This blog is moving!

The big news is my blog is moving to a new location. I have joined the team at Boardingarea.com BoardingArea was developed by the same people who founded some of the most popular business travel and frequent flyer Web sites on the Internet. They say: “In our years covering topics of interest to the business traveler, we bookmarked the best business travel blogs we stumbled across, and even hosted one of the first blogs in this arena – View From the Wing. Now we’re sharing those bookmarks with you.. all in one place.” The business travel…

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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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American Airlines Bankruptcy?

I am interested in what is happening over at American Airlines. Their shares fell 33 per cent yesterday as people expected the worst after a 62 percent drop so far this year. This last fall came amid fears that the airline could be forced into bankruptcy. Unlike most of the major airlines in the USA, American Airlines has avoided bankruptcy. This may change. Currently, they are one of the airlines I dread flying. Despite being a One World airline, the difference between Cathay, Qantas, Lan and even British Airways is palpable. They have very high debt levels ($17 billion), a higher cost base than other…

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Tuesday Trip Report: US Airways was okay!

US Airways is not one of my favourite airlines. In fact, they rate in my bottom ten airlines based on my experiences of their service over eight years. I have given them an overall 2.9 out of 5 after a decade of flying them. My experience is that every time I fly them they have got worse. A client of mine, booked me on US Airways from Houston to Richmond via Charlotte to get to an important meeting. This gave me a good chance to test them. Booking: 7/10 Upon receiving my booking confirmation, I logged onto to US Airways.com to find my seats. The…

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History Repeats?: Air New Zealand’s Aussie Investment

Air New Zealand took its stake in Virgin Blue(owners of V Australia and Virgin Australia) to 19.9% as a result of a fairly low share prices.The last time they took an interest in an Australian airline (Ansett), it almost bankrupted Air New Zealand and the Australia’s longest running domestic carrier Ansett ceased to exist. Ten years later, Air New Zealand are hopefully wiser and Virgin are a better business than Ansett Australia were. Former chief executive Rod Eddington “described Ansett publicly and internally as a great airline, but a poor business”. It makes huge sense for Air NZ to have a strong…

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San Francisco in 24 hours

I started the day with a run along the waterfront near the Embaracdero with the city on one side and the Bay on the other: -outstanding! I ran 5miles (8 kilometres). This got me ready for breakfast at the Ferry Plaza Farmers market. Held three times a week, it has an amazing range of local, fresh and often organic fruit and vegetables. I bought the most delicious peach I have had for years, As the juice rolled down my fingers, I marvelled at the difference to the supermarket ones I buy from time to time. No comparison.…

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Perfection 777th flight on an NZ B777

After 43 years of flying I flew on my 777th flight. In a previous Blog post, I was trying to decide whether to fly my 777th on an Air New Zealand or V Australia 777. I appreciated the advice from friends to try Air NZ’s new 777-300 and was glad I did. I have recently blogged about V’s superb business class product on the 777-300. This Air NZ flight gave me lots of opportunity for comparison. For those who haven’t been following: I flew #737 on a Southwest B737, #747 on a Qantas B747, #757 with United and #767…

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Wild about Travel hits record audience numbers

The number of readers to this blog has been rapidly climbing which I am thrilled about. June, July and August were my three biggest months. September is shaping up to beat them. To do that I need 33 more readers every day. Love you to do one of four things please: Keep reading each of my blog posts Comment on them Tell me whats missing-what do you like reading about in my posts? Recommend to others please Thank you for joining me in my travel adventures.

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