TravelCommons

Tag: United Airlines

  • Podcast #144 — Outside Airports; Hospitality Mentality

    Podcast #144 — Outside Airports; Hospitality Mentality

    Back in front of the mic after 12 days of skipping across northern Europe — Copenhagen, Brussels, and Scotland. In this episode, we get nostalgic about outside airports in California, talk about how a hospitality mentality is pervasive in hotels but not in restaurants, missing customer service responses from United Airlines and Marriott, and European Continue Reading →

  • Podcast #142 — Sleeping in Business Class; Changes from Chinese Tourists

    Podcast #142 — Sleeping in Business Class; Changes from Chinese Tourists

    Yet another last-minute long-distance trip, this time to Frankfurt, Germany, lets me check out United Airlines’ new business class service, and think again about the value for those expensive lie-flat seats. Seeing a new Chinese menu at a favorite wurst stand in the old part of Frankfurt reminds me of the changes driven by the Continue Reading →

  • Podcast #138 — Travel Turning Me Hipster; Every Delay Has a Story

    Podcast #138 — Travel Turning Me Hipster; Every Delay Has a Story

    February is a tough time to be in the Midwest, so when my travel took me south, to New Orleans and then to Florida, there was no bitch tweeting about the TSA lines or flight delays. In this episode, I walk through how each change in airport security has pushed me to be more hipster Continue Reading →

  • Looking Back at 2017 — The Highs and The Lows

    Looking Back at 2017 — The Highs and The Lows

    After clearing the mists of last night’s New Year’s Eve party, I thought about some of the highlights and lowlights of my travels in 2017 Highlights Uber/Lyft Driver Stories — Not only are Uber and Lyft rides easier to get than most taxis, the stories the drivers tell are a lot more entertaining. A Lyft Continue Reading →

  • Podcast #129 — Airport Fight Club; The Bourdain Effect

    Podcast #129 — Airport Fight Club; The Bourdain Effect

    Difficult to do a travel podcast without talking about this month’s incidents on United and American Airlines. The videos that hit social media were damning, but as more of the facts came out, the stories around each incident became more complex. On a much lighter note, we also talk about the explosion of food tourism, Continue Reading →

  • Podcast #129 Uncut — The Video Version

    Podcast #129 Uncut — The Video Version

    Pulled out the GoPro again for the recording of the latest episode. The GoPro is a bit too far from me for good audio, so I cut in the podcast audio from the Zoom recorder when it was available, hence the change in audio quality. I’ll post the final audio on Saturday. Continue Reading →

  • Podcast #118 — Danger In the Travel Bubble; Switching Back to Apple

    Podcast #118 — Danger In the Travel Bubble; Switching Back to Apple

    A bit less of a random walk than the last episode, we talk about safety, physical safety, when traveling. While we sometimes put ourselves in the midst of dodgy surroundings, we usually feel safe when we retreat back into the “travel bubble” What about when the bubble is no longer safe? Smartphones are the frequent Continue Reading →

  • Podcast #113 — 2014 was a Bad Year to Fly; Restaurants Go Local

    Podcast #113 — 2014 was a Bad Year to Fly; Restaurants Go Local

    Can frequent travelers just write off 2014? We all knew we were abused by the airlines with high prices and lousy service. I guess it’s somewhat comforting to know that analysis of 2014’s data proves us right. I’m not sure there’s much more we can do than enjoy the little things and hope 2015 is Continue Reading →