Singapore Airlines has tightened the lounge entrance requirements at SFO, now refusing to let in Star Gold members traveling on purely domestic itineraries. Here’s the official Star Alliance policy on lounge access for Star Gold members: Star Alliance Gold Customers...
New York to Zürich in Swiss International Air Lines First Class
In July 2009, I journeyed to Israel and Egypt with my brother and uncle. My uncle and I traveled together in first class and the trip report below will highlight some of the flights we sampled. New York to...
A Change in Venue Coming for Live and Let’s Fly in 2011
Happy 2011! The New Year is upon us and another adventure is drawing near. I recently accepted a job with Star Alliance and will be moving to Frankfurt, Germany later this month to work. The assignment is set to...
A Review of 2010
New Years festivities are heating up in Ho Chi Minh City, but I am at the airport waiting to catch my late Lufthansa flight back to Bangkok. Recalling my pickpocket incident in Bangkok (and because my brother and I...
Robbed and Battered in Bangkok
It has been a taxing day. My wallet was stolen and if I have to deal with one more tout I am going to rip someone’s head off. And to top it off, I was assaulted by a local today for...
Review: Park Hyatt Washington D.C.
Business brought me down to Washington, DC and rather than staying at the Willard InterContinental, my usual hotel of choice in the District, I opted to try out the Park Hyatt. My first meeting was at noon so I...
Latest TSA Antics Further Impugn Their Credibility
So much for whistleblower protection… The mission of the TSA is to "protect the Nation’s transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce." You would think that when someone brings to their attention a security flaw,...
Departing on My Asia Award Trip Today!
This afternoon I will be departing on my long-anticipated award trip to Southeast Asia and China. First, my final trip of the year to Chicago on United, followed by an overnight trip on Lufthansa to Munich. I’ve got over...
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Greetings readers. It is Christmas Day and I am about to have Christmas dinner with my family. I had a few aviation topics on my mind today, but thought instead I would share a Christmas Carol that has been...
How to Score a Free Upgrade on JetBlue
As I mentioned yesterday, I gave JetBlue another try out of Burbank yesterday. Everything went exactly according to plan… JetBlue offers extra legroom in the first five rows and emergency exit rows of their A320s that they sell for...
TSA Swabbing Hands at the Gate to Check for Explosives
Although the TSA started their passenger hand swabbing program last February, my first experience with it was today at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport. Prior to boarding my JetBlue flight to Long Beach, an announcement was made by JetBlue...
Giving JetBlue a Second Chance and One Final Trip to Las Vegas
I’m off to Las Vegas again for my final trip on the Expedia $300 deal. After slumming it at the Golden Nugget (poor choice) and downtown Las Vegas a few weeks ago, I’ll be staying at the Wynn tonight....
Would You Have Switched Seats?
During my Continental mileage run last week, I had a particularly difficult seating predicament that arose on a Houston-LaGuardia flight. My upgrade had not cleared so I was seated in 7D, an aisle seat in the bulkhead row with...
United Technology Systems Will Dominate Post-Merger Airline
UPDATE: I cannot edit the title because UPGRD will get dinged by Google, but the author who I lifted this story from last night has revised his article. It seems that it will be CO’s technology systems, not UA’s,...
Two Calls to US Airways and Two Very Different Outcomes
A client of mine was supposed to travel on US Airways today but suffered a medical setback a few days and ago and was ordered by his doctor not to travel. I had booked him a non-refundable revenue ticket...
Free Lonely Planet Travel Guide Apps at iTunes
With all the snow that has blanketed Europe over the last week, Lonely Planet has taken pity and given us an early Christmas gift: 13 of their travel guide apps for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. For the next 48...
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Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht Addresses Consolidation, Latam, Gulf Partners, and Russia
Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht sat down with Business Traveler this week after a Star Alliance board meeting (in beautiful Queenstown, New Zealand) to discuss a wide-variety of topics. Here are some of the highlights: On consolidation: Consolidation is...
Tacky Air New Zealand Billboard Merits Scorn
Lately, Air New Zealand’s ad campaigns have teetered on the borderline of risque and inappropriate. While I thought their their three-part squirrel ad campaign was in poor taste, I at least (embarrassingly) chuckled at the double entendres. NZ’s latest billboard,...
One Last Call to United Reservations to Finalize My China Award Trip
Over the last couple weeks another two schedule changes hit my upcoming 10-segment award trip to Southeast Asia and China. The changes were minor, but one change, a delay in the departure of my Los Angeles to Chicago flight...
United Airlines Beats Competition in Healthy Food Offerings
DietDetective.com examined the snack offerings on United, Jet Blue, American, Delta, Continental, Southwest, Virgin America and US Airways in order to ascertain who has the healthiest grub. The airlines were rated on a "health score" of 1-5 stars (five being best)...
