Trip Reports

Category Archives for Trip Reports.

My Unconventional Journey From DC To Staten Island With Amtrak’s Sleeper Car

by Gary Leff

Dec 11 2023

I was heading to DC for work and planned to meet my wife and daughter in New York. Our plan changed a bit, and instead of meeting downtown I needed to heat out to Staten Island (gosh, I hadn’t been there since late 2018 or early 2019). So my plan to arrive at New York LaGuardia at 5 p.m. on a 7,000 mile award wasn’t looking so good. Maybe it would take just an hour to get over to Staten Island, but it could easily take two.

So I checked on Amtrak to Metropark in New Jersey. The 2:15 p.m. would get me in at the perfect time to cruise up to dinner at 6 p.m. if everything was on time.

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Inside Etihad’s First Apartment: An Unforgettable Abu Dhabi to London Flight

by Gary Leff

Dec 05 2023

All in all, if I hadn’t flown this aircraft configuration a dozen times and hadn’t flown it just a week before, I’d call it ‘the flight of a lifetime.’ It was honestly perfect, and I still believe that the Etihad First Apartment is the third best hard product in the sky – behind only the Emirates new first class and Singapore Suites.

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Review: Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi

by Gary Leff

Nov 27 2023

Despite the brevity of our visit, and not taking advantage of everything the hotel had to offer, I have to say that I loved my stay at the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi. The hotel still feels new and modern, service was excellent, and Globalist treatment unbeatable – from a confirmed suite upgrade and further upgrade, to complimentary breakfast via room service without so much as bringing a bill. I’d gladly return, in fact coming back for a longer stay is now top of mind.

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Review: British Airways Business Class, Austin – London Heathrow

by Gary Leff

Nov 24 2023

British Airways business class is very serviceable. The new seat (which won’t be completely installed in their fleet until 2026, despite already being four years into the roll-out) is quite good. The bedding and amenity kits are good. Their main meals are ok, snacks chintzy, and breakfast worth skipping.

Cabin crew are friendly enough, though a bit overwhelmed in the Airbus A350 in particular.

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Introduction: Etihad First Apartments And Park Hyatt Mideast Suites Trip Report

by Gary Leff

Nov 23 2023

Back in July, when Etihad loaded the return of their Airbus A380 to the London – Abu Dhabi route, there was wide open award space for First Apartment award seats. That seemed like a great reason to put together an award trip with my wife and daughter.

We flew British Airways business class to London, Etihad A380 first class to Abu Dhabi and back, and stayed on points in suites at the Park Hyatts in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and at the Hyatt Regency The Churchill in London.

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Spending The Day At DFW Airport: 4 Lounges, Sit Down Dining, A Spa, And Free Video Games

by Gary Leff

Sep 04 2023

Last week one of my cousins from Australia was passing through Dallas. He’d been in the Northeast for a few days and didn’t have time to make a visit in Austin, since he needed to make it home for my aunt’s 70th birthday right after being in a wedding. But he booked a long layover, because he was traveling on separate tickets and very badly didn’t want a delay of his first flight to cause him to miss his business class award home. He’d be at DFW airport for about 8 hours, so I agreed to meet him there. I offered that we could leave the airport, but he actually wanted to see all the things. So we decided to make a day of DFW. I caught a 1 p.m. American Airlines flight to DFW.…

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