Hello from Florida! I'm spending the week hopping between home in Miami and my mom in Tampa. Ford and I were supposed to go to Ireland this coming week, but we've decided to cancel that trip for now and instead spend time with family. I still hope to…
There are some strange reasons that hotels might either have a delayed opening, or might be closed temporarily. For example, the St. Regis Cairo may never open because it's owned by a Qatari company. Meanwhile in Abu Dhabi, the Grand Hyatt mysteriously…
The Chase Freedom® Card is one of my favorite no annual fee credit cards, as it offers 5x points in rotating quarterly categories, for up to $1,500 of spend per quarter. Most people use this as a cashback card, meaning the 5x points really translates…
Since I had flown in from Miami the same day and wanted to leave a buffer in Denver (given American's on-time performance) I had quite a long layover. I spent my time in the American Admirals Club getting caught up on work, and also walked around the…
Helsinki Airport is an absolute joy to travel through. The airport has one of the shortest minimum connection times in Europe, so it's my favorite oneworld hub in Europe. I'd much rather connect in Helsinki than London Heathrow, for example. Well, for…
A few weeks ago I wrote about how American Airlines filed a lawsuit against TWU-IAM, which is the union representing their mechanics. American and their mechanics union are currently in the middle of a heated contract negotiation. Or more accurately…
If you've been hoping to visit Floret by Cafe Flora through Priority Pass, you're out of luck -- the restaurant has just been removed from the network. This February Priority Pass added a restaurant at Seattle Tacoma Airport -- specifically, Floret by…
As you guys know, I'm a huge fan of seeking out routes that others may find to be a bit unusual. For example, looking at New York JFK alone, I'd say my three most "unusual" flights out of the airport have been on AZAL Azerbaijan to Baku, on Uzbekistan…
Last week I shared a video of an American Airlines mechanic being chewed out by his manager. While we don't know the full context, here's part of the conversation in the video: "Every time you come down here you write s*** up and you f****** leave. You…
Hainan Airlines is generally regarded as the best airline in mainland China. They have an excellent onboard product, in terms of the seats, service, and even food and drinks. Hainan often has attractive business class fares, which can be a great way…
Hyatt has just announced a fantastic promotion. Those with either of Hyatt's co-branded credit cards, including The World of Hyatt Credit Card, can receive a 10% refund on points redemptions for stays between July 1 and September 2, 2019. In order to…
At the moment both the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Citi Premier℠ Card are offering 60K point welcome bonuses, which are among the best bonuses we've ever seen on these cards. These are two of my favorite cards with annual fees of under $100, so…
One of the things that I love about Alaska Airlines is that they partner with a unique array of airlines. They're not part of any global alliance, and have plenty of airline partners that belong to alliances, and also partners that don't belong to alliances.…
I have a bone to pick with people. Let me start by acknowledging that I'm a selective germaphobe and I'm also really bad at science (great combo, I know!), so I might end up being totally off base here. That's a risk I'm willing to take. Heck, I'd much…
The Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card, is one of the all around most lucrative business credit cards out there. The card has a big welcome bonus, no annual fee, and offers up to 5x points. In conjunction with cards earning Ultimate Rewards points, this…
In late April, Chase Ultimate Rewards launched their first ever transfer bonus, which I considered to be huge news. Of the four major transferable points currencies, Ultimate Rewards was the only program that hasn't historically offered transfer bonuses,…
Since I had flown in from Miami the same day and wanted to leave a buffer in Denver (given American's on-time performance) I had quite a long layover. I spent my time in the American Admirals Club getting caught up on work, and also walked around the…
Welcome to my next trip report, covering travel in WestJet's new 787 business class, Air Europa's 787 business class, and more. The motivation for this trip was really simple. This spring WestJet started service with the 787-9, which represents an exciting…
We boarded through the second set of doors and turned left into the business class cabin. KLM's business class cabin takes up the entire space between the first and second set of doors on the 787-9, and consists of a total of 30 seats. KLM has reverse…
We had a lengthy layover in Amsterdam, as we were arriving from Abu Dhabi at around 6:30AM, and were departing to New York at 1:25PM. I was happy to have some time to get caught up on work between flights, and also to check out KLM's new Crown Lounge…
We arrived at Abu Dhabi Airport shortly before midnight, plenty early for our 2AM flight to Amsterdam. KLM departs from Terminal 1 in Abu Dhabi. The check-in process was quick, and within a moment we were issued boarding passes all the way to New York.…
We had about 28 hours in Abu Dhabi, as we were arriving around 10PM and departing around 2AM two days later. Abu Dhabi has lots of hotels to choose from, and on this trip I was looking forward to trying the EDITION Abu Dhabi, one of Marriott's newest…
Over the past few years we've seen quite a few airlines add the A350 to their fleet, and it has been popular with both airlines and passengers. The airplane is fuel efficient and can fly long distances, and as a passenger it's also a joy to fly, thanks…
Oh my goodness, isn't it just wonderful when your two worlds collide? I love airplanes and I love RuPaul's Drag Race. JetBlue seems to appreciate that, and they've just made my day/week/month. JetBlue is known for naming their planes, and in celebration…
In 2017 Delta introduced an all new business class product, making them the first US long haul airline to offer business class seats with doors (surprisingly JetBlue was the first airline in the world to have doors in business class, with their Mint…
For those of you not familiar with Amex Offers, it’s a program available through most Amex cards, where different cards are eligible for different savings and bonus offers. In many cases the offers can be huge, and more than offset the annual fee on…
For those of you not familiar with Amex Offers, it’s a program available through most Amex cards, where different cards are eligible for different savings and bonus offers. In many cases the offers can be huge, and more than offset the annual fee on…
American Airlines has announced that they're introducing new wines in their lounges this month, including in Admirals Clubs, Flagship Lounges, and Flagship First Dining. As American describes it, their goal with creating a new wine list is to "provide…
The Citi Premier℠ Card has an awesome new welcome bonus. If you don't have this card and are eligible, you absolutely should apply under this offer, in my opinion. The Citi Premier Card is offering a new 60,000 point welcome bonus after spending $4,000…
At the moment there are two 747-200s that serve as Air Force One -- they were delivered in 1987, so they're over 30 years old. Whichever plane the president is flying on serves as Air Force One, so I guess you can say there are two Air Force Ones (though…
Welcome to my next trip report, covering travel in WestJet's new 787 business class, Air Europa's 787 business class, and more. The motivation for this trip was really simple. This spring WestJet started service with the 787-9, which represents an exciting…
American has co-branded credit cards issued by both Barclays and Citi. Earlier this year, changes were announced to American's card portfolios from both issuers, and in general those changes were negative. Personally I was most disappointed by the changes…
