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Summer 2022 travel is chaotic, stressful, and expensive, but it doesn’t have to be!

The Daily Flyer

Welcome to the June 1, 2022, edition of “The Daily Flyer,” The Higher Flyer‘s newsletter that gathers up and summarizes some of the most important happenings in the world of airlines, hotels, award points, and other travel-related subjects. Today’s feature covers the uninspired state of the travel industry – and what you can do about it – as we head in to an unprecedented period, as well as the ongoing passenger crisis at Amsterdam Schiphol, some takes on the best brand in the airline industry, and a refreshing Twitter account bringing sanity and honesty to award points blogging.

Continue reading “Summer 2022 travel is chaotic, stressful, and expensive, but it doesn’t have to be!” →
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With COVID-19 raging, there’s no such thing as responsible travel planning

The Daily Flyer

Happy February, and welcome to “The Daily Flyer,” The Higher Flyer‘s newsletter that gathers up and summarizes some of the most important happenings in the world of airlines, hotels, award points, and other travel-related subjects. Today’s feature discusses travel plans in a pandemic, as well as a new mask mandate, airplane seat preferences, cheap fares in Europe, and a behind-the-scenes look in to a 787’s pipework.

Continue reading “With COVID-19 raging, there’s no such thing as responsible travel planning” →
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Is the Boeing 737 MAX safe to fly?

Yes.

(Sorry for the spoiler. Let’s get to it!)

The Daily Flyer

Happy (belated) Martin Luther King Day, and welcome to the January 19, 2020 edition of “The Daily Flyer!” This is The Higher Flyer‘s newsletter that gathers up and summarizes some of the day’s most important happenings in the world of airlines, hotels, award points, and other travel-related things. Today’s feature examines the Boeing 737 MAX‘s safety record as it returns to the skies, and it also covers updates to two popular loyalty programs, the next steps for Alaska and oneworld, AA’s other domestic alliance, and higher flyer steps to containing insurrectionists.

Continue reading “Is the Boeing 737 MAX safe to fly?” →
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21 higher flyer predictions for ’21 (Part 2)

The Daily Flyer

Welcome to the January 11, 2021 edition of “The Daily Flyer,” The Higher Flyer‘s newsletter that gathers up and summarizes some of the day’s most important happenings in the world of airlines, hotels, award points, and other travel-related things. Today’s main feature picks up where last Wednesday’s entry left off and offers 10 more predictions for 2021. It also covers higher flying’s uncomfortable intersection with acts of sedition, updated elite status qualifications (or not), and a list of COVID test providers.

Continue reading “21 higher flyer predictions for ’21 (Part 2)” →
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21 higher flyer predictions for ’21 (Part 1)

The Daily Flyer

Happy Wednesday, and welcome to the January 6, 2021 edition of “The Daily Flyer,” The Higher Flyer‘s newsletter that gathers up and summarizes some of the day’s most important happenings in the world of airlines, hotels, award points, and other travel-related things. Today’s feature consists of 21 predictions for 2021 (or rather 11 of them; the other 10 will come in the next TDF installment), as well as huge diplomatic news (that affects aviation), some thoughts on obtaining elite status this year, and, to round it out, some New Year’s resolutions from renowned travel writers.

Continue reading “21 higher flyer predictions for ’21 (Part 1)” →
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2021: Introducing the murky next chapter for higher flying

The Daily Flyer

Happy new year, welcome back, and welcome to the first 2021 edition of “The Daily Flyer!” After a long, COVID-induced layoff, The Higher Flyer‘s newsletter is back to gather up and summarize some of the most important happenings in the world of airlines, hotels, award points, and other travel-related things.  Today’s feature — for January 4, 2021 — examines the state of higher flying entering 2021, and it also bids farewell to Fido (in a way), covers a (potentially) practical aspect of higher flying in a pandemic, and, on a more aspirational note, it highlights some new hotels scheduled to open in 2021.

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Coronavirus claimed FlyBe. Who’s next? What’s next? That remains to be seen…

The Daily Flyer

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  Welcome to the eighth edition of “The Daily Flyer,” The Higher Flyer‘s daily newsletter gathering up and summarizing some of the day’s most important happenings in the world of airlines, hotels, award points, and other travel-related things.  Today’s feature — for March 18, 2020 — covers the fall of FlyBe, the role of coronavirus in the collapse, and the future that this outbreak could bring.  In addition, read on for coverage of a a political thought piece (of sorts), a follow-up to United’s repeatedly revised refund policy, and an amusing play on negative Yelp reviews.

Continue reading “Coronavirus claimed FlyBe. Who’s next? What’s next? That remains to be seen…” →

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Flying Cathay Pacific’s Business Class is Overrated

While I’m not saying that flying business class on Cathay Pacific is a bad thing — quite the opposite actually — the product has a world-class reputation that, at times, seems misplaced.  It has all the makings of a competitive international business class offering, sure, but then again, so does British Airways’s Club World.  Like its oneworld counterpart, Cathay is just fine, but it lacks a defining feature to give it any sort of advantage over its regional rivals.  Despite this, several reputable sources consider Cathay to be among the best in the world and a top higher flyer experience… which is a bit puzzling.

Continue reading “Flying Cathay Pacific’s Business Class is Overrated” →

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What are frequent flyer miles worth? — June 2019

The title of this article is arguably the most important question in higher flying and yet there’s no clear answer to it.  Unlike real currencies (i.e. Dollars, Euros, etc.), there’s no authority to objectively assess and define how much a mile is worth.  This task instead falls to the users of them — higher flyers mostly — all of whom have different perspectives on how award points should function and how they’re best redeemed.  No one’s valuation is any more right or wrong than another one’s, but nevertheless, here are The Higher Flyer‘s own for your consideration.

Continue reading “What are frequent flyer miles worth? — June 2019” →

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