At the moment we're seeing some increased welcome bonuses on American Express' co-branded Hilton credit cards. The details of these offers are as follows: -- The Hilton Honors™ Card from American Express is offering a welcome bonus of 75,000 Honors…
My Trip To Bora Bora, (Almost) Entirely On Points
While I've been to the Maldives several times, I've never been to Bora Bora. Even though they're on opposite sides of the world, those seem to be the two biggest "overwater bungalow" destinations out there. As you guys know, I often plan trips around…
Hurry: Redeem Partner Miles For Singapore Airlines’ Ultra Longhaul Business Class
As a general rule of thumb, Singapore Airlines only makes longhaul first and business class award seats available to members of their own KrisFlyer frequent flyer program. On one hand I interpret this as them trying to "protect" their premium cabins,…
Alaska Updates Mileage Earning Rates On Hainan
In 2015 Alaska Airlines and Hainan Airlines announced a partnership. This has been fantastic for Mileage Plan members, since Hainan often has reasonable paid business class fares, and they also have an excellent onboard product. So you've been able to…
Australian Woman Steals 18 Bags From Airport Luggage Carousel
The more I think about this, I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. When you land on an international flight, the luggage carousels are usually in a secure area, accessible only to other passengers arriving on international flights. You collect…
Hot Deals for September
Weekly Review: September 22, 2018
Earlier this week I returned to the US after taking a trip to Minsk and Whitehorse, which was fun. Unfortunately I caught a bit of a cold while in Whitehorse, as I often seem to when I get exposed to cold weather. Grrrr. Fortunately it was only mild,…
Rumored Details Of The Incredible New Amex Gold Card
Earlier this week many people with the Amex Premier Rewards Gold Card reported seeing new benefits listed on their accounts. This was quickly pulled, so I guess they weren't quite ready to make these changes yet. However, Doctor Of Credit has the details…
Great Ways To Redeem British Airways Avios Without Paying Huge Fees
British Airways Avios can simultaneously be one of the most valuable and one of the most frustrating points currencies out there. British Airways has a distance based award chart, meaning the currency is valuable in instances where other points wouldn't…
Days Remaining: 8 Reasons To Apply For The Amex Blue Business Plus Card
Since late July, Amex has brought back a welcome bonus on The Blue BusinessSM Plus Credit Card. This is quite literally the only card that every single person in my family has, and that's because of how rewarding it is. The fact that this card has a…
How I Scored 75K Airline Miles For An Airport Hotel Stay
On Wednesday I wrote about the insane deal that Rocketmiles and LifeMiles were offering for 5x miles on hotel stays. The promotion was supposed to last for five hours, though upon further inspection of the terms, it seems like it only lasted for five…
Yet Another New Low Cost Airline Is Planning Transatlantic Flights
Over the last few years there has been an explosion in low cost airlines operating long haul flights, particularly between Europe and North America. Previously, the low cost model had not been suitable to long haul flights, both because the aircraft…
Malaysia Airlines Serving Amazing Vintage Champagne In Business Class
Most airlines will serve champagne in international business and first class and some airlines have been investing heavily in the champagne experience their passengers can expect on board. The quality (and price) of the champagne served is usually significantly…
Air Arabia Pilot’s Insane Takeoff Mistake
It always amazes me how safe air travel is. For every serious incident there are a countless number of incidents where something almost goes very wrong. This is one of those incidents, and it's sort of unbelievable. The Aviation Herald has the story…
Hong Kong Ending Ban On Fuel Surcharges
Many of you are probably familiar with "fuel surcharges," which are the pesky fees that many airlines add to their tickets. In reality they don't have much of an impact on revenue tickets, since airlines are typically required to advertise "all-in" costs,…
Confirmed: Air Belgium Canceling Hong Kong Flights As Of October 1, 2018
Earlier today I wrote about how Air Belgium will soon be discontinuing flights to Hong Kong, per Belgian media reports. Air Belgium has now issued a press release about this, so let's look at what they have to say. Air Belgium has announced that they…
10 Best Credit Card Offers For September 2018
Every month I make a post with what I consider to be the best credit card bonuses of the month. While there are several excellent long standing credit card offers, the specifics of the best offers are constantly changing (be it the annual fee, minimum…
