ASIA

Search Results for "ASIA".

Marriott’s New Champagne Vending Machine and BYO Wine on Planes

by Gary Leff

Feb 11 2019

News and notes from around the interweb: Is it snobby to bring your own wine on planes? I think when Delta serves $4 Andre in business class the answer is clearly no. I love trying new wines when I’m flying Singapore (especially) but also Qantas and other carriers in first class. When the wines are mediocre or poorly-paired I just won’t just drink. It’s always a bad idea to drink booze that a flight attendant does not serve to you. My seat opponent on a Dallas – Austin flight was once written up for bringing a to-go cup from the Admirals Club with wine in it — and refusing to give it up when called out by a flight attendant. Her reasoning: she didn’t want to waste the company’s resources. The Emir of Kuwait’s holding…

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American Gets to Keep Its Authority to Fly to China — Without Actually Flying to China

by Gary Leff

china memorial
Feb 07 2019

There’s no Open Skies agreement between the U.S. and China. Instead a bilateral agreement lays out what route authorities can be doled out by respective governments. American Airlines dropped Chicago – Beijing and Chicago – Shanghai and Hawaiian Airlines dropped Honolulu – Beijing. American would like to keep their route authority from Chicago to China even while not using it. That would mean preventing any other U.S. airlines from adding China frequencies, which benefits American by avoiding competition for its Dallas and Los Angeles to Beijing and Shanghai service. So they asked the Department of Transportation to grant a ‘dormancy’ of their authority to keep the routes for a year without flying them. Normally they would lose the routes after 90 days. The odds that they’ll return to flying from Chicago to China are really,…

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British Tourist Arrested and Beaten for Wearing a Qatar Shirt to a Soccer Match in Abu Dhabi

by Gary Leff

picture with stairs around it in a hotel
Feb 05 2019

It’s incredible that Qatar was able to play, beat their geopolitical rivals Saudi Arabia and UAE, and that they had an actual fan in the stadium who dared to support them along the way. That man was punished.

I have to think that this will be enough of an international embarrassment that the UAE will have to back down (though they can’t un-beat the man). Nonetheless it’s a good reminder that when you travel the world you’re subject to the laws of wherever you’ve gone – even if you aren’t aware of what they are.

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How Much Are Miles Really Worth? Assigning a Value to Points from Each Program

by Gary Leff

Jan 31 2019

What is the value of miles and points by airline, hotel and credit card program? Miles used to be thought to be worth 2 cents. I think that conventional wisdom developed out of the idea that a cross country flight cost about $500… or 25,000 miles. 25 years ago that was generally true, and award availability wasn’t really a problem either.

Today the CEO of Delta talks about their miles being worth a penny. When American Airlines awards a mile for travel they book one cent of liability on their books under new accounting rules adopted for 2018. Those rules required the airline to accrue the expected value of transportation to be provided in exchange for their miles.

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Did the Passenger Who Forced a Flight Attendant Help in the Bathroom Buy ANOTHER EVA Air Ticket?

by Gary Leff

man raising hand on plane
Jan 30 2019

A week ago the world learned about one of the worst airline passengers any of us has ever come across, a man who flies to Asia and consistently asks for help in the bathroom — help that he may not actually have needed.

He’s been blacklisted by the airline but media reports suggest he’s managed to circumvent the ban and buy himself another ticket on the airline. I’m skeptical.

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