by Jonathan Spira

Terminal 5 at London Heathrow was quiet and relatively empty when I arrived at 7:30 a.m. for a flight to Munich. While ultra modern in appearance, Terminal 5 is functionally obsolete as a result of a dramatic and unanticipated increase in passenger volume since its opening in 2008.
Since I already had my boarding pass in my Apple Wallet on my iPhone, I followed signs for Fast Track for the security …

Lobby Bar – December 14: Hanging Chads, Boarding by Color, and ‘I’ll Take Famous Squirrels for $250, Alex!’

by Anna Breuer

Lobby Bar: A Modern Day Parable
Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate.  After counting over 1.6 billion ballots, the accounting firm of Dewey Cheattham & Howe halted the announcement of winners of the Frequent Business Traveler GlobeRunner Awards in New York City. The accountants discovered that most of the votes were invalid because voters failed to follow instructions on the punchcard ballot, which was originally designed in 1971. Fortunately, common sense prevailed …

Evelyn Berezin, Built World’s First Computerized Airline Reservations System for United Airlines, Dies at 93

by Anna Breuer

Evelyn Berezin, who is credited with building the world’s first computerized airline reservations system as well as the first computer-controlled word processor, died Saturday in New York City at the age of 93.
Ms. Berezin joined Electronic Computer Corporation in New York in 1951, where she designed task-specific computers. When Electronic Computer was acquired by Underwood Typewriter, she moved to Teleregister.
In 1959, while at Teleregister, where she designed several bookkeeping and …

United Airlines, Hilton, American Airlines, Air Canada, Virgin Atlantic, Hertz, Kempinski, and Four Seasons Named Winners of the 2018 GlobeRunner Awards

by Anna Breuer

United Airlines, Hilton, American Airlines, Air Canada Virgin Atlantic Airways, Hertz, Kempinski, Four Seasons, oneworld, Lufthansa, and Volvo have been named best in class by the editors of Frequent Business Traveler.
The results of this year’s awards, recognizing the world’s top airlines, hotel groups, car rental agencies, and automobiles, were announced on Wednesday by Jonathan Spira, Frequent Business Traveler’s editorial director, at the magazine’s offices in New York City.
In lieu of holding …

8 Etiquette Tips and Rules for Travel in Europe

by Paul Riegler

Even experienced travelers commit the occasional faux pas while traveling in a foreign country; indeed it’s almost inevitable.
Showing a desire to learn more about the people and culture of the land one is visiting is key.
While it’s difficult to make broad generalizations about Europe and Europeans, one thing that’s clear is that the rules of comportment are frequently quite different from what is customary in the United States.  Indeed, from …

Paris is Burning: Here’s What Travelers Need to Know About the Yellow Vest Protests

by Anna Breuer

For the past four Saturdays, protesters in Paris, the so-called “Gilets Jaunes” or “Yellow Vests,” named for the high-visibility roadside yellow safety vests they wear, have been rioting in the streets, vandalizing shops and restaurants, and torching cars.
The protests, which have turned violent and included the use of tear gas and water cannon by police, have been concentrated in the center of Paris on the Champs-Élysées and in the First, …

Lobby Bar – December 7: Aunt Esther’s Hats, Bowling for Dollars, and ‘I’ll Take Out of Work Veeps for $250, Alex’

by Anna Breuer

Lobby Bar: Not For the Faint of Heart
This is the big one. Fred Sanford was officially out of a job on Thursday as Apple introduced its new ECG feature, which takes an electrocardiogram using the Apple Watch Series 4 and warns users of heart issues before they happen.
Paging Joe Biden. One concourse at the new LaGuardia Central Terminal Building opened its doors to passengers Saturday. Given the world-class facilities at the new …

Review: Apple Watch Series 4 ECG Feature

by Paul Riegler

Apple introduced a long-awaited feature for the Apple Watch Series 4 that performs an electrocardiogram on the wearer. Apple calls the feature “ECG” on watches set to English, although the term “EKG” may be more familiar to readers.
On Thursday, Apple released the feature for customers in the United States with the release of watchOS 5.1.2. The feature can be used to identify atrial fibrillation, a common type of an irregular …