My Musings (Sundays)

Category Archives for My Musings (Sundays).

Madness: Malaysia refuses checked baggage

Imagine arriving at the airport for your European vacation or business trip to find that you airline is NOT accepting checked luggage. Malaysia Airlines passengers on all flights from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to London, Paris and Amsterdam were told  from Tuesday January 5th that Economy Class passengers could only take luggage weighing seven kilograms (about 15 pounds) onboard, while Business and First class passengers could board with carry-on bags that weighed 14 kilograms (about 31 pounds). I understand passengers could book their luggage on but it would arrive separately! The outcry was significant as you can…

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Happy New Year for 2016

Thanks for journeying with me in 2015. I  had my quietest year for air travel since 2003 with only three flights a month! All of my flights were in Australia and Asia. I flew just six airlines in the whole year but two were new airlines for me:  Nok Air and  Thai Smile! This brings me to 1064 flights in my life with 90 airlines (see right for my lifetime stats) to 48 countries. I have also travelled to four countries by bus, two by ship and six by train. Giving a total of 6o countries In 2015,  I had…

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Pray for #Paris

In view of the situation in Paris, I have withdrawn my original post. Praying for our world and especially those impacted directly by these events. Paris is my favourite city in the world and I feel very sad for this day. May we work to create peace not division between all of us on this one small wonderful planet.

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United opens up to hear from us

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…

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MH370- Reunion gives news but not answers

The news that part of an aeroplane has washed up on the shore of the Island of Réunion last Wednesday gives little comfort to families and friends of those who were on Malaysia Airlines 370 that disappeared on March 8, 2014. Confirmation by Malaysia on Friday, that the part is a flaperon and is indeed from a Boeing 777 tells us that it is likely that the plane did indeed end up in the sea. It does not tell us how, where or why. (See wsj: What is a flaperon?) Additional information emerged that a suitcase was…

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My 300th time thru Sydney

This week I celebrate another geeky milestone! I have now flown into or out of SYD Sydney’s (Kingsford Smith) Airport 300 times! Of the 212 airports I have travelled through in my life, this Australian airport is my second most visited: 1 MEL Melbourne 328 15.7 %  4.2 2 SYD Sydney 300 14.3 %  2.9 3 LAX Los Angeles 99 4.7 %  1.7 4 ADL Adelaide 78 3.7 %  4.4 5 AKL Auckland 78 3.7 %  3.2 Since my first flight into Sydney on 3rd July 1971 on a Pan Am 747,  I have now travelled to…

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Vale Malaysia Airlines- Why it must be

In 1947, a Malayan Airways six seater Airspeed Consul took off from Sinagpore to Kuala Lumpur beginning what became the five star Malaysia Airlines we know today with their 98 strong fleet including 380s flying to 60 destinations. Malaysia Airlines has for years, epitomised to me the romance of flying. Friendly attentive crews who worked hard to take passengers to exotic places like Sabah, Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi. Their clean comfortable interesting planes and great service have made my travels a delight. All of this will come to an end by September 1 under a  restructuring…

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Scrubba- a intriguing idea

Scrubba is a wash bag that is not just for storing your laundry- you can actually use it’s built in flexible washboard to  wash your clothes in 30 seconds with 2 gallons of water! Its an Australian invention! The Scrubba wash bag measures approximately 54 cm x 32 cm (21 inches x 12.5) and weighs less than 145g five ounces).   A percentage of all sales go to clean water projects in Ethiopia and Bangladesh. I do not have a Scrubba. Would you use one?

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