Priority Pass adds and subtracts members from its 1000+ network of lounges each month. This month two notable additions are worth your attention: the Turkish Airlines lounge at Washington Dulles and the Grain Store Cafe & Bar inside London Gatwick Airport. Turkish Airlines Washington Dulles Lounge Open from 6am to 11pm daily (Concourse B, near Gate B43), […]
Remorse & Resolve: Final Thoughts on a Month in Africa
![Bribery South Africa](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/South-Africa-Flag-738x355.png)
My unexpected month in Africa will always be a two-edged sword: a treasured memory on the one hand and a painful and expensive exercise in futility on the other hand. Remember the purpose of this trip was to secure a police clearance report for Heidi – one-more charade we had to perform for the hapless […]
Top 10 American Airlines Award Redemptions
![a interior of a plane with a table and chairs](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/AA-Top-10-Award-Redemption-01-738x355.jpg)
After a substantial devaluation last March, American Airlines AAdvantage miles are not worth what they once were. Nevertheless, there are still sweet spots on the award chart (mostly premium cabin) that are worth taking advantage of. Here are my top 10 redemptions on American. Top 10 AAdvantage Redemptions (one-way basis) 1. USA to Africa (75K Business) […]
A Photo Finish in Cape Town
![South Africa Courier](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Cape-Town-Airport-738x355.jpg)
In my final post in this series I will discuss the process of how we ultimately obtained the Police Clearance Certificate for Heidi, but it was now 5pm with our flight back to Europe scheduled to depart in four hours and we still did not have the vital document that was the very purpose of […]
The Robben Island Experience
![Robben Island](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Robben-Island-54-738x355.jpg)
No trip to Cape Town is complete without a visit to Robben Island, a political prison turned national monument that housed Neslon Mandella for more than 30 years. Buy Your Robben Island Tickets in Advance Online Same-day tickets are available, but tours tend to sell out several days in advance. I booked our tickets two […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: February 4, 2017
![Worst Airline Meal](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Austrian-Airlines-738x355.jpg)
This week was the clam before the storm. I spent most of it caring my sick wife and sick son (flu, cold). Then I got sick, though thankfully it was just a 48-hour sore throat and I’m back to feeling great. Next week there will be both Pacific and Atlantic Ocean crossings. The following week […]
The Cruel Poverty of Cape Town
![a mountain with clouds and blue sky](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Cape-Town-Poverty-18-738x355.jpg)
Income disparity is a fact of life. I am not a Marxist and I reject the notion that it is purely luck or at the expense of others that great fortunes can be made. But I do recognize both a historical and practical problem of a society in which disparity is so great the lower […]
Johannesburg to Cape Town in South African Airways A343 Economy Class
![a group of people sitting in an airplane](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/South-African-A343-JNB-to-CPT-33-738x355.jpg)
I had neglected to assign seats in advance on this flight (did not even think it was possible) and my wife and I ended up in middle seats. The A343 economy class cabin has a 2-4-2 configuration and the flight was very full. South African has a low-cost subsidiary called Mango and there is a […]
Road Trip from Johannesburg to Lesotho
![a building with a round roof and a large cone shaped roof](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Lesotho-Road-Trip-22-738x355.jpg)
I am on a quest to visit every country in the world. My “first pass” through the world will often include more limited visits — sometimes just hours — but my goal is to experience a taste of life in every nation. Channeling the spirit of The Road More Traveled, I took a day in Johannesburg to make […]
Kasane, Botswana to Johannesburg on South African Airways (Airlink)
![Airlink](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/South-African-Airlink-18-738x355.jpg)
When planning out the routing for our trip, I was not even aware that Kasane (BBK) had an airport – credit to my wife for stumbling upon it when looking for accommodation. It worked out perfectly, saving a long drive back to Zimbabwe or Zambia with an additional visa fee. Booking We arrived at the […]
A Visit to Impalila Island, Namibia
