Economy Class & Beyond
Last Week at Economy Class and Beyond (19th September)
We’ve hit the end of another week of fun, paperwork and games. And we all know what happens at the end of a week – it must be time for Economy Class and Beyond. Classic buses at The Brum Transport – Part of Birmingham Heritage Week. TRIP REPORT: Kevin gets...
Economondo
Review: ITA Airways Airbus A320 – Barcelona to Rome
Flying with Italian flag carrier ITA Airways from Barcelona to Rome
Economy Class & Beyond
Chiltern Railways to be brought back into public control from Sunday 20th September.
Rail operator Chiltern Railways is all set to be moved from private operation and back into public ownership from Sunday 20th September. Great British Railways – Chiltern on a Chiltern Explorer trainset – Image, Department for Transport The Chiltern route connects London Marylebone to destinations across Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and...
Economy Class & Beyond
TRIP REPORT: Off to Heathrow and The British Airways Galleries North Lounge – Kevin gets a little Seoul and Tokyo
Off to Heathrow at 2 a.m., to Heathrow Terminal 5 and British Airways Galleries North Lounge TRIP REPORT: Kevin gets a Little Seoul and Tokyo  Every trip has a starting point. Mine just happens to be at a coach stop 100 miles or so from Heathrow. Let’s take a FlixBus...
Also on BoardingArea
Miles To Memories
Last Chance To Lock In CardPointers’ Valuable Service For Half Off!
There is a great deal going on right now with this CardPointers 50% off sale. Reminder that this one is set to end tonight!
Paddle Your Own Kanoo
Flight Attendants Slam FAA Move to Ban Them From Having Mandatory Meal Breaks: ‘This is Illegal And Would Cause Chaos’
Three of the largest flight attendant unions in the United States have slammed a move by the federal government to block crew members from enjoying mandatory meal breaks under state law, warning that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) not only lacks the legal power to block mandatory meal breaks but...
TravelUpdate
What was it like flying in the 1930s? Check out this video!
Flying in the 1930s was quite different to air travel today, though several aspects are the same. This…
Live and Let’s Fly
Review: Solage (Calistoga) Auberge Collection Napa Valley
The incredible Solage Auberge Collection offered respite and peace on this unique luxury stay in California’s Napa Valley wine country.  Location Solage, from the Auberge Collection, sits at the northern end of Napa Valley in Calistoga, a quiet wine country town known for its vineyards, mineral springs, and mud baths....
TravelUpdate
Review: Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge Boston South Station
I recently visited the Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge at Boston South Station before my Acela First Class train from…
View from the Wing
Why Flight Attendants Look Young And Pretty In Asia—And Why U.S. Airlines Stopped Selling Sex Appeal
U.S. airlines once sold tickets with young women in hot pants. Deregulation, discrimination law and seniority changed that model. Asian and Gulf airlines face different hiring incentives—and Singapore’s grooming standards show how much of the difference is deliberate.
The Gate with Brian Cohen
Decay Under the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto. Sunday Morning Photograph.
Gardiner Expressway is a vital highway in Toronto that parallels the shoreline of Lake Ontario — but I noticed how much decay was visible underneath the elevated section of the highway as I was waiting at a traffic light on Cherry Street to head west. The...
One Mile at a Time
Japan Airlines Mileage Bank Added As Citi ThankYou Transfer Partner, Plus A 30% Bonus
Citi ThankYou can now transfer to Japan Airlines Mileage Bank at 1:1, and a 30% bonus through October 24, 2026 makes this new partnership worth a look.
Frequent Miler
Fee-free Visa Gift Cards in-store at Staples
Staples is again offering fee-free fixed $200 Visa Gift Cards, through Saturday, September 26, 2026. The limit is nine per customer per day in-store, although some stores may allow more. Different stores appear to have different policies regarding the variable-load cards that some Staples now sell. Some folks report that...
One Mile at a Time
Transfer Citi ThankYou Points To Avianca Lifemiles With 25% Bonus: Worth It?
Citi ThankYou points can now be transferred to Avianca Lifemiles with a 25% bonus through October 24, 2026 — here's how the deal works.
Miles To Memories
Citi Adds Japan Airlines as ThankYou Transfer Partner With 30% Launch Bonus
Citi ThankYou Rewards has added Japan Airlines Mileage Bank as its newest airline transfer partner, with a limited-time 30% bonus available through October 24.
Monkey Miles
Citi Thank You adds Japan Airlines Mileage Bank as a Transfer partner with 30% bonus
It was rumored a couple of months ago that Citi would be adding Japan Airlines as a transfer partner when it randomly showed up on a dropdown menu of parnters but wasn’t officially listed on the Citi site. Well…the rumor proved to be true, and today we officially have the...
One Mile at a Time
Hilton Honors Free Night Awards: How To Earn, Redeem, & Get The Best Value
Two Hilton Honors American Express cards earn free night awards each year. Here's how to earn, redeem, and maximize the value of these certificates.
Frequent Miler
Citi adds Japan Airlines as a 1:1 partner, launches 30% transfer bonus
A few weeks ago, some eagle-eyed rewards enthusiasts noticed that Japan Airlines (JAL) was added to the loyalty programs that you could save within your Citi ThankYou profile. JAL has recently become much more active in becoming partners with US-based transferable programs. Over the last eighteen months, it has joined...
View from the Wing
Citi Adds Japan Airlines Transfers—30% Bonus Brings Europe Business Class Down To 66,000 Points Roundtrip
Citi’s new Japan Airlines partnership launches with a 30% transfer bonus through October 24. With an eligible annual-fee card, 66,000 Citi points cover an 85,000-mile Emirates business class roundtrip to Europe when award seats are available, plus roughly $250 in taxes and fees.
