Monthly Archives

Monthly Archives for August 2018.

Why You Can’t Check a Pet as Cargo on Most American Airlines Domestic Planes

by Gary Leff

american plane in hangar
Aug 24 2018

American Airlines does not allow pets to be checked as cargo on their Airbus narrowbodies. They are growing this fleet with A321neos that begin delivering at the start of 2019.

Airlines are cracking down on emotional support animals. Small pets can travel in the cabin for a fee, but larger pets need to be checked. Owners of larger animals then may be caught between Scylla and Charybdis unable to bring their animal on board as an emotional support animal, unable to bring them in cabin for a fee, and unable to check them when traveling on half the domestic fleet — and many destinations are served exclusively by these aircraft.

Continue Reading »

Surprisingly Civilized: Actual Printed Menus on a Midcon, Pillows for Shorthaul

by Gary Leff

groceries
Aug 24 2018

Flight attendants may be given detail on an airline’s food. They rarely pay it much mind, and I usually get blank stares and shrugs when I ask something about a dish before I order it. So I’ve learned not to ask.

Not only did I get a description of the dishes I could choose from, I didn’t have to ask the flight attendant what the wines were. If I ask I usually get another blank stare, “red and white” or sometimes if I’m lucky they will show me the bottle.

Continue Reading »

How Much Salary You Can Earn By Making Passengers and Airlines Miserable

by Gary Leff

airport
Aug 24 2018

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is the government agency which manages Washington National and Dulles airports and has a role in construction of the metro Silver line to the airport and the Dulles Toll Road.

The airport authority has resisted making the new contract for its CEO public, arguing that they’re not funded with public dollars but by fees earned from running the airport. Of course the government gave them the airport, board members are appointed by government, and they receive substantial government funding for capital projects, and much of their operating revenue comes from ticket taxes.

Continue Reading »

Marriott Honors Mistake Award Rate at St. Regis Maldives – and How Much an Overwater Bungalow Should Now Cost

by Gary Leff

fancy hotel
Aug 23 2018

The new Marriott program rollout has been riddled with glitches. There are members who still show the wrong elite status, wrong lifetime status, and who still cannot merge accounts.

One interesting quirk of the transition that benefited members was discounted overwater villa award availability at the St. Regis Maldives.

Continue Reading »

Head to Head: United Polaris Burger vs. American Flagship Burger

by Gary Leff

breakfast burger
Aug 23 2018

A really great burger starts with quality beef. It should have processed cheese that melts well. And it should be inside of a potato bun.

Don’t give me ciabatta bread for a bun. Don’t give me a kaiser roll. As good as brioche can be, it’s not well-matched to a burger. The bun is a delivery vehicle for the burger. It needs to be big enough to contain the burger, but shouldn’t be so large that it overwhelms the burger.

Everything you put on the burger needs to fit inside of the bun. You don’t want the burger to fall apart when you eat it.

Continue Reading »

The World’s 15 Best First Class Products, Ranked

by Gary Leff

inside airliner
Aug 23 2018

The key to these rankings is subjective weight that goes into different components of the product. I value personal space more than anythnig else, so a first class configuration that’s four seats across isn’t going to rate as well for me as one that’s two or three seats across.

I’d never rate Air France or Garuda as highly as others — despite phenomenal ground service and attentiveness — because of the lack of real estate each first class passenger gets in the cabin.

Continue Reading »

Review: United Polaris Lounge Houston

by Gary Leff

lounge
Aug 22 2018

The staff here are friendly. The lounge is gorgeous. Tarmac views are fantastic. Everything about the Polaris lounge Houston is well designed.

There are showers and nap rooms, an extensive buffet and a sit down restaurant. What’s more even though the lounge is small most of the day it doesn’t seem to be crowded, since the airline’s flights are better space throughout the day rather than clustering solely around 5 o’clock.

Continue Reading »