Last month on my way home for Thanksgiving my final San Francisco to Burbank flight was on a United Express/Skywest CRJ-200, a 50-seat aircraft with limited overhead space. As I have for years, I checked my rollerboard cabin baggage that contained my laptop and digital camera. Apparently--and in all my years of travel--I never knew that was a big no-no.

Worry not, my laptop and digital camera are just fine, but another United flyer who posted his story on Flyertalk was not so ...

Well here we go again yet another Hilton in the UK that is just sub par. Is there any Hilton brand standard people that work in the UK? or is just bad Hilton's in the UK the standard?

This hotel is not as horrifying as the Hilton at the Manchester Airport, but still has some issues! I have a copy of the Hilton Brand Standards guide and this hotel is just blatantly doing what the hell they want. Closing the Executive Lounge at 8pm 7 days a week, not having a bed type choice in the ...

I flew on Lufthansa from Milan to Frankfurt Staurday evening on a cheap fare that I thought would earn zero miles. For the heck of it, I added my Mileage Plus number when checking in and was shocked to find the following posted to my Mileage Plus account this morning:

That's an L-Class fare from Milan to Frankfurt, which according to united.com, should earn zero miles:

I'll need every EQM I can get this year, so I am quite pleased to see these miles post, but I do not understand why. Just another glitch in UA's system (that will now be shut down, since Jeff Smisek is a daily reader of this blog)?

In any case, be sure to add your UA number to reservations, even when you think you will not be earning any miles. You just never know.

 The winter cancellations that hit the US this past weekend really bring back the memories of last January (Snowmageddon) and my experience, both the high points and the low points.  With the holidays, I have been busy and so not as able to write this long winded post weaving the tips from my experience last year.

I was flying from YYZ to GSO connecting in ORD.  As is my custom, I arrived extra early because of the new mandatory pat-downs to enter the US (This was ...

"Oh my god! We are out of ginger ale!" Does that sound familiar? Well fear not, in this week's Tips From Above, Sara is here to save the day.  This week's Tips From Above webisode tests whether you can mix up your own version of ginger ale.

I made another rookie error yesterday. Learn from my mistake.

First a bit of background. Yesterday was United's Open House and Family Day in San Francisco and I decided to attend at the last minute (a few days before the event). That involved finding airfare from PHL to SFO that wouldn't break the bank--an arduous task when traveling within 72 hours on a Sunday.

PHL-SFO-PHL priced out at over $400 each way, far too much for my budget, ...