Skyteam* allow members of one airline’s Frequent Flyer program to use Miles from that airline to upgrade from Economy to Business Class on international flight itineraries of most of the other airlines in the alliance. I thought I would test this out travelling from Seoul, Korea to Los Angeles on Korean Air‘s A380. I wanted to do it in Business Class- without paying Business Fare! I planned to use my hard earned Delta Skymiles to get the upgrade. The catch is that to be eligible for an upgrade, my ticket would have to be a certain fare code.…
Yearly Archives
Yearly Archives for 2011.
Flight Number 90
Last year, 2010, I flew 90 times and vowed to reduce my flying for 2011. I don’t think I set a realistic resolution. Today I flew my 90th and have multiple more flights waiting. Interestingly, I have flown almost 38 000 km (25 000 miles) further this year and spent about 68 hours more inside aeroplanes.
Tuesday Trip Report: Royal Brunei
Long been curious to try Royal Brunei. Due to a quirk in my schedule, I got the chance to last week. Even though it involved two stopovers, their flight got me out of London and into Melbourne at a time that fitted my schedule. My first Royal Brunei sector was actually the 787th flight of my life. I had hoped for a flight on the 787 but the timing didn’t work. (For those who have been following, I flew my 737th on a Southwest 737, 747th in a Qantas B747, then United for 757, Qantas for 767…
Qantas-Anyone worried?
As a Qantas very frequent flyer, I am watching Qantas in disputes with three unions. There is the classic “blame the management” by the unions and the classic “blame the unions” by Qantas spokespeople. For passengers, there’s inconvenience of cancelled flights. For the tourist industry, theres a fear of loss of passengers at this crucial time. For Qantas there is presumably the economic impact of revenue losses. I am interested that Virgin Australia is adding capacity to cope and advertising special fares. Since their conversion from discount to full service carrier, they have apparently snared 13 per cent of the Australian…
My Top Twenty List for England
Today, I am going to try and nominate my Twenty Favourite Spots in England. What do you think? Lakes District National Park- Steamer trips on the lakes, steam train, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge Beatrix Potter and days of hiking in all weathers! The Yorkshire Dales -wild and stunning Stonehenge- if you get a chance get onto one of the few tours that actually lets you walk around the stones – it is mesmerising Little Venice and the Canal Path to Camden Markets, London– stroll through the countryside in the middle of London. Have walked this many times…
Seven hours in Eden
In the middle of Cornwall, England near the town of St Austell, England is a piece of Eden. The Eden Project, was built the Eden Project in Cornwall in a disused clay mine, opening ten years ago. The project is about regenerating the environment and introducing it to the public. For example, when the Eden Project started, the site was so bad it had been used as the scene of a ruined alien plante in a BBC TV series. Getting there Train to St Austell station. From there were two choices of bus. Tip: When buying the train ticket, add a St Austell Bus plus onto the fare. It…
British Airways & Iberia PLUS American?
This week saw the first anniversary of a joint business agreement between American, Iberia and British. Under this agreement, the airlines agreed to co-operate commercially on flights between the United States, Mexico, Canada, the European Union, Switzerland and Norway. The agreement was backed up by anti trust immunity from US and European authorities. Shortly, after the agreement was signed, in January, 2011, Iberia and BA merged into a new company called IAG (international Airlines Group), Europe’s third largest airline group and the sixth largest in the world by revenue. The airlines have combined the strong BA Asian connections with Iberia’s…
By Rail from Melbourne, Australia to Adelaide, Australia.
I travelled this week the 828km between these two Australian cities on the Overland train. Departure was 08:05 am and the arrival a mere ten hours and 45minutes later! The Overland began running as the Intercolonial Express train in October 1887. In 1926, the overnight rail service became The Overland in 1926. In the 1950s, The Overland introduced air-conditioned carriages and was the first train in the world to have on board showers! Unfortunately, trains in Australia have not had the similar investment, European railways have enjoyed. Today, the train journey takes much about the same time as…
Tuesday Trip Report: Train to Torquay
Torquay is the home of Basil Fawlty, the long suffering proprietor in the cringingly hilarious English Tv series Fawlty Towers. Its also the town in England where my ancestors came from. My grandfather often talked about the mighty Great Western Railway steam engines that connected the town to London. The railway designed by British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was designed to be fast, and stylish way of travel. Today the GWR is known as First Great Western (owned by First Group). They operate trains through to Wales and the southwest of England from London’s Paddington station (more well…
British Airways and Ipads –I like it
If you have ever sat near the front of an aeroplane, you would know that when the cabin door is about to close, the crew are handed a long scrolled up piece of paper with all customer details. In the 21st Century! It looks so primitive. BA is testing Ipads with 100 cabin staff with the aim of rolling them out to all senior crew members in the next few months. Loaded on them are timetables, safety manuals and customer service updates. More importantly from a customer service point of view, when the doors are about to close,…
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