I am Wild about Flying and thanks to my friend Tony (see separate story), I have a very accurate record of my travel. This means I know for a certainty, that as at today’s date I have flown 812 times in my life- 111 times in 2011. Question: Do I need to fly 112 times next year? 111 times in a year is about twice per week. In total a scary 412 hours of my year was spent in aeroplanes- two and a half weeks!! Distance Flown I travelled 304 560 km (189 245 miles). That number is…
December, 2011 Blog Review
December is one of my quietest travel months. A mere seven flights- three with Etihad and four with the transitioning Virgin Australia (all in front row!). Blog post wise: Dec 31: Best and worst airlines of 2011: Top Spot to Emirates and Bottom spot to Tiger Australia (that will teach them to bump me off a flight!) Dec 21: Flying highlights for 2011 -I effectively flew round the world seven times in 2011 and managed a 7*7 frequency whereby my 737th flight was on a Southwest 737, the 747th on a Qantas 747: 757th on a United 757, then Qantas 767 and Air New Zealand…
My best and worst airlines of 2011 [Updated]
Okay, time for my annual review of airlines to see who I give top and bottom billing to. I rate every airline on every flight i fly vis a vis their offerrings from booking to landing. On my rating scale 5 out of 5 is an almost perfect travel experience. Any airline with: 4.7 or more out of 5 is Superb 4.4+ Excellent 4.1+ Good 3.5+ Average 3+ Below Average Under 3.0 Poor Superb and Excellent List Emirates once again scooped the pool for me with 5.0 out of 5.0 Consistently good service, food, entertainment,…
Tuesday Trip Report: Korean Airlines A380
I have been systematically working my way through all of the airlines that have A380 products. So far I have flown (in date order) Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Emirates and Lufthansa. Today’s trip report: Korean Airlines A380. Korean was founded in 1962. For a long time it had a very dubious safety record with 16 aircraft involved in serious incidents and accidents in the 1970s to 1990s. Total loss of life: 700. Their safety has improved enormously, with the last incident in 1997. They have also received several awards for their service with Skytrrax rating them four stars. They are a member…
My Passport is in my luggage
As I stood at the Check in counter, I watched a gentleman return to the check in counter in a very agitated state. He attempted to clamber onto the luggage conveyor belt over the check in desk and was grasping at bags. He was exclaiming loudly: “I have left my passport in my luggage” Sigh! Passports never live in luggage, along with Medicines and Jewellery. The man was restrained from going any further with promises being made that his bag would be retrieved.
Seasons Greetings
I am off to Sydney, Australia today flying up front with Virgin Australia (Seat 1A). Not sure which aircraft. Hoping a new one. I will be up in Sydney for Christmas with various branches of the family (and one or two I am trying to avoid!). Not decided where for NY Eve. I actually wanted to be on the Sunshine Coast, Australia but that didn’t work out so my options are curently: Paris, France London, England Brisbane, Australia Lismore, Australia Sydney, Australia Hobart, Australia Melbourne, Australia Nice to be spoiled for choice. Any advocates for any…
We may encounter some turbulence this Christmas
I don’t know carrier, location or even if its genuine. Holiday Greetings everyone
Singapore Virgin- What does it mean?
Virgin Australia now has formal approval for an alliance between itself and Singapore Airlines Ltd. What does this mean for us passengers? Velocity Platinum and Gold members (thats me!) receive complimentary entry on day of travel into Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer Gold Lounges at Changi Airport, Singapore when travelling Economy Class with Singapore Airlines. Travelling Business or First class means access to the much nicer SilverKris lounge (Yeah in this case the Gold lounge is far inferior to the Silver. Normally Gold trumps silver, I thought). The good news is that outside of Singapore, Platinum and Gold members…
Air NZ Struggling
My second favourite airline Air NZ has been losing $NZ1 million per week on long haul traffic. It is now investigating ways to cut $NZ100 million out of expenses. Some of the rumours I have heard are: reducing London flights (NZ flies to Heathrow via Los Angeles and via Hong Kong every day) pulling out of London altogether handing sectors over from LAX and HK to Virgin Atlantic slashing hundreds of jobs halting all “large projects” (the message from Air NZ CEO Rob Fyfe: “no sacred cows”) reducing the quality of meals and service in…
Virgin Australia absorbs Pacific Blue and V Australia
Once upon a time (August, 2000 to be exact), a new airline was launched in Australia to challenge the two long standing carriers: Ansett and Qantas. That airline was Virgin Blue. The name was chosen in a competition playing on the Australian custom of calling a redhead Blue or Bluey. I flew Virgin Blue 12 times around Australia and rated them 4.4 out of 5. They initially used a low cost Southwest/Easyjet model with some quirky Australianisms and the Virgin feel. In 2003 Virgin Blue started Pacific Blue, a New Zealand based subsidiary which provided services between…
Recent Comments