The UK High Court Forces A Virgin Atlantic Pilots Union To Cancel Its Christmas...
Here's a bit of good news for Virgin Atlantic flyers this holiday season - your travels should now be free from industrial action and, all things remaining the same, Virgin's flights should be operating as normal for the next few weeks.
Delta Is Complaining About Qatar Airways Again (And No One Is Surprised)
It's not all that difficult to dislike the three legacy US airlines based purely on how they treat their customers but it's their truly abhorrent hypocrisy that annoys me most....and Delta really leads the way on that front.
Emirates Has Opened A New First/Business Class Lounge In Rome
Emirates has announced the opening of its new lounge at Rome's Fiumicino airport and, thanks to the images supplied by the airline, we can now get a glimpse inside the new facility.
London Gatwick Airport Closed By A Drone – Sabotage Suspected
London's Gatwick Airport is currently closed and is expected to remain closed until at least 10:00(UK)/05:00(ET) because of a drone incursion that has been going on for over 12 hours.
Los Angeles Cracks Down On AirBnB – Good News For Renters, Bad News For...
Santa Monica essentially banned residents from renting out their properties via AirBnB over a year ago (AirBnB lost an appeal earlier this year), the City of West Hollywood followed suit in the first half of 2018 and now the City of Los Angeles (covering by far the biggest area of the three) has announced new rules to curb the rapid growth of AirBnB within its borders.
KLM Has Opened The First Part Of Its New Crown Lounge In Amsterdam
If you travel with SkyTeam into and out of Europe with any kind of frequency there's a good chance that you spend quite a bit of time at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport. Amsterdam is one of SkyTeam's major connecting hubs so the news that KLM is starting to open up its new Crowne Lounge at Schiphol will be music to the ears of a lot of flyers...and that fact that the lounge looks good will be a bonus.
British Airways Is Relaxing Lounge Access Rules Over The Holidays (For Some)
Over recent years British Airways has taken to relaxing its lounge entrance criteria during times when business travel is slower and when families are more likely to be traveling together.
For a period during this past summer British Airways relaxed its entry rules at its Heathrow lounges to allow its Gold status holders to bring at least two guests into its Business Class lounges
Air France Unveils Its Refurbished Dining Area At New York JFK
Yesterday, 11 December 2018, Air France unveiled the refurbished dining area of its lounge at New York JFK and promised more upgrades to come in February 2019.
Situated in JFK Terminal 1 the Air France Lounge is open to La Première, Business Class, Flying Blue Platinum and Flying Blue Gold flyers. Select SkyTeam elite status holders also have access.
London Heathrow Will Have The Next International Amex Centurion Lounge
American Express has announced that its next international Centurion Lounge will open at London Heathrow's Terminal 3 in 2019. This will be Amex's first Centurion Lounge in Europe and the first international lounge to be opened since the Hong Kong Centurion Lounge opened in October 2017.
New York’s LaGuardia Airport Will Open A New Concourse Tomorrow
Joe Biden famously once compared New York's LaGuardia airport to a third world country and not many people disagreed with him (although the comment may have been a bit unfair on third world countries).
Since then LaGuardia has been undergoing some significant changes and there was a big reshuffle a little over a year ago when Delta, JetBlue and American Airlines all moved around to new locations. Now we're about to see the next phase of LaGuardia's regeneration.
Flying To Dubai or Abu Dhabi? Your Medications May Be Illegal!
A cautious friend of mine is currently planning his first visit to Dubai and he recently pointed out something to me on the British Foreign Office's website that made me stop and wonder what the UAE is thinking.
I've visited the UAE a number of times and have had good experiences on all visits but it shouldn't come as a shock to anyone when I say that some of the rules you'll find in the UAE aren't exactly what most of us may be used to.
Virgin Atlantic May Be About To Get A Lot More Interesting For Premium Cabin...
Virgin Atlantic has a solid Premium Economy product, a pretty reasonable Economy Class product (or so I'm told - I haven't flown it in years) and a truly terrible Business Class product. I tried out the Virgin Atlantic A330 Upper Class (Business Class) seat on an overnight flight not all that long ago and it's one of the only Business Class seats that has ever made me wish I was back in British Airways Club World. I genuinely have no idea how a modern, European airline gets away with such a bad seat....but deliverance may be on the way.