Eye of the Flyer
Delta Flights Shift Again, LAX Keeps Growing, and One Hotel Booking Trap to Avoid — Weekly Recap
Delta moved flights again, LAX is getting bigger, and René found a strange way prepaid hotel reservations can seemingly disappear. Plus, a few travel stories you may have missed.
View from the Wing
Exclusive: Chase Plans A 16,000-Square Foot Sapphire Lounge At Seattle Airport
Chase is planning a 16,000-square-foot Sapphire Lounge at Seattle’s airport, right next to Delta’s lounge complex, with $70 million committed to construction and a future refurbishment. Port commissioners will consider the lease September 22.
Live and Let’s Fly
Boeing Engineers Could Strike And Freeze The 777X
Boeing's 17,000 engineers could walk on October 6, and Kelly Ortberg admits a strike would freeze 777X certification. Boeing cannot afford it.
One Mile at a Time
Philippine Airlines A350 Business Class: Nice Seats, Friendly Service, Good Value
A first look at Philippine Airlines' new A350-1000 business class: comfortable suites, friendly but surface-level service, and solid value for the price.
PointsMath
Buy Lufthansa Miles & More Miles with a 50% Bonus [1.40¢/Mile]
Lufthansa is a member of the Star Alliance. Its frequent flyer program is Miles & More. Although its miles are among the hardest to earn worldwide, one of the easiest ways to earn them is to buy Lufthansa Miles now with a 50% bonus; however, this promotion is available only...
PointsMath
Review: LOT Polish B787 Premium Economy [DEL-WAW]
LOT Polish is a Poland-based airline that primarily flies to Europe, the US, India, and Japan. It offers three cabin configurations on long-haul flights. Recently, I flew in its premium economy cabin from Delhi to Warsaw and returned from Munich to Delhi on a Lufthansa A380. Here is how the...
2PAXfly
WEEKLY REVIEW: Sunday 20 September, 2026
Hello travellers, Greetings from the central coast of New South Wales! I’ve just had a very pleasant weekend being pampered and fed by some good friends. It’s been a quiet week on the blog, as I have had a few business issues to deal with. Some of you may have...
One Mile at a Time
Amex Business Gold Card Review: Are 4x Points & Credits Worth The Fee?
An in-depth look at the Amex Business Gold Card, covering its up to 4x points categories, massive welcome offer, and annual credits worth up to $845.
Frequent Miler
Last Chance Deals: IHG award sale, Delta Amex Offer, Southwest 2X promo, & more
Welcome to our weekly list of what’s ending this week, along with a collection of other deals due to end soon. It’s not a particularly busy week for deals about to expire, but it’s still worth being aware of them in case any are of interest. Those offers include a...
Traveling For Miles
Flash sale: British Airways short-haul flights discounted through Monday
British Airways has, today, launched a flash sale for short-haul bookings flown between November 2026 and March 2027 with the Christmas period blacked out. But don't restrict yourself to what the flash sale is offering as when we checked to see what deals we could find, we discovered quite a...
Traveling For Miles
Hilton continues to disappoint with its woeful 4Q 2026 global promotion
When was the last time Hilton published a promotion that made anyone sit up and pay attention? That's a genuine question because I can't remember and unfortunately, the latest offering out of Hilton Honors isn't bucking the trend of dire promotion after dire promotion.
Traveling For Miles
Hyatt opens the Clayfield in Niagara-on-the-Lake (award nights from 15,000 points)
Hyatt has opened a brand new property located near Lake Ontario and in one of Canada's winemaking regions. The Clayfield, part of the Unbound Collection, is the latest Canadian addition to the World of Hyatt and as a Category 5 property, award nights here start at 15,000 points per night.
Traveling For Miles
InterContinental Ambassadors & Royal Ambassadors are losing another flagship property
In recent years, we've seen a number of prominent InterContinental hotels get a big makeover and then get reflagged to IHG's high-end Regent brand. From a rewards standpoint, this doesn't make much of a difference to regular IHG One Rewards members, but for members with InterContinental Ambassador status and Royal...
Economy Class & Beyond
Lufthansa exercises Boeing 737 MAX options, goes for the 737-10
The Lufthansa Group continues its fleet modernisation, with the airline’s board authorising the purchase of further Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. Boeing 737-10 in Boeing house colours – Image, The Boeing Company, Supplied by Lufthansa The Supervisory Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG has approved the exercise of options for 20 Boeing...
Traveling For Miles
Register now for the IHG One Rewards 4Q 2026 promotion (earn up to 3x with no cap)
Almost a year to the day that it published its 4Q global promotion for 2025, IHG has published its 4Q promotion for 2026 and the two promotions are very similar. But they're not identical. They differ in two very key ways.
Traveling For Miles
How the Finnair Plus and Radisson Rewards partnership works (top-tier elite status match available)
Towards the beginning of August, a partnership between Finnair Plus and Radisson Rewards came to light courtesy of a few web pages that had gone live a little too early and which weren't ready for primetime. Now, however, the partnership is up and running properly (apparently), and for some people,...
Economy Class & Beyond
British Airways announces new services to Tanzania, with some service uplifts beyond North America
British Airways is being a little bit creative with its route network for Summer 2027, with the airline planning to launch services to Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar, as well as taking the Buenos Aires route non-stop… and adding capacity on routes. Let’s dive in. New to the network British Airways is...