Pakistani Correspondent continues her guest post describing the experience flying Saudia business class, which she redeemed using American Express Membership Rewards points transferred to Delta. This is the final installment of her report. Here’s her previous installment: New York JFK – Jeddah Saudia Lounge, Jeddah and Jeddah-Lahore CIP Lounge in Lahore, Pakistan Lahore – Riyadh Saudia Lounge, Riyadh And now P.C. continues with her final installment, flying Saudia from Riyadh to Washington Dulles. A 777-300ER was awaiting and I was excited to have premium seats in what looked like a full flight. My seat was missing a blanket and a headset which I had to ask for. I was generally satisfied with new magazines, functional remote and a better entertainment guide. I discovered that I could pull a wall between the seats that came equipped…
Trip Reports
Category Archives for Trip Reports.
The American Express Centurion Lounge Dallas: Complimentary Spa and Showers
American Express opened its second U.S. Centurion airport lounge this month. Dallas Fort Worth is the second location after Las Vegas. There are more lounges to come, including San Francisco. I visited the Dallas facility on a recent connection, and absolutely loved it. It’s the best U.S. airport lounge I have been to. Here’s my review of the facility. Here’s my review of the food and drink situation. And now here’s the scoop on their complimentary spa and their shower facilities. Exhale Spa The Exhale Spa is a small room in the lounge. Only one treatment specialist was working while I was there, he was doing 15 minute massages, facials and other treatments wouldn’t be an option that day. They have you fill out a consent form, it’s a clothes-on massage and I was the…
The American Express Centurion Lounge in Dallas: Good Food and Great Drink
American Express opened its second U.S. Centurion airport lounge this month. Dallas Fort Worth is the second location after Las Vegas. There are more lounges to come, including San Francisco. I visited the Dallas facility on a recent connection, and absolutely loved it. I wrote about the facility itself yesterday. It’s the best U.S. airport lounge I have been to. Here’s now the scoop on their food and beverage offerings. First, know that they’re serious about their cocktails here, the waitress helping me in the restaurant shared her favorites and impressed on me the processes involved in mixing their drinks. Cocktails are by Jim Meehan and wines are curated by Anthony Giglio. These aren’t the rail drinks in the major airline lounges, or the premium drinks I get by showing my non-US elite card and…
Is the American Express Centurion Lounge in Dallas the Best Airport Lounge in the United States?
American Express opened its second U.S. Centurion airport lounge this month. Dallas Fort Worth is the second location after Las Vegas. There are more lounges to come, including San Francisco. I visited the Dallas facility on a recent connection, and absolutely loved it. It’s the best U.S. airport lounge I have been to. I would make the claim that it’s the best U.S. airport lounge, period, but I haven’t been to the Amex lounge in Las Vegas and I haven’t been to the Virgin Clubhouses at New York JFK or San Francisco (I’ve been to the Virgin lounge at Washington Dulles). I can say that it’s a better facility than the United Global First lounge in San Francisco (generally regarded as United’s best) and the American Airlines Flagship lounges in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New…
Saudia Business Class Trip Report: Saudia Lounge, Riyadh
Pakistani Correspondent continues her guest post describing the experience flying Saudia business class, which she redeemed using American Express Membership Rewards points transferred to Delta. Here’s her previous installment: New York JFK – Jeddah Saudia Lounge, Jeddah and Jeddah-Lahore CIP Lounge in Lahore, Pakistan Lahore – Riyadh And now P.C. continues with her visit to the Saudia lounge in Riyadh Welcome to Kind Khalid International Airport, Riyadh. As soon as my inbound plane got to the gate, people starting lighting up: Riyadh is a smoke-friendly airport. There were no signs about transit passengers or lounges or gates. Nevertheless, it was much easier finding the Saudia lounge and the airport had more to offer than Jeddah did. It had an odd coffee shop (which offered Wifi), and a few jewelry stores in the duty free area.…
Saudia Business Class Trip Report: Lahore – Riyadh
Pakistani Correspondent continues her guest post describing the experience flying Saudia business class, which she redeemed using American Express Membership Rewards points transferred to Delta. Here’s her previous installment: New York JFK – Jeddah Saudia Lounge, Jeddah and Jeddah-Lahore CIP Lounge in Lahore, Pakistan And now P.C. continues with her flight from Lahore to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Once again, the business class cabin was empty! I could pick any seat I wanted and have all the pillows. Apparently, they had to balance the plane so they moved 3-4 people from economy to join the cabin. The seats were spacious and this time the audio worked! The journey started with some green tea For breakfast, I got the lentil and lamb stew aka mushed up baby food (bad choice) Also, the pictures does not lie: there…
Saudia Business Class Trip Report: Is the CIP Lounge in Lahore, Pakistan the Worst in the World?
