When we left off, my friend Denny and I had reached the port of Zanzibar and were making our way off the ship. Throngs of people emerged from the boat and most were rushing out of the port through a...
Heartbreaking: Sisters Thrown Off Flight, Miss Father’s Death
A very sad story out of Orlando, where two middle-aged sisters were deemed a “security risk” and thrown off a flight, prohibiting them from saying goodbye to their father on his deathbed. As their Allegiant Air flight prepared to...
Caution: Avoid This Star Alliance Carrier When Using Miles
This is not a post about poor service or dirty planes. This is a post about an endemic problem on one Star Alliance carrier that has not been addressed for three years. The consequences are profound: delayed, cancelled, or ruined...
Ferry from Dar Es Salaam to Zanzibar
Frequent ferries connect Dar Es Salaam to Zanzibar. We opted to take an afternoon ferry that took two hours to make the ~80km crossing. Let me start out with a warning: the “porters” at Dar Es Salaam ferry port are the...
Kosher Fish Lunch on EL AL: ZRH-TLV on LY348
For Matthew’s Meal of the Week this week, I recall my first — and to date only — flight on EL AL, the national airline of Israel. EL AL often get a bad rap, and for good reason. Not...
Review: Hyatt Regency Dar Es Salaam
We arrived into Dar es Salaam at 2:30a and after a 36 hours of travel (Los Angeles – Chicago – Frankfurt – Istanbul – Dar es Salaam) I was ready to get to sleep. The Hyatt Regency Dar Es Salaam,...
Last United 747-400 Departs from Chicago
UPDATE: United Accelerates 747 Retirement to 2017 The last United Airlines 747-400 has left Chicago O’Hare. I noticed a tweet from United late last night announcing that the final 747-400 departed ORD for Tokyo Narita. That’s quite a momentous...
The Travel Infrastructure Problem in the USA
What was the real reason behind yesterday’s U.S. Customs delay that stranded thousands of travelers and left the immigration process at a standstill across U.S. airports? Rampant speculation that Russian hackers or other nefarious actors were responsible has been at the...
An Honest Cab Driver in Dar Es Salaam
We read about so many taxi horror stories. How about a heartwarming one? I tend to be a very forgetful person. No, actually I am a forgetful person. Time after time after time I have left valuables behind, sometimes...
United Refreshes Economy BOB Menu
Each month United tinkers with its buy-on-board menu, offering a “Snack Shop” on all flights over two hours and a “Bistro on Board” for flights over 3.5 hours. This month, one of my favorites is back — cheeseburgers! I...
How to Obtain a Visa on Arrival in Tanzania
Obtaining a visa on arrival in Tanzania turned out to be easier than I thought. Follow these steps and you’ll have no trouble securing a visa upon arrival in Tanzania. Note that a visa-on-arrival is available in the following ports...
Istanbul to Dar Es Salaam on Turkish Airlines 737-900 Business Class
Dozens of Award Expert clients each year contact us for help booking their Serengeti safari and that usually requires flights to Kilimanjaro. Over the years, I have discovered that when Kilimanjaro flights are not attractively priced using miles, flying into Dar Es Salaam can...
Over 40K American EQMs but No Status
I ended 2016 with over 40K American EQMs. But no status. Thanks to cheap British Airways business class fares, I banked many AA miles, both status and redemption. In fact, by the end of spring I already had earned more than...
United Flight Diverts After Misogynistic Passenger Rant (Videos)
Another week, another flight diversion. This time a United flight from Sydney to San Francisco diverted to Auckland after a profanity-laced misognystic tirade from an irate passenger over a seat assignment. Anjou Ahlborn Kay, another passenger on the flight, writes...
Review: Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge Istanbul
I last reviewed the Turkish Airlines Istanbul CIP lounge in 2011 and called it the best business class lounge in the world. Since then, it has doubled in size…and is still the best business class lounge in the world. Spanning...
A Resolution for 2017 I Can Keep
Happy Near Year! I slept through it…my wife and I went to bed early last night. I guess we are just an old married couple now! Let’s talk about resolutions for a moment. While I won’t say I felt...
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: December 31, 2016
Greetings from rainy Southern California. We’ve had a relatively wet winter so far and next week does not look any better. But after years of drought, I’m happy to see rain in the forecast. Speaking of drought, I am so thankful...
2016: A Year of Change
What a year 2016 has been! Many cannot wait for this year to end, but I try to keep things positive here on Live and Let’s Fly. While there is so much bad news to reflect upon this year,...
Frankfurt to Istanbul in Turkish Airlines A330 Business Class
Earlier this week I compared Lufthansa vs. Turkish Airlines within Europe and the differences on this flight could not have been more stark. Turkish 1588 Frankfurt (FRA) – Istanbul (IST) Thursday, April 21, 2016 Depart: 11:40 AM Arrive: 3:50 PM Duration:...
Tokyo Airport Now Offers Cell Phone Toilet Paper
We all know the Japanese make the world’s best toilets, but bathrooms at Tokyo Narita are about to get even better! An extra roll of toilet paper is now available in most stalls at NRT: compact in size. The...
