Mar 25 2016

I visited three of the four lounges in Houston’s terminal D. There’s the airport’s own Executive Lounge which I will cover in this post and is used by Emirates and also Lufthansa among others. There’s also a KLM lounge and an Air France lounge separately (odd, since they’re jointly owned and mere gates apart). And there’s a British Airways lounge that I didn’t have access to on this trip.

In a few months the terminal will be getting an American Express Centurion lounge. And the terminal itself is slated for replacement so lounge options will change entirely in a few years. Of course the terminal is connected airside to the other terminals in Houston, so for instance you can visit United Clubs as well.

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Mar 25 2016

Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao is the 45 year old CEO and approximately 90% owner of VietJet, the first private airline to gain approval to operate in Vietnam. She expects to sell up to 30% of the airline in an IPO this year.

She made her first million at 21 trading fax machines and latex rubber. Her other major holdings are in commercial real estate.

The airline is turning a profit on half a billion dollars of annual revenue, and has 35 Airbus narrowbody aircraft, up from just 3 four years ago, and nearly 180 on order. The IPO seeks to value the airline at a billion dollars. And she loves the bikinis…

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Mar 25 2016

American Express lost 10% of its card business when they lost the Costco deal. Here’s an inside account of how American Express lost the business. As costly as it was for American Express to lose Costco, it would have been more costly to retain Costco.

Details of what were expected to be the new Citibank Costco card were leaked in a regulatory filing, and we were led to believe it was basically the same product offer as the American Express Costco card — only a Visa rather than an American Express. It turns out that’s wrong, and the new Citi card is better.

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Mar 25 2016

A week and a half ago I wrote about the Andaz Maui not living up to the really high standards it set on my first visit.

There was stained furniture in the room and a terrible shrieking noise that emanated for the door. The phones in the room didn’t work. Room service delivered and then re-delivered used condiments. One of the elevators smelled like pot, something other commenters had noticed at the property in the past.

And the hotel was simply busy, a far cry form the peaceful enclave I experienced on my first visit and closer to the ‘resort factory’ (e.g. 20 minute wait to be seated for the breakfast buffet) I prefer to avoid.

That said, on cash and points the stay was still a good value for money. I did get my money’s worth, especially since I wound up in an ocean view room ultimately and with free Diamond breakfast.

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Mar 25 2016

A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.

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Mar 24 2016

Garry Shandling died suddenly today at aged 66.

I was fond of him because growing up I didn’t know too many people named Gary (really, anyone) and even though he had an extra ‘r’ that was close enough. Plus he was pathbreaking in many ways. His The Larry Sanders Show spoofed a behind the scenes look at talk shows, and was an early adopted of using guest stars who play themselves.

Shandling of course was the lead passenger on Saturday Night Live‘s Redneck Airlines.

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Mar 24 2016

Having wrapped up the British Airways first and business class trip report from my long weekend at Paris staying at the Park Hyatt Vendome, I’m about to commence on my next report: flying all 3 of the major Gulf carriers in first class on their Airbus A380s.

The funny thing is I didn’t even set out to do that, but wound up in Airbus A380 First Class on Emirates, Qatar, and Etihad using miles. But it would be the Emirates onboard shower spa and all-around bling, Qatar — an airline I hadn’t yet flown, and a visit to their brand new first class lounge in Doha, and the single best first class product in the sky the Etihad First Apartment.

I wanted to visit Bangkok for a few days largely for the street food and also to have some new suits made. And I’ve had visiting the Museum of Islamic Art on my mental list of things I’d really like to do for quite some time. I had a week where it was convenient to travel.

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Mar 24 2016

A United Airlines pilot, 51 year old Bruce Wayne Wallis, was arrested for running “a string of brothels in apartment complexes throughout Houston.”

Apparently he had “a half-dozen brothel apartments with six to 10 women in each one.” The women paid him “$400 a week to ply their trade.”

Let’s assume 48 prostitutes at $400 a week, he was taking in about a million dollars a year less expenses. That’s twice what what the flight attendant for a Gulf carrier made actually sleeping with passengers inflight.

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Mar 24 2016

News broke yesterday that Virgin America had received a takeover offer and was shopping itself to potential buyers.

We can eliminate United as the acquirer — the Justice Department would pretty quickly shut down such a degree of consolidation in San Francisco where United has a hub and Virgin America is based.

I suggested it was conceivable that JetBlue, a more boutique-style carrier focused on New York, could bulk up on the West Coast by aligning itself with Virgin America. I’m not predicting it but it would increase competition overall rather than reducing it. And it would presumably pass muster with anti-trust review.

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Mar 24 2016

A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.

Continue Reading »