I am terrible at guessing what readers are going to be interested in. Usually I don’t try. I write for myself, whatever seems interesting to me at the time. I am grateful that anyone wants to read it. I’m always surprised, though, by what does get read the most… what’s socially shared… what people keep coming back to over and over.
Legendary Punk Rock Club Finds Afterlife as Mediocre Newark Airport Restaurant
CBGB’s was a legendary punk rock music club in New York’s East Village that opened in the 1970s. It ultimately shut down after a rent dispute and lease renewal in 2005. It was an important stop for the B-52’s, Blondie, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, and the Talking Heads.
Now CB’s is a restaurant in Newark airport’s terminal C where you can have a bacon cheeseburger or turkey club while waiting for your United flight
We Were Warned of AAdvantage Changes Four Years Ago, and the Carry On Bag to Get
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.
Delta Connection Pilot Goes Extra Lengths to Get Family to a Funeral
A family was delayed 90 minutes in Phoenix enroute to Minneapolis, giving them a 7-10 minute connection. They arrived at their gate and their flight headed for Memphis — the last flight had pushed back.
One of the family members was screaming, crying, and waving their hands in the window. The pilot saw this, checked with the gate, and learned the man and his family were headed to a funeral. The pilot brought the plane back to the gate.
Flight Attendants Interviewing in Bikinis, and the Things People Do to Avoid Checked Bag Fees
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.
Where to Get the Absolute Best Value for Points, and Free Points That Help You With a Great Trick
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.
Air France KLM Flying Blue Preparing for Huge Revenue-Based Devaluation
I find the Air France KLM Flying Blue program incredibly frustrating for booking awards. There are false positives for award space on their website, customer service representatives are often rude and incompetent, and most importantly they have a penchant for shutting down newly opened accounts that members transfer points into (such as from American Express Membership Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards) and immediately redeem awards from.
As a result I’ve limited the coverage I’ve given to the program. I don’t recommend using it for most purposes because I simply find the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.
So I don’t get too worked up over changes that are coming to that program, although those changes are noteworthy because they represent a spread of changes.
American Making Changes to Small Business ‘Double Dip’ Program Upgrade Awards
I really like small business frequent flyer programs. In addition to travelers earning points in their own mileage account, a business earns points for their travel as well. The earning isn’t the same, or necessarily as generous, but it’s a double dip and across several travelers in a company the rewards can really add up.
Spending on just my own travel each year seems to earn enough points for me to give someone AAdvantage Gold status and also redeem for an Admirals Club membership.
The program lets you redeem points for upgrade awards, and It turns out that there are a few more fare types that have been excluded from being upgraded with these certificates.
Rats on a Plane! Air India Plane Turns Back — and Still Serves Passengers a Meal…
Last week a Delta flight attendant was gettin’ sick and tired of cats on a plane. Now it rats and Air India. An Air India Boeing 787 headed from Mumbai to London turned around six hours into flight “after a cabin crew member spotted a rat on board.”
It’s not the first Air India rat incident this year. And last year an Air India Airbus A321 was grounded in Delhi after rats ran riot.
Passengers Missed Flights in Denver Because Security Queues Stretched 2-4 Hours; TSA Doesn’t Pay Attention to Weather Forecasts
Denver security lines can be among the worst in the country on a normal day. Peak holiday travel days aren’t normal days.
The TSA didn’t forecast the volume of travel in Denver the Monday after Christmas. And weather delays meant that flight times bunched up. The TSA didn’t adjust staffing for either event. And that meant lines of 2 to 4 hours to clear the checkpoint.