One Mile at a Time

On Friday, United Airlines plans to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by flying a Boeing 777 low over Denver while being escorted by fighter jets… reminiscent to what we saw on September 11, 2001. Guys, am I losing my mind, or is the airline? This can’t be serious, can it? Denver warns public of bizarre United 9/11 flyover plans JonNYC flags how United plans to have a 9/11 commemoration in Denver, in the form of a Boeing 777 flying low over the city, being esco

Every so often we’ll see stories of the emergency slide deploying on commercial aircraft, and typically it happens because someone forgets to correctly disarm the emergency exit. Well, here’s an interesting twist on that. President Trump’s flight from Joint Base Andrews on his new Qatari-gifted Air Force One was delayed because the emergency slide deployed. The thing is, Trump insists it wasn’t a mistake, but that they were just “checking” it. Trump’s flight from Joint Base Andrews delayed

Several weeks ago, I covered how Iberia would be opening a new lounge at Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD), which will be the carrier’s most exclusive lounge to date. It’s always nice to see airlines introducing new premium facilities, so kudos to Iberia! There’s now an exciting update, as the lounge is finally opening, and we have lots more details. New Iberia Emerald Lounge Sorolla Madrid basics Up until now, Iberia has had two primary lounges at its Madrid hub, broken up by Schengen and non-

Delta SkyMiles and World of Hyatt have just unveiled plans to launch a new, long term strategic partnership. This comes just shortly after American AAdvantage and World of Hyatt announced that they will be ending their partnership (so I guess my speculation was right!). Details of the new Delta & Hyatt collaboration In the coming months, Delta and Hyatt will be launching a new loyalty program collaboration, though as of now, details are fairly limited. As it’s described, this partnersh

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Legend Mastercard® is American Airlines’ most premium co-branded credit card. While the card has a steep annual fee, it offers strong perks, ranging from an Admirals Club membership, to the ability to supercharge your AAdvantage elite status, to credits that can help offset the annual fee. If you ask me, it’s one of the best value premium airline credit cards out there. While products like the American Express Platinum Card® (learn more) and Chase Sapp

For the next hotel stay of my Four Seasons Yacht via Turkmenistan and Saudi Arabia adventure, I got to check out a fascinating hotel near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which I had heard a lot of good things about. Specifically, I spent a night at the 134-key Bab Samhan Diriyah, Marriott Luxury Collection, which opened in late 2024. Diriyah is a huge new historical cultural development on the outskirts of Riyadh, and Bab Samhan is the first hotel to open there. On the plus side, the property has a gre

Aviacionline reports how Avianca has unveiled plans to massively improve its long haul business class product. Not only will be we see the entire fleet of Dreamliners retrofitted with new seats, but the airline is also upgrading its soft product. This is fantastic news! New Avianca business class seats coming in 2027 Avianca currently has a fleet of 16 Boeing 787s, which make up the carrier’s long haul fleet. I’ve reviewed Avianca’s 787 business class, and it’s totally okay, but also unins

EgyptAir has revealed plans to launch flights to Australia, which will be its furthest destination to date. There’s only one small problem — there’s not actually much demand for this route. But hey, that’s not to say that the service won’t work for EgyptAir, given its ability to undercut other airlines on price… EgyptAir plans Cairo to Singapore to Sydney route While exact details remain to be seen, EgyptAir has formally announced plans to launch flights to Sydney as of early 2027, service

In 2019, American AAdvantage and World of Hyatt launched a partnership, offering reciprocal status and points earning opportunities. While this was initially quite lucrative, it was scaled back significantly over time. We’ve now learned that the “enhanced” partnership will be ending altogether. American AAdvantage & World of Hyatt cut ties American AAdvantage and World of Hyatt will be ending their partnership in the coming months. As it’s described, this came after “careful considerat

Let’s set the story: Summer 2021. I was 15 years old and bored out of my mind. As an AvGeek, pretty much nothing excited me more than the idea of flying on a private jet. I had scoured the internet and read up on every possible avenue of getting on one (including Ben’s private jet experience) without paying the tens of thousands required to charter one. Then came my hero: XO, the app succeeding JetSmarter (an all-you-can-fly private jet model which, unsurprisingly, went out of business). Whil

