Delta Business Elite Flat-Bed Seats Review

As I recently traveled on the Frankfurt - New York JFK route with Delta, I have to share my impressions of Delta's Business Elite Flat-Bed seats. As you can see above this relatively new seat uses the "pod" design and does provide the passenger with a very wide armrest which is large enough to leave your food tray should you feel the need to get up while in the middle of your meal.

You will aslo find a regular power source as well as a USB port which should be plenty enough to charge your electronic devices while aboard. The In Flight Entertainment (IFE) system is a pleasure to use as the user interface is very responsive (compared to Air France's extremely slow IFE where there's almost a second lag after each press of a button).

British Airways Club World & World Traveller Plus on the Londow Moscow Route Review

British Airways recently introduced long-haul aircraft configurations to their London Heathrow - Moscow route. This three hour flight used to feature their intra-european product with Economy (Euro Traveller) and intra-european business class (Club Europe). As of now, British Airways offers long-haul seats on these flights with World Traveller (Economy), World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy), Club World (Business Class) and First cabins. This is, in my opinion, a great improvement. As I was travelling on award tickets on my recent trip to Moscow, I had the chance to fly Club World from London to Moscow and then World Traveller plus on my way back. So here is my humble trip report!

As a OneWorld alliance Emerald member, I was entitled to use British Airways Galleries First lounge in London and I must say I was impressed. The design of the lounge is contemporary and original. I like their lamp/horses at the entrance as much as I like their champagne and wine offering:

Bollinger Rosé Champagne pictured below:

Luxury Travel 101

Everybody wants to indulge once in a while and some are smarter, or let's say more informed than others, when it comes to Luxury Travel. So, here are my best tips as to how to spend as little as possible for as great an experience as possible.

First, you should check Flyertalk out. It is one the oldest and best online community for everything travel-related. You will find forums with detailed and accurate information from seasoned travelers. Whether you're looking for information about The American Express Centurion Card, Frequent Flyer Programs, upgrade deals or budget hotels in Bhutan, you will find the answer there. The community is very friendly and whenever I post a question, I usually get an answer within minutes! I can and must say that Flyertalk has changed my traveling habits and it is, in my opinion, the best information source when it comes to travel. They also organize "Dos" where fellow Flyertalkers meet. There are Dos almost every week on every continent! I've been to some and always had a great time with great people!

If you're 2000 miles shy of renewing your platinum status and need to find a mileage run deal, Flyertalk's mileage run forum is the place to go. I know it sounds crazy to fly just to renew one's status but believe me, many people do it... And I must confess I've done it too.

Thanks to Flyertalk's tips, I've been a Flying Blue (Air France & KLM frequent flyer program) Platinum member for 5 years and I'm now 5 years away from reaching lifetime Platinum status. Thanks again to Flyertalk, I fly most of my long-haul flights in Business class. There, unexpectedly, is a flood of business class deals around. It only takes some knowledge and time to find them. I've come to the point that I see this exercise as a challenge and even enjoy doing it for me, my family and sometimes friends.

Keep in mind that you can subscribe to Flyertalk forums and receive daily email alerts on deals and tips that you might be interested in. Sometimes there are crazy deals: like less than USD 100 for transcontinental flights.

As a demonstration to what I have learned on Flyertalk, here are some tips for travelers based in Strasbourg (France) as to how to find the cheapest airfares:
- Check for fares departing from Strasbourg (SXB), Mulhouse (MLH), Basel (BSL), Frankfurt (FRA) and Stuttgart (STR). Flying from BSL is sometimes cheaper than from MLH although it is the same airport and flight and the crazy thing is that you might also accrue more miles!
- Check different airlines and alliances. Keep in mind not to trust your instincts: flying Air France is usually cheaper departing from Germany than from France. Same for Lufthansa that is usually cheaper departing from France than from Germany (Major airlines try to attract foreign customers with competitive fares).
- Check the same itineraries on different websites or even the same website but based in a different country. Expedia US is usually cheaper than Expedia France for instance. Same for the carriers. You will sometimes find different fares if you check Air France US compared to Air France French or German website. You will find the best British Airways fares on American Airlines website!

The Holy Grail Of All Luxury Travel Questions: How Can I Be Upgraded On A Long-Haul? Simple answer: it is very unlikely that you will be unless you hold top-tier status with the carrier that you're flying. And even so, it is still rare. To maximize your chances of being upgraded: don't ask for it, be nice to the check-in agent & dress smart. There is really no other working tip. Be aware that 99% of upgrades on long-haul flights come when one of the classes of travel is full or overbooked (if Economy is overbooked, the carrier will upgrade passengers to Business class on Premium Economy depending on their status & paid fare).


Other noteworthy websites:
- Jaunted: The Pop Culture Travel Guide
- Vacationist: exclusive offers for members
- BonVoyou: great deals
- Jetsetters: great deals
- Premium Travel News: Business Class Fare Alerts
- ExpertFlyer: Very useful tools (award availability, fare buckets etc...) for subscribers
- TripTrace: more of a social network travel tool
- Trip Advisor: Great review website
- Yelp: Great review iPhone app and social network
- Urban Daddy: great website & daily newsletter on new trendy venues to discover. They have a cool iPhone app!
- Kayak: Fare Comparison engine
- Orbitz: Travel booking website
- Expedia: Travel booking website

My Trip To Sao Paulo

Here I am posting on my blog from Brazil! This has been a very tiring trip!

Our first flight of the day was a domestic one to Paris-CDG where we were supposed to have a little more than an hour to enjoy the AF Business Class lounge before boarding our second flight to Sao Paulo (GRU).

It unfortunately didn't work out that way as our first flight was delayed and took off 1 hr 1/2 later than scheduled. This meant that, eventhough we were met by a car at the exit of our first flight, we still had to rush through terminals in order to make it on time!

We hopefully made it and eventhough our journey did not start off where it should have (AF Business Class Lounge), we did enjoy our flight.

Let me emphasize the fact that I have always been amazed by the quality of the food in business class aboard AF! My "foie gras" was very good. I then had some lamb which was almost perfectly prepared and followed by a nice selection of cheese! I also had good wines and champagne, as well as a pear "eau-de-vie" with my coffee!

A very nice meal which, in my experience, exceeds by far what I have eaten in Business Class aboard other carriers.

Our second meal was only ok though so not worth writing about!

After more than 11 hours in the air, we finally landed in GRU, only to find out that one of our bags hadn't arrived! This is the third time for me this year and a bit too much in my opinion, particularly considering it was on business class flights and that I am a Flying Blue Platinum member... The one bag that arrived hadn't been tagged with a priority label meant for business class passengers. This happens very often with Air France and is very annoying to say the least. How can they advertise benefits that they don't actually enforce?