‘Everything will be all right in the end. If it’s not all right, then it’s not yet the end … Don’t stress about travel. Its not worth it. Life is stressful enough. Things will go wrong with travel. – its inevitable. There are some things that can help: Time Leave enough time for your check ins etc. I add an hour to my check in time at Los Angeles compared to Melbourne Australia. Avoid flying on the day of an important meeting or wedding. Also choose flights with longer layovers. If you have the choice between 60 and 90 minutes, take…
United ditches Auckland-Houston
Remember the promise of a 787 flight from Auckland to Houston Intercontinental (IAH)? It was made by pre merger Continental. At approximately 11900 km (7400 miles), the new route was to be the longest from Continental’s Houston hub. I was very excited by this possibility. Houston is a much nicer airport than Los Angeles and the flight would get you into the heart of the USA. For me, Melbourne-Auckland-Houston-Philadelphia for example (as nightmarish as it sounds) is much more preferable than Melbourne-Sydney-Los Angeles-Philadelphia. Changing planes at Sydney is a hassle and in Los Angeles it is awful. The only…
The Interislander
Have a quick stopover in Wellington, New Zealand en route to the USA. I will be taking the Interislander ferry between the North and South islands of New Zealand. (To get to the airport in Melbourne, I will be taking bus and train. So on Thursday, I will manage bus, train, plane and ferry all in one day!) Am always excited to take the Inter- Islander. It is a stunning ride. When the water is calm, the trip is magic. When it is rough, it is shall we say more “challenging”.
Qantas -Back to or Ready for the Future
Of regular concern to me is the future of the airline I have flown the most with: Australian Flag Carrier: Qantas. The next step in CEO Alan Joyce’s Grand Plan for Qantas was unveiled last week. It came as the airline shut down its Melbourne maintenance base, eliminating over 500 jobs. From July 1st, 2012, Qantas will be split into four entities: Qantas domestic which has 65% of the Australian air market. This division will run Qantas’ engineering, catering and airport operations Qantas International which will control Freight operations Jetstar, the low cost carrier, which already operates as a separate…
Dad, look what was in my Teddy Bear
Anyone else seen this whacky situation? At Rhode Island airport, a TSA officer examining a child’s carry-on bag found pieces of a handgun hidden inside a stuffed teddy bear, a stuffed rabbit, and a stuffed Mickey Mouse toy. The pieces included the frame of a .40-caliber firearm, a magazine with two .40-caliber rounds, a firing pin and a slide. These would form a complete gun when re-assembled. The child’s father said he was “unaware” that the pieces of the gun had been nestled snugly within the plush bodies of his child’s toys. The father also stated that the…
Travel Tips
I get a lot of requests for travel tips, especially Money saving ones. From next Monday, I am going to share a travel tip each week. Feel free to send questions and/or suggestions! Thank you!
This Week: 28 May
I have not been inside a plane for three weeks! Consider, I have flown 45 times so far in 2012- an average of 10 flights per month. In 2012, I have covered 134 334km – three and a third times around the earth! 14 airlines flown to 11 countries! One week of this year has been spent inside planes! In contrast, for the last 21 days, I have had no check ins, no lounges, no safety briefings and no plane food! This has been almost a shock! This will change with an…
Not Wanting the Cheapest Fare?!
As a Qantas Frequent Flyer, there are some categories of American Airlines Coach tickets that earn me points and status credits. These are: GLMNSV Discount Economy and BHKY economy. Other fare classes do not earn me any points or status credits eg OQ. I don’t overly care about the points but Status Credits are important to me as I want to keep my priority check in, higher luggage allowance and lounge access. Often the difference in price between a Q and a N fare is very, very slight but the outcome is,of course, very different. The obvious…
Qantas/Jetstar 787
The Boeing 787 “Dreamliner” made it to Australia this week on its world tour. Kate Schnider and Steve Creedy from The Australian newspaper have an excellent review and commentary of the plane. A photo gallery of the plane during its Sydney visit is here. I cannot wait to fly the 787!! Qantas, has ordered 50 of the dreamliners. The first 15 of them are to be delivered first to Qantas low cost airline subsidiary Jetstar in mid 2013, despite rumours the planes will go to Qantas International or Domestic operations. The Jetstar 787-8s will seat 313 passengers in a two class configuration.…
Kingfisher- still flies!
Can you believe India’s Kingfisher airlines is still flying. The group has now slipped from the largest to sixth airline in India in terms of passengers. Last week, the Indian government announced the carrier owes $US 49m (£31m) in taxes. In addition, the carrier owes money to airports, lenders and its own staff. The airline shut down most international short-haul operations in February and and all international services ceased on 10 April. In March, its mooted membership of One World never happened and IATA (the International Air Transport Association) suspended Kingfisher’s usage of the inter-airline funds transfer system. Cancellations, delays and disruptions have been…
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