Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for December 2016.

When You Can Use the Lavatory Even When a Flight Attendant Says No (and How That Could Keep You Out of Jail)

by Gary Leff

Dec 31 2016

A video went viral this week of passengers being removed from a Delta flight from Minneapolis to Los Angeles. The flight returned to Minneapolis where it was met by police. Passengers cheers as a man and woman were led off the aircraft.

Apparently the woman needed to use the lavatory shortly after takeoff. She got up, but a flight attendant spoke up — we don’t know exactly what was said. The woman and her travel companion escalated things to the point where the pilot decided to set the aircraft back down at its point of origin.

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Earn Points for Your Free Visits to Airport Lounges

by Gary Leff

lounge
Dec 31 2016

Plaza Premium airport lounges are found in airports all over the world. Airlines often contract with them for lounge access, so business class and sometimes elite passengers are welcomed. And you can access many of the lounges with a Priority Pass card which comes bundled with many US premium credit cards.

And Plaza Premium has a loyalty program where you earn points for lounge visits — even when those lounge visits don’t cost you anything.

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Free Miles to Book American Awards at the ‘Old’ Prices and Transatlantic Business for 37,000 Miles Roundtrip

by Gary Leff

first class airline cabin
Dec 31 2016

Etihad is one of the top airlines in the world for passenger experience. They offer a great connecting point in Abu Dhabi for travel to India and the surrounding region. I’ve used them to travel there as well as to the Maldives and also back from Sri Lanka.

But they also have a strong frequent flyer program of their own, and they are a transfer partner of Citi ThankYou Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards.

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Airline Executives Resign After Drunk Pilot Stumbles Through Security, Slurs Predeparture Announcement

by Gary Leff

Dec 30 2016

The president director and operational director of SkyTeam member Garuda Indonesia’s low cost carrier Citilink have resigned after video surfaced of one of their pilots stumbling through airport security.

No one stopped him. Security staff have to help him gather his belongings because he couldn’t manage to balance them himself.

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You Can Now Book China Southern, China Eastern, and Saudia First Class Awards Online

by Gary Leff

Dec 30 2016

Korean has a great award chart but do add fuel surcharges to award tickets. They offer super generous award holds. There are very low booking/change fees.

It’s just 80,000 miles roundtrip in business class between the US and Europe and now you can book those SkyTeam awards (e.g. Air France, KLM, Delta) on the Korean Air website.

Online SkyTeam award booking means you can now book international first class awards on Saudia, China Southern, and China Eastern in addition to first class awards on Korean using the Korean Air website.

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The 10 Busiest Airline Routes in the World. None are in the US or Europe.

by Gary Leff

Dec 30 2016

Data for 2016 is now available from IATA and I find it fascinating what the 10 airline routes with the greatest capacity are for the year.

Some of these I knew, like the South Korean domestic route between Seoul’s closer-in Gimpo airport (not Incheon) and Jeju. And some of these I’ve flown. Japanese domestic routes are always up towards the top of the list, but pay attention and see that despite three in the top 10 Osaka – Tokyo isn’t there at all (last year it clocked in at number nine).

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