This was no ordinary flight for me. According to my flightmemory, it was my 950th flight ever. In addition, it was my 275th flight with Qantas and my 24th on an Airbus A330. Booking: 9 out of 10 Qantas’ booking engine is very streamlined. Six steps take you from enquiry to payment. If you are logged in as a Qantas Frequent Flyer, then the amount of information required to be typed in is minimal. Thanks to Skyscanner, I found the same fare on another website for $249 less. This saved me almost a third of the fare. It has annoyed me…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for April 2013.
Keeping track of exchange rates
Look up the monetary conversion rates before you go. Finding out that your dollars won’t go as far as they do back home is a nasty shock. I use currency xe online – its also a downloadable app If you prefer a paper based tool, gocurrency has a tool that allows you to perform a currency calculation and print it on paper tuck into your wallet or handbag.
Introducing the British Airways A380
Revealed this week an A380 for the tenth operator of the A380 British Airways. The plane is due to be delivered by July, 2013 followed by three more this year and then another eight after that to make a grand total of 12 for the carrier. The plane will be flying initially between – London and Los Angeles from 15th October (as BA268 and 269) – London and Hong Kong from 15th November as BA25 and BA26 The BA A380 will have 469 seats in a four class set up: 1. BA First Class –…
Eastern Europe Airline Update
Following on from last week’s post about Czech air, the ex European bloc airlines have not fared well since the dissolution of the former Soviet states. In Slovakia, Slovak Airlines closed in 2007, SkyEurope 2009 and Air Slovakia in 2010 Last year, Malev, the airline of nearby Hungary collapsed and WizzAir has made continuous losses since launching in 2003 Poland’s LOT is in financial difficulties Bosnia and Herzegovina B&H Airlines was grounded briefly last month Romanian government owned TAROM has had five years of losses Croatia Airlines has lost money almost every year since commencement in 1989 and was unable to…
Boosting the Image of Down Under
As an Australian, I am used to people reacting enthusiastically to the mention of my country. Last year, however, at the launch of a $180 million “There’s nothing like Australia” campaign, research was revealed that Australians have a mixed perception internationally. 80 per cent of international travellers see Australia as “different”, 60 per cent had knowledge of it, half thought Australia was a relevant place to them – but only 30 per cent held Australia in high esteem. Americans saw Aussies as “carefree and rugged” but believed Australians don’t deliver quality or good value. British believe Aussies are “charming and…
Airport Life Travel app
Last year, I travelled to 59 airports in 15 countries! One day, stuck in Charlotte, North Carolina I called a friend for advice on where to get some good food. There have been many airports where I have wandered aimlessly from terminal to terminal looking for decent food. What I should have been doing is developing an app to help the millions of passengers annually who do the same thing. Dan Stratman, an airline Captain with 23 years of experience has done just that declaring: “I’m all too aware of how frustrating air travel has become. I wanted…
Tomorrow I am heading to Bangkok on my 950th flight!
Tomorrow will be my 950th flight ever! I am zipping up from Sydney to Bangkok with Qantas on one of their A330s. Although to be honest, the 330 is one of my least favourite of the Airbus family (along with the 320). This will be my 17th time at Bangkok airport. My Bangkok plans include the Amphawa Floating market, south of Bangkok. Thailand’s rivers and canals were used by farmers to transporting their produce by boat to the cities where they traded. Today’s floating markets are not quite the same but still a vibrant fun experience. Also off…
787 Cleared to Fly!
The FAA (the U.S. regulators) has approved the return of the grounded 787 Dreamliner to the air next week. The authority were clearly satisfied with Boeing’s fixes with US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood saying: “These changes to the 787 battery will ensure the safety of the aircraft and its passengers“. The manufacturer is saying while it does not know what caused the fire, it’s fixes will deal with 80 possible causes. “Next week, the FAA will issue instructions to operators for making changes to the aircraft and will publish in the Federal Register the final…
Korean buys Czech Air
Korean Air finalised its 44 percent investment in CSA (Ceske Aerolinie AS), the Czech government owned flag carrier on April 11, 2013 for a nominal price of 2.64 million euros ($US3.4m). The government said: “We only had two options: either find a strategic partner or consider liquidation of CSA”. Korean was the only bidder for the carrier, although Qatar expressed an interest. If the European Commission loosens regulations on foreign ownership of EU carriers then Korean Air will have first option to buy the remaining 56% stake held by the government owned holding company. If this occurs in the next twelve months, then the price…
Air Fares based on Weight
Following on from my post from two weeks ago about Air Samoa charging by the kilo to fly, Dr. Bharat P. Bhatta from Norway has proposed three models that he asserts would benefit “airlines, passengers and society” by cutting each flight’s fuel usage and carbon dioxide emissions. His three “pay as you weigh” models are: Total weight: A passenger’s luggage and body weight is calculated, with the fare comprising a per kilogram (kg) cost. In this scenario a passenger weighing 80kg (178 pounds) with 20 kg (44 pounds) of luggage would pay a fare of a base amount…
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