With a fresh Nor'easter headed for New York and New England this weekend, airlines have loosened up rules on restricted tickets in order to help travelers avoid being stranded. For this storm and every other act of nature affecting air travel, realize that you have a great deal of leverage to re-tool your travel plans to your advantage--even if you are not directly affected by bad weather. Through proactive action you can position yourself to avoid extended delays, cancellations, and the ...

If US Airways and American Airlines do end up merging, I hope the good folks at the US Airways call centers do not lose their positions. I depend on them to get my jollies...

I just have to share one of today's calls with you--

AGENT (with thick Southern drawl): Can I help you make a new Dividend Miles reservation?

ME: Yes, please--I'm tyring to book a round-trip from Boston to Bangkok. I was speaking to another agent about space earlier so if you'd like I can read you ...

Getting to Tahiti using your points (and in general) is not the easiest prospect. Two carriers fly from the continental US non-stop to Papeete--both from Los Angeles: Air France and Air Tahiti Nui (Hawaiian Airlines also offers once-weekly service from Honolulu). Securing award seats on either carrier in a premium cabin, while not impossible, is an arduous undertaking. With news today that Air Tahiti Nui will be rolling out an expanded business class cabin with new seats starting in April, ...

I had a great weekend in Chicago. I'm in Philadelphia or Los Angeles, my brother is in San Francisco, and we do not get to see a lot of each other anymore, but we both made time to meet in Chicago on Saturday. Our time together was memorable--a nice hotel, nice meals, great fellowship and good flights. That last point is the subject of this brief post.

As a disclaimer, I flew standby on United. The trip came together at the very last minute and the price difference between a standby ...

Sleazy \ˈslē-zē also ˈslā-\ (adjective): carelessly made of inferior materials; marked by low character or quality. 

I do not use the term "sleazy" lightly, but I can think of no adjective more apt for the Air France-KLM Flying Blue loyalty program. I've bemoaned the saga I had to endure in order to book an award trip that touched Africa and yesterday I ran into a couple more problems.

ISSUE #1: Cannot make more than one booking in a single ...