I’ve been in Germany for almost a month and overall, I am adjusting well to the new surroundings and work environment. As someone who has always chosen public transportation over owning a car, I love the ease of getting...
Woman Phones in Fake Airplane Bomb Threat to Stop Her Boyfriend from Leaving
What would you do for love? Deny thy father? Refuse thy name? How about call in a fake bomb threat against an airplane flight? That’s exactly what Grace Guajardo did on Sunday night. Her boyfriend, Rodrigo Gomez, was leaving Santiago, Chile...
Delta Air Lines Introduces Premium International Economy Comfort Class
Delta Air Lines has made good on its promise to roll out an enhanced economy class product with details emerging today about a new "Economy Comfort" section coming to Delta international flights this summer. Benefits will include: Complimentary alcoholic beverages [beer, wine, and...
New York Pops: Coming Soon to American Airlines
I love classical music, especially on airplanes. It helps me to fall asleep on redeye flights and relax at other times during the day. United Airlines, for example, recently transitioned from XM to Microsoft Zune audio and offers a...
Mice to Replace TSA’s Full Body Scanners?
Could mice be the answer to our airport security woes in America? What if we could leave our shoes on, avoid pat-downs, and avoid virtual strip-searches, all while getting a more accurate assessment of who is concealing explosive devices...
Humor and Wit: My Favorite Kind of Trip Report
I enjoy writing trips reports (and am working on the report from my trip to Asia last month) and work hard to include a dose of humor here and there in my writings. Humor is difficult for me, though. Not...
Feds Allow Limited Collective Bargaining Rights for TSA Airport Screeners
Relax. This is not going to be a union-bashing thread. But I’m not happy about the news today that America’s 40,000 Travel Security Officers (TSO’s) have been granted the right to collectively bargain. Before I get into all the...
Delta Agents Going Back to Charm School
It takes only one bad experience, one delayed flight, or one rude gate agent to permanently mar the reputation of an airline in the eyes of a disgruntled traveler. I suppose that is true for just about anything–take my short time...
Maybe I’ll Pass on the Air New Zealand Skycouch…
With great fanfare (and my heaping praise), Air New Zealand unveiled their Skycouch product, a row of three economy seats that transform into a lie-flat bad large enough for two people. Billed as the cheaper alternative to flying in...
U.S. Winter Storms Mean More Free Lonely Planet Travel Guide Apps
When snow pelted Europe last December, Lonely Planet offered free downloads of 13 European travel guide apps for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. With heavy snow hitting North America today, Lonely Planet is offering 13 free travel guides for the...
New Routes From Around the World
New airline routes and destinations pop up all the time and I often have trouble staying on top of these announcements. Thankfully, I no longer have to: I found a place where this information is consolidated. Here’s Air Transport World’s list...
Free Facebook Access on Gogo Flights in February
Seven airlines have teamed up with Gogo and Ford to offer free Facebook access on North American flights featuring in-flight wi-fi during the month of February. Participants include: Virgin America AirTran Airways Alaska Airlines American Airlines Delta Air Lines...
Next Frontier for TSA: Airline Call Centers?
A former British Airways call center employee has pleaded guilty to agreeing to take part in terrorist training/insurgent operations overseas. He also pleaded guilty to transferring funds for terrorist purposes. The key part of this story, however, is what Rajib Karim...
BMI Supsends Glasgow-Heathrow Route, Announces Service to Norway and Morocco
Blaming the British Airports Authority for squeezing it dry, British Midland Airways (BMI) announced plans to axe its Glasgow-London Heathrow route in April. The carrier blamed ever-increasing airport taxes that have recently gone from £13 to £20 on domestic flights departing from Heathrow and...
Awesome Twilight Landing at LAX
I may be in Frankfurt for the time being, but LAX will always be my “home” airport. Earlier today, a colleague e-mailed me the video below and I was so enamored by it I felt the need to share it with...
TSA Prohibits Expansion of Screening Partnership Program
In a move that some are calling another TSA power grab while others are calling a logical and sound judgment call, Transportation Security Administrator John Pistole has rejected Springfield-Branson Airport’s application to opt-out of TSA-administered airport screening. More importantly,...
50,000 Miles for a Continental MasterCard
While this deal has been floating around the travel blogosphere all week, it is noteworthy enough to mention here. Chase is offering 50,000 Continental bonus miles for signing up for their MasterCard OnePass credit card. Even better, the miles...
The Travel Begins…
The last two weeks have been quite abnormal for me: I have stayed put in one city. While it has been nice getting acquainted with Frankfurt, I have been itching to start traveling again. Today, the travel has begun....
A Ride on the S-Bahn with a Frankfurt-Based United First Officer
My commute to work each day includes a 10-minute train ride between Frankfurt’s central railway station and the airport. Usually it’s a dull affair–thankfully my iPhone keeps me occupied–but my ride home this evening was a little more interesting....
Next Destination for Lufthansa A380: San Francisco
Right in the middle of our podcast tonight, Ben suddenly blurted out “Holy cow! Lufthansa just announced that SFO is getting the A380.” This was followed by furious typing then a quick quip, “Guys, they haven’t loaded in the...
