All Blog Posts Tagged 'United' (23)

People will sometimes ask me how long it takes to fly between Tokyo and New Jersey. My answer usually elicits a contorted expression and a syllable or two of pained commiseration, reactions I personally would reserve for someone in truly insufferable straits – being psychologically unable to miss an episode of …

I like airports, actually. They offer such good post fodder.

I step through the door and come face to face with a half-naked middle-aged man. Well not face to face; he’s turned toward the wall so all I see is his pasty, mealy back. On the shelf in front of him is his open carry-on. He’s slathering on his deodorant. I feel like…

Three weeks ago I flew from Newark, New Jersey to Tokyo’s Narita Airport. (If this were a facebook status update I’d simply say ‘EWR-NRT’, assuming such snark has not yet become passé.) It had been a while since I’d flown –six weeks almost – so it took no time for the incongruous wonders of air travel, like the…

A reminder for fellow mile and point collectors out there: The relationship between American Express Membership Rewards and Continental Airlines is coming to an end. Friday, September 30 is the last day to transfer Amex points to Continental. Don’t forget that you can now freely transfer miles back and forth between Continental and United, so this is also an opportunity to convert…

United Airlines is in the process of merging with Continental, and they have been slowly rolling out the vision for what the combined airline will look like.  A critical piece of the “new” United will be its new loyalty program, a combination of features from the existing United Mileage Plus and Continental OnePass programs.

Today United announced the details of the new program, to be…

I fly United frequently.  I'm generally a fan; they have a decent mileage program, good partnerships, and reasonably good service on most of my flights.  For the last few years they have been upgrading their international fleet with new seating in business.  These seats are true parallel-to-the-floor, flat bed sleeper seats, and have been a welcome change from their previous recliner-style offering.



With the new seats came some changes to the upgrade system.  United began collecting…

Do you have miles split between United and Continental accounts and want to pool them for an award ticket? Do you have status on one airline and want a match on the other for higher upgrade priority? Both are now possible with a web site the companies have launched as part of their ongoing merger activities.

This site will let you transfer miles between accounts. Be aware that it’s restricted to increments of 1,000, which is not…

denipet

Originally posted on World Reviewer …

Although I’ve made several trips across the channel to London, England, Friday was the first time I visited Kew Gardens. Although I had been looking forward to it, Kew was even better than I expected.…

I’ve been blogging about Dubai for over a month now and today will be my last post on the city.

As we went around, I tried to remember how things were so that I could describe the changes to M.

In 20 years time, it may be harder to see the evolution. So M. decided to preserve a few shots of Dubai in 2010 to make the comparison easier!…

(© MRandin)

I’ve seen camels eat out of the garbage. I’ve slid down a sand dune on a shopping bag. I’ve sprayed fake snow on a plastic tree at Christmas. I’ve seen Santa ride into town on a camel. I’ve ice skated in 50 degree weather. I’ve spent the night in the desert. And…

The golden horses of Madinat Jumeirah (© MRandin)

Dubai is good at hotels and shopping malls. And Madinat Jumeirah brings together both.

According to …

…what’s there to do?

You can swim with the sharks or ice skate… at the Dubai Mall

When you’ve got such a high concentration of shopping malls in one country it’s good for business to do something “different” to attract the crowds.

Cue giant aquarium at the Dubai Mall.…

The Burj Al Arab (Copyright: MRandin)

Want an honest description of the Burj Al Arab? How about this one by Sam Wollaston of The Guardian who described it as “fabulous, hideous, and the very pinnacle of tackiness – like Vegas after a serious, no-expense-spared, sheik-over.”

Continue reading on…

Aside from driving around in an air conditioned car and spending time in a cool shopping mall, you could also try… skiing.

(Copyright: MRandin)

Continue reading on Chickstravelflicks!

1. Everyone still works with landmarks

(Copright: MRandin)

In the 1980s, Dubai was the epitome of the U2 hit, “Where the streets have no name”. Instead, directions were given using landmarks, which were sometimes as vague as “turn right at the first set of pink buildings and then left at the one with the blue balcony railings”.

Continue…

(Not so far from the truth. A bus stop sign in Satwa, Dubai (©MRandin))

My family and I moved to Canada from Dubai in 1997. At that time Dubai was a not-so-talked-about dot on the map, vaguely located “near Saudi Arabia”, for many people. Some people even wondered if we went to school on camels or had to hunt for our food. When my brother once told someone he grew up in…