I received an e-mail this evening from a client whom I had assisted with an award reservation to South Africa on Swiss (San Francisco- Zurich-Johannesburg) using United miles. Tickets had been issued last October and were in economy class.

Matthew,

Hope you've been well.

We logged into our United account online and saw that the OUTBOUND is now missing the first segment -- the SWISS 39, from SFO to Zurich is no longer showing up!  The 2nd segment, from Zurich to ...

Really, United? A cheap little paper cup for my hot nuts?

I hope this was a simple error in stocking the flight, rather than a foreshadowing of more of Jeff Smisek's changes that he "thinks we'll like."

A Traditional Costa Rican Breakfast on United Airlines

This is the best breakfast I've ever had on an airplane.

On a recent United-Continental flight from San Josè, Costa Rica to Newark Liberty I scored a last-minute upgrade that landed me in early-morning Bloody Mary bliss. This is the first time I'm experiencing the new United Airlines after the systems officially merged on March 3rd. As an in-flight foodie, I immediately notice the change in flatware: Fruit ...

Read Part I here

As I mentioned in Part I, when I reached SFO Saturday morning to check in for my trip to Philadelphia via Chicago, the agent could not find my ticket. I had been re-booked by a legacy Continental agent the night before during irr/ops and deliberately or not, she had not synced the new reservation—a necessary step in SHARES.

I recited my record locator to the SFO check-in agent and she pulled up my reservation, then motioned for me to walk behind the ...

I became excited today while working on a client award request when some first class availability popped up on Lufthansa--it has been very rare lately, especially more than a few days before travel. One client was using Air Canada Aeroplan points, another United Mileage Plus points. Both Aeroplan and United showed first class availability:

But neither would ultimately book. Out of curiosity, I checked the ...

The rain and fog was bad in SFO yesterday, delaying my US Airways flight from Charlotte for over three hours and causing a misconnect on my way back to PHL. I knew I would miss my connecting flight while still at CLT, so after being kindly rebuffed by US Airways (I fully expected it) I walked over to the United gates where I faced a strategic choice: talk to a United agent or an ex-Con?

I chose to speak to an ex-Con (former Continental agent and readily identifiable by uniform) ...