A pilot is being heralded as a hero after landing a badly-damaged Airbus A320 in Istanbul. Imagine this. A plane takes off in Istanbul just as a hailstorm begins. The aircraft climbs to about 4,000 feet and then is...
United Airlines Cuts Service to Hangzhou
United Airlines is finding its mission to expand to secondary cities in China is not as profitable as initially hoped for. The carrier will suspend service to Hangzhou effective October 16, 2017. We have no official announcement from United...
Cheap Qatar Airways Business Class Fare: Mistake or Not?
Several comments in my earlier post on Qatar’s cheap ex-SGN business class fare dismiss the possibility that a $672 r/t business class fare can be characterized as anything other than a mistake. I’m not so sure. Here’s why. Yesterday...
Review: China Eastern A330 Business Class Shanghai To Colombo
We certainly received VIP treatment on the ground, but how would our in-air experience be? Even better… We were escorted from the lounge directly onboard the plane, bypassing the queue, and found ourselves among the first onboard. A pair of...
Booked! Over 20K Miles in Qatar Airways Business Class for $672
I just booked an insane Qatar Airways Business Class deal…to connect with another insane deal I booked in Ethiopian Airlines Business Class. You see, that whole Ethiopian issue isn’t resolved yet, but I’m still banking on using my originally...
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: July 30, 2017
Greetings from Southern California. My family is now re-united in LA and I’m happy to remain on the ground this week as I prepare for my next big trip. My RTW trip report stalled this week — the photos...
Should You Bring the Car Seat?
Traveling with smaller children brings added challenges and baggage. People ask, “can you rent a car seat without a car?” I would never suggest compromising safety for convenience, so here is how I determine when to rent it, when...
Matthew Is Wrong About Gulf Carriers
There has been an awful lot of debate regarding major US carriers and the Gulf “ME3”. US airlines are simply trying to defend their home turf against an onslaught of new traffic. Why are they being derided by bloggers like...
Review: JW Marriott Houston (Galleria)
I travel to Houston for business regularly, but I always stay at the same haunts. On this trip, I needed to unexpectedly stay over the weekend and decided to shop around. I found a tremendous rate from the JW...
Delta, Air France, Iberia, and Avianca Suspend Service to Venezuela
Amid growing civil unrest and social fissures so deep it may take a revolution to restore order, four more airlines are suspending service to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. On Sunday, a sham election will take place in which President Nicolás...
Court Victory May Prohibit Airlines from Further Shrinking Seats
Flyersrights.org, a passenger rights groups, emerged from a court on Friday with a grin. A judge had just handed them at least a partial victory in their effort to prohibit airlines from further shrinking seats. No, airlines will not...
Reader Question: Where to Transfer 224K AMEX Points?
Reader Sam e-mailed me for advice on what to do with 224K American Express Membership Rewards points. I have decided to cancel my American Express Platinum Card as $550 is too steep for me. The only thing I liked...
United Airlines’ Food Trucks in New York + San Francisco
Look for food trucks bearing a United Airlines logo circling New York and San Francisco over the next couple weeks. Find one and you’ll enjoy a complimentary destination-themed dessert from one of United’s international destinations. The food trucks will...
Wild Onboard Bachelorette Party Leads to Ejection and Arrest
A rowdy group of female revelers were removed and arrested after creating a disturbance onboard a Rynair flight to Spain. The evening Liverpool to Alicante flight featured a group of ladies headed for a weekend hen party. In the UK,...
Oddly, I Was Approved for the United MileagePlus Explorer Card
Last week I wrote a post entitled My Final Credit Card Churn for Two Years. I mentioned that even though I was over 5/24, I applied for the Chase MileagePlus Explorer Card, essentially just to confirm I was over...
United Pilots: Foreign Airlines Should Be Required to Hire U.S. Pilots
While management seems more focused on Gulf Carriers, airline unions have set their crosshairs on low-cost carriers like Norwegian. Why? Labor costs, specifically Norwegian practices to keep them low. But have United pilots taken it a step too far...
How is Breakfast on a Chinese Domestic Flight?
How was breakfast on a Chinese domestic Hainan flight? The answer, not bad at all. For this week’s Meal of the Week I recall a hearty breakfast on an early morning flight. Hainan is considered one of the better...
Virgin Atlantic to Join Air France-KLM + Delta Joint Venture
Delta currently has a joint venture with Virgin Atlantic and a separate joint venture with Air France-KLM (and Alitalia). Today, the carriers announced the two JVs would merge into one. China Eastern and Delta also get a seat at...
United 747 Will Fly Domestic on Friday
United is retiring its 747-400 fleet this autumn. While I’m hearing rumors of a farewell domestic tour, nothing has been confirmed yet and the final flight is still scheduled from Seoul to San Francisco on October 29, 2017. But...
Ouch! Ramifications of Etihad’s $1.87BN Loss
Etihad lost near $2BN last year due to bad investments and low fuel costs. What will the future hold for the behemoth Gulf carrier? When it comes to actually flying, Etihad made money. Its losses come primarily in three...
