I have flown 90 airlines to all continents of the world (except for Antarctica) and one airline continues to dismay me: Ryanair. People keep flying Ryanair for one reason: cheap fares. I avoid them because of their seats, customer disdain, staff attitude, ethical concerns and their flying to random secondary airports nowhere near the city I am flying to. My experience of Ryanair is that they are like a bus. If you like bus travel, its fine. If something goes wrong, then you are on your own. The airline has made a concerted effort to improve…
Paris locks bridges down to stop love locks
“Paris is the capital of love, and we are all proud of that…But there are other, more beautiful ways of showing love than attaching padlocks.” I have said a few times in this blog how I hate people damaging the things they visit. Nothing riles me up as an example of this than the vandalism of Parisian bridges! What started as a romantic symbol on one bridge in 2008 has become a blight on bridges across Paris and seems to be spreading to other cities. After part of a bridge railing collapsed on the Pont…
Finnair Uses Frying Fat to fly
Finnair are experimenting with using biofuel, made of grease and fat recycled from restaurant kitchens to power their planes. They have been using it since 2011. Emitting less greenhouse gas than regular aviation fuel, it does not compete with food production or negatively impact biodiversity. The only drawback is that it costs twice what teh airline pays for aviation fuel. Finnair believes with increased demand and the development of supply chains will see the cost fall. (and no it is odourless, you wont smell French fries or hamburgers in the exhaust fumes).
Pin Trips
I often search in multiple websites for a fare or series of fares. When I am disciplined, I create a nice spreadsheet in which I enter airline, origin and destination cities, fares etc This seems to take effort and is frustrating. When I am not disciplined I write fares on post it notes which pile up next to me. After a while, I cannot read my scrawls or remember my abbreviations and get frustrated! Enter Pintrips. It only works in Google Chrome though as a free web app extension. Signing up was easy. Once set…
Conde Nast Traveller Top 100 places to stay
77 000 readers provided one million votes in the Conde 2014 Readers’ Choice Awards to identify the top 100 places to stay in the world. Reflecting the readership, the top 100 list includes a diverse range properties from across the globe. Is this the time to confess I have not stayed at any of the Top 100? Number one was Londolozi, Sabi Sands, in the Kruger National Park, South Africa which consists of five lodges located on 35,000 acres of protected bushland populated with wild animals: Rates start at $US1200 per person per night. Condé Nast Traveler magazine was…
This week’s nutty incident
I think everybody has been bemused this week at the news of the recent behaviour of the daughter of Korean Air‘s CEO on board Flight KE086 from New York‘s JFK to Seoul. Heather Cho was a senior vice-president at the airline and the airline’s head of cabin service. If you have missed what happened; Ms Cho was seated as a passenger in the first class section of the A380. She became angry at the way a junior flight attendant served her some macadamia nuts. Apparently, he failed to ask her if she wanted the nuts. To add insult to injury, he…
When to use City and Museum passes
The Paris Musee Pass is one of the best kept secrets of the city. At most Museums in Paris, the pass allows me to skip the lines. I most relish, being able to avoid the ghastly long Louvre queue and pop through a mysterious back entrance and into the centre of the gallery. Tres bien! Most cities have some sort of pass that covers the main attractions. In some cities I will grab one and in others I spurn the option. Whether I buy a pass or not buy a pass depends on…
Five A350 XWBs fly together
I love this video of the five test A350s. Airbus took them for a spin in September. I am almost salivating as I watch. Related Posts I am excited about the Airbus 350
Weird things Aussies ask embassies
I have commented a few weeks ago about the TV show “Embassy”, that portrays the trouble travellers can get into while overseas. The Guardian newspaper is reporting today, twelve of the strangest things Australian travellers have asked help for from embassies or consulates. My favourites are: A mother wanted the embassy in Bangkok to book accommodation and a return ticket to Australia for her son, then provide an embassy driver to take him to the airport. and Why won’t the Australian Embassy come and pack my bags for me? I’m an 80 year old travelling by myself…
Walking Tours are the best
I am not an organised tour type of person. After being encouraged to do a walking tour by my sister, on my first trip to Berlin, however, I now believe that walking tours are the best way to see a city. I have now done that Berlin walking tour five times now! Walking tours are the best way to be introduced to a city. It allows me to see and feel the city while learning about its history, architecture and culture while getting exercise! I am not trapped! If you do not like the tour, I can wander…
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