I had to book air travel to a client’s city for a presentation I am making. I found an airfare five weeks ago of around $250 but was told not to book it because the client’s corporate travel department would book it at a corporate rate thus “saving money”. Fair enough”, I thought. Anyway, corporate travel department finally got back to me today to book it myself. Only the fare is now $700-$800. So much for them saving money. I hate seeing money wasted!
Yearly Archives
Yearly Archives for 2011.
Airports with Wireless- where to find them
In today’s modern world, it is infuriating the inconsistency in wireless internet access in airports. There are four types of airports in my experience: Airports with no wireless internet (mostly regional) Airports with free wireless internet (these are airports I like) Airports with one internet wireless carrier that you have to purchase airtime from (these are airports I dislike a lot) Airports with multiple internet carriers that allow you to choose a carrier you may have a monthly plan with The third option is frustrating because you have to sign up a new carrier for…
Indian Fake Pilots
Last month, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation revoked the licence of a pilot, flying for IndiGo, after she caused damage to an Airbus A320 by landing the plane on the nose wheel instead of the rear wheels. She was found to have forged papers to get her airline transport pilot licence. The DGCA then found two more pilots with forged qualifications flying passenger planes. Another reason, why I am nervous to fly in India. Give me Indian Railways every time!
Just flew my 711th flight!
Virgin America, America’s Best Airline to Dallas
The Virgin love in continues with my Virgin America flight from LAX to Dallas Fort Worth. I currently rate this airline as the best in the USA, slightly ahead of JetBlue. I wish Australia’s Virgin Blue was as good as Virgin America. The Aussie version started as a discount carrier and is evolving into Australias’ second mainline carrier so its history is very different. Check In The star difference hits you right from the start with Virgin American. For example, how many other airlines have “We are Family“ playing at Check in? Was fascinated that…
Virgin across the Pacific
I was very excited about today’s flight: my very first time flying Virgin Blue’s International off shoot V Australia my first flight across the Pacific in one of my favourite aeroplanes the Boeing 777, the world’s largest twin-jet. my first International flight for 2011 my tenth flight for 2011 my 707th flight ever Plus I was in Premium Economy! For a plane geek lots of virginal experiences! Check-in at Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport was brilliant- very smooth and pleasant. From taxi to lounge via security, customs and duty free, in a little less than half an…
My Next Three Weeks
This is going to be a very busy time. Looking forward to flying with V Australia for the first time (the International arm of Virgin Blue, the Australian affiliate of the Virgin group) and spending a little time in Boise, Idaho.
Fantastic: Delhi Airport Express connects city to airport
Trains to the airport in Delhi??? Alleluia…for this is the city where I had two of my most terrifying taxi rides….traffic in that city is extraordinarily bad! Check out my blog post on bad Taxi rides and my wishlist for good service. The good news is that of yesterday Delhi has an Express train to the airport taking passengers from Connaught Place (centre of New Delhi) to the International Airport (23km) in 18 minutes. Cost 80 rupees ($1.80). Trains run 6am to 10pm but that will change with trains expected to run later in the night.…
How far is it from? Great Tools
Ever need to find out the travel distance between two cities? Sometimes you just need to know or you want to work out points earnt for frequent flying. The tool pictured right Travel Math will tell you travel distance, flight times as well as driving distance and driving time. It will also tell you the closest airport. Calculations are in miles, kilometres and nautical miles. NB there is also an online booking form on the same page. Be careful you may actually start booking a flight instead of finding the distance! My other favorite distance finding…
Bad timing: Expedia’s Earthquake NZ sale
I subscribe to Expedia.com, Expedia.com.au and Expedia.co.nz (3 times in total). As a result, when they have a sale, I get three emails from them. On 23 February, three emails all came through at around 907am Australian time/1107am New Zealand time. They were all promoting a cheap holiday deal in New Zealand. The snafu was that this email came 17 hours after a massive earthquake ripped through Christchurch, New Zealand. This major tourist centre seems to have lost most of its hotels and the biggest hotel in the City, the 26 storey Grand Chancellor may collapse.…
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