An Estonian man is just now being punished over an incident that dates back to 2017, whereby he scammed Finnair out of $20K+ in duty free merchandise, by using credit cards without sufficient funds. It exposes a vulnerability that has long existed with inflight duty free purchases, though it’s less common of an issue than it used to be. Man scams Finnair for $20K+ in merchandise across 17 flights This incident initially dates back to 2017, but is now getting attention, as the person involv

A few days ago, we saw a horrific aircraft accident at Miami International Airport (MIA), whereby a Boeing 767 belonging to cargo operator 21 Air (operating on behalf of Amazon Air) overran the runway, and ended up breaking through the airport perimeter fence, hitting two cars, and claiming five lives. Little about this accident makes sense, because it just seems so avoidable. While it will take some time for an investigation to be fully performed, the National Transportation Safety Board (N

Airspace in the UK was an absolute disaster today, with an ATC meltdown causing hundreds of flights to be canceled, delayed, or diverted. Stuff happens, but what’s perhaps most remarkable is how many flights sat on the taxiway at Heathrow for over five hours, because there simply weren’t any available gates… Air traffic control failure brings UK aviation to a standstill Today, Tuesday, September 8, 2026, NATS, the company providing air traffic control and airspace management services in th

While my credit card is no doubt sad about it, I just booked a first class ticket on one of only two airlines in the world I’ve yet to fly in first class. I’m very excited, and now I just need to figure out how to get the last first class product off my list. These last two products are the world’s least reviewed, and I think I’m setting myself up for disappointment here. But hey, that’s also the reason I’m checking these out… someone’s gotta do it, so I’m going to take one for the team!

Want to learn more about accessing US airline lounges? See my series about how to access Alaska Lounges, American Admirals Clubs, Delta Sky Club®, and United Clubs. Every airline has a different approach when it comes to offering lounge access, though Delta is in a whole different league when it comes to discouraging memberships and day passes, and rather focusing on offering lounge access through credit cards. The Atlanta-based airline also has the most restrictive policies in terms of how l

In early August 2026, we launched a bunch of new initiatives here at OMAAT, all with the goal of continuing to grow our (friendly) community, while having a fun gamification element to all of it. This included launching a new daily discussions section, having a new Q&A feature, and rolling out community stories, all with a status and points element to it. Anyway, given that we have a leaderboard and we’re trying to make everything a little more fun, I’d like to recap the results and “winn

In just a few days it’ll be September 11, 2026, which is also the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It’s wild how that was 25 years ago (I realize a whole generation of younger people weren’t even around then), and it’s also an incredibly somber occasion. I’ve flown on September 11 many times over the years, without thinking twice about it. This year is different, and I intentionally planned my travel to avoid it. I’m by no means suggesting this is rational — quite to the contra

The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Legend Mastercard® (learn more) is American Airlines’ most premium credit card, with a $695 annual fee. In this post, I’d like to talk about what it takes to get approved for the Citi AAdvantage Executive Card, including application restrictions, approval odds, and more. After all the card has an absolutely huge welcome bonus, and also offers valuable ongoing perks, like an Admirals Club membership, up to 40,000 Loyalty Points annually without spending,

We’ve just seen the launch of Gateside by TSA PreCheck, a program that lets TSA PreCheck members clear security at select airports even when they’re not flying. While we’ve seen individual airports launch programs to let non-travelers get through security, this is the first time we’ve seen a centrally run program like this, and it’s pretty intriguing. New Gateside by TSA PreCheck program launches Gateside by TSA PreCheck is a new program that gives members access to the terminal beyond air

We’ve just learned that the Star Alliance plans to open a branded lounge at Seoul Incheon Airport (ICN), making it the second global alliance to operate a lounge at the airport, as there’s also the oneworld Lounge. This announcement shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given that we needed to see some sort of a solution for the future of Star Alliance lounge access at the airport. Basics of the Star Alliance Lounge Seoul Incheon Airport A Star Alliance Lounge is expected to open in Termin