I literally just witnessed this the other day. Because we were boarding a regional jet, most of us had to gate check our baggage. This guy thought his suitcase was so pretty that he felt he needed to put it in a separate protective cover before checking it. Photo sequence below.

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While frequent fliers are typically most interested in premium cabin trip reports, I think it's always interesting to read about carriers that we're not exposed to quite as often and the experiences they offer, even when in economy class. Recently, I flew from Buenos Aires to Sao Paulo in TAM Airlines in Economy.

We boarded out of Gate 19 at the Buenos Aires airport, and before boarding, I gave the Buenos Aires United Club a visit. We boarded from ...

Introduction

Flights from San Francisco to Mauritius

Lodging in Mauritius

Flights from Mauritius to Luxor

Egypt Lodging

Flights from Cairo to the Maldives

Maldives Lodging

Flights from the Maldives back to San Francisco

With every aspect of the trip I've outlined thus far, there were choices involved. We had to choose an airline, choose a hotel, etc. There were different alliances and loyalty programs to choose where we wanted ...

Today I was flying on UA 143 from IAD to LAX, and while it turned out to be a great flight, it didn't start off smoothly. We got out to the runway, and the plane started to accelerate for takeoff. It got going pretty fast, and then all of a sudden, BRAKES. The pilots hit the brakes hard. Considering how much these planes weigh, it took a good amount of time for us to grind to a stop, and as we were slowing down, I was bracing myself, thinking that something was on the runway and that we were ...

As a whole, I love Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG). Their points are incredibly valuable, and I generally find their properties to be quite nice. However, one of the biggest benefits of being a Platinum member is also one of the biggest annoyances. Starwood is generally considered to have the best upgrade policy of the major hotel chains (Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, etc). If you're a Platinum guest, you're entitled to the following:

Upgrades to best available room at check-in, including ...