This is a crazy travel week this week! Starting with a 200km Hungarian train journey, I end up covering 31 096 km (19322 miles ) with four air carriers and a rail company. I get two A380 rides from Paris to Los Angeles and then onto Melbourne for Australian winter. Anyone else being so stupid?! Wishing you a good week.
Qantas
Tag Archives for Qantas.
Awards confirm Qantas Service Plunge
Every time, I open my mouth and criticise Qantas, I get push back from Qantas staff and from some Qantas loyalists. Yet, the cadre of passengers I talk to are fed up with an airline that keeps on Jetstar-izing (cheapening) its service. And it seems we have some vindication. In 2005 and 2006, Qantas was rated the second best airline in the world by the World Airline Awards. In 2008, it took third place. By 2010, Qantas had fallen to eighth place. This year, Qantas was given 15th place. This is the first time, it…
Malaysia’s A380
Have you flown Malaysia Airlines? I now have four reasons to try them. I have never flown them even though they connect Asia to almost every major Australian airport. Hope I can fix this soon. They are rated a five star airline by Skytrax and I am eager to work through all of the five star carriers. They are on track to join Oneworld in the last quarter of the year which means I can now start earning Qantas points and Status Credits when flying Malaysian They are the latest airline to fly the A380, one…
And the new Qantas Dance Partner is…
There has been a significant amount of chatter about possible Qantas interest in a middle east carrier. Etihad who are partners with Virgin Australia were not a contendor. Emirates had been a possible favourite but seemed to announce they only wanted a quick codeshare. Yesterday, Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar al-Baker suggested that they were very interested in a Qantas tie up and would meet with Qantas management in Sydney soon. Qatar was awarded top airline status in 2011. They have been flying into Melbourne from Doha for two years and this week will launch Doha to Perth. To have Qatar feeding passengers into…
Qantas Refitted 747s
A video of Qantas refitted 747-400 with A380 features including new seats, cabin mood lighting and espresso machines. The 747-400 has 58 Business Class seats, 36 Premium Economy, 270 Economy seats and no First Class. Seat layout plan is here. Five have been refitted now. Three more 747s will be refitted by October 2012. It is great that the 747 is going to look great but it is of concern that Qantas are continuing to fly an aeroplane that should be retired. Not only will it cost Qantas more in excessive fuel consumption, but older planes cost more to maintain. I am curious that they are…
Not Wanting the Cheapest Fare?!
As a Qantas Frequent Flyer, there are some categories of American Airlines Coach tickets that earn me points and status credits. These are: GLMNSV Discount Economy and BHKY economy. Other fare classes do not earn me any points or status credits eg OQ. I don’t overly care about the points but Status Credits are important to me as I want to keep my priority check in, higher luggage allowance and lounge access. Often the difference in price between a Q and a N fare is very, very slight but the outcome is,of course, very different. The obvious…
ANA 787 Biofuels Flight
787 launch customer All Nippon Airlines (ANA) received their newest 787 this week. It completed a transpacific biofuel flight from Boeing’s Delivery Center in Everett, Washington to Tokyo Haneda Airport. The plane was powered by a mix of regular aviation fuel and used cooking oil! ANA currently have five 787s; four are flying domestically and one is flying Tokyo-Frankfurt. They will begin flying Tokyo to Seattle from July 25 with a 777 , and some time in the year, will switch to a 787. The ANA 787 has 158 seats (46 Business arranged 2/2/2 and 112 Economy arranged 2/4/2). The airline itself, announced a record…
Qantas gets back Nancy
April 21 saw the formal handing back to Qantas of their Airbus 380 named Nancy Bird Walton. This is the plane that dramatically “lost an engine” in a mid-air blast off Singapore in November 2010. I have previously blogged about how dangerous the incident was.. The incident dented both the reputation of Qantas as one of the world’s safest airlines (despite the fact the crew managed to nurse the plane into a safe landing) and the reputation of the giant plane. (The concerns some have about the 380 have been further heightened by hysteria over the wing cracks that have been found recently. Qantas is denying they are considering suing Airbus over the cracks but they are in…
Trying Spirit-First Time
A lot of miles to cover this week. Seven flights to three countries with four airlines. Qantas: Melbourne to Auckland, NZ via Sydney Virgin Australia: Melbourne to Los Angeles in Premium Economy product. Any Virgin Australia 777 flyers have any recommendation as to the better Premium Economy seats? Spirit: I chose Spirit deliberately so I could see what they are like as I have never flown them. Wish me luck for that flight! Spirit are supposed to be a little like Ryanair (who I hate flying with). I am fascinated to see. Related Posts Why is…
Malaysian Kids Free Zones -Wacky or Wise
I have flown 842 times. In that time, one child has kept me irritated for an entire flight. As he bounced up and down the seats with his oblivious mother staring at her video screen, an exasperated fellow passenger asked if she had brought anything for her child to do. She looked up and shrugged her shoulders, saying “No” and went back to watching her screen. A few babies have disturbed my takeoffs and landings but not enough for me to want children removed from my aeroplane. Most I have met on board have been well behaved or in awe…
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