Live and Let's Fly
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Follow along as Matthew helps you use your miles and points in a smart way to travel the world. Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries over the last decade. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world.
Live and Let's Fly
4h ago
Restaurants and even retail locations are adding an automatic gratuity but enough is enough. Can you refuse to pay automatic gratuities?
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Autogratuities At Hotels, Taxis, Restaurants
In recent trips to New York and Miami a growing number of restaurants have implemented an auto gratuity on service whether or not it was a service that received traditional tipping. From taxis that alread ..read more
Live and Let's Fly
18h ago
It’s nice to see passengers held accountable for their poor behavior onboard when they get drunk and make a scene. One British man has been ordered to pay United Airlines over $20,000 in restitution for his drunk and disorderly conduct onboard.
British Man Must Pay United Airlines $20,000 Restitution For Poor Onboard Behavior, Diversion
On March 1, 2024 a United Airlines flight from Newark (EWR) to London (LHR) diverted to Bangor, Maine (BGR). The US Department of Justice describes what went down with 30-year-old Alexander Michael Dominic MacDonald:
While the flight was in U.S. airspace, Mac ..read more
Live and Let's Fly
21h ago
For those who missed my earlier TAROM A318 business class review, I want to focus here on how a flight attendant turned my economy class seat into a business class seat…which helps understand why European carriers do business class a very different way than US carriers.
Turning An Economy Class Seat Into A Business Class Seat It A Little Easier On European Carriers…
When you fly “business class” within Europe on most carriers (like Air France, British Airways, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, or SWISS), you will not find a “real” business class seat, as you can expect in North America or Asia. By real ..read more
Live and Let's Fly
21h ago
Flying on TAROM is like stepping back in time 20 years. My TAROM A318 flight from London to Bucharest reminded me of what it was like to fly when I was a child–both the good and the bad.
TAROM A318 Business Class Review
I booked my ticket from London to Sofia, Bulgaria via Bucharest for 25K Delta SkyMiles in business class. Thankfully, I was able to check in and choose a seat on TAROM’s mobile app, as I was connecting in London on a separate ticket and did not want to go through passport control.
Since the SkyTeam lounge in Heathrow Terminal 4 is now closed, I used the Plaza Premium Lounge ..read more
Live and Let's Fly
1d ago
Lebanese authorities were so incensed at seeing “Tel Aviv” on the side of an Ethiopian Airlines 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft that Africa’s largest air carrier was forced to remove it before it could take off from Beirut. No folks, this is not The Onion….
Ethiopian Airlines 787-9 With “Tel Aviv” Written On Fuselage Not Welcome In Lebanon
I’ll never forget my first visit to Beirut. It was 2011, back when Israel still stamped passports, and my passport back then was as thick and big as…well, it was nice back in the day when instead of a 50-page limit, you could keep adding sections to your passport ..read more
Live and Let's Fly
1d ago
Unlike my previous visit, the Plaza Premium in London Heathrow (LHR) T4 was packed with a dismal selection of food…I stayed only a few minutes, preferring to wait for my flight in the gate area.
Plaza Premium Lounge Review – London Heathrow T4 (LHR)
First, the LHR T4 Plaza Premium Lounge is virtually unchanged since my last visit in 2018 (review below). In fact, the only change I noticed (rather humorous if you read what happened last time) was the removal of the coffee machine from the bar area.
I arrived in the lounge around 1:15 PM ahead of my TAROM flight to Bucharest (the SkyTeam loung ..read more
Live and Let's Fly
2d ago
After 32 years with United Airlines, Captain Mark Hardcastle just piloted his last commercial flight…a fitting send-off to a remarkable man.
United Airlines Captain Mark Hardcastle Retires
Denver-based Captain Mark Hardcastle spent 32 years flying for United Airlines, retiring this month as a Boeing 737 captain. He was a staple in Denver, well-loved by both fellow employees and passengers.
In tribute to his career, United released a short video highlighting his career and final flight, coinciding with World Pilots’ Day:
After 32 years in the air, United Captain Mark H. is hanging up his capt ..read more
Live and Let's Fly
2d ago
My trip to Europe began with a Delta Air Lines flight in “Delta One” business class onboard the Airbus A330-900neo from Los Angeles to London. No, the Delta One Suite is not my favorite business class seat, but the service and meals onboard were outstanding.
Delta Air Lines A330-900neo Business Class Review
The Delta One check-in experience on the lower level of LAX Terminal 3 is outstanding, as is the Sky Club lounge. About an hour before scheduled departure, I headed down to the gate, hoping to be the first aboard so I could get some pictures (and succeeding).
I don’t fly much on Delta and ..read more
Live and Let's Fly
2d ago
A black woman and retired judge has claimed she was targeted for harassment by an American Airlines flight attendant for “slamming” the first class lavatory door on a flight to Phoenix. She denies that charge and believes the incident was racially motivated.
American Airlines Flight Attendant Accused Of Harassing Black Woman…For Slamming First Class Lavatory Door
On February 10, 2024, retired Circuit Court Judge Pamela Hill-Veal was flying in American Airlines first class with her family from Chicago (ORD) to Phoenix (PHX). After using the forward lavatory, a flight attendant stopped her ..read more
Live and Let's Fly
2d ago
I had the chance recently to pay a couple of morning visits to the new Chase Sapphire Lounge at New York JFK in Terminal 4. This lounge was formally the Etihad lounge and now is a shared lounge with Ethiad. I never visited the lounge when it was solely Etihad’s, but it appears the layout of the lounge has not changed much, though it has been fully redecorated. Let’s get into the review.
Chase Sapphire Lounge New York JFK Review
You enter the lounge on the upper level of JFK just past security towards the A gates: it is located right next door to the Centurion lounge.
Hours + Access
The loung ..read more