Emirates Has Opened A New First & Business Class Lounge In Cairo
Emirates opened its new First & Business Class lounge in Cairo on Thursday last week and has shared details of what the new lounge offers as well as a few images too.
Delta’s Refurbished Sky Club At Washington Reagan Is Now Open
Towards the end of last month Delta unveiled its refreshed Sky Club at Washington’s Ronald Reagan Airport (DCA) and, although the airline hasn’t exactly gone overboard with the images it has provided, it has released a fair amount of information detailing what flyers can expect when they visit.
United’s New San Francisco Polaris Lounge Opens
United has been exceptionally slow when it comes to rolling out its Polaris Business Class product (in the air and on the ground) and there have been a few questions flying around questioning just how committed to Polaris the airline actually is.
At the time of writing there are no more than a handful of United's 777s equipped with the new Polaris Business Class cabin (even though United now calls all of its Business Class cabins "Polaris") and the new lounge roll-out program has, up until now, been woefully behind United's original schedule...but that looks as if it's changing.
British Airways Opens A New Lounge In Rome
British Airways has opened a brand new lounge facility for passengers traveling through Rome Fiumicino airport. The new lounge is part of a broader lounge revamp program that the airline is undertaking as part of its often mentioned £4.5bn ($6.3bn) investment into aircraft, cabins and the passenger experience.
Hilton Adds A New Resort In The Maldives
The majority of miles & points collectors like to use their balances on aspirational travel and when it comes to aspirational travel the Maldives ranks quite highly. If you're a Hilton loyalist, right now you have just the one option when visiting the Maldives (the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island) but, from the end of this year, a second Maldivian property should be bookable on Hilton.com.
New Air New Zealand Route To Chicago – Here’s What You Need To Know
Air New Zealand is the latest airline to announce that it will be launching an ultra haul flight using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner as the airline schedules service between Auckland and Chicago. Ultra long-haul routes are now slowly becoming more common but the aircraft that operate them vary significantly and it's worth taking a closer look at what Air New Zealand offers before you think about trying this route out.
Singapore Airlines New Regional 787-10 Business & Economy Class Cabins
Singapore Airlines has just taken delivery of its first Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner and the airline has now revealed the cabins passengers can expect to find onboard.
The 787-10 aircraft are configured with 337 seats across two classes (no First Class or Premium economy on this aircraft) and will operate on Singapore Airlines flights of up to 8 hours.
Lufthansa Is The Latest Airline To Introduce Biometric Boarding To LAX
Around two weeks ago British Airways announced that its biometric gate trials have gone so well in Los Angeles that it has rolled them out to Orlando and New York as well...and now Lufthansa is joining in at Los Angeles International Airport too.
Air Tahiti Nui 787 Dreamliner – Here’s What You Need To Know
Towards the end of last week Air Tahiti Nui finally announced the dates on which we can expect to see it launch its brand new 787-9 Dreamliners on three of its routes. As this is the airline that offers one of only three ways to get between the US and French Polynesia non-stop I thought I'd take a look at what we can expect from the new aircraft.
Qantas Unveils Its New International Transit Lounge In Perth
Qantas will be starting up the first non-stop service between Australia and Europe when it starts up its Perth - London route tomorrow (24 March 2018). So far we know all about the Qantas 787-9 Dreamliner that the airline will be operating on the route, we've been given an insight into the food Qantas will be serving on the ultra long-haul flight and we know that the new international lounge in Perth will be very exclusive....but we haven't really had a real idea of what the lounge will look like.
British Airways Is Changing The Way It Files Short-Haul Fares From 4 April –...
British Airways has sent a note out to travel industry professionals reminding them that the way the airline presents and files its short-haul fares will be changing from 4 April 2018. Normally how an airline presents its fares to the travel industry isn't really of importance or interest to regular travelers but, in this instance, there may be more to this than just a few name and presentation changes.
Crossrail’s Elizabeth Line Will Make Efficient Travel From Heathrow Into London Cheaper
London is not a cheap city to visit and getting a taxi from Heathrow to the center of London can often leave you wondering if you should remortgage your home or sell an organ to raise the fare. There's aways the option of the London underground but that's not exactly speedy and while the Heathrow Express train service is certainly quick it's certainly not cheap.
