Category Archives: Frequent Flyer

Tips and tricks from a frequent flyer - Travel for a Living

With up to a hundred flights a year, I confidently call myself a frequent flyer. I am no stranger to airlines, airports and airport lounges. I know my way around an airport, how to get in and out as efficient as possible and had my share of flights delayed, cancelled or postponed over the years.

Let me share with you my experiences and hacks to make your air travel as smooth and luxurious as possible. Flying for the first time? You might want to start here.

July 18, 2019 Frequent Flyer, Travel Tips & Advice 3 Comments

What to expect flying Vueling?

I am a frequent flyer and am boarding at least one flight pretty much every single week of the year (six flights in seven days might well be my personal record). As such the whole booking, check in and boarding process has pretty much become second nature and I don’t lose much sleep over it. That being said, every now and then I will find myself on board a new airline that I have not flown with before. And although the overall process is the same for all airlines, it is the finer points that change. Such as hand luggage allowance or on-board catering. As I was recently flying Vueling for the first time (and in case you wondered, it is pronounced something like ‘Welling’, not quite how I would have pronounced it… but then, I don’t speak any Spanish), let me tell you what to expect flying Vueling.

March 17, 2019 Frequent Flyer, Travel Tips & Advice 4 Comments

What to expect on an eleven hour flight

What to expect on an 11 hour flight from London to San Francisco - Travel for a Living

We’ve just come back from a week in San Francisco. And what shall I say, it was amazing. We’ve been looking forward to the San Francisco trip ever since we booked it. If only it wasn’t for the rather long flight from London to San Francisco. I mean an 8-hour flight from London to New York is bad enough. But an eleven-hour flight from London to San Francisco? How on earth were we meant to survive that. With Mr T being bored to death after about two hours, I was preparing for the worst. And since this was our first 11-hour flight, I also didn’t know what to expect in terms of food. Would it be one meal shortly after take-off and then starve to death until the end of the flight? Or would it be a main meal and a snack? Two main meals? Eleven hours is a long flight, especially if you are stuck in a small metal tube with nothing to do than watch movies and eat. But enough of the introduction, let me tell you what to expect on an eleven hour flight in economy.

March 7, 2019 Frequent Flyer, Travel Tips & Advice 6 Comments

What to expect when flying Eurowings

Although Eurowings isn’t my usual Go To airline, for certain routes it is the only option I have or the more convenient route / time. So every now and then I end up booking Eurowings for flights to and from London. Like last week, when I took connecting flights via Dusseldorf and Cologne for a trip to and from Dresden. To be honest, albeit low-cost, Eurowings is a decent airline. Therefore, I thought I’d share my knowledge and tell you what to expect when flying Eurowings.

March 2, 2019 Frequent Flyer, Travel Diary, Paris 7 Comments

Stranded in Paris

Spending an extra night in Paris? Sounds marvellous. Who wouldn’t be up for that? Spoiler alert – I wasn’t. When I tell you that the only time I actually saw the Eiffel Tower during my recent trip to Paris was when I finally took off from the airport, you might get an idea of why being stranded in Paris and spending an extra night there wasn’t too high on my agenda. You guessed it. We are not talking an extra night in the heart of Paris, we are talking being stranded in Paris Orly… the airport. Which clearly wasn’t my idea of a fun Friday night?

But I might be getting a little ahead of myself here. So let me start at the beginning…

February 2, 2019 Frequent Flyer, Travel Tips & Advice 7 Comments

What to expect when flying LOT Polish Airlines

My recent trip to Slovenia saw me fly LOT Polish Airlines for the very first time. In my mind, this was just another budget airline and I feared the worst. Especially since I was pushing my luck with my hand luggage allowance. But gosh was I wrong. LOT Polish Airlines actually turned out to be a decent and modern airline. To save you from the same misperception, let me tell you what to expect flying LOT Polish Airlines.

December 12, 2018 Frequent Flyer, Travel Tips & Advice 12 Comments

Security at Tel Aviv Airport – is it really that bad?

I have already giving you some travel advise on how to prepare for your first trip to Tel Aviv. And my ‘Top Things to do in Tel Aviv’. But the one thing I only briefly touched on yet was the ordeal we had actually leaving Tel Aviv during our first trip. So now is the time to tell you all about our experience with security at Tel Aviv airport.

When flying out to Tel Aviv, we expected questioning and tighter security and the works. And were a little surprised when realising that it was pretty much business as usual. Yes, we were asked two quick questions at border control in Tel Aviv, but that was it. No extra security check or interview before boarding in Heathrow.

August 4, 2018 Frequent Flyer, Travel Tips & Advice 3 Comments

Beginners Guide to First Time Flying

Last week my goddaughter and her mum were finally visiting us in England for the very first time. They both live in Germany, in the village I grew up. And although both have been outside Germany before, neither of them had ever travelled by plane. My goddaughter is 14 and visiting London was her birthday / Christmas present. So ever since she’d been making plans of what she wants to see and do. Busy four days this were (more on that here). With the flights booked already, I decided to write them a little beginners guide to first time flying, since they were rather nervous (or at least mum was) giving step-to-step advice on flying as a first timer.

And since I figured they might not have been the only first time flyers out there, I decided to share my Beginners Guide to First Time Flying with you all, just in case there are other anxious first-time flyers out there.

February 21, 2018 Frequent Flyer, Travel Diary 2 Comments

Diary of a One Day Trip

Oh doesn’t it sound glamorous? ‘Are you in the office tomorrow?’ ‘No, I will be flying to Germany for the day’… But is it really?

Yes, every so often my trips are day return trips rather than overnight stays. And whilst it obviously has the benefit of me sleeping in my own bed and not dragging a suitcase around with me all day (just a very very heavy work bag), it usually means a rather long day ahead of me.

To give you a glimpse of my reality, I kept a diary yesterday, documenting that day from start to finish.

January 22, 2018 Frequent Flyer, Travel Diary 4 Comments

Diary of an eight-hour flight

What to expect on an eight hour flight in economy - Travel for a Living

I fly on a regular basis – now there’s a revelation; who would have thought – but pretty much all of my flights are short haul. Just an hour, two hours tops if I have to get to Central Europe or Nordics. But to actually do a long haul flight? Nah, not on a regular basis. But as I told before, hubby and I are New York bound again this month and as much as we were looking forward to it, it does come with a long flight at the start and end. So what to expect on an eight hour flight?

I am fairly relaxed about it all, I spend so much time sitting around airports for hours at a time that this flight couldn’t be any worse. Just make sure I have a fully charged laptop in front of me and I potter away forever (if I run out of things to write for the blog, I could always catch up on work, if and when I get very desperate). Hubby on the other side? Well that’s a different story.

You all remember that scene in Shrek when they travel to the Kingdom Far Far Away and donkey sits in the back, asking ‘are we there yet?’ every other second? Yep, that’s my other half (nah, he’s not a donkey obviously). He’s fine for the first hour, two tops, after that he gets a little restless.

So, I decided to share the pleasure with you all with my ‘diary of an eight-hour flight’. To give you a better idea what to expect on an eight hour flight, if you’ve never flown long-haul.

December 16, 2017 Frequent Flyer, Travel Diary

Things to know about connecting flights

Last trip was a trip of firsts. First ever trip to Norway. First ever flight with Norwegian Air and SAS. And – believe it or not – my first ever connecting flight. Yes, I am as shocked as you are. Despite being a frequent flyer, I have never before changed planes. I have had days when I took a flight in the morning and then continued with another flight in the evening, but never direct transit. So here I was. Ready to do this not once, but twice in as many days. No better time to tell you all the things to know about connecting flights.

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