Earlier in 2014, there was a brief period when Qantas released a bit of first class award space to Australia. Qantas first class is a pretty challenging redemption, so I jumped on the opportunity, even though it meant that I would be heading to Australia during its winter. I redeemed 72,500 American miles for a first…
Introduction + Trip Planning Booking a Round-the-World Award for My Sister Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Vancouver Airport (YVR) Lufthansa First Class YVR to FRA Boeing 747-400 Lufthansa First Class Lounge Terminal B Frankfurt Airport (FRA) Thai Airways First Class FRA to BKK A380 Thai Airways Royal Orchid Lounge Concourse E Thai Airways Business Class BKK…
For my Southeast Asia trip, I met my sister in Bangkok as she had considerably more time to travel last summer than I did. She was planning on going to numerous places throughout the summer and had briefly mentioned to me the idea that she was going to buy a round-the-world cash ticket for many thousands of…
Instead of the usual answering of reader questions, I’m posing a series of potentially (or in today’s case, severely) inane questions to readers instead. I really appreciate airplane pajamas. My favorite airplane pajamas are those from Cathay Pacific made by PYE, and I regularly wear the bottoms as pajamas even when I’m not on planes. I’ve actually…
If you’ve got a lengthly layover at LAX, you should consider the In-N-Out layover. There’s an In-N-Out not too far from the airport, and you can sit outside and watch the planes pass by overhead as you enjoy your animal-style fries and burger. While the In-N-Out is within walking distance of the airport (it takes…
Links to stories #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, and #8. In Cape Town, my sister and I ended up taking a minibus to get to a restaurant that was a little off the beaten path. Every white person that we spoke to in Cape Town told us that we shouldn’t take the minibuses because they weren’t…
I wasn’t super impressed after the first leg of my Singapore Suites journey, but I could immediately tell after boarding that this flight was going to be a lot better. Just from the warmth of the greeting, I knew that I was in for a treat. While the load from SIN to NRT was 10/12, there…
HANOI Hanoi is renowned for its busy streets and seemingly unfriendly roads for pedestrians. Lots of visitors have stories about being stuck on one side of the street for minutes, as they’re too timid to cross given the endless stream of motorbikes and cars. But really, crossing the street in Hanoi is simple: just don’t…
Instead of the typical answering reader questions, I’m instead posing a series of questions for readers to share their thoughts on this week. I appreciate good service. But even as I write that, I think it’s ambiguous what I mean by “good service”. Is good service unobserved and unobtrusive? Is it fawning and obsequious? A service…
I’ve previously reviewed the ANA Suite and Business Class Lounges at Satellite 5, but I checked ou the ANA Suite Lounge at Satellite 4 this time around. Unlike the last time I was at the ANA Suite Lounge, it wasn’t particularly crowded, and there were plenty of different seating options to choose from. If it…
