In my estimation, there is exactly one reason to spend additional time at Newark Liberty Airport (EWR). Hint, it’s not to spend time in the Terminal A waiting area. Virgin Atlantic, which launched its very first route between London and Newark, operates a compact but mighty version if its famed Clubhouse at EWR. While the…
Stockholm Syndrome is a condition observed among hostages who develop an affinity and loyalty to their captors, even when held at gunpoint. I started studying the symptoms in light of a few recently heartbreaking perusals through Delta Skymiles availability calendars. Delta Skymiles isn’t exactly a wasteland, but it’s getting there. Like any frequent flier program, there…
In many cases, costly change fees make it impractical to try to renegotiate points and miles award prices. There are some cases, however when it is possible to earn back miles if prices fall after you book. Take Southwest Airlines, for instance. I recently recovered over 2,000 valuable Rapid Rewards miles by looking out for…
Over 20 years ago, Virgin Atlantic introduced something found nowhere else in the sky, a Premium Economy cabin, somewhere between the increasingly rich perks of business class (Upperclass, in Virgin lingo) and steerage. In hindsight, the concept seems obvious. If passengers pay extra for wider recliners on domestic flights, wouldn’t they be more inclined to…
A post yesterday by Tiffany at One Mile at a Time reminded me of one of the great mysteries of the aviation world. If Singapore Airlines manages one of the best transportation companies on earth (we’re talking, planes, trains, busses, NASA here; SQ is truly top-notch), how do their call centers stink SO BAD? Tiffany…
There are three cabins on the upper deck of Air France’s Airbus A380. Two fall within the mediocre middle of transatlantic offerings, while one is exceptional. The airline has far better business class and premium economy seating on smaller aircraft, particularly the newer 777-300ER, but would be hard pressed to find a better economy class…
JetBlue, long the darling of airline customer service rankings, dropped from fourth to dead last in the Wall Street Journal’s annual airline performance ranking for 2017. Delta Air Lines moved from second in the 2016 rankings to overtake Alaska Airlines in take the top spot in 2017. The poor ranking is influenced by the New…
Utterly private and exceptionally spacious, it’s been called the best seat on board — and it’s not even in first class. Recently, on a quick New Year’s Eve getaway to Paris, I took the chance to experience SWISS Global Airlines’ so-called business class throne seat. SWISS’ unique staggered business class configuration is a double-edged sword…
I had my first experience flying the world’s newest short-haul passenger jet this past weekend. My 50-minute connecting Swiss Global Airlines flight from Zürich Kloten (ZRH) to Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) on a Bombardier CS100 turned out to be a great experience. There has been quite a lot of press around the CSeries program…
Asia-Pacific and European airlines have offered premium economy cabins going on a decade now, but the concept was mostly foreign to U.S. fliers, until 2017. American and Delta both introduced their rendition of premium economy class this year, and there are early indications that many airlines are prepared to start treating premium economy as the…