London's new Crossrail Elizabeth line has long been billed as the answer to a lot of journey problems that Londoners and those visiting London face and, as this new line will extend out to Heathrow, it's of importance to those of us who fly in and out of Heathrow with any frequency.
Delta Will Open A New Sky Club In Phoenix This Year
Delta has announced that it plans to open a new Sky Club at Phoenix Sky Harbour International airport in 2018. As things stand Delta flyers don't have a Sky Club in Phoenix and the closest Priority Pass lounge is in a neighbouring terminal so this should be good news for Delta flyers.
Marriott’s Autograph Collection Plans New Belize Resort
I loved Belize when I visited it a few years ago. I visited outside of the busy season (May) so where I was staying was beautifully tranquil and the scuba diving was fantastic. I've been looking for a reason to return and it's just possible that Marriott is about to give me one.
British Airways Extends Biometric Gate Trials In The US
British Airways has been using biometric gates at its London Heathrow base for quite some time (I've yet to be given the chance to use one but they're definitely there) and, since November last year, BA has had three biometric gates at Los Angeles International airport where it has been trialling the technology.
Well, the trials must have gone pretty well at LAX because British Airways has extended the biometric trial to its facilities in New York (JFK), Miami and Orlando.
Lufthansa Is Adding “Buy On Board” Meals On Long-Haul Flights….But The News Isn’t As...
Buy on board food options are commonplace on most airlines' short-haul routes all around the world but, when it comes to long-haul flights, it's generally only the low-cost carriers like WOW and Norwegian that ask Economy Class passengers to pay extra for their food.
Now it looks like Lufthansa is joining the long-haul buy on board party...but not in a way that should worry fans of the airline.
British Airways Confirms It’s Making Its Heathrow 777s More Uncomfortable Too
At the beginning of the week British Airways unveiled the new cabins it is installing on the Boeing 777 aircraft it operates out of its Gatwick base. The biggest change passengers will see is that the airline has squeezed an extra seat into each row of Economy Class meaning that the already cramped seating conditions are about to get worse.....but it turns out that Gatwick will not be the only base to get these aircraft.
Virgin Atlantic Is The Latest Airline To Offer Basic Economy (Hand Baggage Only) Fares
Delta, Air France/KLM led the way with transatlantic Basic Economy fares, last week the oneworld airlines joined in and now Virgin Atlantic has also announced that it will start offering Basic Economy (aka "hand baggage only) fares across the Atlantic within the next few months.
Virgin Atlantic is actually doing things slightly differently to the other legacy airlines in that it's sub-dividing its Economy Class cabin into three separate offerings each of which offers a little bit more that the last.
Mandarin Oriental Now Has A Loyalty Program You Should Join
I really like Mandarin Oriental hotels...and that's coming from someone who has never actually spent a night at a Mandarin Oriental property in his life. I've visited a good number of the chain's properties around the world but I've only ever been inside to look around, to enjoy a great bar (Las Vegas) or to dine (London, Tokyo, Las Vegas, Milan) but each time I've noticed just how good and attentive the service seems to be.
British Airways Has Unveiled Its New Tightly-Packed 777 Cabins
British Airways will be unleashing its refurbished high-density Boeing 777 aircraft on a largely unsuspecting public in the next few months, and the airline has now released images to show what the refurbishment will look like and what passengers can expect.....sort of.
Club Carlson Is Now “Radisson Rewards” and The Name Isn’t The Only Change
The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group (which was always a mouthful) has been rebranded as the "Radisson Hotel Group" with immediate effect and alongside the group's name change come changes to the group's loyalty program too.
Emirates Reveals New 777-200LR Cabins – Business Class Just Got Better
Back in November Emirates confirmed that it would be refitting its ten 777-200LR aircraft with new interiors before launching the refreshed aircraft in March. We've known from the outset that the aircraft would be losing its First Class cabin and that Business Class would be losing a seat from each row but, until now, we didn't really know much more.
New Swiss First Class Lounge Opens In Zurich Today (There’s A New Chauffeur Service...
SWISS is opening the doors to its new First Class lounge at Zurich's Terminal A today and, at the same time, the carrier is launching a new chauffeur service for its First Class customers arriving into Zurich airport.
