I love saving money on my airfares. I have scored some great deals such as Business Class seats that have saved me thousands for a few tweaks of date or destination airport. There are some mistakes people make in scrooging their travel. Here are the seven biggies: How reliable is the airline? When things go wrong, how likely is the airline going to be to help you? Look at this example from Allegiant where passengers were initially stranded. Cheap fare- High Extras: If you are only taking a small carry on, do not care where…
Which countries eat the most ice cream & what are their best flavours?
I am a huge ice cream fan. I try and have an ice cream in every place I visit. I was most interested to find that the World Atlas has identified the world’s top ten biggest national consumers of ice cream. This gave me the chance to share my favourite ice cream choices in those countries. New Zealand is number one with an average of 28.4 litres (7.5 gallons) per person eaten per year.My favourite is Tip Top Hokey Pokey which consists of Honeycomb pieces folded into Vanilla ice cream. Along with another delicious flavour Goody…
Excitement of Qantas Gold for Life Muted by Qantas non reaction
In the 2009 movie “Up in the Air”, George Clooney fantasises about the time, he will hit ten million miles. When it finally happens and the airline hands him his rare ten million miler club card, he is lost for words. I have just reached “Lifetime Gold” with Qantas after 20 years in their Frequent Flyer Program. This means I get all of the Gold-level perks including: 75% bonus on points Business Class check-in Greater checked baggage allowances (which I rarely use) Airport lounge access, and better access to upgrades For the rest of my life…
Laughing through the new British Airways Safety Video -for a good cause
Just watched the new British Airways safety video which will be rolled out onto their aircraft on September 1st, 2017. This safety video was produced in collaboration with Comic Relief, who are a major charity based in the UK, with a vision of a just world, free from poverty. Ten British celebrities are depicted auditioning for a coveted part in the new BA safety video in front of comedian Asim Chaudhry character Chabuddy G. There are eight sketches advertising the safety features and procedures on the aircraft. It starts with Chiwetel Ejiofor, who was nominated for…
Idiot Abroad: UK man in Thailand becomes vandal
When you are on holidays in a strange and exotic country, what do you enjoy doing? Shopping? Seeing the sites? Trying new foods? Visiting Religious buildings? What about graffiti-ing? A 38-year-old man from the UK decided that the Chiang Mai Railway station in Northern Thailand needed some new artwork so chose to get a spray can out and began to draw graffiti across the wall. On top of the stupidity of this, he did it on a weekday morning (Thursday, July 13) at 9 am in broad light. His actions were naturally observed by Thai railway…
Australia to Asia Comparing Eight Airlines
Over the last four years, I have averaged a trip from Australia to Thailand every two months. In that time, I have flown nine different airlines on about sixty flights between multiple Australian cities and Bangkok. Some have been direct and others have required transiting at various hubs across Asia. Overall Verdict for these flights Emirates has been the best airline, overall. I scored both my Economy and Business flights an average of: 100% on this routing. This has been my experience with Emirates on other routes. With Qatar slightly ahead, they are leagues ahead of…
How Big is that Island? The World’s Top 25 islands mapped.
I love gazing at maps. This map of the world’s 25 largest island nations and territories hooked me in. Seeing the actual sizes to scale makes you realise how big some island groupings are. Take Indonesia, for example. It is eight times bigger than New Zealand! The difference in size between the UK, home to 65 million and NZ, home to 4.5million, is not that much different. That tiny smudge on the north of most maps is Greenland, and yet it is about one-third the size of Australia! I have been to 12 of the top 25.…
Tragic Jet Blast Death at popular St Maarten viewing spot
We have all seen those videos of the planes flying low into St Maarten airport. They come just metres over people sunbaking on the beach. Across the road from the beach is the airport fence which has a barrier in front of it and signs warning people not to stand there: These signs are regularly ignored, it seems by tourists. Some are drunk and some are sober as they stand on the road clinging to the fence as the jet exhausts blow them down. Have a look at this video from 2 minutes 33 seconds on: Tragically, last…
The Ann Coulter-Delta Twitter War: Weird Over Reaction
Let me declare, I love my emergency exit seats. So does Ann Coulter, apparently. When sitting in Economy in the USA with their stressful security procedures, awful airports and scrappy airline catering, the exit row seat seems the last luxury left! A luxury, Ann didn’t want to forgo when Delta moved her from her chosen Seat 15D on their flight 2852 from New York La Guardia Airport to West Palm Beach, Florida. In the picture below it is the seat on the right of the aisle, on the aisle: The airline says the move was “inadvertent” while “working…
My awful hotel evening – felt like I was with Basil Fawlty
In the hilarious 1970s English TV series Fawlty Towers, the owner Basil Fawlty bumbles from one mistake to another. The mistakes usually result in very unhappy guests (and these days rude TripAdvisor reviews!). It’s side-splitting stuff-on TV. In real life, it is another matter. At a guesthouse I stayed at, the owners were a husband and wife couple. Check in was handled by the wife and went very smoothly. My room was in order and I was given good advice on where I could have dinner. Then I met the owner. He decided within minutes…
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