In 1864 Sir Edward Watkin in charge of a Manchester, England based provincial railway company had a dream- to build England’s fastest railway connecting Manchester to London to a future channel tunnel. Despite cynics and critics who noted that there were already other lines connecting Manchester, the line was opened in 1899. It was the last mainline built in the Uk until HS1 opened two years ago. The Channel tunnel was not built until 1994, 130 years after Sir Watkin’s dream. Grand Central was built with some very unique features: a minimum of stops running from…
Trip Reports
Category Archives for Trip Reports.
Trip Report: Etihad Evaluated
Nine years ago, Etihad did not exist. Today the airline flies over seven million people to 82 destinations in 64 planes. They have the record for the fastest growing airline in the world and for one of the largest aircraft orders in commercial aviation history, ordering at Farmborough in 2008, 205 aircraft – 100 firm orders, 55 options and 50 purchase rights. They sponsor football fields in Australia and the UK, the Irish hurling championships, some teams and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. They have won awards for being the “World’s Leading Airline” in 2009, 2010 and 2011. They have also…
Tuesday Trip Report: Air Australia
I blogged on Friday about Air Australia – the newest airline operating in Australia. Today’s Trip Report is about my recent journey on board their only domestic flight: between Brisbane and Melbourne, the two hubs of Air Australia’s international operations. Booking: 6 out of 10 As noted in my blog post, last Friday, the CEO of Air Australia, the newest airline in the country, has promised that the airline will bring “Simplicity”. Well that promise did not extend to fares, the booking process or to the website. There are five types of fares (Sale, Saver, Flex Saver, Flexible and Business). I have already said Air…
Trip Report: Air France A380
This is my sixth A380 trip having flown A380s operated by Singapore, Qantas, Emirates, Korean and Lufthansa. Air France was one of the launch customers for the A380 in 2001, ordering 12. They got their first A380 in October, 2009. Booking: 10 out of 10 Upon searching for economy airfares from the USA to Europe and back, I found Air France was offering a sale on its Premium Economy product (Premium Voyageur) so I treated myself to that! Booking, payment and ticketing was very straightforward. Unfortunately the very small premium economy cabin had only two seats left- both in the middle section of the cabin. I like my window seat!…
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…
Tuesday Trip Report: Royal Brunei
Long been curious to try Royal Brunei. Due to a quirk in my schedule, I got the chance to last week. Even though it involved two stopovers, their flight got me out of London and into Melbourne at a time that fitted my schedule. My first Royal Brunei sector was actually the 787th flight of my life. I had hoped for a flight on the 787 but the timing didn’t work. (For those who have been following, I flew my 737th on a Southwest 737, 747th in a Qantas B747, then United for 757, Qantas for 767…
By Rail from Melbourne, Australia to Adelaide, Australia.
I travelled this week the 828km between these two Australian cities on the Overland train. Departure was 08:05 am and the arrival a mere ten hours and 45minutes later! The Overland began running as the Intercolonial Express train in October 1887. In 1926, the overnight rail service became The Overland in 1926. In the 1950s, The Overland introduced air-conditioned carriages and was the first train in the world to have on board showers! Unfortunately, trains in Australia have not had the similar investment, European railways have enjoyed. Today, the train journey takes much about the same time as…
Tuesday Trip Report: Train to Torquay
Torquay is the home of Basil Fawlty, the long suffering proprietor in the cringingly hilarious English Tv series Fawlty Towers. Its also the town in England where my ancestors came from. My grandfather often talked about the mighty Great Western Railway steam engines that connected the town to London. The railway designed by British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was designed to be fast, and stylish way of travel. Today the GWR is known as First Great Western (owned by First Group). They operate trains through to Wales and the southwest of England from London’s Paddington station (more well…
Tuesday Trip Report: Lufthansa’s A380
In August, the A380 celebrated its third Birthday of flying, Last week, I flew my fourth A38o airline: Lufthansa, the German flag carrier. My earlier A380 flights have been with Qantas, Singapore and Emirates. Booking I was determined to fly on the Lufthansa A380 so I searched for the flight at Lufthansa.com to find it was much more expensive than I planned. I then found United was selling seats on the exact same Lufthansa flight for substantially cheaper than the Lufthansa price! After confirmation of my booking, my next task was seat selection. Lufthansa’s website works very well and…
Wild about travel has moved!
As foreshadowed, Boardingarea.com is our new home. Thanks for inviting us aboard! I am Wild about Travel. I love it. Both the journey and the destination. I want to share about my experiences with both. Thoughts and observations from where I have been and how I have got there. Expect cities, nature, planes, trains, advice, hassles and good times. I have flown 786 times (as of now) for a total of 1,785,449km (1,109,427 miles) to six continents with 78 airlines. I have experienced boat travel and train travel on or between five continents and buses plus cars…
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