Melbourne, Australia is very excited that it scored 97.5 out of 100 in the Economist’s annual most liveable cites survey knocking Vancouver out of top place. The Economist designs the rankings for employers to use when assigning hardship allowances as part of job relocation but they have developed a life of their own with the rankings capturing the attention of people in the street and politicians. The indexes also ignore other issues like the cost of living in those cities, sustainability, and equity and other factors. For example housing costs in Melbourne are now some…
Yearly Archives
Yearly Archives for 2011.
Stay Away from Seattle
Theres a very strange website around which called people to “Stay away from Seattle“. Apparently September 16 is “Stay Away from Seattle Day. It is meant to “give ‘America’s Best Place to Live’ city a break from the influx of people moving to the area.“ Tourists bring 5.5 billion dollars into Seattle every year but not everyone wants them it seems – at least one day a year. There have been a few places in the world that I have been to where I have wondered if people actually want tourists. I have never been made to feel really unwelcome but I have wondered.Many…
Comparing Trans Pacific Business Class
Yesterday’s Trip Report covered my recent V Australia’s Business Class trip between Brisbane, Australia and Los Angeles, USA. Today, I compare the various Business Class offerings of all the trans Pacific carriers. I chose a travel date of of 12th October from Sydney to LAX and travel back 19th October to find pricing. Hawaiian had the cheapest business class fares for those dates. I have ranked the airlines from Best Business Class on the Australian -US route (V Australia) through to the worst on this sector (United). This is based on both my experience and reviews by others. Happy to be challenged! Or…
V Australia Business Class…Stacks up?
So my new friends are V Australia, the international arm of Virgin Australia the “second” mainline Aussie carrier (Qantas being the first). I have now flown in all three V Australia classes between Australia and Los Angeles on their beautiful Boeing 777-300ERs (I really do like V Australia!). Check out my trip report about International Premium Economy Class . I have now flown with V Australia to LA out of all three of their Australian ports: Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. They have been consistently excellent at all of them. Today’s Trip was actually several months ago. Like this blog…
Tribute to the Plane Crews of September 11
Fragments from N334AA Our view of the world changed forever on September 11, 2001 when four planes were hijacked by Al-Qaeda sponsored terrorists. 2976 victims and 19 hijackers died when all four of the planes crashed- two into the the twin towers of the World Trade Center, one into the Pentegon and one into a Pennsylvanian field. All airspace was closed and all non-emergency civilian aircraft in the USA grounded immediately with five hundred international flights turned back. I want to pay tribute to the flight crews, cabin crews and passengers on the four hijacked flights. American Airlines flight 11 Boston Logan to LAXBoeing…
Tiger Wins Battle- Loses War: I miss my flight and Tiger loses a customer
I did not need to fly Tiger Airways Australia on this day. Qantas and Virgin had plenty of available seats. After their recent grounding for six weeks by the Australian safety watchdog, I was curious to see how they were bouncing back. Plus I wanted to show some support for competition in Australia. (NB Their CEO lost his job over the groundings which were the result of some pretty significant safety errors). Tiger Airways TT 618: 17:40h Melbourne to Sydney- which I missed. This is the sixth flight I have ever missed in my life, out of 788 flights! Booking: 4/10 I…
771st
Have my 771st flight next week…only six more flights until the magic 777!I can tell you I have chosen which airline to fly my 777th flight on and am very excited about it! Ah the joys of being a travel nerd!
China Southern A380 Schedules released
The seventh airline in the world to fly the A380 mega jumbo (China Southern) have announced their launch routes and dates ( (Thanks to Airliner Route). The Guangzhou [CAN] based airline will start with: 1. Beijing [PEK] – Guangzhou [CAN] Launch date: 17th October, 2011Distance: 1876 km (1166miles) Outward flight: CZ3000 PEK dep 10:00h CAN arr: 13:15 The plane will be on the ground for two hours 45 minutes before returning. Return flight: CZ 3999 CAN dep: 16:00 PEK arr: 19:15 Listed fare: $297 each way in Economy and $644 in First Class. Flights are currently only being operated…
ANA on track for first 787 ever!
The Good News: The 787 has been passed as compliant with all US and European safety regulations! The first plane will be delivered on September 26. This is later than I had hoped! For ANA have always said they would start flying the plane one month after delivery. The first ANA 787 commercial flight is a “charter flight” on October 26, from Narita to Hong Kong (and return). 100 Economy passengers will be on board, chosen by lottery from people who book on the ANA website. Business class seats will be sold by auction with proceeds going…
Petra
In 1995, a good friend visited Petra. That was the year that it was designated a World Heritage Site. I saw his picture of the main temple known as the Treasury and I was hooked. I have wanted to go ever since. Steve Davey of the BBC said it was one of Forty “Unforgettable Places To See Before You Die.” I got my chance this year! I have only had to wait 16 years! And the visit was well worth it. A few things about Petra… Petra is in modern Jordan, about 300km south of the capital Amman. I…
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