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…
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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…
ATC, we have a wingman…
On a recent flight back from UK to the US, there was a sudden hubbub on the flight as people started looking out the widows and taking pictures. (After a few seconds of panic) when I looked out the window I found that we had picked up a wingman. A Swiss Air aircraft was flying…
Turkish Airlines, Istanbul: Best Airline Lounge in the world?
I have visited my share of airline lounges. From the dump they call the Lufthansa lounge in Chennai (MAA) to the massive United lounge in Tokyo Narita (NRT). But my recent visit to the Turkish Airlines Lounge in Istanbul Ataturk (IST) Airport left me overwhelmed. I had over 2 hours to kill and I don’t…
Lounge Review: Maple Leaf Lounge, Frankfurt
I have flown thru Frankfurt airport (FRA) tens of times. Living in the DC area, it is one of the best connected cities in Europe with 4 flights every day – 2 each by United and Lufthansa. (London’s Heathrow (LHR) has the best connectivity with 7 flights per day, thru three airlines – United, British…