Emirates Skywards Reaches 20 Million Member Mark
Emirates says that its Skywards loyalty program now attracts, on average, 220,000 new members every month and that last week the total Skywards membership crossed the 20 million mark.
Cathay Pacific’s New Hong Kong Lounge Set To Open – Welcome To “The Deck”
The Cabin was first Cathay Pacific lounge to offer the modern, sleek look we have come to expect when we walk through the doors on one of the airline's renovated spaces but, a little over seven years after it first opened, the lounge is set to close at the end of April this year. In its place comes "The Deck" and we finally have our first look at what the latest Cathay Pacific lounge will offer.
Delta, Sprint & Others Join Forces To Give Customers Seamless Mobile Services
Delta, Sprint, Airbus, Airtel and OneWeb have formed the "Seamless Air Alliance" which will look to allow member mobile/cell operators to extend the services they offer into aircraft cabins.
New design Senator Lounge opens in Vienna
Senator lounges are the lounges that sit one tier below Lufthansa Group's exclusive First Class lounges and the newest Senator lounge has just opened its doors in Vienna revealing a new design.
United Announces First 737 MAX 9 Routes & Adds A Bit Of Nonsense For...
United Airlines has announced the first routes on which we'll see the airline try out its new Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft and, with the announcement, the airline's PR team couldn't resist adding in a small bit of nonsense in the hope that no one will them out on it.
Qantas Makes Its New Perth Lounge Very Exclusive
Qantas is expected to open its new international lounge at Perth Terminal 3 on 24 March just in time for the start of the new non-stop Perth - London route which will be operated by the airline's Dreamliners. While the plans for the lounge look very nice indeed it looks as if there will be a lot of disappointed Qantas flyers come opening day.
UK Regulator Investigating Airline Seating Policies
The UK's aviation watchdog/regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has announced that it is looking into the seating policies adopted by a number of airlines following complaints from the public that they have been unfairly separated from their traveling companions.
VIDEO: Latest Tourism Australia Ads Revive “Crocodile Dundee”
Those of you who remember life before the internet, cell phones, overpaid sports stars and mind-numbing reality TV (and the "stars" that go with it) may remember the Crocodile Dundee movies of the 1980's (I'm ignoring the disastrous attempt at a re-boot in 2001). Well, Crocodile Dundee is back....or at least his son is.
Lufthansa Opens A New Lounge At Milan Malpensa Airport
Lufthansa has announced that it has opened its new lounge at Milan Malpensa airport and, from the information provided by the airline, it looks as if flyers will have a nice new place to relax or get some work done before a flight.
Air France Reopens A Remodelled Business Class Lounge At Paris CDG
Air France has announced the reopening of its Business Class lounge in Hall "L" in Terminal 2 of Paris Charles De Gaulle airport. The lounge has been completely redesigned and is considerably larger than the facility it has replaced.
Delta Moves To Curb Fake Service & Support Animals On Board
If you ask US road warriors to list out the things that annoy them the most when they fly most of them will put unruly fake support animals down somewhere on their list.
Because the Air Carriers Access Act requires airlines to provide in-cabin travel for for service and support animals without charge, the number of animals seen onboard domestic flights had ballooned out of proportion and a lot of us suspect that a large percentage of these animals are neither genuine service animals or genuine support animals.
American Express Announces New Centurion Lounge For JFK
American Express has announced that it plans to open a new Centurion Lounge at New York JFK's Terminal 4 in "early 2019". According to Amex the lounge will have "spectacular airfield views and exceptional amenities" and will be the largest Centurion Lounge in the network.
UK Government Will Increase Taxes On Premium Cabin Bookings
The UK government has confirmed that it will be increasing its Air Passenger Duty (APD) rates on long-haul premium cabin fares in April 2018 and again in April 2019. APD on all short-haul fares will remain frozen (as previously announced) as will APD on long-haul Economy Class fares from 2019.
See Inside Airport Terminals With Apple Maps
One of the new features built in to the new iOS update (iOS 11) is an enhancement to the Apple Maps app which allows users to search for an airport, zoom in on the map and see inside the airport's terminals.
I'm more of a Google Maps person than an Apple Maps person so I didn't notice this feature when it formed part of a beta release earlier this year (for San Jose and Philadelphia airports only). Now Apple has added a few more airports
Travelers Flying To The US From Hong Kong Can No Longer Use In Town...
