On my recent duck trip, I spent about 24 hours in Frankfurt, well Mainz to be precise. But I have to confess, I mostly just slept. Sometimes we need to catch up on our ZZZs… My 24-Hour Layover In Frankfurt: Home Sweet Mainz After arriving in Frankfurt, I walked over to the Lufthansa First Class […]
Crafting My Own Airline Meal
Each week, my Meal of the Week feature examines an airline meal from my travels over the years. This may be a meal from earlier in the week or it may be a meal served over a decade ago. Earlier this week I reviewed a trio of lounges at Washington Dulles and noted that due to pandemic-related […]
Star Alliance Looks East To Singapore
Star Alliance will open a new office in Singapore later this year, a pivot away from its Frankfurt base which has been a source of both progress and frustration for two decades. Star Alliance Looks Beyond Frankfurt Star Alliance, founded in 1997 as the first global airline alliance, operates on behalf of 26 member airlines […]
Alaska Airlines Status Match? Tempting…
I’m tempted to take advantage of the generous status match offer from Alaska Airlines, but not convinced now is the time considering the way 2021 is unfolding. My only object: preserve oneworld emerald status. Tempting Status Match Offer From Alaska Airlines When I lived full-time in Frankfurt, Star Alliance Gold Status was easily the most […]
My Top 10 Flights In 2020
As 2020 draws to a close, it is time for my annual “Top 10” series. Here, I’ll look back on my 10 favorite flights from 2020. As a reminder, this is not a top-10 all-time list nor does it necessarily contain the 10 most luxurious flights I enjoyed this year. Rather, it represents my subjectively […]
My Top 10 Airline Lounges In 2020
As 2020 draws to a close, it is time for my annual “Top 10” series. Here, I’ll look back on the 10 best airport lounges I visited in 2020. Note, this is my “top 10” list, but only my “top 10” list of lounges I visited this year. 10. British Airways Galleries First Lounge T3 […]
The Death Of The Airline Dessert Cart
Each week, my Meal of the Week feature examines an airline meal from my travels over the years. This may be a meal from earlier in the week or it may be a meal served over a decade ago. One of the last relics of the “golden era” of flying is the dessert cart, which still offers […]
Why The Air France A380 Retirement Pains Me…
As expected, Air France has accelerated its A380 retirement and will be come the first airline to wholly retire its A380 fleet. That’s sad news in general, but particularly sad news for me. Let me concede at the outset that life is not all about me. But since this is my blog and something I’ve […]
Balkans Day 1: Sick In Belgrade
Oh, what a horrible way to start my Balkans Road trip. The trip began the day after my birthday, but what a miserable birthday it was. Read more from my classic trip report through the Balkans Introduction: Road Trip Through The Balkans Review: US Airways A330-300 Business Class Philadelphia To Munich Balkans Day 1: Sick […]
Lucrative Aeroplan Purchased Miles Promotion, But Timing Is Everything
Aeroplan miles will soon be available for their cheapest price ever. This is the sort of the deal I would jump on in a heartbeat during normal times, but we don’t live in normal times any longer… The Deal: Aeroplan Miles As Cheap As $0.01/Each On May 7th at 10:00AM ET, Aeroplan will launch a […]
LOT Polish Airlines Wants To Convert 787 Dreamliners To Cargo Aircraft
In another sign of the times, LOT Polish Airlines has approached Boeing for help in converting its 787 Dreamliners into freighter aircraft. A LOT spokesperson told Reuters, “We are in talks with the aircraft manufacturer about … adapting the passenger aircraft (Dreamliner) to cargo transport.” The request is significant because up until now, the 787 […]
How To Request An American Express Centurion (Black) Card
Last autumn, I wrote extensively about why I was considering an American Express Centurion (Black) card. While I ultimately opted against the card, it’s now easier than ever to request one. I chose not to get the card for three reasons. First, the initiation fee rose 25% and the annual fee doubled to $5,000/year, further […]
I’m Dreaming About Future Travel, But Not Planning…
What will next year look like? How about next month? Or next week? Will we contain COVID-19? How much will it destroy the world economy? Short and honest answer: we don’t know. Are You Panning Travel Or Just Dreaming About It? While the status of travel in the short-term and even long-term remain up in […]
Did Star Alliance Kowtow To United Airlines On New Lounge Access Restrictions? Why It Doesn’t Matter
Star Alliance is only as strong as its members. Nevertheless, stealth lounge access changes further sharpen the argument that alliances are losing relevance. I’m not sure what you think of when you think of Star Alliance (or oneworld or SkyTeam for that matter). Do you picture an office that makes decisions on behalf of its […]
10 Flights I Look Forward To In 2020
As we enter 2020, there are a number of airline premium cabin airline products I look forward to trying this year. Here’s the top-10 I will target, in order of priority: 10. American Airlines 777-300ER First Class American is the last U.S. carrier that offers a true first class product and I recently was awarded […]
The 10 Most Popular Live And Let’s Fly Posts Of 2019
What is “popular” is a funny thing. As we close out the year of 2019, I’m looking at back at the 10 most popular posts of 2019 in terms of traffic on Live and Let’s Fly. The trend is clear: people like reading bad news. I guess it is not a surprise in our clickbait, […]
My 10 Worst Flights In 2019
Unlike my 10 Best Flights of 2019 post from earlier today, I’d say this list is a bit more controversial. After all, how bad can any premium product really be? But listing my 10 worst delayed domestic flights would hardly be worth a post. So here are my 10 worst flights of 2019, with the […]
My Top 10 Flights In 2019
As 2019 draws to a close, it is time for my annual “Top 10” series. Here, I’ll look back on my 10 favorite flights from 2019. As a reminder, this is not a top-1o all-time list nor does it contain the 10 most luxurious flights I enjoyed this year. Rather, it represents my subjectively favorite […]
My Top 10 Airline Meals Of 2019
For this year’s final Meal of the Week, I count down my top 10 airline meals of 2019. To be clear, these are only the best meals I have enjoyed over the last year, not my top 10 all-time list. Since much of my travel was clustered around Lufthansa and United, you’ll notice half of […]
My Top 10 Lounges In 2019
As 2019 draws to a close, it is time for my annual “Top 10” series. Here, I’ll look back on the 10 best airport lounges I visited in 2019. Note, this is my “top 10” list, but only my “top 10” list of lounges I visited this year. 10. American Express Centurion Lounge – Philadelphia […]
