United is the airline, I love to hate. And I am not alone. Their on-time arrival performance declined in 2014 while their mishandled baggage rate increased. The airline had a higher customer complaint rate in 2014 compared to 2.14 in 2013. Brent D. Bowen and Headley in their 2015 Airline Quality Ratings gave them ninth place out of 12 US carriers. Skytrax customers have given them a 3/10 rating. Since new CEO, Oscar Munoz took over in dramatic circumstances, just three weeks ago, he has been reaching out to try and change the airline. He has…
Where to credit air miles
Booked your ticket and airline and trying to work out which Frequent Flyer program will get the most miles. It can be useful if you are planning a one off trip or thinking through your mileage earn for the next 12 months. Where to credit is a handy way to find out that your First Class ticket will get you 130% of miles with one airline and 300% with another. Or my Malaysia airways discount economy ticket will get me 25% of the miles with Malaysia and 0% with any other carrier. It is very simple…
Most amazing fireworks in the world
Where would you go for an amazing fireworks display? New York? Sydney? Dubai? To my surprise, I found it is actually in a small town of just 482 people called Gunning. Located in a rural area, 260 km (160 miles) south-west of Sydney, Australia. Why? Firework’s Australia the country’s largest firework’s distributor and organiser has two factories in the area and every year they organise the Gunning Fireworks Festival to demonstrate their newest and best bangs and colours. I went along for this year’s Festival last Saturday night and for almost two hours, small and large shells, rockets and mortars were…
Petition demands air passenger protections
Sick of it all? Crammed seats, delays, fees and poor customer responses to problems? FlyersRights who claim to be the Largest Non-Profit Airline Consumer Organization, have launched a petition calling for the US government to draft public law to require: passenger protection from tarmac delays of three hours plus minimum seat pitch standards airline acceptance of FAA-certified child seats transparency of unbundled fees contingency plans for long delays including food stocks response to complaints within seven days and resolution within ten Airlines For America responded saying “We…believe that government should not regulate airline seat sizes, but instead…
Rainbow for September 11
Rainbow emerging from World Trade in lower Manhattan taken on 10th September 2015 by Queens resident Ben Sturner. Fourteen years later, I think of the day that changed so much of our world when almost 3000 people from over 60 countries were directly killed as a result of the hijacking of those four aircraft. I want to take a positive from the rainbow. I pray we can find a way to bring peace this year. My thoughts to you on this day.
USA has most flight departures-still
Last year, there were almost ten million take offs of US registered airlines across the country (9,745,498 to be exact). This is just over a quarter of all of the takeoffs across the world. It is a staggering thought to think this averages to a takeoff every four seconds across the USA! The country has four of the top ten busiest airports in the world: Atlanta, LAX, and Chicago O’hare and Dallas-Fort Worth. This is a reduction of about half a million takeoffs from 2013, the fourth year the number of takeoffs has declined in the USA. There…
Don’t pack something you’ve never worn!
Some people get excited for a trip and rush out buying new clothes for the flight, an event or for sightseeing. If that is you, wear them before you go! You do not want to find that your shoes are too tight or your underpants too uncomfortable or your jacket too heavy. Also, if you would not wear it at home, do not take it with you.
You know all those things you always wanted to do…
Air NZ Men in Black Safety Video
Air New Zealand have released a new safety video which features members of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team rapping in a parody of “Men in Black”. Captain Richie McCaw and team member Dan Carter appear as “Men in Black” agents. Team mates Kieran Read, Keven Mealamu and Sam Whitelock can be spotted. Fullback Israel Dagg raps the in-flight briefing with Stan Walker, winner of the 2009 Australian Idol. American actor Rip Torn is the Men in Black chief. Other international rugby stars make appearances including former England Captain Martin Johnson as an alien with horns, David Campese of the Wallabies and…
United’s Very handy US Airports App
If you travel through major US airports, United Airlines have unveiled a feature which makes their iphone app well worth downloading. Under the “Travel Tools” section on their app, the airline has added interactive maps for their seven mainland U.S. hubs airports: Chicago O’Hare Denver Houston Bush Intercontinental Los Angeles Newark Liberty San Francisco Washington Dulles. The maps include all parts of those airports, however, not just the terminals and spaces used by United. They include searchable information about retail stores and available service options at each airport. eg restrooms, restaurant, Burger King etc etc. I discovered for…
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