Five days ago I promised a post making the case for why I will continue to remain loyal to United Airlines despite my photo incident and more importantly, despite the dearth of complimentary upgrades, hit-or-miss service, no onboard wi-fi, and the burdensome SHARES platform that can turn even a simple change request into a complex ordeal requiring hours on the phone.

In the meantime, I flew some more on United…

The post is still coming, but to say there are lingering ...

Thanks to shrewd planning and a watchful eye, I've dodged landmines and avoided most calamities in the post-merger world of United Airlines. Others have not fared so well. Will today be my day of reckoning?

I'm flying from Newark to Los Angeles this morning and applied a regional premier upgrade (RPU) to the reservation in order to secure a first class seat--forget about a complimentary upgrade on this route. Turns out there were no seats to assign--when I checked in online a boarding ...

It’s the end of January and I’ve started my flying for the year. It’s never too early to work towards next year status and I started this year up in the air—not knowing who to be loyal to, an onging question for me. Originally I was ready to divorce Delta, but then Delta really helped me out when I was in predicament and I decided I would stay loyal, however then Delta threw a wrench in my plane when they announced spending requirements for Medallion status and ...

When does a first class downgrade equal a first class upgrade? Read on to find out.

Sunday, I was scheduled to fly from Burbank to New York JFK via San Francisco. "Premium Service" transcon flights feature three-cabins of service with international business and first class seating, but are not eligible for a complimentary upgrades, so I used one of my regional premier upgrades (RPUs) to upgrade the 5hr flight from San Francisco to New York. As an added bonus, the Burbank-San Francisco ...

Tomorrow is a big day and I could really use a flat bed tonight to fly across the country. The problem: United's international-config 757s have only 16 seats in BusinessFirst and 153 in economy class, a bad ratio for upgrading a hub-hub transcon route.

Nevertheless, I do stand a chance--

So why blog about this? Merely to point out that I will fly across the country tonight in business class--the question is just whether I will have a ...

As much as I love Delta, I also love to hate them! I love 90% of their in flight crew, I think they have some of the best IFE and planes for a domestic carrier (even if they are old at least they are refurbished) and have a great global route map! My upgrades from San Diego clear about 70% of the time as a Gold Elite and the other benefits including the “have one on us coupons” when I print my boarding pass at home outweigh the benefits and the lack of service of other US legacy ...