Only two US based airlines fly to destinations in the Persian Gulf – United and Delta. That already short list now has been reduced to just one with Delta announcing it is ending it’s Atlanta-Dubai (ATL-DXB) route. United also announced it is ending it’s Washington Dulles – Kuwait – Bahrain (IAD-KWI-BAH) route. United now remains the…
Airlines
Reviews of Airlines and their Frequent Flyer Programs
Mine is longer than yours?
The airlines have started a battle to be the one with the longest flight in the world. There are the regular players in play – the ones who have had the longest flight in the past, and Air India. Yes, Air India who during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Silicon Valley announced the Bangalore-San Fransisco…
And the Longest Flight in the world is operated by… Air India!?
Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, Air India is ready to grab the title of the longest flight in the world by getting all set to operate a non-stop Bangalore-San Fransisco (BLR-SFO) flight!! At 8,701 mile, this would exceed the current longest flight: Sydney – Dallas (SYD-DFW), operated by Qantas, by 123 miles. That flight is 8,578…
United’s 787 International Flights
I recently got a chance to fly on the Airbus 380. It was on a Lufthansa operated flight from Johannesburg to Frankfurt (JNB-FRA). Flying the Boeing 787 is next on my list, and has been there for a long time. I missed a chance last year to fly one from London to Newark (LHR-EWR), as…
Riding in Coach: Why I prefer United 767 over 777
I fly a lot of international flights in coach. My employer only buys me coach tickets. I upgrade a lot of my long haul flights using upgrade instruments (GPUs for United). But GPUs are limited, so I use them only on really long haul flights (10+ hours) or on overnight flights for shorter ones. For…
United’s new revenue based miles – Good, Bad or Ugly?
As you all probably know by now, United has switched to a revenue based earning model for miles as of March 1st. This change only impacts how redeemable miles (RDM) are earned. It does not impact how Elite Qualification miles (EQM) are earned. EQM (or PQM as United calls it) earning remains the same as…
My first A380 flight
I took my first flight on an Airbus A380 a few weeks ago. It was a Lufthansa operated flight – and a long one – from Johannesburg (JNB) to Frankfurt (FRA). The flight was 5,380 miles long and pretty much goes across the length of the entire continent of Africa, over the Mediterranean and then…
Bloomberg: US Airlines are whiners
Great article on Bloomberg this morning. US based airlines – mainly the large ones with huge international networks – United, Delta and American, have been in Washington, DC asking for help in competing against Gulf based carriers. The Gulf based carriers – Emirates, Qatar and Etihad are making big inroads into the US market and…
The agony of Jan 1st – Here we go again!
2014 was a great year for earning miles and points. I travelled more than I had ever travelled before, hence earning more Airline Miles and Hotel Points than ever before. I also made good redemptions taking my family on a Business Class trip to Asia and not paying a single dollar for any personal hotel…
A real life Scrooge? – AA passenger obejcts to Merry Christmas Wishes
An American Airlines passenger was escorted off the plane at La Guardia (LGA) this morning for getting agitated because crew members repeatedly wished him ‘Merry Christmas’. I know not everyone celebrates Christmas, but really? Personally I am sick of all this ‘PC’ business. Everyone should have the right to wish someone else Merry Christmas, Happy…
