In 2017, I flew 99,238 miles, which is the first time since 2012 that I haven’t crossed the 100k miles mark. Surprisingly, in spite of using miles for many of my long-haul trips, I somehow qualified for American Airlines Platinum status (thanks mostly to the Qatar business class fare out of Vietnam). This isn’t really…
A couple of notes about this flight. First, there’s pre-clearance at Abu Dhabi, which means that you essentially clear immigration in Abu Dhabi and land as a “domestic” flight in the US. This unfortunately means that you have to leave the wonderful first class lounge much earlier than you normally would. Past pre-clearance, there’s a…
My next stop during my layover at AUH was the Etihad Airways First Class Lounge and Spa. This visit happened just a couple of weeks after this lounge opened. The lounge isn’t enormous like the Qatar Airways Al Safwa lounge or the Emirates First Class lounge in Dubai, but it’s tastefully appointed and has plenty…
My first stop during my transit of Abu Dhabi airport was the Etihad Premium Lounge. This lounge is open to business class passengers flying on Etihad. The lounge has all of the typical amenities of a business class lounge: plenty of seating, a business center, dining area, and bar. In addition, there are also some…
For remote gates (C20 to C29), you can take an elevator from the first class lounge directly to a premium bus transfer. But you do have to wait for all of the first class passengers before the bus will leave. On the flight, most of the first class cabin was occupied by a woman, her…
I’ve reviewed Qatar’s business class Al Mourjan airport lounge before at Doha, but this was my first visit to Qatar’s first class Al Safwa lounge. As I stepped off my previous flight from Guangzhou, I was met by a person with my name on my sign. This person escorted me through transit security (and let…
My flight from Guangzhou to Doha was delayed due to traffic at Guangzhou. There were some bad thunderstorms that day, which also delayed the incoming flight. At the gate, there was a large antsy crowd of passengers ready to board. Qatar puts their first class cabin on the upper deck, so I climbed the stairs…
This lounge was extremely crowded when I visited because a lot of airlines use this lounge for their premium passengers at Guangzhou. It’s also accessible via Priority Pass, which probably adds to the crowding. The lounge is actually deceptively large. It’s pretty long, and there are a fair number of seating areas. In addition, there’s…
Transferring at Guangzhou was an… interesting experience. Probably because I was transferring from Royal Jordanian to Qatar at neither of their hubs. When I got off my Royal Jordanian flight, I asked the ground crew how to transfer flights, and they had no idea what to do with me. I ended up finding a friendly…
Editor’s Note: This post was not written by me, but was instead written by a friend who travels a lot for his job. I am posting his note with his permission, and I have to agree that wearing a medical face mask is a life changer on airplanes (I tried it for the first time…
