by Paul Riegler

Until I started flying more often on oneworld airlines, I didn’t fully appreciate what British Airways had to offer in its Club Europe business-class offering – plus. I was wary about Heathrow’s Terminal 5, a facility that, as FBT Editorial Director Jonathan Spira doesn’t hesitate to point out, became functionally obsolete not long after its opening.
Adding to the excitement of my trip was an e-mail the night before departure from …

Expert Q&A: Addressing Traveler Concerns About the Coronavirus – ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go?’

by Jesse Sokolow

The daily dispatches from Hong Kong and Wuhan and Beijing about Covid-19, the official name for the novel coronavirus that seemingly sprung out of nowhere in Wuhan, China, are nowhere near an end. Travel is down in some instances by over 90%, and thousands of people are under quarantine after possible exposure to the virus.  This leaves travelers – be they business or leisure – wondering, should I stay or …

Europe Faces Up to the Coronavirus as Cases in Italy Soar

by Paul Riegler

The Italian government implemented the strongest measures yet in Europe to combat the novel coronavirus, including the imposition of fines, after a third person died of the virus on Sunday.
The move comes after the number of cases in the first major outbreak of Covid-19 in Europe rose to 152.
The outbreak appears to be one of a growing number of clusters of cases with no direct to the outbreak in Wuhan.
Officials …

How to Combat the Coronavirus with Proper Hand Washing

by Paul Riegler

While hand washing has been a central component of personal hygiene for years, as well as a religious and cultural custom, the link between hand washing and health first appeared two centuries ago.
It wasn’t until Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian doctor working at the Allgemeines Krankenhaus der Stadt Wien in Vienna, discovered that the incidence of peuerperal fever could be dramatically reduced by the use of hand disinfection in obstetrical clinics, …

Hotel Review: Hilton Munich City, Germany

by Jonathan Spira

The Munich City Hotel on the Rosenheimerstraße near the Gasteig cultural center is just a little over 30 years old yet it isn’t at all showing its age, thanks to a recent top-to-bottom $50 million renovation that left no area of the property untouched.
I hadn’t been at a Hilton in the city since I was 11 and we stayed en familie at the Hilton am Tucherpark during that visit, so …

Restaurant Review: Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Fried Chicken Sandwich

by Anna Breuer

The Popeyes Chicken Sandwich became instantly famous when it was introduced, went viral, and promptly went out of stock last August, and the fervor it created rivaled Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, an ironic comparison given that the chicken sandwich actually has chicken while the pumpkin spice latte drink didn’t for its first ten years of existence include pumpkin.
While no one on the FBT staff is enamored of fast food, my …

Adieu Terminal City: The Future JFK is Coming Soon

by Jonathan Spira

Now that the plans to redevelop John F. Kennedy International Airport as a more interconnected airport have been somewhat finalized, it’s important to look back at the airport’s first redevelopment in the 1950s as Terminal City.
While the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which assumed control of the airport in 1947, originally envisioned one large 55-gate terminal.  Larger airlines were against the idea as it would not allow …

Review and Test Drive: 2019 Volkswagen Arteon SEL Premium R-Line

by Jonathan Spira

When it was introduced in 2008, it was the latest in a trend from German automakers: the four-door coupe. Traditionally, a coupe had two doors but those presumptions have long fallen by the wayside.  We’re talking about the Volkswagen CC. We loved it when it came out (CC stood for “Comfort Coupe”) and lamented its demise in 2017. Now the CC faithful can rejoice: the new Volkswagen Arteon is the spiritual successor …