Priceline is one of the riskiest ways of booking a hotel room (you can also use them to book cars and flights). Risky because, the actual hotel name and excess location are revealed after you have paid. Both sites rely on hotels and suppliers who have excess capacity of rooms. As a consumer, it has meant getting rooms at amazing prices. I have stayed at the Westin St Francis, in Cardiff, Wales, on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, in Seattle’s heart and off Times Square,New York in four star hotels and on Orchard Rd, Singapore in a five star hotel, all for around $100 a night.…
787 Air India door failure
Much reporting but no details about the non closing cargo door of Air India’s second Boeing 787 delivered last month. Registration: VTADN. The reports are saying that the front cargo door ‘disintegrated’. The airline is saying nothing hit the plane. They are waiting for a spare to arrive. Boeing, of course, is investigating the matter. There were some suggestions that because the plane is made of composites, this was the issue.
Visiting Virginia’s Norfolk
It has been ten years between visits to Norfolk, Virginia and the city has done some improving! I stayed near the Waterside Convention Centre which is next to the Marriott Hotel and handy to transport, restaurants and Macarthur shopping center. Aesthetics: 7 out of 10 Norfolk is located at the junction of the Elizabeth River and Chesapeake Bay. The city is 237 kilometres (147.3 miles) from Washington DC. The city’s location is very pretty built around the waterways. The Norfolk downtown has had a major scrub up and the Granby Street area was unrecognisable compared to a decade…
Do I look Pregnant in this?
While waiting to board a Wellington to Christchurch, Jetstar flight in New Zealand, Kelsey Hughes was stopped from boarding by an employee who asked her if she had a medical certificate to fly. Hughes: ‘A medical certificate? No, why?‘, Jetstar Employee: You need a medical certificate to fly with your pregnancy. Jetstar policy states that passengers who are 28 or more weeks pregnant need to carry a letter from a doctor or midwife starting that they are fit to fly. Ground and cabin crew are expected to check if they believe a passenger is pregnant.…
Trip Report: United LAX-ROC
Booking 6 out of 10 United’s booking engine works very well. The Booking process is logically laid out and flows well. My major annoyance was that there was a significant fare difference for passengers whose residence was in Australia and those whose residence was in the USA. I have encountered this on other occasions with both United and American Airlines. This difference seems so arbitrary and Australian customers generally have no work around. If you try and book the American fare with an Australian credit card, it redirects you to start again. Check in: 8…
Travel Tip #15 Wimdu and AirBnB
On my last New York City trip I checked into a room one block from Times Square. The queen size bed was comfortable. There was a full kitchen, a very clean bathroom and small living/dining room. A balcony gave a view of the Manhattan skyline. Downstairs we had a concierge in duty with dry cleaning services if we needed it. All this for $100 a night! Through AirBnB, “a social website that connects people who have space to spare with those who are looking for a place to stay” we got a place that was…
Qatar joins One World
To no one’s surprise, One World announced today that British Airways will sponsor Qatar Airways as a full member of the Alliance, a process that is expected to take between 12 and 18 months. This news is an interesting addition to the One World. The 13 airline strong alliance will count amongst its membership three five star airlines (as measured by Skytrax) : Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines and Qatar compared to Star Alliance’s two: Asiana and Singapore. One World lost two members when Malev collapsed in 2012 and Mexicana was grounded in 2011. Kingfisher, a would be One World members has had significant financial woes – to…
Mid East Air Alliances: Emirates, Etihad, Qatar
The recent Qantas -Emirates partnership agreement seems to be having a flow through effect with two major announcements today. One World Alliance has been set for a week now to announce a “significant membership development” today in NewYork. The alliance includes American Airlines, British Airways/Iberia, Cathay Pacific, LAN and Royal Jordanian. The shortlisted options are: Qatar Airways or Emirates. In the meantime, Etihad snuck in their own announcement today with a wide sweeping relationship with Air France-KLM. Etihad’s a major code-sharing arrangement is between itself and 30% owned Air Berlin (itself a new member of One World with Air France-KLM), a Skyteam founding member The code-sharing agreement is seen as…
WindJet Winds Down – and Up
Another closure with no warning. On August 13th, 2012 ENAC, the Italian civil aviation authority, ordered Italian carrier Windjet to suspend all operations and to cease issuing tickets. The low-cost carrier shut down its website and grounded all of its aircraft at the start of the busiest holiday week of the year. 300,000 air travellers found they were stranded and 500 staff lost their jobs. Windjet was established in 2003 by Antonino Pulvirenti, owner of the Catania football team. It grew to be the fourth largest airline in Italy after Alitalia, Air One (now part of Alitalia)…
Armavia-Time running out????
At the beginning of 2012, there was much speculation that Armavia,the national airline of Armenia was struggling financially. They had a debt of $US6.2 million with the Zvartnots airports authority. Services to the airline were suspended for non payment of airport fees. Armavia’s owner, Mikhail Bagdasarov, in March, threatened to file for bankruptcy unless Zvartnots reduced the service fees. A compromise was worked out. Then last week, Zvartnots airport again, suspended services to Armavia air company over the latter’s debts. Over the summer the Russian media has reported several times that Armavia was about to be sold to a Russian…
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