Pakistani Correspondent continues her guest post describing the experience flying Saudia business class, which she redeemed using American Express Membership Rewards points transferred to Delta. Here’s her previous installment: New York JFK – Jeddah Saudia Lounge, Jeddah and Jeddah-Lahore And now P.C. continues with the CIP lounge in Lahore: Lahore airport was very chaotic, crowded and possibly a place in hell. The ticketing agent was not helpful, and did not help me pick my seats (which I couldn’t reserve online either). I was also charged an extra airport fee which had “just gone in effect” but was not informed of this charge by Delta or Saudia. Luckily, I had some local currency because the payment was cash only and no official receipt was provided. Apparently, these new aviation taxes are only for Pakistani airports and…
Saudia Business Class Trip Report: Saudia’s Jeddah Lounge and Jeddah-Lahore
Pakistani Correspondent continues her guest post describing the experience flying Saudia business class, which she redeemed using American Express Membership Rewards points transferred to Delta. Here’s her previous installment: New York JFK – Jeddah And now P.C. continues with the Saudia lounge in Jeddah and arriving in Lahore, Pakistan. Welcome to King AbdulAziz International Airport, Jeddah. The airport is fairly small but the signs for the Saudia lounge were misleading. Also, as an unacompanied female, I was not allowed to remain in transit for more than 18 hours but this wouldn’t be a problem because my onward flight was supposed to leave long before that. Eventually, I found the lounge on my own because no one wanted to talk to me and kept redirecting me to talk to someone else, or asked if I was…
Saudia Business Class Trip Report: Award Availability (Delta Miles!) is Amazing, But Should You Fly It?
I’ve written about how easy it is to find award availability on Saudia using Delta miles. I’ve even walked through making a booking on Saudia live, in front of hundreds of people. There’s a reasonable question that comes up, objection even, Saudia? What is that like to fly? A co-worker flew Saudia on miles — the fruits of her signup bonus for an American Express Platinum card and a small amount of additional spending — and I asked her to share her experience. The trip was to Lahore, Pakistan to visit her family — departing from New York, and returning to Washington DC. She prefers to remain anonymous, but she provided a great trip report that I think is a fascinating window into an airline that isn’t frequently written about. We’ll call her my Pakistani…
The Westin Seattle and How to Frustrate Me When Ordering Room Service #FirstWorldProblems
I used to stay at the Westin Seattle fairly frequently, but hadn’t been there in nearly three years until a one-night stay a few weeks ago. It’s still pretty much as I remember, of course. Rounded, two towers, some decent views. I prefer the location of the Sheraton usually, and also the W, within the Starwood space. And I love the breakfast at Hyatt Olive 8. So I don’t make it back often at to the Westin. Still, it works just fine. It’s an escalator ride upstairs to the large lobby. I’ll never forget Wandering Aramean opening about half a dozen bottles of wine in the lobby after the bar closed. Years ago there used to be a Roy’s restaurant off the lobby, but that’s long gone. I have no beef with the rooms, they’re…
