FARE ALERT: Several Cities – Even West Coast – to Europe From $263 Roundtrip

by Gary Leff

cityscape near canal
May 22 2018

Right now there’s the lowest fare available that I’ve seen between the West Coast and Europe in awhile. You can fly San Francisco to London for as little as $263 roundtrip. And it’s not even a basic economy fare, it’s on Icelandair which gives you an advance seat assignment, a carry on bag at no extra charge.

But that’s not all, fares between the US and Europe are available from a variety of cities and on several airlines, each with a Google Flights link that’ll pull up a sample itinerary at the current lowest fare:

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Airbus A330 Landed Without a Nose Gear, Sparks on Runway and Passengers Evacuated

by Gary Leff

flight map
May 21 2018

Saudia flight SV3818 from Medina, Saudi Arabia to Dhaka, Bangladesh reached 37,000 feet when the crew diverted to Jeddah. It made a go-around on its first approach because a landing gear hadn’t gone down.

Then the aircraft circled for an hour while it worked through emergency checklists. Ultimately they decided to land without the Airbus A330-200’s nose gear deployed.

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United Should Stop Calling Out Passengers Who Steal Business Class Bedding

by Gary Leff

first class bed
May 21 2018

A year ago United directed flight attendants to keep a watchful eye over passengers who might ‘steal’ business class bedding.

United’s Polaris soft product does have nice bedding, in fact I don’t know any airline business class whose bedding is clearly better. That’s an amazing statement to make. It would have been hard to imagine two years ago that anyone would have wanted to take a business class pillow or blanket off of a United flight.

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5 Ways You Can Fly First Class on Your Next Trip

by Gary Leff

back of airline seats
May 21 2018

Airline upgrades are almost exclusively done by formula, with little discretion allowed to gate or check-in counter agents.

The only time there may be wiggle room is when a flight is oversold, and while elite frequent flyers may get preference for moving up to a premium cabin, the most important priority is getting a flight out on time. Other than these “operational upgrades” though, upgrades are going to be based on published criteria – not who is nicest, who dresses best, or who asks.

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The Single Most Customer-Unfriendly Policy in Travel – And a Workaround

by Gary Leff

british airways plane
May 20 2018

Booking Qantas first class awards but not being able to find American Airlines space Austin – Dallas to connect to it reminded me that it’s worth reminding you of why this can be a huge headache when you travel (and not just because you have to buy a domestic flight when booking a ticket with miles) — but that there’s also something you can do to get around the hassle.

American Airlines has what I think is the single most consumer-unfriendly policy in travel. They won’t through-check bags on separate tickets.

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