![a man and woman walking on a dirt path with a red umbrella](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Namibia-9-738x355.jpg)
You know by now that I love to country hop…even if it is just for a brief visit to a rather ordinary border town. That’s what I thought the visit Impalila Island would be…but it turned into another eye-opening paradox of life in post-Apartheid Africa. Impalila Island is a small island on the Caprivi Strip […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: January 28, 2017
![Passport](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/United-Polaris-First-747-14-738x355.jpg)
Good evening from Los Angeles. I am resting up after a whirlwind trip to Washington, DC and Frankfurt, happy to be home for the next couple weeks*. Although a trip to Las Vegas was in the cards for this week, I ended up not straying too far from home. *The travel bug is such an infectious virus […]
From Hate to Great: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
![a man and woman smiling for a picture](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Real-Zimbabwe-738x355.jpg)
As we crossed over the border from Zambia to Zimbabwe, a word of advice – don’t hire the vulture taxi drivers waiting outside the Victoria Falls entrance for they will rip you off. Walk past the border control and just over the gate in the no-man’s land between the two countries you can find a […]
Victoria Falls from the Zambian Side
![a waterfall with trees around it](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Victoria-Falls-13-738x355.jpg)
Victoria Falls has been a part of my bucket list since I was amazed by Igaucu Falls in Brazil and I knew the moment we discovered the need to journey to South Africa, we would visit the falls. We took a taxi from our guesthouse to the Falls, which is on the far north end […]
Our Humble Abode in Zambia
![Livingstone Zambia](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Zambia-2-738x355.jpg)
Although Livingstone is a tourist city juxtaposing Victoria Falls, there are no hotels to speak of—smaller inns and guests houses are the only options with the exception of the very pricey Livingstone Inn just outside the Victoria Falls gates. Heidi is quite budget conscious, so we chose a “guest house” that looked comfortable enough called […]
Two Amazing Meals: HKG-LHR NZ39 in Air New Zealand Economy
![Air New Zealand Economy meals](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/NZ-HKG-to-LHR-3-738x355.jpg)
During my first round-the-world trip in 2008, I had the pleasure of flying Air New Zealand from Hong Kong to London. I chose Air New Zealand because it was cheap ($554 one-way), nonstop, and as a member of Star Alliance, I could credit the miles to United. For this week’s Matthew’s Meal of the Week I remember […]
The Trip Home from DC…Washington to Los Angeles via Frankfurt
![Weekend in Mainz](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Frankfurt-Weekend-6-738x355.jpg)
As if our busy inauguration day was not enough, John and I detoured to Germany on our way home from Washington. A number of factors were to “blame”. A prefect storm brewed—procrastination and sold out flights with the specter of more hotel costs or sleeping in airports. Ok, let’s not kid ourselves. I’m not so […]
Driving through Swaziland
![Driving in Swaziland](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Swaziland-4-738x355.jpg)
As we drove out of Kruger National Park, my wife had one thing on her mind and I had another. The sun was precipitously dropping over the rolling green hills and Heidi’s concern was where we would stay the night. My mind was pre-occupied by a sense of excitement that we were about to cross […]
A Safari in Kruger National Park
![Kruger National Park](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Kruger-National-Park-42-738x355.jpg)
What trip to Africa is complete without a safari? Though Heidi had been to Kruger National Park outside of Nelspruit, South Africa on three past occasions, I had never been and she suggested we check it out. The trip was rather spur of the moment, which meant that all the accommodations inside the park were […]
Live and Let’s Fly Weekend Digest: January 21, 2017
![a large crowd of people outside a building](https://liveandletsfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/DC-Trip-Trump-Inauguration-15-738x355.jpg)
Good evening from Washington, DC. I’m still here and getting back to LA may be just as much an adventure as getting to LA. Note to self: it is difficult to get home when flights are full. Book early next time. My spur of the moment trip to DC upended what would have been a […]