Hong Kong Airlines just recently started flying to the US using their new A350s. As of now the airline flies to Los Angeles and San Francisco, and they plan to add flights to New York soon as well. Given that Cathay Pacific historically has a stronghold…
My flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles was scheduled to depart at 12PM. However, when reviewing lounges I always like for them to be as empty as possible so I can freely take pictures, so I decided to the airport shortly before the lounge was scheduled…
I've flown Cathay Pacific a countless number of times, but had never flown Cathay Dragon, which is Cathay Pacific's subsidiary that operates many of their shorthaul flights, including flights to mainland China. While their product is very similar to…
It's rare that economy is anything to get excited about, though I do think airlines that try to differentiate their experience deserve some credit. In the US I'd argue that service in economy is getting better rather than worse at the moment (I'm referring…
I recently wrote about some of the paper backup items that I travel with, particularly when traveling to some of the more remote parts of the world. While it may feel a bit arcane to travel with a stack of printed airline reservations, I’ll probably…
Hello from Greece! We're just wrapping up a fantastic two week trip, during which we visited Italy and Greece. We had such a fun and relaxing time, and I can't wait to return soon. I look forward to sharing all the details of the trip soon. On the points…
My connection in Shanghai was supposed to be about two hours -- I was scheduled to arrive at 12:40PM, and I was scheduled to depart at 2:30PM. I know, planning a 1hr50min connection on separate tickets at Shanghai Airport was probably a bad decision,…
If you're flying in or out of San Francisco's SFO this summer, you may want to leave yourself more time than usual. According to the airport's AirTrain Alert, SFO's AirTrain will be subject to overnight closures through mid-August. More specifically,…
United's basic economy offering is one of the most punitive in the industry. When flying on one of these fares, United advises that you won't get to choose your seat, won't get a proper carry-on, won't get a chance at an upgrade, and perhaps most importantly,…
I was looking forward to the opportunity to do a side-by-side comparison of Vietnam Airlines' 787 and A350. I boarded through the forward door of the plane, and turned right into the business class cabin. Vietnam Airlines has two A350 configurations…
OMAAT family, I need your advice. Later this year I am planning to commence another three (plus) month extended trip, like I did last year. There are all sorts of destinations planned, which I am looking forward to sharing with you in due course. Early…
Yesterday I shared some good Qatar Airways business class fares for travel from the US to Asia. They're not the lowest fares we've ever seen, but Qatar has an excellent business class product, they don't publish as many fare sales out of the US as they…
If you have a stash of Membership Rewards and are looking for your best award booking options within the contiguous 48 states or to Hawaii, you have a number of interesting options. Since your best option could differ based on your departure city, we'll…
Wow, Starwood is offering this promotion yet again. The last one was valid through the end of May, though this is likely to actually be the last time it's ever offered, at least before the formation of the new Marriott loyalty promotion in August. Similar…
Alitalia might be in bankruptcy and on perpetual life support, but that won't stop them from looking fashionable. In-mid 2016, Alitalia rolled out new uniforms for their employees, which were inspired by Etihad. This was part of a larger rebranding for…
Summer in Dubai can be rough (even if you're just connecting there), given how hot it gets. With Ramadan 2018 now over, Emirates has a cool treat for passengers traveling through the airport. If you're passing through Terminal 3 at Dubai International…
Hong Kong Airlines just recently started flying to the US using their new A350s. As of now the airline flies to Los Angeles and San Francisco, and they plan to add flights to New York soon as well. Given that Cathay Pacific historically has a stronghold…
My flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles was scheduled to depart at 12PM. However, when reviewing lounges I always like for them to be as empty as possible so I can freely take pictures, so I decided to the airport shortly before the lounge was scheduled…
I've flown Cathay Pacific a countless number of times, but had never flown Cathay Dragon, which is Cathay Pacific's subsidiary that operates many of their shorthaul flights, including flights to mainland China. While their product is very similar to…
My connection in Shanghai was supposed to be about two hours -- I was scheduled to arrive at 12:40PM, and I was scheduled to depart at 2:30PM. I know, planning a 1hr50min connection on separate tickets at Shanghai Airport was probably a bad decision,…
I was looking forward to the opportunity to do a side-by-side comparison of Vietnam Airlines' 787 and A350. I boarded through the forward door of the plane, and turned right into the business class cabin. Vietnam Airlines has two A350 configurations…
My flight from London was scheduled to arrive at 5:20AM, while my flight to Shanghai was scheduled to depart at 7:50AM, so I had a 2hr30min layover. We seemed to be one of the first arrivals of the morning, and when I showed up at the international transit…
Per a filing with the US Department of Transportation, Sichuan Airlines wants to start operating nonstop flights between Chengdu and Boston. The airline proposes starting twice weekly flights around December 17, 2018, with the following schedule: Chengdu…
As I've written about before, at the moment IHG Rewards Club has a flash sale on the purchase of points. Through today (June 15, 2018), IHG Rewards Club is selling points for just 0.5 cents each (that's a 100% bonus), which is an excellent deal. You…
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…
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…
As far as I'm concerned, Qatar Airways offers the world's best business class product. Not only that, but thanks to their membership in oneworld, flying with Qatar can be a great way to earn elite qualifying miles in your preferred program (American…
In early April, IHG made some major changes to their credit card portfolio, as they introduced the IHG® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card. In the process they stopped issuing the old IHG credit card, which is a loss, but at this point we have to make…
Airlines spend a lot of money on marketing to try and make us feel like they're better than the rest. For a long time Etihad did that quite successfully -- they were an airline that was innovative in terms of their onboard product, and for a while I…
One of the airlines I've been following pretty closely is RwandAir. They're quite a small airline, but have been nicely growing their route network. The airline has two Airbus A330s with excellent staggered business class seats, which they offer on routes…
United opened their first Polaris Lounge in Chicago in December 2016, which coincided with when the Polaris concept was launched. I had the chance to check out this lounge last year, and was impressed by the quality of the lounge, as it was beautiful,…
This is a pretty radical move for Delta to make. Delta has announced today that they'll be ending flights to Hong Kong as of October 4, 2018. Presently the airline operates 6x weekly Boeing 777 flights between Seattle and Hong Kong, which is their only…