Recent Trip Reports
Review: Lufthansa Business Class A320 Frankfurt To Tallinn
We arrived in Frankfurt shortly before 9AM, while our connecting flight to Tallinn was shortly after 2PM. Given that we were arriving in first class we of course headed straight for Lufthansa's First Class Terminal. I won't be fully reviewing the First…
Review: Lufthansa First Class A380 Houston To Frankfurt
I've reviewed Lufthansa first class many times before, though it has been years since I've reviewed their A380 first class. Our flight was departing from gate D9 and was scheduled to depart at 3:50PM, though the inbound flight was delayed, so the departure…
Review: United Polaris Lounge Houston Airport
United has been doing a spectacular job the past few months with opening new Polaris Lounges, which are their new international premium cabin lounges. United opened their first Polaris Lounge in Chicago in December 2016, and then it was about 18 months…
Introduction: The Baltics With My Dad
Welcome to my next trip report, covering travel in Lufthansa first class, a few airline lounges (including a United Polaris Lounge), a few hotels (including two independent ones), and more! Some of my most memorable trips have been with my dad. Long…
Review: Korean Air First Class 787 Incheon To San Francisco
I boarded through door L2, where I was greeted by the cabin manager and escorted by one of the flight attendants to the first class cabin. Korean Air's 787-9 is in a pretty premium-light configuration. Business class consists of a total of just 18 seats,…
Review: Korean Air First Class Lounge Incheon Airport
Incheon Airport has long been ranked as one of the world's best airports, though personally I always thought it was incredibly overrated. That's why I was excited to check out Incheon's new Terminal 2, which opened earlier this year. My connection at…
Emirates Cancels Plans To Fly To Mexico City
For several years now, Emirates has been wanting to launch flights to Mexico City. The problem is that there's no way they could operate a Dubai to Mexico City route nonstop in both directions, given the altitude of Mexico City Airport, which greatly…
New Best-Ever Delta Reserve Business Card Welcome Bonus
We recently saw big welcome bonuses on Delta's co-branded Gold and Platinum American Express cards, though those offers got pulled at the beginning of the week. Now we're seeing a best-ever welcome bonus on the Delta Reserve® for Business Credit Card…
Finding The Perfect Cabin Bag For My Four Month, Hand Luggage Only Trip
This week I've headed off on the longest trip I've ever taken. After travelling non stop for around three months last year, this year I'll be travelling for even longer, from now through to the start of next year. I'm starting with a few places in Western…
KLM Launching Flights To Las Vegas
KLM has just announced that they'll begin operating nonstop flights between Amsterdam and Las Vegas as of summer 2019. The route will launch on June 6 with 2x weekly flights (on Sundays and Thursdays), and as of July 2 the flight will be operated 3x…
Lufthansa Is Launching The World’s Worst Flight
Most of you are probably aware that intra-Europe business class leaves a lot to be desired. For most of the major European airlines, business class on shorthaul flights just consists of economy seats with blocked middles, and then you get better food…
Report: Air Belgium Ending Scheduled Flights
Air Belgium is the Charleroi-based airline that began flying between Charleroi and Hong Kong in early June. Their strategy was to operate a hub in Charleroi and fly to several points in China. They started with Hong Kong, but their plan was to eventually…
American Airlines Raises Checked Bag Fees
In late August JetBlue raised many of their fees, including checked bag fees. Among other changes, they raised the cost of a first checked bag on a domestic itinerary from $25 to $30. It’s interesting to see JetBlue be the first US airline to raise the…
IHG Premier Card 100K Offer Ending October 4
Since the beginning of August, the IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card has been offering an increased welcome bonus. The card was first launched in April, so to see an even better bonus so quickly is great. Several people have asked if I know when…
An Incredible New Transatlantic Award Sweet Spot
Last week I wrote about how Aer Lingus is launching two new transatlantic routes next summer, to Montreal and Minneapolis. Aer Lingus has the same parent company as British Airways, so you can redeem British Airways Avios for travel on Aer Lingus, and…
Smart: Frontier Airlines May Increase Revenue By Reducing Change Fees
Frontier Airlines just announced something that's quite surprising on the surface. In the US we have airlines offering various degrees of services included with ticket costs. On one end of the spectrum you have Southwest, which offers passengers two…
