United airlines seemed to have run out of funds to pay for gates at Frankfurt. We were at a gate (Z22) where we checked-in, got our boarding passes security stamped, etc. But there was no plane at the end of the jetway. I looked, it was a regular sized jetway with double gates – the type used for wide-body aircraft, but they still had no plane. We were made to walk down two flights of stairs to buses. Those took us mid-field to our 777 parked near a taxiway. It …

For all of us who are mileage junkies, getting the best value for the hard earned miles/points is of premium importance. I am of that camp too. But, when it comes to spending money, I work much harder to make a living than I do to earn miles. So, when I posted my recent article describing how to redeem American Express Membership Rewards points for airline tickets, the backlash I got was surprising. I gave my own example of how I redeemed 35,000 Membership Rewards Points for a $350 airline …

A very interesting article in this Sunday’s New York Times. It states that air travel is the highest carbon emission activity a human being can take. A trans-Atlantic (TATL) or Trans-continental (TCON) flight across the US, can generate 2 to 3 tons of Carbon Emissions! I am not an extreme left wing environmentalist by any measure, but I care about the environment. I believe that we owe our future generations a planet that is in shape good enough to live in. This article is disconcerting. Now, I drive a lot, …

American Express Rewards is one of the best reward programs out there. The flexibility and variety of rewards available is out of this world. I have in the past redeemed Membership Rewards for Macy’s Gift cards (in a convoluted way, though) and for hotel stays. Just last week I redeemed them for airline tickets. The tickets for my flight were pretty steep and reward availability for Saver Rewards (you know the advertised 25,000 mile round trip awards) were unavailable. I did not want to shell out the chase, so I …

I love taking pictures of and flying in wide body aircraft. Sure beats an ERJ anyday! From a travel perspective, it’s all about comfort. The bigger planes are mode spacious, have higher ceilings, larger bins and in upper class, flat seats. Some narrow body aircraft do too, but they are few and far apart. As per taking pictures, I just love these big birds. They are engineering in flight! A marvel to look at, both in the air and on the ground.
Common wide body aircraft one gets to see are:
Boeing …

Chase Card holders with most United Credit Cards need not lose hope. If you are within 5,000 PQM (Elite miles) of reaching your Elite miles target for the year and you cannot make the last flight you needed to get over the threshold, you have an option!
Elite qualification is something some of us have to fight for all year. As a (un)road warrior, this is an annual process for me – scrounge for every PQM to get to (for me) 50,000 PQM in a year for qualifying as a Gold …

TopGuest is a very unique program. I have blogged about it before.(Please read carefully my second post explaining how not to misuse TopGuest). For those who came in late, it gives you points of miles in some of your favorite programs for ‘checking-in’, even if you don’t actually check-in for a paid transaction. So, visiting a hotel for a meeting (which I do regularly) or even stopping by a hotel lobby to pick up a Starbucks, allows you to ‘Check-in’ and earn points.
I have been doing this for a while …

*** OFFER IS NOW UPTO 40,000 MILES. WAS ORIGINALLY 50,000 ***
Every time there is a merger between airlines, I have personally leveraged the opportunity to make sure I get miles in both airlines’ accounts. When the merger does happen, the miles get combined, raising their value. 40,000 miles each in two separate airlines accounts is much less than 80,000 in one airlines. I did this way back with the NorthWest-Delta merger, then with the Continental-United merger and am going to do for the potential US Airways-American Airlines merger.
I already have …

There is absolutely no technical reason for aircraft to not allow cell phone use in-flight. The only issue today is the lack of cell service at that altitude or above water, but that is a technical problem that has already been solved. Airlines like Emirates provide cell phone service on almost all their flights, with an on-board cell tower. It is tine for the airlines to get to the 21st century and make some money along the way.
We live today in a ever-more connected world. We have always-on internet on …

 
 ** OFFER GONE **
When it comes to Credit Cards going wild, nothing beats a card that gives a 100,000 miles! Last year both CapitalOne and British Airways had this offer. Both repeated it earlier this year too, although not as good in it’s terms as last year. British Airways has now taken the unprecedented step to be back a second time Chase is once again a promotion where you can earn a 100,000 Avios.
Here are the terms:

EARN UP TO 100,000 BONUS AVIOS
50,000 Avios after the first purchase
Another 25,000 …