People often ask me what are my favourite airlines? Here is the answer, after 1300 flights on 103 airlines almost 75 times around the world. Of the 103 different airlines I have travelled on, two of them I will never choose to fly on again (Air Asia and Ryanair) and two I regularly avoid (TigerAir and United). Others have merged or gone bust. My top ten currently ranked favourites are: 10. Virgin Australia -in a few short years, they have transformed themselves from a budget carrier to a full service global carrier. I really enjoy…
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Measuring Star, Skyteam, One World – Which is the “BEST” airline alliance?
Every airline passenger will have seen the name and logos of the three big airline alliances carrying almost two out of three of the world’s airline passengers. The names “One World“, “SkyTeam” and “Star Alliance” adorn planes, airline marketing materials, boarding passes, in-flight magazines and airport signs. All three of the big US airlines (American, Delta and United) are linked to one of the alliances. In Europe, it is the same with their three biggest airline companies. There are also three smaller and newer alliances: U fly, Vanilla, Value. I list of all the members…
Airline responses to US Visa freeze
Major airlines appear to be responding with flexibility at the current banning of the citizens of seven countries from entering the USA.If you know people affected they can contact their airline:- Air Canada: waiving change fees and allowing refunds Air New Zealand: Any customer currently booked to travel with Air New Zealand who finds that their travel is impacted should contact them directly to discuss options American Airlines: if your travel is impacted by this regulation, contact Reservations. British Airways: is offering refunds or rebooking options for US travel Delta: “will make every effort to contact…
All about Airline Special Meals
Just before the main meal service, the crew will be bustling along the aisle discreetly serving what are known in the industry as “special meals”. There are a bewildering range of special meals (IATA lists over 30 different types). Vegetarians and diabetics are usually covered as are those requiring Kosher, Halal or beef free. These can be split amongst five categories: Baby and Children Meals Dietary meals – e.g. Diabetic, Gluten free, Low cholesterol Occasion meals e.g. Birthday Cake, Champagne Religious meals- Halal, Hindu, Kosher Vegetarian and Vegan meals A few tips on ordering a special meal:…
All about Flight Numbers & Airline Codes
After a couple of posts on airport codes, it is time, I turned my attention to airline codes and flight numbers! Every airline has a two letter code issued by IATA, the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Some are easy and recognisable e.g. AA = American Airlines BA = British Airways NZ = Air New Zealand UA = United Airways Others are more obscure such as: AY: Finnair – I discovered when I flew them originally carried the name Aero Oy 9W = Jet airways WN = Southwest airlines. There are multiple theories as to why Southwest is…
My travels with the #19 year old #StarAlliance
The Star Alliance turns 19 tomorrow, Saturday the 14th of May. The network is now an “adult” with 27 member airlines carrying almost 638 million passengers annually. This compares to SkyTeam with 20 airlines and 588 million passengers annually and Oneworld with 15 airlines and almost 513 million. Starting with just five airlines, the network has grown to include: I have flown 159 times with nine Star Alliance members for a total of 424,788km (263,951 miles), almost ten times around the earth! This represents 14% of all my flights and a third of the distance I have ever flown! The Star…
United’s Very handy US Airports App
If you travel through major US airports, United Airlines have unveiled a feature which makes their iphone app well worth downloading. Under the “Travel Tools” section on their app, the airline has added interactive maps for their seven mainland U.S. hubs airports: Chicago O’Hare Denver Houston Bush Intercontinental Los Angeles Newark Liberty San Francisco Washington Dulles. The maps include all parts of those airports, however, not just the terminals and spaces used by United. They include searchable information about retail stores and available service options at each airport. eg restrooms, restaurant, Burger King etc etc. I discovered for…
Spirit most complained about US airline
I have never had the delight of flying Spirit Airlines in the USA. The one time, I turned up for a Spirit flight, they cancelled it! In the mould of Ryanair, Spirit combines low fares and profitability and customer complaints. Over the last five years, Spirit has consistently received three times more complaints than any other airline and the number of complaints against the airline kept rising in that period. In a report compiled by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund based on Department of Transport statistics, Spirit managed to increase its customer complaints from 6.7 per…
Free Facebook on 7 US airlines
From January 1 to January 30 passengers on AirTran, American, Alaska Airlines, Delta, Frontier, United, and US Airways flights can use Gogo’s inflight Internet access to log onto Facebook for free. Air Canada passengers can also access the service. According to Gogo, after accessing the Gogo portal on an Internet browser, it is a matter of following a set of simple instructions to connect to Facebook. Related Posts US Airlines switch on PED devices
787 to fly from May 31
United Airlines has scheduled a 787 flight from Houston to Denver on May 31. Seats are available for sale. It is planning to resume international 787 flights on June 10, from Denver to Tokyo. United stated they will make more schedule changes when they know that the plane has been cleared to fly. Over at Qatar Airways, their CEO announced their 787 fleet will be flying before May 31 with the Wall Street Journal claiming that Qatar is planning to have four of their five 787s in service by April 30. ANA (All Nippon) CEO…
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