Expedia engages GfK market research company each year to identify the passenger behaviours that infuriate others. This year, 1,005 US citizens aged 18 and over gave their feedback. The good news, which not many have focused on, is that 79 percent of people believe that “for the most part, fellow passengers are considerate of one another”. But this means 21 percent of passengers are gripey with rest of the public. Interestingly, the top three poor behaviours people encounter on planes, are unchanged from the 2014, 2015 and 2016 Airplane Etiquette surveys. In order of frustration caused: 1. The Rear…
All of My 2016 Trip Reports
As mentioned earlier this month, I flew 119 times for business and pleasure last year with 20 airlines in 2016. Big highlights of the year were my first five flights on the 787 Dreamliner, my first flights with Sri Lankan, my 380th flight with Qantas, my 350th flight on a Boeing 737 and flying into the Maldives. Here are the year’s ten Trip Reports (oops I need to post more Trip Reports!): 2016’s Best flight: My 380th Qantas flight in A380 FIRST – My Flight Rating: 96% (4.8 out of 5) My 2nd 787: Thai Business Brisbane…
113 of my free Travel Tips!
Assembled here is my annual list of travel tips. Am I missing a travel tip or are you looking for tips, advice or ideas? Any suggestions or requests welcomed. Contents: Getting Ready Getting Best Deals Getting Booked Staying Happy – Accommodation Tips Getting Packed- Luggage Tips Getting Around the airport On Board Getting Around Staying friendly with others Staying Healthy Staying Safe . Staying Comfortable Getting it fixed! At Your Destination Getting Money Right Staying Solvent Travelling Green – 1. Getting Ready Stop Wishing and Do it- Life’s Bucket List Pre-plan your way Be Date…
Is Flying getting worse or better? Reflections on four+ decades of airflights
In 1977, flying from Sydney to Roma, I watched one movie per sector (on a large screen on an Alitalia 747). The film was loaded at each stop onto a centrally mounted projector which dropped from roof of each cabin. The flight to Roma had three stops of between two and three hours each so four movies were shown on the one flight! Each airport has very few facilities and were essentially concrete sheds. (Singapore’s Changi was being built). The headphones were a tube and the audio was out of sync with the visual.…
The airlines that vanished in 2016
I have never been stranded by an airline that has collapsed but there is always a small risk. Of the 5000 global airlines, a handful went out of business in 2016. These airlines impacted passenger plans, disrupted communities and resulted in job losses. Many were too small to register a blip globally but for the cities and communities they linked, the loss impacts. For most airlines, their losses were caused by poor strategy. In some cases, there is a soap opera style script of intrigue, incompetence or insufferable management. Here is the list of carriers…
2016’s Best flight: My 380th Qantas flight in A380 FIRST
MEL, Melbourne, Australia to DXB, Dubai, UAE QF9 Scheduled Departure: 23:25 Arrival: 06:35 14hrs 10 mins Total distance: 7252 miles / 11671 km / 6302 nautical miles For my 380th flight with Qantas, I wanted to do something special. It had to be on a Qantas Airbus 380. That narrowed routes to: Sydney or Melbourne to Dubai and /or London Sydney or Melbourne to Los Angeles Sydney to Dallas-Fort Worth As I was going on to Bangkok and Cebu for New Year’s Eve, the US bound flights were the least logical. So I ended up doing a…
My 2016 Travel Tips (In order of popularity)
My goal is to enjoy both travel and destination. I am constantly looking for ways to save money, speed up airport experiences, have better travel experiences and effectively explore my world or find ways of relaxing. One of the reasons I blog, is to share these tips that I learn along the way. In order of popularity, these were my travel tips that I shared each Monday last year: Getting Exercise- A walking guide to world airports Avoiding weight scale shock We travellers must reduce trash this was a post that I thought would be…
Reflecting on 2016 and 2017 Travel Goals
What travel goals did you manage in 2016? I achieved almost all of my 2016 goals! I flew 119 times for business and pleasure last year with 20 airlines, rode 14 long distance trains plus a short cross-border train between Singapore and Malaysia, a few long distance buses and some hire car kilometres. My air flights were mostly concentrated in 14 countries in Asia, Australia/New Zealand and the Middle East with no European or US flights at all, as seen here: My goals for 2016 were to: Visit two new countries which I exceeded by going to Egypt,…
Happy New Year from Cebu
I send my New Years wishes from beautiful Cebu, a Philippines island. It only seems like yesterday, we were deciding where to go to for NY Eve! Cebu was the winner and that was a good choice! Related Posts New Years Dreams
Oman’s new safety video Vs Qantas: Imitation the greatest form of flattery
I have seen the Qantas safety video about 50 times this year so I know it pretty well. It features scenes from Australia to illustrate aspects of the safety briefing. For example, the seat belt announcement is made by a truck driver in his rig in the middle of the outback. Noticed the newly launched Oman Air safety video which features aspects of Oman has some similarities to the Qantas video. In their video, Oman passengers in a 4wd are fastening their seat belts and putting their bags on the luggage rack of the vehicle.…
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