Photo of the Week!
F 5.6; 1/250; ISO 100; 135mm.
Shot in Hong Kong.
Photo of the Week!
F 6.3; 1/250; ISO 100; 135mm.
Shot at Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport in Charlottesville (duh), Virginia.
Continue reading “Reaching new heights of social distancing”
Photo of the Week!
F 4; 1/125; ISO 100; 40mm.
Shot on the west side of the Washington Monument — looking northward — in Washington, DC.
How far is too far to walk?
It feels weird to be writing a review — even if it is just a mini-review — of walking through an airport. There’s hardly anything noteworthy (let alone higher flyer) about these experiences, but Madrid-Barajas’s Adolfo Suárez is a special case. Its Terminal 4, which serves as the home base for the Spanish flag carrier Iberia, is big, beautiful, and kinda controversial. The building’s aesthetic is top-notch, but the sprawl of it can be overwhelming. If you’re flying out of Madrid, well, you’re going to want to prepare for it more than you otherwise would… hence the reason for The Higher Flyer to publish a guide!
Continue reading “Navigating Madrid-Barajas’s Terminal 4”
Photo of the Week!
F 4; 1/160; ISO 100; 18mm.
Shot at the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC.
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…”
For better and for worse, an embodiment of both “premium” and “economy”
Most passengers on Cathay Pacific’s long and ultra-long haul flights have to cram in to too-tight seats in the backs of the planes for hours upon hours. What miserable fates they have! Fortunately there’s premium economy, which serves as a pain-easing option for some. You’ll pay more for such relief, sure, but at least the increased comfort comes in the form of a generously-pitched and padded recliner, and what the airline claims to be improved meals, and better, more-attentive service. Cathay’s offering is no bargain though; it costs more cash than a modestly-priced upsell, and so the return on investment should be abundantly apparent all the time. That’s regrettably not always the case.
Continue reading “Cathay Pacific A350 Premium Economy Review”
Photo of the Week!
F 8; 1/320; ISO 100; 18mm.
Shot near Moab, Utah, at Canyonlands National Park.
The Daily Flyer
Welcome to the seventh 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 9, 2020 — covers the implications of the current state of affairs (vis-a-vis the coronavirus outbreak, the reduced demand for airfares, and the ongoing stock market volatility), as well as United’s frustratingly customer-unfriendly response, an extraordinarily hot (if not insanely irresponsible) take from Live and Let’s Fly, and an official warning for potential “cruisers.”
Continue reading “Would a recession be good for higher flyers?”
The Higher Flyer 