Over 3 Billion People Fly Every Year and Some of Them Are Just Awful

by Gary Leff

Jun 25 2016

When you fly you’re traveling with other people. Diverse people. Stuck in a metal tube. And flying is very democratic and surprisingly affordable much of the time.

In economy you’re in tight quarters with people you don’t know, thrown together randomly with other passengers who may not share your values. Although bad behavior is hardly limited to economy.

And that’s what is so difficult about stories like the one of the sleeping teen girl groped and kissed by a man on an Alaska Airlines flight from Portland to Anchorage this week.

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Review: Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai – B Concourse

by Gary Leff

Jun 25 2016

Emirates has a first class lounge that’s really an entire level of the terminal concourse. That’s the A concourse first class lounge. Over there coach passengers are on one level, business class passengers on another, and first class passengers separated still. I called it the ‘Night of the Comet’ lounge because it’s long a neutron bomb went off and the whole terminal is still there but there are no people. It’s surreal.

Since that concourse was set up primarily for Airbus A380 aircraft, and that’s what I’d be flying from Dubai to Bangkok, I assumed that’s where I’d spend my layover between flights. But I landed to discover I’d actually be departing from B so I decided to use the old first class lounge instead which is right beside my gate. I had time that I could have gone over to the A concourse lounge and then to my flight but I’d rather be close by and not worry about the time.

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FARE ALERT: US-Europe from $442 Roundtrip ($70 Fares Each Way!)

by Gary Leff

Jun 25 2016

Here’s another phenomenal aifare sale: US – Europe from $442 roundtrip and available to several different cities!

Don’t be fooled, it’s not Brexit-related, it’s another in a continuation of incredible deals we’ve seen to Europe. Each one is short-lived, from a few hours to a few days, but these seem to keep on coming as airlines go after each other, as there’s too much capacity on European routes, and as we’ve seen low cost competition across the Atlantic from the likes of Norwegian.

Unlike the amazing $550 Asia fares which are being offered by United out of their own hubs, these are more traditional ‘fare war’-style offerings by Delta out of American Airlines hubs.

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Hurry: Under $550 Roundtrip to Asia from Several Cities and How to Still Earn Full Mileage!

by Gary Leff

Jun 25 2016

Usually we see the best airfare deals when one airline attacks another airline’s hub cities with cheap deals. For instance United might offer great fares from American cities like Dallas and Charlotte and Delta cities like Atlanta and Detroit.

You don’t usually see an airline offering the cheapest fares from its own hub cities. That’s because they are usually thought to have pricing power there — the best schedules with the fewest connections that people will pay more for.

Right now though United appears to be offering amazing cheap fares to Southeast Asia from its own hub cities.

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BIG NEWS: United/Continental Flight Attendants Agree on Joint Contract, Ready to Complete 2010 Merger

by Gary Leff

Jun 24 2016

United and Continental merged in 2010, with Continental management eventually taking over, but six years later that merger is still not complete. Flight crews have been known to still announce that a given aircraft is operated by Continental.

This morning, finally, the negotiating committee for the flight attendants came to terms with United on a new joint contract.

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