Blog readers will know that I love the A380 SuperJumbo currently in service with 5 airlines: Air France Emirates (I flew their A380 in 2010 and loved it) Lufthansa (hope to fly this in July) Qantas (see the blog post about my 2010 fabulous A380 flight) Singapore Airlines (flown 2010) Photo Credit David Barrie Showing its colours at Toulouse is the Airbus A380 belonging to the sixth airline to have it, Korean Air Lines. This is a company that I have never flown because of their dubious safety record (wikipedia: Korean Air had a relatively high…
Braniff: Flying in the future
Have a look at this amazing video from the now defunct Branriff International. They revealed their image of what flying in the future would be like in the supersonic age. Its quite fun. There are some things that have happened but many that have not eg supersonic jet? electronic valet on board? What was it with people in the 1960s -they didnt want to do any walking? Did you see the onboard entertainment meant you could watch three films at once? When you have that as context you wonder how much of this contemporary video from…
Ryanair Boarding Pass Charge halted (for the moment)
So you turn up at the airport and find that you have stupidly inadvertendly deliberately left your Boarding pass at home. Assuming it is not with your passport, you usually dont have a problem! For example, in the USA, you can rock on up to a machine and get a new one printed. In other countries, a human usually has to issue you with a new one. Not so easy with Ryanair who has decided you must print your own pass at home. Forget to do so and Ryanair make you pay for a new one. Remember this is Ryanair, the…
Qantas Hola Dallas, adios SFO
Qantas has announced they will now fly direct to Dallas Fort Worth from Sydney from May, 2011 using a Boeing 747-400ER. It is intended when Qantas finally get their 787s, they will be used on this route. At 13 879 km (8,624 miles), this will be the third-longest route in the world! The flights would take about 17 hours. There are three huge pluses about this: We can avoid LAX (my most hated airport) to get to the middle of the USA. DFW is a much more user friendly airport and is well connected to the rest…
United CEO agrees with me about United’s product
I blogged about my last experience with United on the Aust-USA sector a few months ago because it was so bad. Nice to see that President and CEO of United Airlines, Jeff Smisek agrees with me in a recent article in Australian Business Traveller. “…the product on the 747 that United flies to Australia is not an acceptable level of product” “And I know that, I recognise that. But United on its own didn’t have the money to invest in that product. Now (with the United-Continental merger) it does, and we will.” “You have to invest, because the price…
Thank you to you! Assessing Wild about Travel 2010
As 2011, gets underway, I want to say thank you for three things: 1. for reading my travel blog! (almost 4000 page views!) 2. for those who have commented on it (both the 66 here and the many on Facebook) 3. to those who have encouraged me in the blog sphere and by email and by offline (you know who you are!) 4. for subscribing (hint hint!) The most popular posts for 2010: Three Airlines-one plane- comparing the A380 (10% of all readers ) — Sep 30, 2010, 7 comments Almost had $1200 stolen (dodgy travel agent) Oct 25,…
Computer Says “No”- bad customer experience
Today, I am taking the train from Brisbane to Grafton, a regional town about 250 kilometres (150 miles) away. Then I am going onto Sydney (another 600km/ 360 miles). I am using a pass called the East Coast Discovery Pass which allows you unlimited travel in one direction on multiple rail systems in three states along the Australian East Coast. This pass used to be reserved for non Australian tourists but a year ago, it was opened up to Australians too. Today, I wandered into a rail ticket office to buy my pass. Have you…
Best and Worst Airports of 2010
Airports Picture this, You have been trapped inside a metal tube for 13, 15, 22 hours with your knees wrapped around your ears. The tube lands and disgorges you into an airport. Some airports give you a great welcome to that country and some make you think you are in some sort of on going hell. Here is my list of best and worst airports. Best Airports Singapore (SIN)- take a shopping mall, throw in a waterfall or two, add the most efficient processes for everything from customs to luggage retrieval (challenge you to try…
MyTop Cities of the World 2010
My Top Ten Cities Paris remains my Number One in the world. What I like overall about Paris is that it works. The infrastructure is a dream with world’s best public transport , water, sewerage, and electricity systems. Add to that amazing culture, fantastic streetscapes and mind bogglingly wonderful food. I was shocked to find I can buy an apartment there for less than I can in my own city Melbourne, Australia. Tourists: buy breakfast at a bakery not your hotel and get lunch supplies at the local marches (markets) for amazing quality and a sense of authenticity.…
2010 Best and Worst Airlines!
So in 2010, I flew 90 times with my 90th flight for the year on 31st of December 2010 bringing my total air distance for the year to 202 000km (120 000 miles). I feel that gives me some qualifications for the following subjective rankings. Best Airlines I have confessed a few times in this blog that my favourite airline in the world (out of the 70 I have flown) is now Emirates. Emirates – all round amazing customer service product- friendly, amazing food, attention to detail Air New Zealand, an efficient and friendly operator-…
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