Happy New Year!: Many United 1Ks were greeted with the following in the new year:

Normally we're used to seeing our 'year to date elite miles' drop to zero but I was certainly surprised to see a status promotion to 'Presidential Platinum' elite.

This is a glitch that Continental is aware of and is working on fixing quickly, according to one of  the official "UA Insiders", Shannon Kelly, on Flyertalk.com.

Continental.com is currently displaying many United ...

Thanksgiving break is short. My desire to be home for Thanksgiving is small. Get me to a beach ASAP. Cancun is a quick flight from my home and it is not incredibly crowded at Thanksgiving. I've even been able to score a lucrative bump voucher or two on the route. (No luck this year on the bump voucher. They were looking for volunteers but it would have been another 36 hours before they could get me home--I'm flexible but not that flexible.)

Cancun is not the best place to go if one ...

Recently I had the opportunity to spend some time before a Continental flight in the TAP Premium lounge at the Lisbon airport. This is the Star Alliance Gold lounge in the Lisbon airport, a star alliance hub city. On the one hand one would expect the main international Star Alliance at a European hub city to be very good. On the other hand, my expectations for the lounge were not especially high  based on my very limited experience flying TAP in the past. I was ...

I have to admit that the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Seattle is one of my favorite hotels in one of my favorite cities. Of course, a big part of that is how frequent Goldpassport Diamonds are upgraded to suites. Evertime I’ve stayed here, save one, I’ve received a complimentary diamond upgrade to a suite. This time was no different.

Unilike some other “Grand” Hyatts I’ve stayed at, this property is in great shape and not needing a makeover. My only ...