My Musings (Sundays)

Category Archives for My Musings (Sundays).

Disconnected Star Alliance Points

I have flown Turkish Airlines six times in the past  six weeks. They are a member of the  Star Alliance (along with United, US Air, Singapore, Lufthansa and others).  The Alliance  slogan is: “The Way the Earth connects”. Upon booking, I called Turkish Airlines, and asked them  to enter my United number into the Turkish Reservations system attached to my flight bookings. When checking in online, I found my number was absent from the system,  so I re0entered it. At the airport, check in counter, I found (again) my United  number was absent from my booking. When…

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My 3000 hours in the Air

My Turkish Airlines flight yesterday tipped me over 3000 hours of flying in my life. This is 125 days of my life inside planes travelling 54 times around the earth! Not sure whether to cheer or mourn! Below my Turkish Airlines meal from Edinburgh to Istanbul. Very delish! Related Posts My 200 000th mile Turkish Delight -Great Trip + Best Economy Meal Ever!

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Remembrance Day Ponderings

November 11 is Remembrance Day across most of the previous British Commonwealth countries and  Vetrans Day in the USA. Wherever you are,  may all those who served in war be acknowledged today. My Grandfather was injured twice in World War One. .He enlisted in 1916 at the age of 22 and was sent to Europe. Shells and shrapnel caem close to narrowly taking him from us. So many of his friends were lost, however. Some lost as a result of the very shell that my grandpa survived. Were my late Grandfather ear efforts successful? I would dearly love for him to know he made a difference.…

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Ear Grounded Me!

Somehow, I picked up an ear infection last week. On Thursday evening, I was meant to be flying for a short one hour flight but pulled the pin and postponed the trip because my ear did not feel right.  A visit to the doctor an hour later confirmed I did the right thing. The doctor told me that if I had flown,  I was at risk of damaging my ear drum. She also said there was a five per cent chance I could have caused permanent hearing damage. She prescribed no flying for seven days and a course…

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Qantas Gold Frequent Flyer-again

Quiet week here with no travel anywhere! Qantas sent me through my new Qantas Frequent Flyer card last week. My Frequent Flyer membership ticked over July 31, 2012. I have retained Gold status for another year.I had contemplated a last ditch Platinum run but resisted it. I also have some points with Emirates, JetBlue, Southwest and United. My other two main Frequent Flyer programs are with Virgin Australia (Platinum Status  until December, 2013) and Delta (Silver Status until January). I also reached 7000 vists in July which was  a new record for me. 80 per cent of you are regular visitors…

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My 880th Flight -ever

Saturday saw me step off  my 880th flight. Suitably it was on a Qantas A380. I like that synergy- 380 for my 880th! The flight itself was wonderful- trip report soon! It was also my tenth A380 trip: four with Qantas, two with Air France, one each with Emirates, Korean, Lufthansa and Singapore. More information is at:  http://My.FlightMemory.com/mjc3000                  

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19 000 miles in a week?!!

This is a crazy travel week this week!  Starting with a 200km Hungarian train journey, I end up covering 31 096 km (19322 miles ) with four air carriers and a rail company. I get two A380 rides from Paris to Los Angeles and then onto  Melbourne for Australian winter. Anyone else being so stupid?! Wishing you a good week.

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