I really do think many travelers suffer from the "grass is always greener on the other side" syndrome when comparing U.S. airlines to those carriers outside the U.S. Sure, the Southeast Asian carriers like Singapore and Cathay Pacific offer a superior product, but the assumption that non-U.S. carriers are inherently better than U.S. carriers is just plain wrong--and I speak from personal experience. Nevertheless, the soft product on U.S. legacy carriers in international first class does often ...

Ely Portillo of the Charlotte Observer covered the US Airways monthly employee meeting in Charlotte on Tuesday attended by CEO Doug Parker. Here's a quick rundown:

On Fees:

Parker said he understands that fliers hate the new fees, but with fuel prices rising and the economy tottering, they are necessary for airlines to survive.

One especially odious fee for fliers is the now-common strategy of charging for all checked bags.

"Our customers have let us know ...

In all honesty, it is 0305 on Sunday morning, I have driven over 500km today to attend a wedding in Baden-Württemberg, just spent an hour on the phone booking an award with British Airways, and I just do not have the energy right now to provide the detailed anaylsis I promised on the leaked changes to the United Airlines Mileage Plus program.

That will come tomorrow (later today to be more precise), but for now I just want to provide a few more details on other changes under ...

While it appears this is a fleeting promotional error, AAdvantage Shopping is offering 83,871 miles for a $4.96 Palm® wireless phone charger through Verizon.

Simply follow this link, click on "Buy Now", login to your account or register for AAdvantage e-shopping if you have not already done so, enter your zip code, check device compatability (just choose the Palm® Pre™ 2 from the list), click "Add to Cart", choose 2-day free ground shipping, click "Continue to Checkout", ...

BYOWED - that's the new slogan you may soon see on American Airlines advertising. Bring You Own Wifi Enabled Device. Now, with American Airlines' new Inflight Streaming Video you can rent movies and TV shows on demand.  Prices are currently set at the introductory price of $3.99 for a movie and $0.99 for a TV show. This streaming service is currently available on any 767-200 aircraft. This service will be rolled out to other American Airlines wifi enabled aircraft over the coming months.

Don't finish the movie in time? Don't worry,  you can finish watching the movie on the same device in the next 24 hours. An introductory video is below:

The rumor mill is back in full force to answer one of my questions regarding American Airlines purchase of Airbus A320s, specifically how will they paint the aircraft. Since Airbus aircraft come with a bonded primer and do not use Alclad, you cannot get the polished metal look that has been a staple at American for decades starting with their DC-3s.

American has always stuck by their no-paint scheme including explanations in their American Way magazine

The unpainted ...