here are five things that you should not miss during your visit. 1. Petra Petra almost goes without saying, but it is even more...
American Express Cracks Down At SFO Centurion Lounge
I’ve been in the American Express Centurion Lounge in San Francisco twice in the last week. Both times I had to wait for a seat. It’s an all-too-common problem for American Express. Addressing this issue, American Express is now limiting...
Review: Royal Jordanian ERJ-195 Business Class Amman To Kuwait
A two hour flight in the middle of the night on a regional jet. My expectations were high… I’m being facetious, of course, but my RJ flight from Amman to Kuwait absolutely shocked me…in a good way. Royal Jordanian...
United Airlines Executives Discuss Future Of LAX Hub
Chris Sloan of The Points Guy recently sat down with two United Airlines leaders. Comments on the Los Angeles hub caught my attention. Sloan interviewed Greg Hart, United’s chief operations officer, and Andrew Nocella, United’s chief commercial officer. During the...
Air France Returns To Dallas (Great Deal Using Miles)
Air France will return to Dallas for the first time since 2001. The French carrier will offer 3x to 5x weekly seasonal summer service, deploying a retrofitted A330 on the route with the latest in-cabin product. The A330 will...
United Threatens To Abandon Newark Hub
United Airlines has threatened to abandon its Newark hub if New Jersey lawmakers follow through on a proposed tax increase at Liberty International Airport that would only affect United. Currently, New Jersey only taxes the fuel on a plane...
A Coup At Garuda Indonesia
Garuda Indonesia’s reform-minded leader has been sacked, falling victim to an internal uprising against his cost-cutting efforts. State-owned Garuda is a money-loser and now ex-CEO Pahala Mansury had begun the painful process of rolling back some of the excesses at...
New Apple iPhone eSim Technology Perfect For Travelers
At yesterday’s Keynote, Apple unveiled a trio of new iPhones with many enhancements and added features over previous models. But one thing in particular caught my eye. The new iPhone XR, XS, and SX Max devices will feature dual...