I love the option of checking in in downtown Hong Kong because the lines are often non-existant and, if you have baggage to check-in, it means you don't have to schlep it all the way to the airport on the train - you check in at the station and the next time you see your bags is at your destination. It's great.
Sadly, however, travelers heading to the US will no longer be allowed to use this option with immediate effect.
The Amex Centurion Lounge Hong Kong Opened Today
The American Express Centurion lounge portfolio continues to grow and now not just in the US. The new Centurion lounge in Hong Kong opened its doors today making it the first Centurion lounge outside of North America.
Uber Loses License To Operate In London
The transport regulator in London (Transport For London) has said that it will nor be renewing the private hire operator license issued to Uber London Limited.
The current license expires on 30 September 2017 and Uber had 21 days to appeal the decision during which time it can continue to operate.
A Look Inside SkyTeam’s New Beijing Airport Lounge
SkyTeam has provided the first pictures of its soon to be opened lounge at Beijing International airport and, based on these together with the details supplied, it looks like flyers are going to have a very nice lounge option available to them in the next few weeks.
A Look Inside The New Qantas Business Class Lounge In Brisbane
If there is one thing that I like most about Qantas it's that it can do airport lounges very well when it puts it's mind to it. The First Class lounge in Sydney is fantastic, the Qantas First Class lounge at LAX is my favorite lounge in the US and I can't wait for the new Qantas lounge to open at London Heathrow Terminal 3 next year. All this is why I was particularly interested to see what Qantas would be offering at its new Brisbane International Lounge which opened its doors yesterday.
Qatar Is Relaxing Visa Rules For Travelers On Short Visits
I'm an unabashed fan of Qatar Airways and that's primarily because the airline offers some truly fantastic Business Class deals from various cities in Europe to any number of cities in Asia. Unsurprisingly all of Qatar Airways flights route through their home base in Doha so, although this can take a little longer than a direct flight, it also offers an opportunity to visit Qatar.
The New Delta One Suite Looks Fantastic!
You have to feel a little sorry for United and American Airlines (ok you don't really). United and American have been playing catch-up to Delta for years and things looked like they were starting to go their way. American Airlines finally has some excellent Business Class cabins on its long haul aircraft (the 777-300ER currently has the best Business Class seat across the Atlantic and the 787 seats aren't too far behind) and United must have been looking forward to a long period where it clawed back some of the customers it haemorrhaged to Delta with its own impressive-looking Polaris Business Class that is coming in December.
DOT Begins To Award Flights To Cuba – American, JetBlue & Southwest All Winners
Back in February the United States signed a historic agreement with Cuba to finally re-establish a true scheduled air services between the two countries. Although charter flights between the US And Cuba have existed for years the last scheduled flights between the US and Cuba took place over half a century ago.
Since the agreement with Cuba was announced, a number of U.S. airlines have been submitted applications to the Department of Transportation (DOT) for authority to operate routes between the U.S. and Cuba but, because of restrictions within in the agreement, not all the airlines can get what they ask for.
Etihad Opens New First Class Lounge In Abu Dhabi
It's been a long time coming and faced a number of long delays but the Etihad First Class Lounge & Spa Abu Dhabi is finally open as of today.
Without having visited the lounge in person (clearly!) I'm not in much of a position to comment on what the Etihad First Class lounge in Abu Dhabi is like so, what follows is all the information and pictures Etihad has supplied so far.
Cathay Pacific The Pier Business Class Lounge – Sneak Peek
Cathay Pacific has been refurbishing a number of its lounges over the past year and yesterday it offered up a preview of its Pier Business Class lounge at Hong Kong airport to a select group of guests (clearly my invitation was lost in the mail!).
GoGo Introduces Messaging Pass
GoGo is the domestic WiFi provider of choice for a good number of US Airlines including Delta, United, and American Airlines amongst others. The plans that are offered vary from a 1-hour pass at $5 all the way up to a recurring monthly plan for $50 for a specific airline or $60 for use on all GoGo equipped airlines. All GoGo's plans are for full internet access and allow the user to surf the web, check emails, send messages and do pretty much anything other than stream to your device.
Star Alliance Introduces Connecting Partners
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US Global Entry Program Now Open For British Citizens
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