I have never flown Aeroflot (or its Russian rival S7 for that matter). Concerns about safety and service have always put me off and I have never flown to Russia. This week, Brand Finance announced that Aeroflot is the most powerful airline brand in the world with a AAA Brand rating. Brand Finance believe that dominance in the Russian domestic market (the collapse of competitor Transaero in 2015 would have been a fillip for Aeroflot. Combined with a new marketing investment, a renewed fleet and Russia’s growing status as a global hub have all contributed to…
Valentines Day Singing on Board by Finnair
A heartwarming story from Finnair in the midst of the doom and gloom of the daily news. Ten of the crew on a recent AY005, Finnair’s Helsinki to New York flight were members of the Finnair Singers Club. They surprised passengers on the flight with a series of serenades and lullabies for Valentine’s Day. The Finnair Singers Club has been operating singing through the skies since 1949. This choir have performed all around the globe: Australia, Canada, India, Sweden and the USA. The singers performed a Christmas flash mob for Christmas 2015 at Helsinki Airport Gate…
Asia Rail Experience: Journey #1 – Kuala Lumpur to the Malay/Thai Border
KUL: Kuala Lumpur to Padang Besar (border of Thailand) KTMB ETS Class 93 Platinum Scheduled Departure: 10:42 Scheduled Arrival: 15:57 5 hour 15 min Total distance: 260 miles / 417 km The first part of my 1,500km 900 mile journey from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok was on Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (Malaysian Railway system) ETS “Electric Train Service“. The journey took me from the heart of the Malaysian capital to Padang Besar, on the border with Thailand. There are now only two rail services that originate in Malaysia that cross the Thai border. One is the ultra-luxury Eastern and Oriental Service and the other starts at…
Bucket List Check: 900mi By Train from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok
Bucket list… check! A journey I have been wanting to do for over a decade! Over the last week, I travelled by rail from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) in Malaysia to Bangkok (BKK) in Thailand. I have previously ridden a sleeper train from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur (before Singapore closed its main train station). Six trains took me over 1,500 km (900 miles). Travel time was 25 hours 35 minutes (including delays and wait times). It cost me $US72 for a mix of travel in First, Second and Third class. If you went for the cheapest option (which…
Check the local holidays
One of the most spectacular breakdowns by a tourist I have ever seen, was on the steps of the Mont St Michel. A woman on the “Trip of a lifetime” clung to the stairs wailing hysterically upon finding out that the Abbey was closed for the Labour day holiday. The only day of her visit coincided with one of the three days through the year when the Abbey is firmly fermé. Screaming curses down on her husband, the French and presumably God she demanded that people open up the monastery. I was fortunate enough to…
Sampling Singapore’s New Capital Express -from Canberra to the heart of Asia
CBR: Canberra, Australia to SIN, Singapore SQ292 Boeing 777-200 Scheduled Departure: 12:35 Arrival: 05:40 8 hour 5 min flight Total distance: 6,205 km/ 3,856 miles /3,351 nautical miles Canberra, the capital of Australia must be one of the few national capitals in the world to not have an network of international routes connecting it to the outside world. This means that every flight overseas from Canberra necessitates a change in Sydney (awful place to transit) or Melbourne (better) Last September, Singapore airlines added service to Wellington and Singapore four times a week dubbing it the “Capital Express”. Qatar will start service to Doha…
“I did Europe this week”. Please stop saying this!!
I need to get this off my chest. Please bear with me! Its a small travel tip! Europe has 50 countries and six dependent territories. The smallest country is Vatican City with an area of just 0.44 sq km! The largest is Russia with 3,972,400 sq km in Europe. 743 million people live in Europe, more than double the population of the USA. Yet I continue to hear a phrase that drives me crazy: “Last vacation we did Europe” or “last week we did Europe” or on “the weekend we did France” or “On Tuesday we did…
Now riding 900+ miles on rail through Asia
Currently riding the rails from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok about 1,500 km (930 or so miles) through Malaysia and Thailand. This is about the same distance from Boston to Atlanta or almost as far as Melbourne to Brisbane in Australia or Paris to Warsaw in Europe. A few years ago, I travelled from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur by train. Sadly, the line into the heart of Singapore is no more. The Singaporean government closed it it 2011 after almost 80 years of operation. It has been one of my dreams to do the next stage from…
Emirates New Safety Video
This is the month of new safety videos. Emirates are using a cut through of their A380 to illustrate the safety procedures across the giant plane. I think it works, however. What do you think? Related Posts 5* Emirates Business: Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur Trip Review: Emirates- comparing the A380 Qantas Brilliant New Safety Video unpacked – Aussies may need a hanky Oman’s new safety video Vs Qantas: Imitation the greatest form of flattery
Qantas Brilliant New Safety Video unpacked – Aussies may need a hanky
Safety videos.. love ’em or hate em? Airlines have worked on different ways to get our attention for the crucial minutes of the safety briefing. Qantas last year launched a new video featuring real Australians sharing real activities and scenes from Australia. I loved last year’s video which I saw 40 times (yes I have that info recorded!). Apparently another 35 million people also watched this safety video aboard Qantas planes through 2016. Today February 1, 2017, sees the launch of the Qantas Safety Video 2017! I have been fortunate enough to have visited 14 of the 16…
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