When I left for my Dreamliner media trip on Saturday to cover All Nippon Airways’ (ANA) new service from Mineta San Jose International Airport to Narita International Airport in Tokyo, little did I know that this would be one of the last 787 flights before ANA, and now the FAA, grounded the entire fleet for inspections yesterday.

Our group included a number of aviation experts. Take Ronald Kuhlmann, for example, who has over 40 years …

Greetings from Tokyo, Japan! I’m here for a whirlwind 72-hour media trip to cover ANA’s (All Nippon Airways) launch of their new Boeing 787 Dreamliner service from Mineta San Jose Airport to Narita Airport in Tokyo.

I flew the Dreamliner over a day after the inaugural launch of that service on January 11th. Don’t let the recent bad press fool you, this aircraft is indeed dreamy for passengers.

Do you dread thinking about long-haul flights with infants and children in tow? Well, say hello to All Nippon Airways (ANA) Dreamliner flight service to Japan. The Boeing 787 has landed in Northern California at Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport.

I was on hand for Ciao Bambino to welcome ANA’s Dreamliner to the Silicon Valley …

There are now dozens of low cost carriers flying across Europe’s air space, although these flights are not as cheap as they used to be, and they might not go where you think you are going. But, if you do your homework you can bag yourself a bargain.

Understand Arrival Airport Location

If landing charges are cheap and there is demand for tickets, low-cost airlines will land a jumbo at any tin pot airport.

Is your family thinking about traveling to Europe? As an industry insider, there are several things it would be helpful for you to know. Here are things that all families should be aware of when renting a car in Europe.

One Way Fees

Watch out for “one way” fees. When you pick up your car in one country and drop it off in another, you will pay a one way fee. Sometimes the fees are charged within the same country, but not always.

Rick Seaney is the CEO of the airfare news, research, and tracking resource FareCompare. This website is always my first stop before booking tickets as it provides instant price and route information through multiple channels at once to easily compare and contrast options.

Rick is an incredible source of industry information and insight. I interviewed him earlier this week for his take on the important airline industry happenings that will impact family travel in 2012.

Despite living in Europe for the past 5 months, I still get confused when I’m trying to figure out where and how to best buy train tickets. Given that every country has their own train websites, when and why should you use aggregate distribution sites like Rail Europe?

I asked Rail Europe for an e-interview to answer some of the critical questions for families.

At home we covet the latest tech gadget and are frustrated by anything that seems arcane – but drop us in Italy for a vacation and suddenly we’re waxing poetic about how delightfully romantic and old-fashioned it is to chug around the country by train. Until, that is, something doesn’t go according to plan at the train station.

Getting around Italy by train can be just as delightful and romantic as you imagine it will be if you know what to expect and you’re willing to improvise.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and Christmas is waiting silently in the wings. Are you headed to Grandma’s to get your fill of turkey and cranberry? Join the crowd. Best to fly armed with my Thanksgiving travel tips in mind. It will make for a better trip and help your wallet cope with the ever growing list of airline fees.

Turn on the news and it seems like every other day there’s a story about another charge being imposed by one of the big carriers.

Flying business class on a long-haul flights may be the difference between a somewhat enjoyable ride over the ocean or misery, particularly if you are stuck with bad seats in economy. We flew on KLM and Delta last summer to France and we were stuck in the middle seats next to the bathroom there and back.

Not good.

Those are the flights where you literally count each painful minute until the plane lands, only to subsequently arrive shattered.