Last night I was at the German Embassy in Washington to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Deutsche Wiedervereinigung (German Reunification). The speeches, music, conversations, and delectable German food and drink were all wonderful, but being the airline geek that I am,...
New United Safety Video with Jeff Smisek + Cebu Pacific Emulates Air New Zealand
Can you imagine Glen Tilton, United’s former CEO who repeatedly sparred with front-line employees during his tenure at UA, being featured in every onboard safety video? Never. To many, it would be like rubbing salt in a wound. But...
Introducing the World’s Largest Airline: United Airlines
Today marks the official union between Continental and United. Rather than attempt to wax eloquent about what this means for us and express more reservations that “things will never be the same,” I want to raise...
Free Alcohol and Wi-Fi in United’s Red Carpet Clubs
As most of us expected, United announced early this morning that like Continental, alcoholic beverages and Wi-Fi will now be free for all guests in the Red Carpet Club, United’s airport lounge network. Red Carpet Club and Presidents Club...
Luxury Bus Service Between New York City and Boston
You’ve got a lot of options to get between Boston and New York. In addition to driving, flying, and Amtrak, there’s the good ol’ bus, including Bolt, Megabus, Greyhound, and of course the Chinatown bus service. But if none...
My Recent Experience Booking an Aeroplan Award
I assisted a client in procuring two award tickets from Sydney to New York earlier this week and thought I’d give you a run-down of how booking though Aeroplan (Air Canada’s frequent flyer program) compared to my numerous telephone...
IX: Day trip to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay
2010 SOUTH AMERICA TRIP REPORT I: Introduction II: Los Angeles to Washington Dulles via Denver in United First III: Washington to Buenos Aires in United Airlines Business Class IV: Business Class (Cama) Bus Service from Buenos Aires to Iguazu...
TSA Misses 200,000 Volt Stun Gun in Woman’s Carry-On Bag
Another story to add to the "TSA competence" file. Earlier this month a woman named Jen (who fearing reprisals from the TSA, has refused to provide her last name [yet still proactively contacted a local television station…]) forgot to...
Ethiopian Airlines to Join Star Alliance
A third carrier from the African continent is slated to join Star Alliance by the end of 2011. Ethiopian Airlines, which flies to 59 destinations (including 39 in Africa), will give Star Alliance passengers a major boost in African...
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Star Alliance Lounge Access for $249 from US Airways
US Airways is offering lounge memberships for only $249 (+ $50 initiation fee for new members) through September 29. The membership will be good for one year and is a substantial discount off the $450 regular price (discounted by as...
My Thoughts on The Southwest – AirTran Merger
In a move that took many by surprise today, Southwest (WN) announced that it would be acquiring AirTran for $1.4B, subject to DOT approval. You can read about the details here: I’ll just briefly sum up my thoughts on...
Thai Airways Equipment Change Knocks Me Out of First Class…And How I Fixed It
The ongoing saga of perfecting my award trip to China continues. A couple weeks, if you recall, I received a telephone call from United about a schedule change on my brother’s identical award trip. His segments in Lufthansa First had been cancelled. United...
Great Deals Available Now from United Airlines! (Humor)
We don’t affectionately call United Airlines’ website .bomb for nothing. Take a look at these ticket prices recently found on .bomb–talk about the deal of a lifetime! Here’s a steal of a fare on a trip from London Heathrow to...
United’s Philadelphia Red Carpet Club Closed by Health Department
As I was checking in for my flight to Chicago Thursday morning at Philadelphia International, I heard an agent call my name from behind me. I turned around and was surprised to find my favorite Red Carpet Club attendant...
VIII: Exploring Buenos Aires
2010 SOUTH AMERICA TRIP REPORT I: Introduction II: Los Angeles to Washington Dulles via Denver in United First III: Washington to Buenos Aires in United Airlines Business Class IV: Business Class (Cama) Bus Service from Buenos Aires to Iguazu...
Off to Antigua and Montserrat!
A few weeks ago I took advantage of a very reasonable UA fare from Philadelphia to San Juan and booked a PHL-ORD-SJU-IAD-ORD-PHL mileage run. Rather than do an immediate turn, I decided to spend a couple days in the...
United Airlines Fined for Following DOT Tarmac Delay Rules
I know this story has been widely reported already, but I just have to chime in and express my outrage over the recent $12,000 fine levied against United for erroneously reporting that it had violated tarmac delay rules in...
Wi-Fi Coming to JetBlue
Joining the club of "low cost carriers" (I hate to even use that misleading term) that offer or plan to offer wireless internet aboard their aircraft, JetBlue signed a deal today that will put satellite broadband internet and TV...
The Solution to No Faster Free Nights: Hyatt Visa Credit Card from Chase
I’ve got so many Chase cards, I hate to sign up for another (it has been six months, though, so my credit score shouldn’t be impacted), but I’ve finally figured out a way to compensate for the lack of Hyatt’s Faster...
VII: First Class (Super Cama) Bus Service from Iguazu Falls to Buenos Aires on Rio Uruguay
2010 SOUTH AMERICA TRIP REPORT I: Introduction II: Los Angeles to Washington Dulles via Denver in United First III: Washington to Buenos Aires in United Airlines Business Class IV: Business Class (Cama) Bus Service from Buenos Aires to Iguazu...
