A lot of people take issue with the sales pitches that American Airlines flight attendants make for credit cards. Let me give a slightly different take. For the record, yes obviously I also make money through this blog through credit card affiliate marketing,…
British Midland International (often just referred to as "bmi") was an airline based in the UK that operated flights until 2012, when they were taken over by British Airways. Most notably for points enthusiasts, British Midland had an incredible frequent…
I think hotel credit cards are among the most underrated out there. Understandably a lot of people get cards like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card to maximize their spend, and that's a great idea. These cards offer…
Well, you learn something new every day... or at least I do. Before I get into the post, I'm curious to hear the initial impressions you guys have -- when flying, does a small, thin garment bag (with just one suit in it) qualify as a carry-on or personal…
I've greatly updated my credit card portfolio over the past few months. Prior to that it hadn't changed for quite a while, while recently it has changed significantly. As a result, I wanted to update this post with the credit cards I currently have,…
You've gotta love some good election year meddling from the government... Garuda Indonesia has announced that they'll be cutting domestic ticket prices by 20%. This follows a request from Indonesian president Joko Widodo, who asked the airline to cut…
In late November 2018, Marriott revealed the details of a massive data breach. This involved Starwood’s guest reservations system, with an unauthorized party potentially copying and encrypting information all the way from 2014 until September 10, 2018.…
Generally speaking I find American Airlines' domestic first class catering to be pretty bad. Not only do the meals mostly taste really low quality, but my issue is how unhealthy most of the dishes are. Don't get me wrong, I like a tasty and unhealthy…
Turkey is finishing construction on one of the biggest airports in the world in Istanbul at the moment. The airport will have a capacity of 90 million passengers per year, and when the entire airport project is complete (in about a decade), the airport…
I've written in the past about how Marriott is the only major hotel group to offer bonuses for new members who join and complete qualifying activity. With the new Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program having launched just a couple of days ago, it's worth noting…
For the past couple of years, Vietnam Airlines has repeatedly expressed interest in launching flights to the US. The route that I've heard floated most often is a nonstop flight between Ho Chi Minh City and Los Angeles, which should easily be within…
A couple of days ago the new Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program launched, and as part of that we saw rebranding of all co-branded Marriott and Starwood credit cards, which are issued by both American Express and Chase. Many people are reporting that there…
World of Hyatt has just announced the details of their latest global promotion, through which they're offering up to 1,500 bonus points per night. World of Hyatt's next global promotion is valid for stays between February 15 and May 15, 2019. With this…
Japan Airlines has just announced that they'll be changing the start date for reservations for international flights. As of April 1, 2019, Japan Airlines will start accepting international reservations 360 days in advance, rather than the current 330…
Ryanair has just announced a series of new "customer care improvements" for 2019, some of which sound quite good. Among them is that they'll allow a 48-hour free of charge grace period for changing bookings, they'll process EU261 claims within 10 days,…
It's not often that I get excited about airport hotels, though perhaps the most anticipated airport hotel ever started accepting reservations yesterday. The TWA Hotel JFK has been undergoing construction for more than two years, and will finally be opening…
For a while I’ve been looking to try the only flight with a fully-flat bed out of DCA. Delta does a once-daily rotation between Washington Reagan National and Los Angeles on a 757-200, which offers a Delta One cabin in the front. (Several other domestic…
Priority Pass is the world's largest network of independent airport lounges, with over 1,200 locations around the world. The number of Priority Pass members has increased greatly the past couple of years, ever since the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card was…
The Private Suite LAX, which Ben reviewed in November 2017, is a fascinating concept. A private terminal operated by security specialists Gavin de Becker and Associates, the Private Suite allows you to skip LAX altogether by accessing the facility via…
I boarded through the second set of doors, where I was greeted by two very friendly flight attendants and pointed left into the premium economy cabin. Norwegian's 787-9 has a total of 56 premium economy seats, spread across eight rows in a 2-3-2 configuration.…
I headed from the Hilton Gatwick to the airport at around 3:30AM. My flight to New York was departing at 6:05AM (the earliest westbound transatlantic flight, as far as I know), and the No1 Lounge opened at 4AM, so I wanted to be among the first there…
I had a quick overnight in London, as my flight was arriving from Kigali and Brussels at around 5PM, and I had a 6AM flight the next morning to New York. I decided to book the Hilton Gatwick, given that it's connected to the terminal I'd be departing…
Singapore Airlines' KrisFlyer program offers monthly "Spontaneous Escapes" promotions, where they constantly have a list of flights that can be booked at a discount when redeeming miles. Presumably they're primarily discounting flights that they don't…
At the moment Norwegian is undergoing a major restructuring, given the huge losses they've sustained. The airline is transitioning from being focused on growth to being focused on profitability. The airline has some new investors, and plans on downsizing…
British Airways sure does a great job with their marketing videos. I love their "BA Magic" campaign, where they've encouraged people to write in sharing a trip they’d like to take for a special reason, and British Airways (sometimes) makes it happen…
I think the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island deserves a good shaming for what they've done the past couple of days. People go to the Maldives thanks to just how many islands there are. The best resorts are on their own private islands, and with some hotels…
Airline CEOs are generally disliked by frontline employees. That's not true across the board, but I can't think of many airlines where the average frontline employee would say "we love our CEO." There are probably a variety of reasons for this:
Air Italy is 49% owned by Qatar Airways, which is owned by the government of Qatar. Air Italy is expanding like crazy (though they've already canceled some of their expansion), and obviously that growth is fueled by Qatar Airways, given that they're…
Alaska Airlines has just announced a Valentine's Day buy one get one fare sale. This sale is valid only for tickets booked today, and with it you can buy one economy ticket, and get a second economy ticket for just the taxes and fees. This is only valid…
At the moment KLM has some excellent business class fares for travel from the US to Asia via Europe. The best deal is from Los Angeles to Bangkok, as you can fly via Amsterdam for just ~$2,126 roundtrip. Similarly good fares are available out of Newark,…
La Compagnie is the all business class transatlantic airline that started flying in mid-2014. The airline operates flights between Newark and Paris Orly, and this summer will also operate a seasonal flight between Newark and Nice. I reviewed La Compagnie…
The Waldorf Astoria Maldives will be opening as of July 1, 2019, and looks spectacular. Based on their current pricing, this will by far be the most expensive Hilton property in the world. A few days ago I wrote about how the hotel started accepting…
